North Meets South 2013...rocks on highway 1 north of Cambria

[Eric Meyer]

Just an FYI for those of you coming southbound to North Meets South in Cambria this year. Highway one... north of Cambria to the Monterey county line was repaved last year by CalTrans. They used an unusually large size aggregate. The road is rough and there are a very large amount of loose large 1/2- 3/4" stones tossed up by cars as you drive it. A drive at this time over this section will result in one or more large stone chips in your car. This is not a "might result in chips"... you absolutely will get rock chips.

I would recommend not driving through Big Sur all the way to Cambria. IF you do want to come south through Big Sur... stop before you get down to SLO county and take Nacimiento Ferguson Road from Mill Creek area over to Camp Hunter Liggett and then go right on Mission Road, right on Jolon road (G14), Right on Interlake Road (still G14), right on Nacimiento Lake Drive (still G14), Right on Chimney Rock RD, left on Adelaide road, Right on Vineyard dr., right on highway 46 west, right on highway one north to Cambria. These small roads are winding... fun... and all are fine. This detour will add at least an hour to your drive... but they are all cool tiny roads not on many maps. You will need proof of insurance and id to get through camp hunter liggett and I am not sure if the road is open at night. They used to require a social security card I think... not sure about that or proof of insurance. (its a military base). BTW... fill up your tank in Carmel before you head to cambria... no gas anywhere for less than 5 bucks in Big Sur.

The local bike clubs have stated that Highway 1 north of cambria is now almost unpassable by bicycle. Most car clubs around here have issued statements to their members to avoid highway one north of cambria to the Monterey county line. CalTrans is sweeping and vaccuuming the road... but it is still an issue as the rocks keep coming loose from the surface. hopefully by the time the show comes... the surface will be fixed... but so far it is still a big deal several months after the repave.

the safest bet but a LOT less scenic is to take 101 south this year.

for more info:

http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2013/01/20 ... ds-to.html

[Steven Huffstutlar]

Great info on a wonderful drive, but be very careful about exceeding the limit in the Hunter Liggett area (never more than 55, often less, with few limit signs). Smokey Drill Instructor is bored and looking to make some money for Uncle. A military version of CHIPs will come at you from around a curve in the opposite direction, in a white Tahoe with hidden light bar. He will hang a quick youey and nail you, claiming with a straight face he got you on the latest stealth radar just as he first appeared on your front horizon.

$340 payable by mail to some address in New Jersey. Now where did I put that Valentine thingy? Didn't the ad say it would pay for itself?

[Jeff Trask]

Interesting. I just did the drive north last week. I had no issue. There was two very short areas (less then a couple of miles total) that they may be speaking about, but the rest of the 99 mile drive was amazing!

[Eric Meyer]

Jeff,

You are correct.

I just drove it again this weekend... in our "other car". It has been swept and vacuumed with a special truck at the request of the local bicycling community... and thus is a lot better. There are still large rocks but not nearly as bad. The new pavement you saw just south of ragged point... is actually a very recent (and much smoother) fix of some of the worst spots from the october paving job... probably just a couple of thousand feet of fix. The overall length of the area that was bad... is about 20 miles... from Ragged Point... down to just above Cambria.

By the time N meets S comes around... I suspect that most of the rocks will be gone. When a car passes you or goes over the center line or off onto the shoulder... it kicks up rocks still. Whereas before it was any car driving in front of you kicking up rocks.

Here is a link to an article in Cambria's newspaper about the issue:
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/2013/01/15 ... ravel.html