Challenger Coast Range Adventures; Part 1 Getting to Monterey

This past Thursday happened to be a warm spell in an unusually dry California winter. Circumstance had me headed towards Monterey again so I decided on taking my Challenger R/T Scat Pack for some mountain driving in the Coast Ranges.

Really this road blog series is the normal historical fare that I do (for the most part) but mainly is just wandering around in a cool car. Given that I was leaving during rush hour on a weekday morning out of Fresno I decided to take CA 180 across San Joaquin Valley to I-5. I encountered this older CA 145 guide sign in Kerman while trying to find some breakfast. Lately there has been a series of shootings between Madera and Kerman on CA 145 lately, the sixth occurred on the 15th I believe on Dickenson Avenue.

I turned off of CA 180 at Panoche Road near Mendota which is signed as a route to I-5. Panoche Road was once signed as part of CA 180 back in the 1930s and was part of a long range planned extension to CA 25 (and once US 101) across the Diablo Range. Panoche Road was actually a pretty solid connector to I-5 and well maintained by Fresno County. The only major junction other before I-5 westbound is CA 33, Panoche Road continues west all the way to CA 25.

I took I-5 north 34 miles to CA 152.

County Route J1 is at Shields Avenue which ironically doesn't have a J1 shield.

I stopped at the Dos Amigos Overlook of the San Luis Canal and a pumping station. The waters come from the San Luis Reservoir which is to the northwest at Pacheco Pass.

Continuing north I-5 junctions CA 165.

I turned off for CA 152 westbound which is multiplexed with CA 33 north.

Oddly last week CA 33 north was signed as CA 33 "detour." CA 33 once swung northwest out of Los Banos towards Santa Nella while the current route was the first CA 207. Most traffic heading to CA 33 north generally takes I-5, so that being the case the mainline route was signed as a detour due to bridge work. I missed out on taking a shield picture since it was already covered up.

I continued on CA 152 westbound over Pacheco Pass above the San Luis Reservoir. I've been trying to get a picture of the "end scenic route" signage at Pacheco Pass for awhile but it was always difficult due to the climbing trucks.

After descending from Pacheco Pass I stopped at Casa de Fruita. Casa de Fruita Parkway is the original alignment of CA 152 before it was blown out to an expressway. Oddly if you are traveling from CA 156 east you actually have to go all the way to Casa de Fruita Parkway to head westbound on CA 152.

I took CA 156 westbound to San Juan Bautista.

I wanted to get a picture with the Challenger in front of Mission San Juan Bautista but it wasn't happening with a school trip that was on site.

Rather than taking the modern alignment of US 101/CA 156 I took the San Juan Grade over the Gabilans which was the original alignment of US 101 until the early 1930s. Surprisingly the concrete is somewhat serviceable shape in San Beninto County. The first picture is the junction of Old Stage Road and the San Juan Grade, the El Camino Real actually used the former route.

At the Monterey County line the San Juan Grade is actually asphalted. I stopped at the top of the pass to get a picture of the Challenger in front of Fremont Peak which is the highest in the Gabilan Range at 3,173 feet.

I took the San Juan Grade west to Crazy Horse Canyon Road. There is some nice vistas of the old road grade descending into Salinas Valley. Weird to think of the majority of traffic between Los Angeles and the Bay Area using this road. The last picture shows a truck trying to use the San Juan Grade, suffice to say there wasn't enough room which required me staying on the dirt shoulder.

I jumped back on modern US 101/CA 156 and took CA 156 west towards Monterey Bay.

I took CA 156 all the way west to CA 1 and managed to get a picture of the CA 156 END which I missed on the CA 156 blog.

I pulled off on CA 218 which is pretty much where I ended the first day. The next day I had way more "scenic" and potentially hazardous drives in mind.

The Vague Original Southern Terminus of US Route 91 in the Californian Mojave Desert

One of the more intriguing mysteries of the early US Route System in California is where the original south terminus of US Route 91 was intended to be located in the Mojave Desert. This blog is a little different than my usual behind the wheel fare and explores why US Route 91 ultimately ended at US Route 66 in Daggett instead of Bannock. What ultimately became the US Route System was first discussed during the American Association of State Highway Officials ("AASHO") during their annual 1924 meeting. Ultimately the AASHO recommended to the Department of Agriculture to work with the States to develop a system of Interstate Highways to replace the many Auto Trails in use. The Joint Board on Interstate Highways was ultimately commissioned by the Department of Agriculture and it's branch agency the Bureau of Public Roads in March of 1925. The Joint Board on Interstate Highways first met in April of 1925 and decided on the new interstate road network would be known a

Where the hell is Hill Valley? (US Route 8 south/US Route 395 east)

Recently I made a visit to Universal Studios near Los Angeles. While on the back lot tour I came across a piece of infamous movie-borne fictional highway infamy; the location of town square of Hill Valley, California on US Route 8/US Route 395. The above photo is part of the intro scene to the first Back-to-the-Future movie which was set in 1985. To anyone who follows roadways the signage error of US 8 meeting US 395 in California is an immediately notable error. For one; US 8 doesn't even exist anywhere near California with present alignment being signed as an east/west highway between Norway, Michigan and Forest Lake, Minnesota. To make matters worse US 8 is signed as a southbound route and US 395 (a north/south highway) is signed as an eastbound route. At minimum the cut-out US 8 and US 395 shields somewhat resemble what Caltrans used in the 1980s. Assuming Hill Valley is located on what would have been US 395 by 1985 what locales would be a viable real world analog?

Legend of the Ridge Route; a history of crossing the mountains between the Los Angeles Basin and San Joaquin Valley from wagon trails to Interstates

Over the past two decades I've crossed the Interstate 5 corridor from Los Angeles north over the Sierra Pelona Mountains and Tehachapi Range to San Joaquin Valley what seems to be an immeasurable number of times. While Interstate 5 from Castaic Junction to Grapevine via Tejon Pass today is known to most as "The Grapevine" it occupies a corridor which has been traversed by numerous historic highways. The most notable of these highways is known as the "Ridge Route." This article is dedicated to the Ridge Route and the various highways that preceded it. The Ridge Route is a 44 mile section of highway which was completed in 1915. The Ridge Route originally stretched from Castaic Junction north over Liebre Summit and Tejon Pass to the tiny community of Grapevine. In spite of a roadway that once utilized nearly 700 curves the Ridge Route is generally considered far ahead of it's time and one of the first modern highways constructed for automotive use.

Gribblenation

Search This Blog