No! How about now? NO! how about now/ NO!!!!

[Shalom]

Having read your post, I pulled up this area on Google Maps for a quick look at it. You're right; that is in fact a vast amount of nothing.

(There does appear to be one place name on the map between Croydon and Normanton, which is Blackbull, but zooming in on the satellite view shows that there isn't any there there. Likewise there are a few railroad stations (Hayden and Clarina) but I have no idea how frequent service is there, if there's any at all.

I don't know what happened to her, but she did not die as that would have made the local news. It most likely cost her a lot of money. Next time read the map, crazy lady!

Yeah, well. William Least Heat Moon, in his book Blue Highways, claimed that if you clench your butt muscles tight enough, you can drive 30 miles on the fumes in the tank. Maybe she had more fuel than she thought.

[AccountingDrone]

When we drove to California, we went what we call the Northern Route, which ends up going through the Donner Pass. Where Interstate Route 80 is crossed by local route 233 in Nevada is a wide spot in the road named Oasis ... there is an abandoned gas station/diner there. It has probably been abandoned for at least a decade, and there is absolutely NOTHING else in Oasis except that abandoned gas station. If someone were to be using an ancient road atlas or AAA book that says there is something there, they would be totally screwed if they decided to get off on Rt 233 to see if there was anything else in the area. In the winter it could be deadly because people other than locals don't normally go through the area. In the summer they could die of dehydration as there actually isn't any water there.

[gerund]

Having read your post, I pulled up this area on Google Maps for a quick look at it. You're right; that is in fact a vast amount of nothing.

Most Australians have trouble understanding this. Most Australians live on the well populated east coast where it is hard to go more than a few miles without people (or some sign of them)

(There does appear to be one place name on the map between Croydon and Normanton, which is Blackbull,

That is the Gulflander. See link for amusing photos of the engine and the schedule (once a week either way) I can't remember if you can see the track from the road, but I suspect not. It's a joke to the locals, but tourists pay money to see (mostly) nothing. I suppose they do get to see Normanton overnight if they go on the return trip, but I really can't see the attraction. If I ever went on that train, (very unlikely) I would have to take a book.

[Argabarga]

My local equivalent is Bear Meadow

On maps (and GPS) there's a road that goes through there, and depending on how you've programmed yours, it may suggest it as the shortest route to get between routes 99 and 322, especially if traffic backs up from the frequent semi-truck flipovers on 322 (That turn that says 40mph? They MEAN it, that's why it has amber flashing lights on it to get your attention! But there's always that one guy that doesn't get the memo)

What it doesn't say is that its' a 1 and a half lane dirt road, that, to get down the same mountain the semis wipe out on, goes through 3 sharp switchbacks and several spots where the grade probably approaches 9% or more and a few spots where tree roots and minor washouts will create a speedbump or ditch several inches in height/depth

The road is passable in summer, but , in winter, it's not plowed, and people who don't use their noggin when they turn off the freeway and don't seem to see anything like guard rails, or turn signs, or even other TIRE TRACKS continue to push ahead.... often in something that has no 4x4 and the ground clearance of half a peanut shell.

Those are the ones who make it to the switchbacks, and that's where they lose control and their precious BMW 5 series or Mercedes SLK gets hopelessly mired up to it's doorhandles in snow/mud if not slips off the road and plummets down into the ravine.

The number of times we get calls like that a year is, on one hand, astounding, on the other hand, not really astounding. This is the public we're dealing with.

I always like the motor club dispatcher's silence when they ask for an ETA for "3400 block of Bear Meadow" and you tell them "July"

WE can't get up there, it's the sticks, on an unpaved road, the customer is just going to have to walk out of there and we'll meet them where the pavement ends on our side and give em' a ride to a nice warm rental car office. That's about all we can do.

It shouldn't be a surprise, THAT is where the infamous "stolen truck shoved off a cliff" a few years back happened.

[AccountingDrone]

What it doesn't say is that its' a 1 and a half lane dirt road, that, to get down the same mountain the semis wipe out on, goes through 3 sharp switchbacks and several spots where the grade probably approaches 9% or more and a few spots where tree roots and minor washouts will create a speedbump or ditch several inches in height/depth
.

There was a summer only shortcut I used to take between Perry NY and the Pennsylvania/NY border that is roughly at the Zoar Valley 'Multiple Use Area' AKA the middle of fuck all nowhere.
At one point you go up a hill on what I think is actually a mountain goat path, where it does a tight circuit around what is effectively a 'sugarloaf' hill - this one is in NZ, but you get the idea. You can't go around it at the base because it is surrounded by a small gorge that has a more or less almost a full lane wooden bridge that is probably left over from about 1820 and hasn't had any work done on it since 1900. The whole area is dotted with long abandoned farmsteads that haven't been occupied since probably 1920. I have seen pickup trucks getting stuck there - I used to drive it in my mustang back in the late 1970s. You just need to actually know how to drive on dirt and in mud. I had it timed just right where I could leave the summer house and hit the throughway on fumes and fill up.

