[LibWhacker]

Those are spatter cones at the Craters of the Moon Nat'l Monument in Idaho, about 100 miles from Stanley. Breathtaking views like that are exactly what Idaho is trying to preserve by designating the area around Stanley as a dark sky reserve.

But some people think it's a big waste of time. After all, who needs to see the stars? Who even needs to know they exist? I mean, really, what good are astronomers anyway? They ought to get a real job, like fixin' cars! Yeah! You know they just sleep all night in those big cushy observatories, doncha, while drawing their big salaries? And apart from all that sleeping, who knows what else is going on all night long up there? I bet it's something real gay, if ya catch my drift.

[Artemis Webb]

Thank you. Now we know.

Just for the record, in case it wasn’t clear from my first post, I would support such a designation. The devil is in the details of course. But it wouldn’t take a lot of lights to ruin a view like that.

*note also that I live in Missouri. So for the most part I have to settle for photos.