Just Back From Victorville

[black85vette]

We made the trip to the festival again this year. Our trips have become a little more focused. We select a smaller segment so we can spend more time exploring. Last year was Albuquerque to Flagstaff. This year was Flagstaff to LA. Trying to fill in some of the isolated smaller segments that require backtracking or connecting roads to get to. One of the highlights this year was taking the 1914 toll road alignment down the Cajon Pass and then going back up the 1926 US66 alignment all the way to near the top of the pass.

 

Spent a little more time around Pasadena this time and explored several of the alignments around there. Got a bunch of pics of the older bridges.

 

Had a fun time at the festival and got to visit with some of our favorite roadies. Attendance was down quite a bit. Likely the hot August weather in VV had something to do with it. We cut our time there short and went for a drive up to Big Bear / Crestline. Getting up to 8,000 feet cooled things off and then we got some rain.

 

Seems like we never get to see it all. There are still plenty of places on our bucket list.

[Keep the Show on the Road!]

Sounds like a great trip!

 

Following the 1914 toll road sounds especially interesting. I'll now have to do little research on that.

 

Thanks for the info!

 

Dave

 

Keep the Show on the Road!

[black85vette]

Here is the research done for you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w05830KU78o&list=UUHiS8LBuEYs8NqmVyTG9YAg&index=1&feature=plcp

 

Only thing I take exception to is that the video identifies the 1914 alignment as the first path that 66 took. I have seen maps from 1924 that show 66 following the alignment that would be used in the 1930's until the current I-15 alignment replaced it. Not the 1914 road.

 

The 1914 road is in pretty good shape. Saw several passenger cars on it. The 1926 alignment is pretty much 4wd only.

[Keep the Show on the Road!]

Thanks for the interesting video. It was quite useful.

 

I grew up in So. Cal. and I recall Dad telling stories about how he and my uncle used to race the steam trains down the pass. This was in the 30's so I suppose he was on old 66.

 

Dave

 

Keep the Show on the Road!

[black85vette]

All through the 70's we went up and down Cajon Pass headed for the Shadow Mountian / El Mirage Dry Lake area to ride dirt bikes. We would often meet up at the Summit Inn at the top of the pass for breakfast. We would at times take the old road down the pass rather than I-15.

 

Just wish I had more interest in exploring 66 back when I lived there and so many of the sites had not been picked over by "collectors".

[DennyG]

Dang! How did I miss you in Victorville? Or did I meet you and forget or meet you and not connect you with "black85vette"?

[Keep the Show on the Road!]

 

Just wish I had more interest in exploring 66 back when I lived there and so many of the sites had not been picked over by "collectors".

 

 

Yah, lots of artifacts from the earlier days were still around in the 70's. We used to enjoy ghost towning. In those days, at least in Oregon, you could fairly easily find abandoned mining towns and farm communities with houses that still had furniture, and even the old dishes still on the shelves.

 

Then folks decided that the weathered siding would look great in the family room, and the old stove and kitchen ware would be great souvenirs....or worse yet, it would be fun to break all of them.

 

I am a long time fan of all the old roads like 66, but I like the National Parks Highway the most. Very few even know it exists. So it is the 1970's again....almost.

 

If you still have your dirt bike, you can take abandoned segments of the NPH past abandoned 1930's automobiles and old roadside signs. You can peer into abandoned hotels, find old garage and hotel signs, and even old road maps still displayed in abandoned service stations.

 

What you won't find is a single example of a business catering to NPH travelers....no fame or celebrity whatsoever. That has it's advantage and disadvantages. The advantage is you can be the first person to discover a roadside artifact. The disadvantage is no one but you gives a damn!

 

Dave

 

Keep the Show on the Road!

[black85vette]

@Denny; we did not stay long at the festival and don't think we crossed paths. It was so dang hot we skipped the car show. Ended up spending a few hours visiting with Mike Ward, Jerry McClanahan, Jim Ross, Terry Moore and Michael Wallis then headed for LA. Last year in Amarillo, Charlie from St Louis spotted my Corvette cap and an Oklahoma Rt 66 shirt and asked if I was black85vette! Small world. This year I ran into Phil Gordon (http://route66.atwebpages.com) in Seligman. We had never met face to face but were exchanging emails only to find we were only 5 miles away from each other. Always fun to run into another 66 nut. If you are passing through Yukon OK on a 66 trip give me a shout.

 

@Dave "The advantage is you can be the first person to discover a roadside artifact. The disadvantage is no one but you gives a damn". Yeah. Kind of felt that way about Hwy 60 last year. Lots of exploring and fun but not many to share it with. No dirt bike anymore. Like to travel in the comfort of a 4wd SUV. Still manage to get off road on most trips.

[Ian Bowen]

Somehow I seem to have missed you in Victorville, as well! (I'm RoadsRediscovered on Swa's Rte 66 forum)

 

It's good to hear someone else has made it into Cajon Pass off the interstate, but which route are you referring to? All my research and experience suggests that the first paved road built in 1914 and likely paved in the late teens isn't really accessible at all except on foot. I hiked to the remnants of that road that formed the early alignment of 66 and the remnant of the three-lane alignment built in the early 30s at the very top of the pass, but that's only accessible to government and utility company vehicles through a locked gate on the left-hand side of NB I-15.

 

The toll road actually dates from the 1860s when John Brown was contracted to widen the Old Spanish Trail through the pass in order to make it viable for wagon use.

[Keep the Show on the Road!]

Ian,

 

I am 20 (closer to 50) years and 2000 miles out of touch with Cajon Pass, but I wanted to welcome you and your expertise to the Forum!

 

 

Dave

 

Keep the Show on the Road!

[black85vette]

Ian; I drove all the way from highway 138 north on the old alignment. It is 4wd only and VERY rough. I ended up going north on the power line service road back to Phelan Rd. Did not encounter any gates or locks. The only part I did not explore it the part that is between the north and south bound interstate where it crossed back over to the east side near the Summit Inn.

 

Just noticed the video was changed. New link is here;

 

Go to 3:20 in the video and you will see the picture I took with my wife and Xterra. I sent them the photo and gave them permission to use it since getting to that location is really difficult.