See, we in the well watered East also have desolate areas. And you can die in 70 degree F weather with sunshine and little birdies singing - all it takes is getting stuck on a road that is not travelled 20 miles from anywhere. If you don't know how to find your way out by walking, and have no idea how to find safe water and something to eat that isn't toxic, and avoid the feral dog packs and coy-dog packs, you are hosed.

[wolfie]

Darwinism in action.

What does the capital of the Northern Territory (which appears to be on the well-populated coast) have to do with this?

[dalesys]

What does the capital of the Northern Territory (which appears to be on the well-populated coast) have to do with this?

Only feeding the salties.

[Shalom]

My local equivalent is Bear Meadow.

This the road you're talking about?

That part at least is paved, but those grades do look scary, especially if you're on a mountain bike like the guy filming was. Wouldn't like to try that in the snow, even with 4WD.

[Argabarga]

Yup, that's it. That's right after the switchbacks, where the pavement starts again. And, as you can see, no shoulder either.

[pitmonkey]

This is our highway not to get stuck on. During the week the log trucks come barreling down and you get out of their way. This was taken when they opened it up for another way around a land slide that closed off the main highway to the area.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiK47CaunzM

[AccountingDrone]

What does the capital of the Northern Territory (which appears to be on the well-populated coast) have to do with this?

Nothing =)

There is a Brainship book with an archeological dig where one of the characters is a "Practical Darwinist" - they believe that there should be no aid in disasters, and if you get sick or injured you should be left to live or die on your own, the whole 'survival of the fittest' thing. In the book he got in trouble for running faster than others and locking the door to the shelter when a bunch of 'wolves' started chasing the whole group on the walk back from the dig site. While I do believe that in some cases people should be left to their own devices [why do you want me to pay to replace your house when you keep rebuilding on a flood plain when you get flooded out every 5 years or so .... move to where it doesn't fucking flood you out regularly! Stop raising my insurance rates.]

[Jetfire]

Here in New Brunswick, while I know we have dirt tracks in the middle of no where, just a month ago, my mom and I had a 'close' call on the main 4-lane highway through the province. Nothing scary (it was middle of the day and lots of traffic so if we hadn't reached the gas station it'd just be embarrassing, not life threatening)

We were going to Moncton from Fredericton in her brand new car (not even a month old at that point). We left Freddy with it saying it had about 225km left in the tank, and we intended to stop and get gas before leaving the city, but we took a different route (the old highway on the North side of the river) and didn't go near the gas station we would normally go.

So we get to Jemseg, where the old highway meets the new highway and realize we forgot to gas up, and we were starting to run out of options of places to fill up. I glanced at the milage reader, it guessed 100km or so; and we were about 110km from the Silver Fox; a big truck stop in Salisbury, so I figured we'd be tight but fine.

Just past Jemseg is Cole's Island, a village with 1 gas station... and a sign just before the exit saying "Next gas 70km". I noted the sign and glanced at the milage guesser and figured we'd still be fine; but I pointed the sign out to mom as we went by (she was driving).

A few seconds later, she said "Well, there's another gas station before Salisbury right?"

"Sure, right back there," I replied, pointing to the sign over the trees behind us, the exit long behind us by then.

The TCH from that point (From Coles Island to Salisbury) runs through forest for 70km, with no towns, villages or any exits even. We made it to the Silver Fox (truck stop at Salisbury) on the last tick in the gas tank and the Low Fuel light on, but there was some nervous fun to get there. (First time we pushed the new car to its 'limits' so to speak).

[Chromatix]

That Bear Meadow road looks... luxurious.

THIS is a mountain road.

[Shalom]

That Bear Meadow road looks... luxurious.

THIS is a mountain road.

I'll see your Hardknott Pass and raise you Marshall Pass.

This started as the D&RGW's narrow gauge main line crossing of the Continental Divide. They removed the rails and ties in 1955 and graded the dirt, but no further improvement was done on the line (e.g. paving, widening). Not to mention, the State of Colorado doesn't believe in guard rails (they make it hard to bulldoze the snow off the cliffs). I drove this west to east back in 1996, and it scared the crap out of me. Though not as bad as the Alpine Tunnel road...

and yes, I drove both of those in an S10 Blazer, not the ATV these guys were using. I still have it, and you can still see the dents in the steering wheel from the latter road.

[dalesys]

... still see the dents in the steering wheel from the latter road.

A pilpul for your Reb: How many times is it proper to say the Shema in a single breath?