Longest distance between natural boundary crossings

[Max Rockatansky]

Unless you count trails it is a long way from CA 190 and Sherman Pass Road through the Sierra Nevada Mountains to Tioga Pass Road and CA 120.  The terrain of the high Sierras isn't impossible but there is at least four cancelled highways that would have crossed it. 

And in the winter the southernmost crossing on the north side is CA 88/NV 88.  CA 4, CA 108, CA 120/Tioga through Yosemite and the Monitor Pass portion of CA 89 are all closed for several months.

It creates an odd situation in Alpine County.  The Bear Valley ski area is just into Alpine County and is near the easternmost point of CA 4 that remains open, but for five months or so it's separated from the rest of the county, including Markleeville, the county seat, by the Ebbetts Pass closure.  It would seem logical to move the county line to the Sierra crest and append the portion of Alpine County west of the crest to adjacent Calaveras County, but Alpine County has barely over 1000 residents and almost no economic activity, so I bet Bear Valley accounts for a huge portion of the county tax revenue.

At this point I'm not even certain why the likes of Alpine County (maybe Sierra County) even exist anymore.  Silver Mountain City long dried up and it's mining district is probably the only reason the Big Trees Road became a state highway (CA 4).  I love it out there but it sure does seem odd that poor old Markleeville exists in it's own little world for several months.  If it was a larger county I would think that there would be a push to have Monitor Pass be an all year road.