mountains

Western mountains don't bother me. Cabbage is boring, Grapevine is a snooze fest, Donner, Tehachipi.. whatever. Respect them yes, worry about them, not hardly.The real grades in the west don't have names. There's a 10%er going into Hayden AZ that could raise the pucker factor a few points except I'm always empty going in, the climb out is a crawl.

The ones that really get my attention are in the east. There's a couple of short hair raisers in PA that make you question the sanity of the locals. 10.5 grade with a 90 degree turn at the bottom and someone has a house directly in the crosshairs of any truck that loses it on the way down. Signs posted "Engine Brakes Prohibited". 3 am, loaded over 79k, 3rd gear, and the engine brake HOWLING. Yes Officer I was using my jake, and I dont care about the sign. No ticket. Someone mentioned the Ozarks, oh yeah, bounced through between Springfield, MO and Clarksville, AR in a reefer loaded to the gills a few years ago. Motorcycle season in full swing. Those narrow, twisty grades with bikes around every blind curve. White knuckles by the time I made Clarksville.

 

McDonald pass east bound 6 miles of 8%. When it straightens out it gets drivers every time that it is actually steeper than it looks and feels.

Or Flesher pass west of helena

 

I remember when I was hauling rolloff boxes they were building a new school in Idaho Springs, CO. Somebody screwed up a bunch of concrete and they decided to jackhammer it up and toss it in the trash. I hauled lots of loads from there down to the landfill between Golden and Boulder on 93. Never knew how heavy they were going to be. Many of them should have been on a truck/trailer, not my three axle rolloff truck. Looking back it was pretty stupid to haul them, but I guess we'll chalk it up to youthful ignorance.

Before I began driving I was traveling with first wife and the car broke down near Eagle, CO. Swift driver stops and offers us a lift back to Denver. Around Floyd hill I learn the old silver Swift trucks did not come with a jake brake and he's never been to Denver before and never been down a mountain anywhere. By the time we got to Morrison there was a cloud chasing us and he had no brakes. He finally got it shut down and we saw the paint on the trailer wheels turning brown and bubbling up. That could have been real bad. In hindsight I should have loaded ex wife up in the truck and asked him to go back up the hill and try it again.

Best advice I can give for anyone who is nervous about mountains is to use the jakes and avoid the foot brake. If you need to touch the foot brake you're going too fast. Once you get a little experience you can probably go a bit faster but it's always best to be safe while learning. This will keep your brakes as cool as possible so they are there if you need them. Ignore the guy who's creeping up on you, DO NOT let anyone rush you or intimidate you into going faster than you are absolutley comfortable with.

When it comes to winter out there watch for the reflection from the taillights of the guy in front of you. If it's reflecting off the road it's too slick to be that close. The most dangerous roads are when it's warmer than 20 degrees and it's been a while since the snow fell. You want fresh snow and you want it to be cold, the colder the better.

I know that section of UT30 between Woodruff/Randolph and Laketown. Fun in the winter.
Here's 191 dropping into Vernal from the north.

20160413_123149[1] by sawmill posted Aug 4, 2016 at 11:08 PM

 

The interstates for the most part are all pretty much ok. Cabbage the first time can be interesting because you may experience three weather changes on the way up or down, I-5 down from weed to lake Shasta takes a little bit of attention also. Honestly tho, it's the state and us highways that can be really tough, especially through colorado and utah. And if you notice on the map there aren't the amount of interstates out here like back east. If you run true western, you'll be on state highways and us highways a lot. Enjoy that first trip on us 550 from Durango to montrose. . Good luck!

 

These mountain passes out west got they're bad reputations back in the day before the interstate when they were two lane highways. I cant imagine going down donner in the winter when it was two lane. At the scales in truckee, the CHP has old pics on the walls of trucks wiped out back in the 60's when it was two lane. Now these same passes are easy compared to back then but you can still get yourself killed if you drive like a numb skull.

 

Many steep grades have yellow advisory signs with recommended speeds. until you have experience never exceed those advisory speeds or pass anyone. Use your engine brake if you have one. You dont

I-8 east on San Diego got me smoking twice. Its faily steep but long. Several times you round a curve and it looks like you are near the bottom, which suggests "let it roll", then you see more hill.

Pilot Point or Hill or something in either VA, NC, or WV to MD. That's where I saw one chip hauler pass on the shoulder 2 other chip haulers that could not pass each other.

 

East mountains are worst.

Maybe Im saying that because I just finally drove through Maryland, PA and WV for the first time alone, not to mention I've been driving at night for the past few days which made it even more of a challenge, plus the fog.

But the west mountains frm what I remember weren't as nerve wrecking nor did I have to constantly be in 7th gear

 

Mountains out west - up up up up up up up up down down down down down down down

Mountains in the East - up up down up down up down down down up up down up down

 

These are the little mountains. Maryland is literally Little America because they have everything America has.

I had forgotten the daily morning fogs there, here in the south we don't fog unless there is a huge weather changer or has changed nearby (Such as ice storm ongoing in Texas etc) we are extremely cautious here in Arkansas when it does fog a few times a year for us.

One thing to remember, the hills in the east are short, what you used to get up is what you use to get down but preferably lower than that and slow. Just be careful when it's raining and you are on a twisty downgrade that 5th wheel will try to put you into a tractor jackknife if your tires are crappy and you will feel it kicking and working back there.

 

I must be off a little, but I love mountain grades. We usually run about 87K outbound, and it challenges my skills to get down the grades looking good. Flats are main course, but the grades are the spice.

One of the grades is Lost Trail on US93 between Idaho and Montana. Lookis intimidating, but it's a piece of cake, hit 23 mph, put the cruise on and pull to the top through the switchbacks. On the other side, put it in 5th, jakes on high, and let her roll down through the switchbacks. 26 minutes later, it's all done.

Take your time, you'll be fine. Slow down, if you're in a hurry. It's not a race.