mountains and bad conditions on the roads

this has and will continue to be my policy, I WILL NOT drive into the trouble and chain to get out of it, I will chain to get out of it, and then ask myself, Why I didn't see it coming? I am in charge of me and my life, no one is going to tell me when to drive in weather I am not comfortable with. I slow way down and let the Fed Ex trucks go on, I will catch up with them, They will be in the ditch a few miles up the road, I have seen or heard of these guys going to the house and then there they are, their trailers got tired and just turned over on their sides for a while. I'm not going to get the load their any quicker then safely possible. Fire me the next company will agree wuth me on my chaining ideas or I won't go to work for them.

 

There are a few high percentage grades in the northeast. crawfords notch 15% for 1/2 mile. There are numerous 8 and 9 in the northeast as well. West Virginia has a couple of steep grades and so does New Hampshire.

 

Reminds me of flying turkey friers into a blacked out LZ at some FOB in Afghanistan right before thanksgiving in 06... I can't say what our outbound load was. We took some AK fire that night, no big deal.

 

Crawford Notch is also a single lane in both the northbound and southbound directions . Being at the base of Mount Washington [Crawford notch]is nothing to snicker at in a car as the winds are crazy often . All these super truckers thinking elevation is the end all be all of a road gaining any respect needs to drive past Mt Washington at night , in a single lane during a mere flurry to understand . There is a reason people from all over the world hike Mount Washington as Mount Everest preparation and not the peaks in Donner pass . US40 and I80 btw was at least designed and used for the transportation industry , a luxury the road through Crawford does not offer in spades .

Franconia Notch on the eastern side of the White Mountains is just as bad containing its own angry weather and winds , top that off with the ridiculously narrow single lane with very little room for error when things go bad . I have not driven a cdl required vehicle through either , but pulled a trailer on both fully loaded and empty and visibility and winds are enough to make your touch hole pucker up real fast .

The length of RT 93 through Franconia and RT302 through Crawford are the only saving grace as they are both short , where Donner is a much longer length of grade .