Road Guy and the Farmer headed up past Silver City while The Wives (Hiking Buddy and I) got in the Botmobile and headed for home. Road Guy gave me lots of helpful instructions as we went up, such as “keep it in compound low”, “no need to lock in the hubs”, “watch those rocks—they can pop a tire”, “stay in the tracks”, etc.
First weird sight.
Second weird sight.
Now, I will be showing you all the scary parts as we head down. (If the drop-off appears on the right side of the photo, it means I photographed it looking back after we got through.)
This drops off steep and far; it looks mild here, but it is not mild in real life.
Just your basic deep crack in the road.
This is Slapjack, looking back.
I stopped getting out to take the photos and started shooting through the windshield.
Nature is doing her best to reclaim the asphalt.
There were great wildflowers, but we were focused on the other thing (getting down the road intact). Hiking Buddy rolled her window down so I could take this picture of lupine and blazing star without getting out again.
Narrow but passable. Sometimes these aren’t marked because there just weren’t enough traffic cones. Those mainly get used when you could go off the edge and land in the East Fork of the Kaweah River. Otherwise, pay attention! (Pay attention no matter what)
Here are the 2 boulders just above Lookout. The first one is from that notch above the road where it had been precariously perched for decades.
I don’t know these yellow flowers.
Farewell-to-Spring was blooming right through a crack in the asphalt.
The potholes were roaring.
I stopped taking photos, we got ourselves down safely in the Botmobile, and Road Guy and the Farmer continued their work up.
Bottom line: if you were uncomfortable about driving the road before, you won’t want to drive it this year. (IF it is even officially open).
10 Comments
Perhaps. It’s hard to believe they would purposely miss the opportunity for campground income!
On the other hand, will the ranger station be staffed at all this summer? Will they write overnight backpack permits since a majority of those are used by non-cabin folk? So many questions!
Sharon, I believe the Park is being purposely vague because they haven’t figured out anything yet.
All I can say is WOW!! Thanks for great pics. Glad we have road guy and farmer and of course the women in their lives.
Hi Laurie! Aren’t they great? (the dudes, I mean)
Definitely not ready for prime time, and probably won’t be until autumn at the earliest, as so many areas will have to be built up to support the outside lane. Not to mention how many slides will have to be cleared and stabilized. Thanks so much for all the great work on the road, and the great documentation!
Laurie, I find the whole enterprise to be immensely interesting—everything from the fire damage to the big rains to the damage, flowing water, new growth, and now the repairs.
That is so scary. I know how far down those “little slides” go. Thanks for sharing. It’s OK with me if you don’t risk any more until our heroes have finished their work.
Donna, I believe our heroes have done all that they can. It is now up to the Park to hire contractors, or maybe to use their own (paid) crew, or maybe Federal Highways to repair things.
It’s not the washouts that are the challenge–it’s the hundreds-of-feet drop into the canyon, yikes!
Important Note: According to SEKI, the road will NOT be “officially open” to the public this summer.
Sharon, keep your eyes above the waste.
I wonder if the Park will change its position later in the season. . .
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