Lots more hairpins on the way to the summit, this was probably the best one. Too bad about the cloud cover, could have had some nice views:
Not much to see at the summit of CA 130 on Mount Hamilton. The Lick Observatory was all clouded up and hard to see. Right before the second photo there is actually Caltrans spec 130 shields but I was getting stink eye from someone in a somewhat official looking vehicle. At the Observatory I believe that CA 130 officially becomes "Mount Hamilton Road." Apparently the Lick Observatory is open Thursday through Sunday this time of year...good luck with that tomorrow:
The descent down off the western slop of Mount Hamilton isn't quite as steep as the eastern slope. Supposedly the average grade is within the 6% range which I say it more often than not is below that. Really the biggest hazard is the narrow design of the roadway. Given what I usually do out in the boonies I don't really consider 130 to be that bad considering it is wide enough at all times to have a full two lanes. This must be one hell of a shock though for anyone who is used to driving in the Bay Area or comes from out of state and got the Lick Observatory as a recommendation for sight seeing:
Finally cracked the cloud cover at about 2,700 feet which definitely opened up the views:
Surprisingly there isn't a single vista point to be had approaching San Jose. There is all sorts of signs saying "no parking X miles except emergency" all over the place. I had to take my photos when I was moving, this was the best of the bunch:
Apparently since 2013 CA 130 in San Jose has been relinquished to the city where it turns west off of Mount Hamilton Road to Alum Rock Avenue. Supposedly the relinquishment agreement stated that the city would maintain signage....which they failed completely to do. No end point signage and no CA 130 signage to be had westbound at all below the Lick Observatory. Basically CA 130 ends at US 101:
But I should say that on Mount Hamilton Road there was a ton of CA 130 shields heading eastbound to the summit. I can't comment what the exits for Alum Rock Avenue say on US 101 and I-680 say since I didn't take them.
Mount Hamilton Road has a interesting back story tied to the Lick Observatory. Mount Hamilton Road was constructed in 1876 with the Lick Observatory being built from 1876 to 1887. Supposedly there is 365 curves from the summit down San Jose, I find that claim somewhat dubious since many of them are sweeping and long.
Obviously CA 130 was part of the 1964 renumbering from the previous unsigned LRN 115 which was the previous designation back to 1934. According to Cahwyguy the 1963 definition of CA 130 was from US 101 in San Jose to Mount Hamilton but then it jumped eastward to CA 33 in Patterson in 1988. I find that odd since that seems to imply that CA 130 is continuous to I-5 and CA 33 which Santa Clara County seems to agree with....weird. Supposedly there was a crazy proposal to build CA 130 as a freeway that bypassed Mount Hamilton. Rather than keep borrowing of Cahwyguy's page I'll just link the stub here which includes the San Jose relinquishment above:
http://www.cahighways.org/129-136.htmlGiven the strange nature of CA 130 I figured some maps might clarify the actual end points. The 1990 map seems to indicate CA 130 ends at Mount Hamilton with a proposed extension shown to Patterson (note: check out of the proposed extension of CA 108):
http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~239483~5511824:State-Highway-Map,-1990-?sort=Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No&qvq=q:caltrans;sort:Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No;lc:RUMSEY~8~1&mi=1&trs=86 1988 seems to agree with the end point being Mount Hamilton:
http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~239488~5511826:State-Highway-Map,-1988-?sort=Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No&qvq=q:caltrans;sort:Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No;lc:RUMSEY~8~1&mi=3&trs=86Same thing with 1986 along with the extension to Patterson:
http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~239491~5511828:State-Highway-Map,-1986-?sort=Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No&qvq=q:caltrans;sort:Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No;lc:RUMSEY~8~1&mi=5&trs=86The proposed extension even shows back in 1964 when LRN 115 became CA 130, looks like the paving wasn't complete yet all the way up to Mount Hamilton:
http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~239525~5511850:State-Highway-Map,-California,-1964?sort=Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No&qvq=q:caltrans;sort:Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No;lc:RUMSEY~8~1&mi=27&trs=86Even LRN 115 shows a proposed extension to CA 33 even back in 1963:
http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~239528~5511852:State-Highway-Map,-California,-1963?sort=Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No&qvq=q:caltrans;sort:Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No;lc:RUMSEY~8~1&mi=29&trs=86So....two open questions for anyone who happens to be in the know. First; when was LRN 115 first proposed to extend to CA 33 or was it always that way? Second; when was paving completed on CA 130 up to Mount Hamilton? And I guess a third for anyone who might have some local maps, does CA 130 end at the eastern boundary of Santa Clara County "officially" or is it still Mount Hamilton?