Roads for Ira

[angib]

Or more specifically, as Kevin so delicately put it, roads for Ira to crap his pants on. I get the feeling that Yurp can offer some roads that would surprise Merkan visitors.

One of the more enterprising roads near me is Hardknott Pass - it's about 10ft wide (so you have to cooperate with anyone coming the other way), up to 1-in-3 (33%) steep and has plenty of hairpin bends. Here's an easy bit of it:



But in southern Yurp, in the Alps, there are some quite serious bits of road. Here is one of the most famous, the Stelvio Pass in Italy:



Italian passes are 'best' experienced in a bus - if you sit near the front, as you go around the hairpin bends there is no road visible in front of the bus at all. Gulp....

How's them pants, Ira?

Andrew

[Ira]

Compared to the cliffs of the Pacific Coast Highway--that's KID STUFF!

Except because you guys drive on the wrong sides of the road there, I WOULD crap my pants.

[gasmanptb]

Rt 250 through George Washington National forest is no joke either, Well at least in the winter. Good scenery. HAve to take pics on the way home next time. Cecil

[TRAIL-OF-TEARS]

Tioga pass in Yosemite got me I had to let my wife drive. The rest of Yosemite was fine, there are lots of trees. I am from the rio grand valley Texas flat land. I use to hide under the seats in my dads van when we went over an overpass. I would plead with him to exit and take the access road and then get back on. I am much better now.

[halfdome, Danny]

I've driven Tioga Pass (Yosemite) and highway 1 (Big Sir) many times but Wolf Creek Pass in Colorado was the toughest on any vehicle of mine. I was pulling a utility trailer and had to stay in first gear and it was a 6 cylinder full size pick-up truckin great condition. The sucker smoked going up it and it never did that before or after. Danny

[Ira]

Hey--time for a HIJACK!!!

Have you guys heard what they're doing at the Grand Canyon? This is the COOLEST thing ever conceived on Earth!

They're building this really, really, REALLY long GLASS walkway, so you can walk out from the edge and literally be standing in the air all of those thousands and thousands of feet up in the air.

Time for me to leave the office so no time to search for a link about it, but isn't that INTENSE? I would think that a lot of people simply wouldn't be able to do it--me included.

[subtearanean]

The news articls says it should have been opened Jan 2006?

http://tinyurl.com/apwnx

[IndyTom]

My Dad grew up in S.E Tennesee WAY back in the woods. when I was about 9 0r 10, he took me for a ride over one of the mountains. To this day (i'm 44 now) my palms go sweaty if I even think about that road. Im not even sure it was a real road if you know what I mean. Andrew, I may be a crazy Merkan, but those roads look like fun, just not in my wife's Ford Expidition.

Tom

[Laredo]

Andrew: Those roads were made for a CB750F4 SuperSport ...




Raton Pass. Midnight. Wild horses in the middle of the road. 1952 Dodge grain truck (three axles). Thick fog. Wet pavement/gravel. Manual brakes.

My mother used to tell me that story when I complained about my 87-mile-each-way commute with two small kids in my pickup. Took me about two hours each way in my '83 Dodge pickup; one kid snoozed in the car seat next to the door, the other kid snoozed on a pallet in the floorboard. That was 1987/88, and to this day if I get 'em both in a pickup and country music on the radio, they're asleep in 10 minutes or less.

[madjack]

...this thread made me think of an old truckers saying about driving in general..."75% boredom, 20% mildly interesting and 5% absolute and total terror....after living in the Rockies and driving 2 million miles in big rigs, I have seen my share of high "pucker factor" roads and situations....
madjack

[Kevin A]

The news articls says it should have been opened Jan 2006?

http://tinyurl.com/apwnx

Hey, are they gonna allow bungee jumping off that thing?

[cracker39]

I've driven some mountain roads in the smokies where you looked out to one side and saw cars across a steep dropoff. But one of the best memories was in Georgia. It was nothing compared to some of those mentioned, but for me, driving a 71 Dodge Polara, pulling a tent camper, it was no walk in the park.

I took a wrong turn but didn't realize it. The highway we were on, grew smaller and narrower as we went up. Finally, it turned into a gravel road with dropoffs and no place to back a trailer to turn around. We had no choice but to keep going. Finally, the trees thinned out and we were looking out over what I found out later was Cloud Canyon. We finally started down and eventually hit a highway. But, driving a big car not intended for off road, pulling a trailer over that mountain on a rocky gravel road was quite an experience.

[Geron]

I've driven some mountain roads in the smokies where you looked out to one side and saw cars across a steep dropoff. But one of the best memories was in Georgia. It was nothing compared to some of those mentioned, but for me, driving a 71 Dodge Polara, pulling a tent camper, it was no walk in the park.

I took a wrong turn but didn't realize it. The highway we were on, grew smaller and narrower as we went up. Finally, it turned into a gravel road with dropoffs and no place to back a trailer to turn around. We had no choice but to keep going. Finally, the trees thinned out and we were looking out over what I found out later was Cloud Canyon. We finally started down and eventually hit a highway. But, driving a big car not intended for off road, pulling a trailer over that mountain on a rocky gravel road was quite an experience.

Cloudland Canyon. One of our favorite camp grounds.

[Ira]

Thanks for finding a link, Sub! Yeah, a friend of mine told me the same thing--it was supposed to be finished awhile ago, but was delayed for some reason.

And another treacherous road story, which might ring a bell with some of you Northern Californians:

Back in the early 80s, single and a pocketful of cash, I went to CA for 2 weeks vacation, and I was on the northbound LA to Monterey, Pacific Coast Highway (1) route. I had heard reports that it was closed substantially north of San Luis Obispo because of rock slides, but of course, I didn't think this applied to me.

Until I came to a pile of rubble and had to turn back.

Well, my destination was Monterey, and I stopped into a little store to ask if I had to head all the way back to San Luis Obispo to connect with 101 and get north, and in the guy's best redneck accent:

"Heck, no son! Just git yourself about a mile up that way, and take Nacimiento Road over to that there 101!"

Well, weeks later, I learned that this was a LOGGERS road, and I must have driven 5 miles, going up at a 45% angle, on this dirt road that was maybe 12 inches wider than my tiny rental car. One lane.

Plus, after driving for an HOUR to go just 10, 15 miles, I would look down and see that U.S. 1 was still right down there--like, yeah, I drove UP a lot, but I hardly drove EAST at all connect with 101. And it as getting DARK.

Took me FOREVER to find a place to make a u-turn and head back down.

Anyone familiar with Nacimiento Road? I think that later, they developed it into a real road, but man, was that a nightmare.

[Ma3tt]

Near Pfiefer Big Sur great campground if you are doing the coast.