Steep drops, no guardrails, zero shoulder, saddles at the top of passes, steep grades, warning signs…. all while pulling a trailer. Hello fear of heights, I thought I had left you far behind but then you found me in the Southwest!
This is Your Last Warning!!!
Is what every driver wants to see as they are cresting a hill at the top of a two lane highway, right? Now what? There is no where to turn around the 24-foot trailer. You might as well say a Hail Mary and bend over and grab your ankles. You’re in it up to your eyeballs and there’s no going back.
Now NV-140 is not what I’d consider a scenic route. It was simply the most direct way to get from Great Basin National Park in Nevada to Crater Lake National Park in Oregon. Little did we know that along the way dust devils would push my sister’s trailer into the next lane (on I-80) and on NV-140 we would encounter mile after mile of increasingly steep switchbacks until reaching the apex and a sign we will never forget. When we read it, we were so shocked that we didn’t have time to snap a picture…. did we read that correctly?? This is your last warning? What exactly does that mean? And what do we do now?
The highway quickly revealed its hand: steep 8% grades, no shoulder, no guardrail. A white knuckled, eyes-closed type of drive for this fearful passenger. It’s a good thing that Kam has nerves of steel. As we descended into the valley, I was grateful that this was a clear, sunny summer day. I could not fathom traveling this highway after dark or in any sort of weather.
Check out this article and YouTube video on Doherty Rim and this drive. The video says it all! https://www.dangerousroads.org/north-america/usa/8218-doherty-rim.html
Capitol Reef to Bryce Canyon on UT-12 aka “The Hogsback”
Sometimes the scenic drive is not the best choice, especially when pulling a trailer. We had other options, but since the route on UT-12 was closer to where we were camping, we thought, why not take the “scenic route”? It started off simple enough – a lightly-traveled two-lane highway slowly meandering through evergreen forests with deer, cattle, and elk crossing signs dotting the shoulders. Happily for me, we were on the opposite side of the highway from the steep drops. Our first wake up and smell the coffee moment was when we suddenly had cattle stopped on the road in front of us. Big Cattle. And a calf. Good thing we had a long way to stop and didn’t have any cars following closely behind us!
Our drive continued winding up and up into the mountains, with the vegetation becoming more and more sparse and the vistas becoming more and more open. The culmination of these views would be awe-inspiring for a person that wasn’t afraid of heights. It was literally a saddle (called “The Hogback) of road with steep drop offs on both sides of the road and NO GUARDRAILS. The views of the surrounding countryside and mountains below were incredible. We were once again driving on a clear summer day without a storm or snow flurry in sight. I certainly would not want to drive this overnight or with any sort of precipitation. I breathed a huge sigh of relief as we descended (with some guardrails) toward the town of Escalante. And even though we needed to head back toward Capitol Reef and Little Wild Horse Canyon later in the week, we opted for an alternate route…. having learned our lesson the first time!
Here are some trip advisor reviews for this drive. And the reviews are mixed. I have no desire to pull anything along this road again but everyone has their own level of comfort. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g56939-d12579243-Reviews-The_Hogback-Boulder_Utah.html
Well, check those two highways off the list. I will avoid repeating these adventures at all costs. While I am sure there are equally scary routes out there, these drives were memorable, and not in a good way.
This article is dedicated to our traveling companions – my sister, Laura, and her white-knuckled husband, Mike, who learned a lot about what to do (and not do) on this inaugural trailer camping adventure!
Hop, Skip & Voyage Away 