On 4/24/2007 11:01 AM Robert Fisher wrote:

>
> The other Mike (Squirrel type) said: "Up 14? We come up the 15 from San
> Diego through Riverside/San Bernardino, up to Victorville and catch the 395
> there. It's 170 miles that way from the 15/215 junction to where the 14
> meets the 395. The other way -- going up the 15 to get to the 210 to get to
> the 14 then to 395 -- is 225 miles. A bit more. Still, if it's easier to go
> that way than climb over the Cajon grade, I'm all ears. Is 14 a gentler way
> to get up out of the basin into the high desert?"
>
> There are a few significant grades south of Palmdale but they're nothing
> like Cajon. I believe you're making the same climb elevation-wise for the
> most part but generally it's much more gradual and spread out.

Hi Robert, I fired up my copy of DeLorme's Topo 6 and had it show me the
profile of the two routes: up 15 from San Berdoo to Cajon, and up 14.
Both routes contained a long portion that climbed steadily up up up for
10 - 20 miles. Looking at those portions alone, the average grade up to
Cajon was 7% according to the software, while the average grade up 14
was 8%.

I agree with you entirely about how dismal, dreary, and stunningly ugly
it is from Cajon to Inyokern along the 15 / 395. Slit your wrist depressing.

--

Mike "Rocket J Squirrel" Elliott
71 Type 2: the Wonderbus
84 Westfalia: Mellow Yellow ("The Electrical Banana")
74 Utility Trailer. Ladybug Trailer, Inc., San Juan Capistrano
KG6RCR