Sonora Pass (Hiway 108) -- please be extra-cautious

[profdant139]

We just got back from a camping trip at the top of Sonora Pass in the northern Sierra Nevada. In a week, we saw one bad accident and a couple of near-misses. The bad accident involved a long-bed truck trailer that crossed over the center line and severely damaged an oncoming car -- nobody hurt, but the roadway was blocked. The near-misses both involved fifth-wheels swinging wide on hairpin turns, forcing oncoming traffic to pull onto the shoulder and stop.

The signs at the bottom of the hill say that trailers "30 feet or more from kingpin to axle" are not recommended. In my opinion, that sign is misleading -- it makes it seem that if you are only 25 feet from the hitch-ball or the kingpin to the axle, you are good to go. I would disagree -- the hairpin turns are so sharp and so steep that unless you are about 15 feet from ball to axle (like a pop-up or other small trailer), you will be in danger of collision.

Ironically, the 26 percent grade (which is what had me worried) was really no problem. Going up, just push the throttle down. Going down, just put it into a very low gear and pull over when necessary to let the faster vehicles go by.

But the hairpin turns were no joke. We were amazed to see how many folks with big rigs (both commercial trucks and big trailers or fifth wheels) were chugging up and down that road. It could be that because of a fire on Highways 89 and 4 near Markleeville, the traffic had been diverted to 108, so maybe what we saw was unusual.

[JT]

"In a week, we saw one bad accident and a couple of near-misses. The bad accident involved a long-bed truck trailer that crossed over the center line and severely damaged an oncoming car -- nobody hurt, but the roadway was blocked. The near-misses both involved fifth-wheels swinging wide on hairpin turns, forcing oncoming traffic to pull onto the shoulder and stop."
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108 from Dardanelles to above Leavitt Meadows is NOT a road for large or long vehicles or for inexperienced drivers! I will drive pretty much any road that I can fit on, but taking 108 with an inappropriately-sized vehicle is plain stupid, IMO, to say nothing of the problems and dangers that can be caused for *other drivers* by a too-large vehicle not being able to negotiate the hairpins or steep climbs and/or descents. In most places along the hairiest parts of 108, there is *no* shoulder, just a long drop into the canyon!

Sure, a long/wide/large vehicle might be fine - as long as there's nobody else on the road coming at them.

[paulj]

For another thread I found a county (Mono?) report on vehicle lengths on that road. They regularly deal with incidents like yours, or ones where a semi (5 axle trucks) gets stuck trying to take one of those turns. The combination of tight turn, grades on the curve, and wheels running off the pavement, can tax the truck's power and traction.