Scariest Place You've Taken Your B

[reppans]

Utah St. Rt. 261, aka Moki Dugway.



On Trip Advisor, this route is actually rated 5 stars and in the top 10% of Utah's attractions :h. Second most scared I've ever been (1st was the Angels Landing hike at Zion :E).

I had no idea what was coming up as I'm driving this dead straight road toward a giant "wall" trying to figure out where the heck the road would go. When I realized it was "UP," I pulled over to consult my map for an alternative route. Needless to say, the half- to full- day detour gave me the courage to give it a go.

Glad I did it - once - but I think this flat-lander will be pre-planning the alternate route next time ;).

[jjson775]

We did the Moki Dugway in a Pleasure Way Excel. Definitely a white knuckle experience! The sign said Max. weight 10,000 lbs. and the Excel loaded in 9500#. Beautiful country tho, a shortcut to Natural Bridges NM.

[reppans]

lfloom wrote:
Well, I cannot unsee this, so thanks.....
And, I skipped Angels Landing. I decided to believe them when they said not to go if you were afraid of heights.

Angel's Landing - I'll let you choose to see it.... or not 😉
Clicky

drsolo wrote:
....But nothing prepared us for the 1972 roads over Andrijevica in Yugoslavia (now Montenegro). The road was being widened (?) and they would just plow a road out of the side of the mountain as they worked on blasting thru the mountain higher up. This was only one lane so you had to look ahead to see if anyone was coming and pull over where the road was wider to let the vehicle thru, or, chance backing up on the switchback, maybe uphill as well. I was ready to abandon the car and walk. The whole driving experience in Yugoslavia (and the rest of Europe) was absolutely beyond belief...

This sounds very similar to my white knuckled drive - they were working on the road at the time, I had to wait ~20mins at one point (took the pix). I blew up some sections of the landscape photo above (for scale) showing the approach road with the yellow sign, and a Class C coming down. Most of it was wide enough for two vehicles to pass, but there were several blind curvy sections like that shown about 1.5 car widths wide - you definitely would have had to back-up to a wide spot if you met another vehicle :E. Wasn't too bad when I was on the inside lane, but "soft shoulder" had a whole new meaning when I was on the outside lane. Fortunately, I didn't meet another vehicle through those tight sections..... but I did come across a pick-up truck towing a 25-30' RV trailer on a wider section :E.

[drsolo]

My mother and I did the switchbacks of Zion (or Bryce?) and frankly while she drove I was scared stiff. But nothing prepared us for the 1972 roads over Andrijevica in Yugoslavia (now Montenegro). The road was being widened (?) and they would just plow a road out of the side of the mountain as they worked on blasting thru the mountain higher up. This was only one lane so you had to look ahead to see if anyone was coming and pull over where the road was wider to let the vehicle thru, or, chance backing up on the switchback, maybe uphill as well. I was ready to abandon the car and walk. The whole driving experience in Yugoslavia (and the rest of Europe) was absolutely beyond belief... like the fact that horse, donkey and ox carts were on the same road as cars and everyone used their parking lights to drive at night and were really indignant if we tried to use our headlights. Everyone drove as fast as they could and they might as well have yanked off their rear view mirrors as much as they used em. We drove a VW "station wagon" with a mattress in the back and mostly camped with local people. It was quite an experience.

[lfloom]

Well, I cannot unsee this, so thanks. Honestly, I was whimpering on Utah's highway 12 (not driving) between Escalante and Boulder, so this one, I would probably just toss myself out the window to end it all.

And, I skipped Angels Landing. I decided to believe them when they said not to go if you were afraid of heights.

[romore]

I assume the 16% grade into Shelter Cove CA would give you grey hairs and religion.:B We did that one with our fiver, no place to turn around. Drop dead beautiful campsite at the bottom though. Ignorance was bliss.