Not all roads were meant to be driven! Either they’re not well maintained, or they’re just not in nice neighborhoods. Here’s a recap of the 10 most terrifying drives I’ve taken on my California adventures!
10. The Snows of Sequoia!
The air was so cold, my fingertips were cracking! I had very foolishly gone into Sequoia National Park one February morning before the rangers had set up their tire chain installation station and pulled over to snap a photo, on an icy hill. The “Whir! Whir!” of the tires let me know I was sunk! So, for half an hour, in the freezing air, with no one around for miles, I buckled down and managed to install the tire chains all by myself! That victory was almost as sweet as the hot chocolate waiting at Wuksachi Lodge!
9. Bailed out of Barstow!
As I stood on the roof of the car, surrounded by coyotes and flashing my flashlight into the darkness, I realized, never, ever follow a sign that says “Hysterical Marker: 5936 Inches Ahead!” It had led me away from Camp Cady, down a winding road, through sandy washes, and up onto a bluff, where I had to slam on the brakes to keep from going over the edge! The tires sank into the sand, and I dug until my fingers bled, but to no avail! Then I realized I had cell phone reception and called AAA! They sent a truck, and the coyotes went home hungry!
8. 1-Mile Dirt Road, No Reception!
Mini Coopers were not meant for off-roading! But, my friend, Malcolm, and I were on a mission to find Palm Spring in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park! We took off into the desert, not really knowing what we were looking for, when we started to hit sand, literally! It was so deep that we were skidding and the sandbars were scraping the bottom of the car! At any moment, we could have gotten stuck in the middle of the desert with no cell phone reception! Sometimes, it’s best to turn around, which we did, and barely made it out without getting totally stuck!
7. Down Mexico Way!
What do you do when you hit a Border Patrol checkpoint and one of your good friends isn’t a US Citizen? That’s what happened when I took my friends, Brian and Felipe, to Campo in San Diego County to see the famous Stone Store and Camp Lockett. Brian is a citizen and I am a naturalized beaver, but Felipe was from Chile and was still working on his citizenship! I was sweating pretty hard, because I didn’t want Felipe to get in trouble, but he had brought his work visa! The officer warned me to drive safely, and we were on our way!
6. 13-Mile Dirt Road, No Reception!
There’s a song about Picacho Road that begins: “I hate this road. I hate this road. Please do not make me go.” I listened to it before I started, and my finger marks must still be on the steering wheel to this day! The 13-mile road to Picacho Mines is moderately maintained and between gravel and sharp downhill turns through loose sand! The whole time, between quick braking and gunning it out of the sand, I thought, “If I get stuck, it’s more than a day’s walk back to civilization!” I made it to the mine without getting stuck, but it was a long, scary 13 miles back the way I came!
5. The Lost World!
Guides for this place recommend that landmark hunters stay in their cars! That’s because what was once Driftwood Charley’s World of Lost Art is now a ruin near a trailer park within sight of the Mexican border, and apparently, it’s a place where many desperate people hide and camp! The problem is, when you’re looking for a landmark with no plaque, it takes extra time to find the ruins, which put me down roads that I shouldn’t have been down! I heard some spooky noises and twig crackles, so I had to cut this mission short! I think the guide was right!
4. 56.2-Mile Dirt Road, No Reception, Night!
Imagine navigating 56.2 miles of narrow, backcountry washboard with stretches of razor-sharp rocks and loose gravel, in the black of a desert night, surrounded by hundreds of newly-hatched tarantulas! That’s what it took to reach the Bennett-Arcane Long Camp plaque in Death Valley National Park! By the time I reached the plaque, I had almost gotten stuck in the sand twice, I was totally exhausted because it was nearly 11:00 PM, and after I’d snapped the photo, I still had 39.5 miles to go to get back on pavement, with a mildly flat tire!
3. Ford Every Stream!
A nice jaunt to Letts Valley turned into a wild ride down a long, dirt track that my GPS called “Bear Creek Road!” It wound steeply downhill, past a number of signs reading “Private Land: No Trespassing,” and a truck of surly-looking country folk! I figured I could outrun them until I hit a creek! I had two options: backtrack ten miles up or ford the creek. Since it was 30+ miles to civilization, and I had no reception, I took a chance and gunned it! I swerved, fish-tailed, stalled, and scrambled up the other side with only a single flat tire on the poor Kia!
2. That’s Not a Road!
It was 10:00 at night, and my GPS had directed me onto a trail, not a road, but a trail, and to make matters worse, she never recalculated! And it was a steep one too! It led to the top of a hill, and a little house with a little light and a yard full of car wreckage! Some of it looked fresher than the rest! So I made the most terrified 50-point turn you can imagine and hauled tail out of there, later to discover that, had I ignored my GPS, I could have taken the paved, northern road into Malakoff Diggins State Park!
1. The Gremlins of the Night!
I spent the night on a dark road just up from Fort Ross, planning to get up and go, first thing. At about midnight, a bright light woke me from my slumber! It was a Sonoma County sheriff’s deputy, asking me if I felt safe sleeping here. I thought so, until he told me about a recent “incident” involving a couple camping in a car just down the road and that the “Gremlins of the Night” liked to prey on car campers in this area! He was pretty sure I was safe but wanted me to be aware. Then he drove away and left me in a cold sweat for the rest of the night!
What’s the most terrifying drive you’ve ever taken in California? Let me know in the Comments!