El Adobe de Los Robles Rancho (California State Route 41)

In my travels on California State Route 41 in Kings County I often noticed a historical marker sign for El Adobe de Los Robles Rancho just north of the city of Lemoore near Lacey Boulevard. Turns out the Adobe in question is the second oldest standing in all of San Joaquin Valley having been constructed all the way back in 1856.

Considering I did a whole trip mapping out all of the historical alignments of CA 41 last year in Kings County I'm surprised that I never noticed that a 150 year old adobe was literally sitting feet from the expressway. Considering that 1856 was the first year Fresno County (Kings County split from Fresno County in 1893) split from Tulare County its surprising to see that there was a rancho so far out in the middle of nowhere. At the time Tulare Lake would have been less than a day away on foot to the south and I the closest town would have been Kingston.

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Hetch Hetchy Valley; Hetch Hetchy Railroad, abandoned Lake Eleanor Road, and the Wapama Fall Bridge

This June I took a trip out to Yosemite National Park upon receiving my COVID-19 Day Use Reservation. My destination in Yosemite National Park was out in Hetch Hetchy Valley. I sought to hike to the Wapama Fall Bridge which took me through some of the path of the former Hetch Hetchy Valley Railroad and abandoned Lake Eleanor Road.

Part 1; Hetch Hetchy Valley, the Hetch Hetchy Railroad, and reservoir roads

Hetch Hetchy is glacially carved valley similar to Yosemite Valley which is located on the Tuolumne River of Tuolumne County. Hetch Hetchy Valley presently is impounded by the O'Shaughnessy Dam which was completed during 1923 as part of a project to deliver water and hydroelectric power to the City of San Francisco. Before being impounded Hetch Hetchy Valley had an average depth of approximately 1,800 feet with a maximum depth of approximately 3,000 feet. Hetch Hetchy Valley is approximately three miles long and as much as a half mile wide. Hetch Hetchy Valley is located dow…

Mineral King Road, the White Chief Mine, and the unbuilt California State Route 276

Back in July of 2016 I took Mineral King Road east from California State Route 198 to Mineral King Valley within the Sierra Nevada Mountains of Sequoia National Park. This June I revisited Mineral King Valley and made my way up to the White Chief Mine.

Mineral King Road is a 24.8 mile rural highway maintained by the National Park Service and as Tulare County Mountain Road 375. Mineral King Road originates at California State Route 198 in Three Rivers near the confluence of the Middle Fork Kaweah River and the East Fork Kaweah River. Mineral King Road climbs from a starting elevation of 1,400 feet above sea level to 7,830 feet above sea level at the White Chief Mine Trailhead in Mineral King Valley. Notably Mineral King Road is stated to have 697 curves.

Mineral King Road has an average grade of 5.1% but has several stretches between 15-20% in places. Pjammycycling has a detailed breakdown on the grade levels over the entirety of Mineral King Road.

Pjammycycling on Mineral King R…

California's Rogue Sign State Route Shields

While recently revisiting Yosemite National Park I took a couple minutes to capture some of the California Sign State Route shields posted by the National Park Service ("NPS"). None of the NPS shields were actually posted on roadways maintained by Caltrans but were clearly intended to create route continuity with the Sign State Highways. This phenomenon is not exclusive to Yosemite National Park and can be found on numerous roads not maintained by Caltrans throughout California.

Part 1; Route continuity over who maintains the route

In the very early era of State Highways in California the Division of Highways didn't actually field sign the Auto Trails or even US Routes. The responsibility of Highway signage fell to the California State Automobile Association ("CSAA") and Automobile Club of Southern California ("ACSC"). The Auto Clubs simply signed Highways on roadways that best served navigational purposes. These navigational purposes often didn&#…

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