Dangerous Roads


 
About every five or so years we go to Maui, and one of my favorite things to do there (besides spear hunt wild boar) is rent Vespers and do the road to Hana. It's possibly the most fun thing we've done.

http://roadtohana.com/

 
Great video, Chuck!

A lot of folks don't know it, but Hawaii is closer to San Francisco than it is to Los-Angeles (due to the curvature of the earth), and Hawaii has the same latitude as Mexico City. (I didn't realize the Island was that far south.)
 
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The Million Dollar Highway was a great and beautiful road to drive. Unfortunately, I did it in a 1999 Olds Silhouette minivan, in 2001.
 
The Million Dollar Highway was a great and beautiful road to drive. Unfortunately, I did it in a 1999 Olds Silhouette minivan, in 2001.

I can imagine. I've traveled the Blue Ridge Parkway in a small Toyota, and other than downshifting for steep inclines, it was a great ride.

I took four adults and three juveniles to the top of Mt. Mitchel in a Dodge minivan some years ago, and I had to stop on the side of the highway (NC 128) to cool the brakes on the way down. It's amazing how some roads can look flatter than they really are. The Blue Ridge Parkway, on the other hand, is designed so one can descend at a reasonable incline.

Highway NC 181 between Morganton and Linville is deceptive road. A former co-worker (carrying a truck load of timbers) almost jumped from his vehicle (he had the door open) after the brakes overheated, but the truck just did come to a stop before the next curve.
 
http://www.johnweeks.com/menu/hwy.html

John Weeks spent a lot of time photographing many bridges in America, and he has a big write-up about the I-35W bridge disaster - which is coming up on its 10 year anniversary next month. Ironically, there is a bridge of that style still in use in NC.

Bump.


Found a link to that bridge...

https://bridgehunter.com/nc/gaston/710022/

The state had to close it down for repairs not too long ago due to sinking on one side. It is not designed for large loads, but gets a pounding from such traffic, daily.
 
We have some really nice "Twisties" in the South West corner of our state (Kickapoo River Valley and almost anything leading-down to the Miss. River)

I firmly believe that habitual drunk-drivers should be forced to re-locate to "the sticks" out there and the problem will pretty quickly resolve itself with little to no risk of collateral damage...
(there are ravines where if you crash through the barrier - you'll part your car about 25-feet up in some trees)
 
Many folks have heard of the Tail of The Dragon between NC and TN, but not too far away in northern Georgia, US Hwy 76 between Clayton and Hiawassee is the curviest road I have ever been on.

We picked up company in Clayton one time, and was headed to Hiawassee, with me driving, but the local guy riding with us said we'll never make our destination on time. I stopped and let him drive the rest of the way, and he passed everything in front of us. He passed one guy in a sharp curve, causing the bewildered driver to give us the eye, and the passenger sitting in front of me looked at him, with hands held up, and said: "Don't look at me! I ain't driving!"

I don't know which is the worst, the Dragon or US 76. Both are in the mountains.
 
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Revisiting an old thread here, but here's a guy that went from Michigan to Deadhorse (Alaska) on a motorcycle...


Deadhorse is at the northern terminus of the James Dalton Highway (AKA, The Haul Road) at Prudhoe Bay.

I can't imagine anyone riding to Alaska on a motorcycle, solo, and then on past the Arctic Circle.

Quest TV aired an episode of Tougher In Alaska recently that included The Haul Road, but I could not find a link for it. Very interesting considering how the road traverses a nearly 5000ft mountain. Can't figure out how mosquitoes can survive in such a cold climate though.
 
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About every five or so years we go to Maui, and one of my favorite things to do there (besides spear hunt wild boar) is rent Vespers and do the road to Hana. It's possibly the most fun thing we've done.

http://roadtohana.com/


Oh man, that must be an absolute blast riding Vespa's!

Many years ago, we did the road to Hana & kept on going all the way around - on the dirt road that you're not supposed to take rental cars on. We did it in a front wheel drive Pontiac... I look back now & realize how crazy we were. This was pre cell phone & there was nothing out there except cows. Plus, we were still out there well after dark.
Just out of curiosity, what do you do with boar you catch? I'm not asking from a peta/tree huging standpoint - I know/have seen how distructive they & goats are to the rain forest. Just wondering if there is a market for that?
 

 

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