First time driving mountains

JimFromJersey wrote:
Here's what I've come up with, as a generalization, yet an accurate one. For the most part, grades west of the Mississippi, especially on interstates and good 4-lane federal or state highways, are LONG, but not especially STEEP. They have more room out there to build highways on. In the east, especially along the Appalachians in NC, Tenn, Georgia, and in the Adirondacks and such in New England, some of the grades are, interstates not included, STEEP, but short. There are some grades in West Virginia up near Morgantown that are 7% on an interstate, but they're only a half mile or so long.

So the west has long, shallower grades, and the east has short, steep ones. It's all about how much room there is to build roads. The east is all folded up and narrow, compared to the west. Steeper grades, tighter corners. Hell, there are some bridge off-ramps in the east that are steeper, shorter, and scarier than anything I ever drove out west.

Generally.

I find this to be a very accurate description. We have had our 32,000 lb motorhome in South Dakota, Wyoming, Montana, and Colorado and found the big difference is the grades can be very long. One thing to remember is even through the mountains out west are higher, you usually start the assent at a higher elevation. You can be driving along in what looks like a flat desert and the elevation is over 6000 feet. On the other hand, our daughter rented a cabin up above Wears Valley near Pigeon Forge and the road was so steep our Honda CRV almost did not make it in low gear. Obviously the developer did not have to follow any state road requirements.

Bob