mountain scenery | Stoness Travel Blog

Mountain Driving

Mountains provide great scenery, and camping, but it’s necessary to drive up and down them with our RVs. Mountains keep us on our toes. Some mountains are more of a challenge than others, but any hilly road deserves respect. Those who are accustomed to steep hills and

Decsending Grand Mesa, Colorado — Descending Grand Mesa, Colorado

crooked roads know that there is a different set of rules in force than the one you use on the flatlands.

It takes power to climb. When you are buying a travel trailer, make sure that you’ve selected a tow vehicle that is

matched to the load. Be aware that sometimes vehicle dealers do not always know all the answers, or perhaps they just want to move a vehicle that’s sat too long on the lot. If you’re preparing to buy, then do research, research, research. Ask questions, and don’t accept partial unsatisfactory answers. And this goes both for tow vehicles, and trailers, or motorhomes.

You don’t want to be the one hauling a massive 5th wheel on the highway when your truck’s manual says that the load is too big. Yes, it may pull it, but the heavy RV is more than the frame, springing, tires, and brakes were designed to handle.

Make sure that you have a transmission cooler. A car or truck’s oil can get very hot under a constant heavy load such as a long climb. Not too long ago, I climbed to over 10,000 feet in 2^nd gear. It was a 16 mile grind, yet there was no overheating.

It’s always a shocker when you start to loose speed. Sometimes the road does not appear to be climbing very steeply, and you start to wonder if there is some problem. Be prepared to shift to a lower gear, then just climb the mountain and enjoy it. Look at the beauty of the place and learn to love the mountains. There may be sometimes 10-20 mile per hour curves, and if you are going up be

prepared for what follows, and that may be a steep climb. Just be prepared for the fact that you are not going to win any speed records. Be courteous to faster cars and on straight stretches move over to the right a little so the one behind can see past you. Most will pass. It will be easy for them, unless you are the type that speeds up and won’t let them past. And of course we know that no RVer would do that. It’s a black mark against our whole RVing family.

Many people are frightened of descending. When it’s time to come down, gear back. Drive down hills as if you have something to save other than time. You have, you know, your life, and that of your family’s. On some grades, even low gear will not hold you back. You are going to have to use your brakes. Avoid using them steadily. Let the speed build up a bit, and then slow it down with your brakes. This way you can get some cooling of the brakes in between applications.

If you a driving a motorhome with a car in tow, use a system like the Brake Buddy to apply the brakes in the car. A four thousand pound car can push you pretty good, not only on steep hills, but also when traffic conditions force you to stop quickly, and will certainly help your motorhome brakes heat up, and also wear more rapidly. Inspect your trailer brakes before beginning your vacation, and make sure they are pulling evenly. Now, go out and enjoy the trip.

Happy RVing!

For more than four decades James Stoness has travelled the roads of North America, photographing and writing about what he has seen. His travel articles and beautiful pictures have been published in several magazines and newspapers. He is also the author of five western novels. Visit him at StonessRvTravel.com

Visit North Carolina’s Grandfather Mountain

Many tourists who drive the Blue Ridge Parkway take time to visit the famed Grandfather Mountain in North Carolina. There they walk across the Mile High Swinging Bridge, scramble over the rocks to a comfortable viewing point to view the countryside below.

The 69 metre suspension bridge jumps a 24 metre chasm between two outcropping of the rugged mountain structure at an elevation of 1617 metres. Don’t be misled by the movements of the swinging suspension bridge as you walk across. It is a well built structure and firmly anchored, as it needs to be. The winds can really whistle through these peaks sometimes. Note the trees up here with their limbs all pointing in one direction. It’s easy to see where the wind blows from most of the time.

There are several hiking trails for your enjoyment. Since the mountain is home to many endangered species it is one place you can go to see rare plants. When we were there the mountain ash trees were loaded with red berries and along with the dazzling displays of flowers it was a great visual feast. Adding to the enjoyment were the frequent far views visible from the open mountain side.

There are several habitats for a variety of animals where you can get close to the animals. Nearby there is an inside museum with area exhibits. There is also a homemade candy shop that you will enjoy visiting to replace some of the energy you’ll use up roaming among the sites.

Happy RVing

This Hill is Almost Too Big

The Big Hill is just that, a mighty steep hill. It probably has another name, but to the locals it’s just the Big Hill. It’s found along the River Road in Texas, between Presidio and Lajitas. The River Road is a terrific drive…. for a small vehicle. It’s rolly and crooked with great views of the massive cliffs along the river and the occasional far view make it very photogenic. Just across the river is Mexico, but would be a difficult trip from here.

On this road the only drawback for heavy RV’s is the Big Hill. If you are driving west, the Hill begins near the wigwam at the rest area along the Rio Grande. Ahead the thousand foot cliffs reach out almost to the river’s edge and space for a road is limited. The road builders used a winding game trail and turned it into a road to reach a narrow gap and pass down the other side of the cliffs. To do this it is necessary to climb a 16% grade for a mile, and then descend a 16% grade down for a mile. There’s no way around it if you want to go this way.

RV’s have had trouble on this hill. And lots of others have made the trip without any problems. If you have trouble you are a long way from help. This is a very isolated part of the country. We approached the hill knowing what to expect and even with gearing down we found our speed decreased dramatically fast before we had proceeded very far up the grade. It got slower and slower until I was convinced we would stop before we reached the top. We didn’t, but our speed at the top was less than 5 mph. If the hill had been 100 feet longer we would have had problems. It was after that trip that we added the Banks system for better exhaust and breathing and more power.

Top of car just appearing over the hill.

The trip down the other side was no problem. Keeping it in low gear and not allowing the vehicle to speed up too much before we braked back down kept us at safe speed down this steep and crooked hill, without heating up the brakes. We went back later with just the car. What a difference! Easy drive!

If you visit Big Bend National Park and you want to head farther west, you will find that on a map this road looks really good. Except for the Big Hill, it is.

Happy RVing