Highmountain
Hero Member
This spiderweb of trails and roads probably goes back as far as human beings in this area. At the bottom end there's a stone corral where travelers kept their animals so's they wouldn't have to make the ascent too close to dusk. Evidently there was a flagman at the topside to signal when traffic was stopped so people waiting at the bottom would be ready to begin the climb when the last of them arrived.
I once knew an old man who drove a truck and had to take La Bajada during the 1920s. Said he put the truck in the lowest gear and walked down beside it reaching inside to steer in case something happened and it got away from him. The cliff bottoms and carcasses of pre-WWII automobiles down the slopes testify to the wisdom of this practice.
Rock faces throughout the zigzag face have countless petroglyphs and initials of long-time ago travelers who must have stopped for a rest.
Last time I tried to drive up it a huge boulder blocked the passage about halfway up and it required losing a bit of paint and folding back the left mirror on a Mitzubishi Montero circa 1986. I don't recommend trying to drive it.
I once knew an old man who drove a truck and had to take La Bajada during the 1920s. Said he put the truck in the lowest gear and walked down beside it reaching inside to steer in case something happened and it got away from him. The cliff bottoms and carcasses of pre-WWII automobiles down the slopes testify to the wisdom of this practice.
Rock faces throughout the zigzag face have countless petroglyphs and initials of long-time ago travelers who must have stopped for a rest.
Last time I tried to drive up it a huge boulder blocked the passage about halfway up and it required losing a bit of paint and folding back the left mirror on a Mitzubishi Montero circa 1986. I don't recommend trying to drive it.