Skip to main content

California State Route 167

By
After completing my crossing of the Tioga Pass Road I turned north on US Route 395.  I was after a bit of shield collecting so I stopped at the western terminus of California State Route 167 on the north shore of Mono Lake.


CA 167 is a 21 mile east/west state highway entirely in Mono County running from US 395 to the Nevada State Line where it becomes NV 359.  CA 167 runs entirely on Pole Line Road and is considered to be one of the straightest state highways in California.  From the western terminus of CA 167 the road continues as Lundy Lake Road along Mill Creek to Lundy Lake.


Interestingly given the straight and arrow nature of CA 167 much of it can be observed from an overlook on US 395 as it ascends northwards to the 8,143 foot Conway Summit.  In the center of the photo below CA 167 can branching away from US 395 eastward on the north shore of Mono Lake.


The junction of US 395/CA 167 can be better seen in this zoomed in photo.


According to CAhighways.org the Pole Line Highway was added as a branch of Legislative Route 40 sometime in 1953.  Apparently there may have been a time when the Pole Line Highway was likely going to be a realignment of CA 120.  Apparently the Pole Line Highway was created to create a shortcut to the Hawthrone Army Depot at Walker Lake.

CAhighways on CA 167

The Pole Line Highway is seen as a branch of LRN 40 on the 1954 State Highway Map.

1954 State Highway Map

By 1964 the Pole Line Highway was assigned the designation of CA 167, oddly CA 120 always remained on it's original course east of US 395 to US 6.  The change in designation can be seen on the 1964 State Highway Map.

1964 State Highway Map

Prior to the 1976 Nevada State Highway renumbering NV 359 was previously designated as NV 31.  The NV 31 designation can be seen on the 1956 Shell Nevada State Highway Map.

1956 Nevada State Highway Map

Interestingly NV 31 seems to have been present in Nevada at least to the boundary of Inyo National Forest as it can be seen south of Hawthorne on the 1942 State Highway Map.

1942 Nevada State Highway Map

As for Mono Lake it is a large saline lake which was formed about 760,000 years ago due to the endorheic basin it lies in.  The current maximum size of Mono Lake is 13x9.3 miles with an average depth of about 60 feet.  Mono Lake was likely formed during the Long Valley Caldera eruptions 760,000 years ago and may have been as deep as 900 feet during the last Ice Age.  Mono Lake has two large volcanic islands; Negit Island and Paoha Island.


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

2018 Mojave Road Trip Part 2; The deadly desert highway (California State Route 127 and Nevada State Route 373)

By
After leaving Barstow via Old Highway 58 my next destination was in Death Valley.  To access Death Valley from rural San Bernardino County required a trek on north on Interstate 15 to California State Route 127 which becomes Nevada State Route 373 at the state line. Along I-15 I encountered the road sign oddity that is Zzyzx Road about eight miles south of Baker.   Zzyzx Road is a four mile road that used to go to the Zzyzx Mineral Springs and Health Spa.   The spa was founded in the 1940s and the owner made up the name "Zzyzx" to claim it was the last word in the English Language.  The spa has been shut down since the 1970s and is now part of a Desert Studies Center for California State University. The southern terminus of CA 127 in Baker is located at I-15 exit 246.  CA 127 is a 91 mile north/south highway which runs to the Nevada State Line in Inyo County.  CA 127 is called Death Valley Road from I-15 northward.  South of CA 127 ...
4 comments
Read more

Finding the Pre-Emption Road of New York State

By
  The Pre-Emption Road (or rather a series of roads named Pre-Emption Road) follows a survey line called the Pre-Emption Line, drawn in the early days of the United States. The story begins with Massachusetts and New York having competing land claims to modern day Western New York State that have their roots in colonial charters granted by the British. After the Revolutionary War ended, this land became the frontier of the nation and its settlement became a priority for the new American government. During this era, there were a lot of competing land claims that needed to be settled. It was no different with the land claims between New York State and Massachusetts. On November 30, 1786, Massachusetts and New York sent representatives to Hartford, Connecticut to resolve their competing land claims. In less than three weeks, the representatives had reached a compromise. Massachusetts would receive pre-emption rights, meaning the right to sell the land after the Indian title ...
Post a Comment
Read more

What's In a Name?: When the Roads Really Do Tell a Story

By
  Our tagline on the Gribblenation blog is "because every road tells a story". Some roads tell different stories than others. Along our travels, we may see historic markers that tell us a little story about the roads we travel or the places we pass by. Some historic markers are more general, as to telling us who lived where or what old trail traversed between two towns. During my travels across New York State and other states or provinces, I pass by many historic markers, some with interesting or amusing references to roads. I wanted to highlight a few of the markers I've seen along my travels around the Empire State and help tell their stories. Those stories may be as specific as explaining the tales of a tree that was used to help measure a distance of eight miles from Bath to Avoca in Steuben County, as referenced on the Eight Mile Tree historical marker above. They may also help point the way along historical roads first used centuries ago, or may help tell a local l...
Post a Comment
Read more