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France: Col Agnel (2744 m) A European Roads video

Started by bing101, March 09, 2019, 01:03:26 PM

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bing101



nexus73

For a North American version, drive the highway between Clarkston WA and Enterprise OR.  The Wallowa Mountains get compared to the Alps by the people who live in this area.  Between the trip on this road (SR 129 WA/SR 3 OR) and seeing this video, it looks like similar drives and scenes along with even lighter traffic than this European road has. 

Want a close second?  SR 140 in the OR/NV state line is also crooked and high up in the mountains.  Don't look down!  If you fall off of this road it is a long ways to the bottom.

Hairpins you say?  SR 242, which used to be the main route from Eugene to Bend, has more than any other highway in Oregon AFAIK.

Super narrow, super slow gravel anyone?  What used to be SR 1's northernmost stretch will take you to Humboldt County's Lost Coast.  There is no more physically challenging road that I have ever encountered as it will beat you to pieces as it wends south of Ferndale, which for a small isolated town has one of the best restored downtowns you will ever see.  By the time you get to Honeydew, a tiny hamlet, you can choose to head for the dead end by going south or else give yourself a chance to recuperate by going east to US 101.  I would advise the latter!  Besides, you get a great look at a lot of redwoods. 

Two scenes stand out above all else on this drive. The first is being so high up that the ocean and sky blend together.  For the second, once you reach the ocean you will encounter a black sand beach.  It is a dramatic sight.

Too bad it is such a terrible road!

Rick

US 101 is THE backbone of the Pacific coast from Bandon OR to Willits CA.  Industry, tourism and local traffic would be gone or severely crippled without it being in functioning condition in BOTH states.

Chris

I also took some photos of the pass:


Col Agnel-9 by European Roads, on Flickr


Col Agnel-10 by European Roads, on Flickr

Interesting, it says 'Italie' which is French. In Italian it would be 'Italia'.

Col Agnel-5 by European Roads, on Flickr

There is also only a border sign for Italy, not for France.

Col Agnel-7 by European Roads, on Flickr

Bickendan

Interesting, it looks like the French side is the rain shadow.

Chris

Which is interesting, because weather systems generally move west to east in most of Europe (which would lead to the Italian side being in the rain shadow). I assume weather systems from the Gulf of Genoa have more influence here. Northwest Italy is known to get enormous amounts of snow in the winter and large amounts of rain in the fall.



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