Any SF Bay Area riders ridden Last Chance Road recently?

Mike Logan said:

I'm planning to climb Last Chance Road from Swanton to 236 this
Sunday, and was wondering if anybody had been on it recently. Is
the route easy to follow in the uphill direction, or is there a
chance of getting lost?

At a couple of junctures, lesser used roads branch off while the main
flow seems to continue to the park boundary, passing the old mill site
where there are sheds, an unused fire engine and other vehicles at
times. After that the road gets narrower after it crosses a large
concrete slab that lies at an angle to the road.

The rod goes into an oak forest as unused side roads peel off to the
left where there is a huge VW beetle cemetery all covered with leaves.
The road makes an abrupt right turn after that and starts a gentle
descent into Last Chance Creek, from which it descends into the Waddell
Creek canyon:

(Last Chance south)
http://terraserver-usa.com/image.aspx?T=2&S=12&Z=10&X=706&Y=5131&W=3
(Last chance north)
http://terraserver-usa.com/image.aspx?T=2&S=12&Z=10&X=708&Y=5136&W=3
(Last Chance Big Basin)
http://terraserver-usa.com/image.aspx?T=2&S=12&Z=10&X=708&Y=5139&W=3

On the last sheet the road is hard to see, going diagonally from Last
Chance Creek to Hinn Hammond Rd. with its paved part past the sewage
treatment plant. This part, although no longer a road because some
do-gooders spent park money to truck in soil and boulders to
obliterate what was a road on which one could drive a car. To make up
for that, the single track they created is no longer visited by
outdoors people even though this is a beautifully scenic canyon with
spherical swimming holes in bed rock between towering cliffs.

http://www.geocities.com/rayhosler/jobst/corn.htm

Jobst Brandt

Quoted message said:

Mike Logan said:

I'm planning to climb Last Chance Road from Swanton to 236 this
Sunday, and was wondering if anybody had been on it recently. Is
the route easy to follow in the uphill direction, or is there a
chance of getting lost?

At a couple of junctures, lesser used roads branch off while the main
flow seems to continue to the park boundary, passing the old mill site
where there are sheds, an unused fire engine and other vehicles at
times. After that the road gets narrower after it crosses a large
concrete slab that lies at an angle to the road.

Well, we made it through, but I would strongly discourage anybody from
attempting it in the uphill direction. Whereas coming downhill, you
would basically get funneled out to Swanton road, going uphill there
are many many confusing forks. We made a few wrong turns and were
about to give up before finding the park boundary. The hike through
Big Basin to Hinn Hammond road also wouldn't fit most people's
definition of cycling. Perhaps Jobst can ride the length of it, but I
certainly couldn't, not on 700x23s anyway. Too much loose sand and
rocks that swallow skinny tires.

-Mark

| Well, we made it through, but I would strongly discourage anybody from
| attempting it in the uphill direction. Whereas coming downhill, you
| would basically get funneled out to Swanton road, going uphill there
| are many many confusing forks. We made a few wrong turns and were
| about to give up before finding the park boundary.

At last, a legit use for a Garmin '705 on a bike! Almost makes me want to
try your ride.

--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com

<[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
| On Jun 12, 12:23 pm, [email hidden] wrote:
| > Mike Logan wrote:
| > > I'm planning to climb Last Chance Road from Swanton to 236 this
| > > Sunday, and was wondering if anybody had been on it recently. Is
| > > the route easy to follow in the uphill direction, or is there a
| > > chance of getting lost?
| >
| > At a couple of junctures, lesser used roads branch off while the main
| > flow seems to continue to the park boundary, passing the old mill site
| > where there are sheds, an unused fire engine and other vehicles at
| > times. After that the road gets narrower after it crosses a large
| > concrete slab that lies at an angle to the road.
|
| Well, we made it through, but I would strongly discourage anybody from
| attempting it in the uphill direction. Whereas coming downhill, you
| would basically get funneled out to Swanton road, going uphill there
| are many many confusing forks. We made a few wrong turns and were
| about to give up before finding the park boundary. The hike through
| Big Basin to Hinn Hammond road also wouldn't fit most people's
| definition of cycling. Perhaps Jobst can ride the length of it, but I
| certainly couldn't, not on 700x23s anyway. Too much loose sand and
| rocks that swallow skinny tires.
|
| -Mark