My 4 hour tour
 

I’ve been wanting to do this road for a long time now and finally got a chance to drive the whole thing! The trip was phenomenal. It was raining so I had to take it easy but still had a chance to open it up a little here and there. It starts with the hill climb to the top of Mount Hamilton which is the home of the famous Lick Observatory. This road starts out as a third gear road through hillside homes. There’s usually a little bit of traffic here but I was really lucky on this trip. Had a propane truck in front of me for about ¼ mile and that was it. Continued through the Grant Ranch and started the main stretch up. I drove mostly 2nd gear with an occasional 1st for some of the switchbacks. It was probably about 60 degrees outside, raining and pretty light on the accelerator without revving very high and the oil temp got up to 240. This one’s going to be an issue in the summer if you don’t have an oil cooler. The best part about this stretch was that I only saw 1 car the whole way up and it was parked on the side. There’s multiple drop-offs on the side of the road that must go for a couple of hundred feet. You really don’t want to loose it on one of those! So, got to the top and had a snack. Stretched my legs for a minute or two and then continued on. Next stretch, all the way to the “T” where I hung a right was really cool. No oil cooler required on this stretch but if you want to drive it hard you’re going to need some upgrades to the brakes. Not as steep as the way up but still a good grade. Probably lucky it was raining forcing me to take it easy. Saw 2 vehicles on this stretch, one SUV and 1 plow truck. Don’t know what the heck he was thinking, no way was it going to snow on that peak on this storm. Turned right towards Patterson. Figured I didn’t want anything to do with rush hour through the east bay so I would come in from the south. This road started off ok and got pretty rough for a mile or two. Then it just got better the further I went. No traffic till after the “Rough Terrain Park”. Used to dirt bike so I know I nice park when I see one. That park looked awesome! There were only a couple of campers parked in there and no one riding. WTF, conditions were perfect for them! This is where the traffic started… I must of saw 6 more cars by the time I got to I.5. A word of warning on this stretch. There’s 2 knarly bumps in the road. Could of lost it on the first one. Car must of hit the bottoming out bumpers on the suspension and I ground about 2mm off the front splitter. Would of really sucked if I had a Nismo or aftermarket front end. Probably would of tore it off. The car bounced really hard and may have even come off the ground. There was one more a little later but I hit the brakes really hard before I got to it. Suspension just sucked that one up like it’s supposed to. Somewhere around the red dot on the map. Overall, it was just an awesome trip! I really can’t believe I never had anyone in front or behind me. I took I.5 to 152 and got back into the bay area on 101. 2.5 hours on the mountain and 1.5 hours getting back the fast way.

Very nice man, i wish i could do that one day. I am glad you made it out safe and sound.

Hmm...that road that goes up leads to Mine's road. I would be down to do that road one day with you!

That would be cool getting a couple of Zs going together. :tup: Friend request sent.

I used to do that drive every other week back in the late 90’s early 2000’s. Very peaceful indeed, especially on a weekday! I do not recall it taking 4 hours though (my bad memory) and the back side is awesome if you know where the cattle guards are
;-)

I have some good snow pics of my old 300z while at the top and some ok shots of the twisties somewhere… I’ll have to dig those up and post them.

:driving:

Yeah, 2.5 hours on the twisties. Can probably shave half an hour off that without the rain another 15-20 minutes if you don't stop for a break. Break at the top was real nice. Would of been better if it wasn't right in the clouds and you could actually see something. Maybe cut another 15 minutes on dry roads through 152. Cattle gaurds are all marked with a milemarker looking thing on each side. Also, most have a warning about 100 ft before it. Slowed down for each one. They get really slippery when they're wet.

Fun drive! are the back roads still in good shape these days? minus the wet roads of coarse... I, now, remember the back side would have icy patches as I recall. Did you notice any? I should really do this drive again in my new Z.

Here are some of the pics I dug up:
http://icormba.com/pages/Pictures/1_14_2001/Image29.jpg
Heli-pad in the distance

http://www.the370z.com/members/icorm...-elevation.jpg
Elevation change!

Sounds like an awesome drive, a Bay Area meet and drive through there would be cool. Had a few friends go down on bikes on Mine's though...

Very cool, Mr. B&W Evader. That is a great drive.

thanks for the post - looks like a CA Bucket list road...

Just think. Some people live their whole lives without ever driving roads like that in cars like these. :D

Roads have areas of bad spots but overall it's still in really good shape. Meet and drive would be cool. Not going to advertise it in the open forums though. Would hate for there to be a greeting party there waiting for us. Send me a PM or friend request and I'll get an invite list started.

Man, I'd love to do that on my bike. I go up to Palomar Mountain a few times a year to wring it out. There are some great roads here in San Diego.

Pic of underside where I hit that nasty bump. Splash sheild just got a few grooves added.

+1........

B&W Evader, that sounds like an awesome drive. It would be really fun to take a Z, or any car that has a good suspension on the turns.

Nice roads! Wish I was in Cali right now.

with the weather in CT this past week I feel a road trip like this is coming soon. :tup::driving:

Weather's getting nice here too. Upgrades in the works. Brakes and Oil Cooler. Once installed it'll be time for another drive. A little faster this time.:tup:

get a radar detector or keep an eye out for the 5-0. :tiphat:

Mines Rd
 

Made it over to Mines Road last Friday for some spirited driving. This is a much shorter route. Took the one picture at the Grant Ranch entrance. Here, I checked the time popped in AC/DC Back in Black and got a move on. Little damp on the way up so I held back untill it dried out near the top. Came up on 1 Sunday driver on the way up. He was very curtious and pulled over the let me by. Once I got to the downhill it was time to see how the new brakes were going to hold up. They did great! Ran the car hard but not to the edge. Gave myself a little more braking room on the turns with a cliff on them. This road is great because you have some tight sections and then you have some sections that open up and you can go. I kept in check here, no point flying off road from an unexpected bump. These sections give the brakes a chance to cool down a bit too. There's one section that's about half a mile long that's like a slalom. No road markings so I used every inch. Anyone that's driven this should know what I'm talking about, awesome section! Then it goes back into the twisties. Came up on a truck with a horse trailer. Ended up getting a lucky spot in the road where I got to making an easy pass. Next guy was out for a spirited drive too, he pulled off to let me by. My experience with my fellow drivers up here is excellent! You really need to pay attention on Mines though, there were about 10 bikers (bicycle type) on thier way up as I was heading down. I slowed down once I got to the section where there's the occasional driveway or homestead. Pretty funny as I was coming up on the first traffic light, the last car I passed caught up to me. He must of been haulling a$$ in the populated area to do it. This loop, from Grant Ranch to Tesla Road is about 1hr 45minute. Another hour to get back to the start. Give yourself about 3 hours for the complete loop.

One issue I ran into, when I had everything cooking, brakes & tires, it felt like the car was running over pebbles. Is this the XP8s or the tires overheating?

I'm in for the group drive. Friend request sent.