garyb1st
Well-known member
Thought I'd start a thread on roads you regret taking. I'll start by relating our adventure last night on our short drive to Dos Picos County Park and Campground in Ramona, CA. We got a late start for our Holiday outing. But heck it was only 1 PM and the park was just 3 hours away. That's very doable except on the Friday afternoon before Christmas. We got to the park office at 6:30 PM. Whenever we take a new route, I google the roads to make sure they're safe for the motorhome. When I googled Highland Valley, I found a youtube video of the entire 16 miles stretch. The video didn't have any sound and I wasn't sure but it looked like the video was shot from a motorcycle. Still, it looked doable and according to Google maps, Highland Valley Road. Exit 26 off California I-15, is the fastest route to the campground. When we got to Highland Valley Road, it was just past 5 PM. It was dark. There was no moon and this road did not have any street lights. We make the turn onto Highland Valley and drove past one of those yellow warning signs. The DW asks if I saw the sign. I hadn't. As an aside, we drove the same route today in the Jeep. The warning sign said tractors - semis more than 25 feet from king pin to rear axel, NOT ADVISED. But back to the adventure. While we didn't see that warning sign, we did see several signs saying the road was going to get narrower. Ouch. How much more narrow can this road get? I don't want to alarm the wife but I'm thinking, maybe we should turn around. Each lane couldn't be more than 9 feet wide. But heck, it's the fastest route. Right. Fast if your on a motorcycle. It actually comes up as one of the better motorcycle roads in California. Now I've owned a motorcycle and I've done a mountain road or two. Just not like this and not at night. So since there is literally no way to turn around, we head down the thankfully very lightly traveled road. The first two or three miles are relatively easy. While narrow, there weren't any other cars and we hadn't got to the hills yet. But that is short lived relief. This is a mountain road with steep grades and lots of curves. Most of the shoulders are narrow to non-existent with occasional pot holes large enough to break an axle. The other warning signs we saw warned that the road floods from time to time. That was evident by the occasional deep ruts where the shoulder should have been. Now we've done some challenging roads in the 3 1/2 years we've had a motorhome, but this one was hands down, the worst. It would have been difficult in broad daylight. In fact if we could have seen the drop offs, my knuckles would still be white. As mentioned, we went back today with the Jeep just to see what we drove through. If we met another large vehicle on the road, it would have been either an accident or serious negotiation regarding right of way. We can't back up with the toad. So for the most part, when we didn't see headlights coming our way, it was keep the Pace Arrow driver side tires right on or to the left of the yellow center line. After the first few miles, the fun part began. The road became both hilly and twisty. Fortunately, most of it was up hill and we were moving at a snails pace. It took about an hour and 15 minutes to make the 16 mile drive. Seemed like forever. But eventually we made it to the campground road. When we called the ranger to check availability and before beginning this E ticket ride (for those old enough to remember the old Disneyland ride rating system), he suggested we come in before dark. It was 2 hours after dark when we were finally on the park road. I saw the sign. Dos Picos County Park. Success. I turn left into the park road. Only problem, it's not into the campground. It goes to the day use area. Not a problem except for the fact that we actually missed the entrance and got into some kind of oval shaped loop that we barely made it through. So tight we almost had to unhook and back out. Alas, we made it through with only minor Arizona pin striping and one missing side amber marker light cover. So on we go to the campground. That was relatively easy and only took an hour to find a place and put out the slides. Happy holidays and great camping in 2018.