I took a trip to Mammoth Lakes last weekend.
I defnitely enjoyed the drive on the 395. Nearly all of it (except for Lone Pine, Indepedence, Big Pine, and Bishop) are at freeway speeds. I defjnitely enjoyed looking at the steeply-rising Sierra Nevada Mountains
The highest traffic signal in California is the intersection of Lake Mary Road and Canyon Boulevard. (It is not the highest elevation traffic signal in the U.S., or the world)
One thing I noticed is that the mileage sign just right at the 203/395 interchange listyed the distance to downtown L.A. at 306 miles. But the distance (using 395/14/Angeles Forest/2/5) is only 295 miles.
I'm planning to get to the Eastern Sierra first weekend in November, hopefully before the roads close. It was suggested I do a long loop that includes the Mammoth area and CA-120. The 395 from the 14 junction to Mammoth is indeed one of my favorite drives because you can follow the escarpment of the Sierra.
As for LA, the mileage is likely based on the "zero point" of city hall, not the actual city limits. So that will be farther south than the point where you enter LA.
Quote from: dbz77 on October 16, 2022, 01:39:31 PM
I took a trip to Mammoth Lakes last weekend.
I defnitely enjoyed the drive on the 395. Nearly all of it (except for Lone Pine, Indepedence, Big Pine, and Bishop) are at freeway speeds. I defjnitely enjoyed looking at the steeply-rising Sierra Nevada Mountains
The highest traffic signal in California is the intersection of Lake Mary Road and Canyon Boulevard. (It is not the highest elevation traffic signal in the U.S., or the world)
One thing I noticed is that the mileage sign just right at the 203/395 interchange listyed the distance to downtown L.A. at 306 miles. But the distance (using 395/14/Angeles Forest/2/5) is only 295 miles.
Too bad you missed Bluesapalooza. Good times.
Quote from: Quillz on October 16, 2022, 04:13:12 PM
I'm planning to get to the Eastern Sierra first weekend in November, hopefully before the roads close. It was suggested I do a long loop that includes the Mammoth area and CA-120. The 395 from the 14 junction to Mammoth is indeed one of my favorite drives because you can follow the escarpment of the Sierra.
As for LA, the mileage is likely based on the "zero point" of city hall, not the actual city limits. So that will be farther south than the point where you enter LA.
Actually, thwe odometer read 295 when I was in the vicinitgy of DTLA. (I just rememberedf to reset the odometer when I entered 395 southbound from 203.)
Might also be due to realignments over the decades. Most of the mileposts will date back to 1964, and don't really get adjusted because it's more about having unique numbers, as opposed to being absolutely correct. I'm not overly familiar with the routes you took, but they very likely were shortened and straightened over time, which can add up to reduced mileage.
Quote from: Quillz on October 16, 2022, 04:13:12 PM
I'm planning to get to the Eastern Sierra first weekend in November, hopefully before the roads close.
Caltrans usually closes the mountain passes as storms approach to prevent people from getting stuck in the mountains. Such as today:
https://twitter.com/CaltransDist10/status/1587467243855544323
Another storm is forecast for this weekend. Depending on the weather forecast the Sierra passes may or may not reopen at all; a winter closure usually isn't declared until around Thanksgiving but it may in fact already have happened.
The highways east of the Sierra crest, such as CA 89/Monitor Pass and CA 120 between US 395 and US 6, don't get as much precipitation and are more likely to be kept open until the major winter snows hit.
Looks like I lucked out, I was able to do my entire loop as planned. Sounds like if I waited until this weekend (which I considered as I was driving with a cold/flu), things would have been closed.
The distance is most likely calculated using the US 395/US 6 routing (with US 6 being CA 14/I-5 these days). That routing is a bit longer.