Hi Richard, I am not monitoring this list too closely so sorry for delayed response but I assume it is not too late since it sounds like you were thinking of a weekend that hasn't arrived yet. I drove our motorhome (19 foot Tioga - cab-over - not too big) up on Mount Graham a couple of years ago. Started early in the morning. Reviewed all the maps I had. (The "Arizona Atlas & Gazetteer" is pretty good. Shows lots of roads and marks all campsites.) Had been told by someone that maybe there was a clear spot up there. Maybe near Riggs Lake. Maybe others. I made it OK to the top of the mountain and found where I think the road to the telescopes was but it was gated with a big lock. Locked of course... I continued on. Ups and downs. I was using lower gears on all downgrades. I've lived in Colorado and have driven Pikes Peak a few times and I know about overheating brakes. Still had to use brakes part of the time. Brakes became "spongy" and scared the hell out of me. Was about half way to Riggs lake from the mountain top. Saw no significant clear spots anywhere on the trip. Very few places to pull off the road. Pretty much trees and closed in. Anyway, spongy brakes really gave me the creeps and I decided to abort the trip. Turned around. Used REALLY low gear to come down. Still had to rely on brakes occasionally. "Spongy" again as I was approaching one of the campsites. Stopped there and set up the telescope. Small clearing. Barely acceptable but half way down the mountain - probably 4000 foot level? Mountain up to 35 degrees or so in one direction. Clouds came in so I couldn't even do an alignment. Saw nothing. Slept there. In the morning I drove in to Safford and had someone check out my brakes. They didn't find anything. Have had no trouble with brakes since. Took motorhome to Flagstaff area (newman park) last new moon. No problems except for motor dying a couple of times. Discovered gas cap was REALLY air tight and vacuum defeated the efforts of the fuel pump! I know they don't want stuff coming OUT of the gas tank but we really do need to let air IN. Who designs these things? Thanks, Howard > richard wrote: > > > > Has anyone been to the Mount Graham area to observe. If so what was the > > location > > like and how was the tree line and weather conditions, thermals etc. I am > > thinking of > > going there in 2 weeks to shoot photos. > > Thanks, > > > > Richard Payne > --- > This message is from the AZ-Observing mailing list. If you wish to be > removed from this list, send E-mail to: AZ-Observing-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, > with the subject: unsubscribe. > > The list's archive is at: //www.freelists.org/archives/az-observing > > This is a discussion list. Please send personal inquiries directly to > the message author. In other words, do not use "reply" for personal > messages. Thanks. -- Thanks, Howard (in Tempe, Arizona) http://www.frontiernet.net/~handy13 --- This message is from the AZ-Observing mailing list. If you wish to be removed from this list, send E-mail to: AZ-Observing-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx, with the subject: unsubscribe. The list's archive is at: //www.freelists.org/archives/az-observing This is a discussion list. Please send personal inquiries directly to the message author. In other words, do not use "reply" for personal messages. Thanks.