CA 173, former CA 2 and the last dirt segment of State Highway

[Max Rockatansky]

I had a recent visit to the western portion of CA 173 from CA 138 near Cajon Pass.  I drove to the closure of the dirt segment of State Highway near Mojave Forks Dam at a trail head for the Pacific Crest Trail.  Not only is the four miles of closed road east of Mojave Forks the last four in the State Highway system that is dirt it is also the pre-1958 alignment of CA 2.  Kind of a shame not being able to drive a dirt segment of State Highway, they weren't exactly uncommon when I lived in Arizona.

https://www.gribblenation.org/2019/05/california-state-route-173-former.html

[sparker]

I had a recent visit to the western portion of CA 173 from CA 138 near Cajon Pass.  I drove to the closure of the dirt segment of State Highway near Mojave Forks Dam at a trail head for the Pacific Crest Trail.  Not only is the four miles of closed road east of Mojave Forks the last four in the State Highway system that is dirt it is also the pre-1958 alignment of CA 2.  Kind of a shame not being able to drive a dirt segment of State Highway, they weren't exactly uncommon when I lived in Arizona.

https://www.gribblenation.org/2019/05/california-state-route-173-former.html

While a number of maps, including the 1959 state highway map (that coincidentally showed the initial iteration of the state Freeway & Expressway System) did show SSR 2 signed completely along LRN 59, which included present CA 138 from I-15 to CA 173 and the entirety (paved or not) of CA 173, the actual field signage of SSR 2 was directly along today's CA 138, which included old LRN 188 from LRN 59 down to LRN 43/SSR 18; back in '59, my dad took the family on a weekend outing over this route in its entirety; it was marked with a combination of 1953-spec (larger non-bear) white enamel shields with button-copy numbers as well as later white shields with reflective material applied (which turned the shields to a darker "eggshell" shade).  Most of the enamel shields were in the Cajon Pass area at or near the junction with US 66/91/395 and the town of Crestline near the eastern end of SSR 2 signage; interim shields between those points were mainly of the later reflective variety.  Sorry for no pix; I was  9 at the time, and didn't get my first camera until I was 12.  But I remember the signage clearly -- about that time, there were still plenty of "bear" shields out there, particularly on surface roads that had been signed for a long time -- but SSR 2's signage east of Cajon Pass didn't occur until at least 1957, so obviously newer shields were applied at the time -- they probably used the enamel "base" shields until they ran out of them, then switched to the newer reflective ones -- which became commonplace on state-signed freeways until the switch to green with the '64 renumbering.     

[Max Rockatansky]

I had a recent visit to the western portion of CA 173 from CA 138 near Cajon Pass.  I drove to the closure of the dirt segment of State Highway near Mojave Forks Dam at a trail head for the Pacific Crest Trail.  Not only is the four miles of closed road east of Mojave Forks the last four in the State Highway system that is dirt it is also the pre-1958 alignment of CA 2.  Kind of a shame not being able to drive a dirt segment of State Highway, they weren't exactly uncommon when I lived in Arizona.

https://www.gribblenation.org/2019/05/california-state-route-173-former.html

While a number of maps, including the 1959 state highway map (that coincidentally showed the initial iteration of the state Freeway & Expressway System) did show SSR 2 signed completely along LRN 59, which included present CA 138 from I-15 to CA 173 and the entirety (paved or not) of CA 173, the actual field signage of SSR 2 was directly along today's CA 138, which included old LRN 188 from LRN 59 down to LRN 43/SSR 18; back in '59, my dad took the family on a weekend outing over this route in its entirety; it was marked with a combination of 1953-spec (larger non-bear) white enamel shields with button-copy numbers as well as later white shields with reflective material applied (which turned the shields to a darker "eggshell" shade).  Most of the enamel shields were in the Cajon Pass area at or near the junction with US 66/91/395 and the town of Crestline near the eastern end of SSR 2 signage; interim shields between those points were mainly of the later reflective variety.  Sorry for no pix; I was  9 at the time, and didn't get my first camera until I was 12.  But I remember the signage clearly -- about that time, there were still plenty of "bear" shields out there, particularly on surface roads that had been signed for a long time -- but SSR 2's signage east of Cajon Pass didn't occur until at least 1957, so obviously newer shields were applied at the time -- they probably used the enamel "base" shields until they ran out of them, then switched to the newer reflective ones -- which became commonplace on state-signed freeways until the switch to green with the '64 renumbering.     

The field signage (at least on State Highway Maps that I noted in the blogs) jumped to LRN 188 circa 1957/1958 to Crestline.  I'm not really surprised having driven the LRN 188 section of CA 138 why it probably wasn't chosen for CA 2 on the onset of the route.  The LRN 188 portion of CA 138 still has some massive grades (I seem to recall 7% at least for several miles) which would it made it kind of a toss up at the time.  Lake Arrowhead was probably a bigger attraction in the early 1930s and certainly a dirt highway would have been the norm in rural areas

[sparker]

^^^^^^^^^
Even in the late '50's when SSR 2 signage was posted, most L.A. area drivers would have been apoplectic upon encountering a dirt road on a signed state highway (hey, in the aggregate they don't even respond to rain particularly well!).  And seeing as how Crestline is in effect Lake Arrowhead's "twin city" (my ex actually lived off Grass Valley Road, the default dividing line between the two), D8 probably calculated that taking the path of least resistance (as far as the driving public went) was the safe choice -- besides, they could just get on SSR 18 for a few miles and hit the other end of LRN 59 to get to Lake Arrowhead Village, the longstanding tourist zone of that area.  Yeah, LRN 188 and CA 138 afterward feature some convoluted alignments (your pix illustrate that quite well!), nasty curvature, and heavy gradients -- not to mention a shitload of blind driveways! -- but at least it's not an unimproved and largely ungraded dirt road (which I have taken on a few occasions prior to the closing of the gates).