California Hwy CA 108

supercub wrote:
Like I said in an earlier post I was raised in Twain Harte which is on 108 so spent a lot of time up in the country. One time a pickup pulling a trailer going east to west, was very near the summit......and couldn't make it.........wasn't power.......he was spinning his rear tires.couldn't get enough traction. we were able to latch on to him and get him over the pass. I would not recommend it.....but to each their own. Again, if you've never been over Sonora Pass, do so, it's a beautiful drive........just do it in the correct vehicle
Brian

We have friends who retired to the Twain-Harte area. In 2010 we were in Reno and headed south on 395 to drop in on them. At that point I didn't have a clue as to what I was getting it to. We headed west on 108, with our older Tahoe and 26' travel trailer. Talk about making memories. It was a weekday afternoon, so traffic was nearly nonexistent in either direction. The climb was insane, and I really doubted that I was going to make it. Obviously, it was necessary to take the hairpins at a virtual walking pace. By the time I got straightened out for the next stretch of road, and mashed the throttle, there was literally nothing left to give. Nearly undetectable forward momentum, and no available torque from the old gas engine. There were a few times when the wife asked if we were going to make it, or have to turn around. I answered that I didn't know if we would have enough power to make it to the top, and I don't think turning around is going to be a walk in the park either. Once we cleared the hairpins and extreme grades things improved greatly and we slowly trudged to the summit. The ride was awesome, and our friends and their neighbors found it almost impossible to believe that we had made the trip with that rig.