Driving in the Country
I've been wanting to write about driving in the country for a while. I thought now would be a good time to take a break from keets and kittens.
We live on gravel roads. That means the road is unpaved except by a bed of gravel. I didn't drive on a road that was unpaved until I was in my mid-twenties and I'm sure there are quite a few people out there who have never done it. The first time I did, I was actually in a heavily populated area: Riverside, CA. My friend had just moved into a trailer on the top of a steep hill on the outskirts of the city. He was having a house-warming BBQ. I just about died when I turned off the highway and the pavement ran out. I couldn't believe that there was a place in southern California where any real roads were unpaved, but sure enough there was a road sign saying Wild Mule Rd, which was the road he lived on according to the map. I think it was even a dirt road, which is a step down from gravel because it is dusty when it's dry and muddy when it's wet and develops bad ruts. I cringed as I drove off the pavement and then said a little prayer as I hit the gas to make it up the insanely steep hill. I made it, of course, and had a great time at his little house that overlooked a city of about 300,000 people. The best part of the trip, though, was the surprise at sunset when I heard a "hee-haw" and saw a small herd of mules go past! The road was actually named after the wild mules that live in those hills outside the fastest growing city in the nation (at that time at least). Crazy world.
But back to country driving. I now live on a gravel road, which really is a type of paved road because gravel is brought in to cover the bare ground and provide traction. It still gets a little dusty or muddy, depending on the weather, but not near as bad as a true dirt road. We only have 1.5 miles of gravel between us and the highway. It's a short distance compared to what some people around here have. This is what the road usually looks like:
If you're not used to country driving I bet your first reaction to that picture is "Oh my gosh, there is a large piece of farm equipment on the road and the road is not very wide!" That's my reaction, anyhow. Even when it is a normal car coming from the opposite direction, it feels a little tight to me. But everyone slows down and moves aside on approach and you always get where you're going.
It's hard to see in the picture above, but there are usually three tire tracks in a gravel road. Because it is not very wide, cars tend to drive with one tire in the center of the road. That means there is one track on either side from the outer tires of the cars going either direction and the third track, in the center, is formed by both directions of traffic. You want to drive in these tracks because the rougher gravel has been pushed aside and most sharp objects that may have been there once have punctured one of the many cars that drove in those tracks before you (at least that's the way I think of it). Of course, you should move toward the outer edge of the road for oncoming traffic and when going up a blind hill.
I mentioned ruts earlier, as in deep groves in the road. Gravel roads will develop ruts in them with time and also after very wet weather. Here are some ruts that developed after a big snow melt:
Go figure, that picture doesn't demonstrate the three tracks I just talked about (I'm not making this stuff up, I swear!), but when the road is really muddy it's safer to drive in a previous car's ruts rather than trying to tame fresh mud by sticking to one side of the road. That's okay, though, because the locals won't go out on muddy roads if they don't have to, so traffic drops drastically along with the chance that you'll come across an oncoming car.
Some of you (very few I imagine), are wondering how a gravel road recovers from ruts. Well, eventually a county crew will come along and "grade" it. A grader is a big piece of equipment with a flat blade on the front. It grinds down the ruts and ridges to make the road even again and redistributes the gravel. It is a very good thing when this happens. However, passing a road grader puts me more on edge than anything else. They are quite wide and push a pile of gravel to one side as they travel, so you not only have to maneuver around them but also have to grit your teeth as you drive over a hill of gravel. Still, they are polite as anyone out here and I've never had a problem getting past.
I hope this entry doesn't frighten you all out of taking a drive down our country roads. You don't need a pick-up, SUV, or ATV to drive here. Gravel roads are perfectly safe for any vehicle as long as you:
We live on gravel roads. That means the road is unpaved except by a bed of gravel. I didn't drive on a road that was unpaved until I was in my mid-twenties and I'm sure there are quite a few people out there who have never done it. The first time I did, I was actually in a heavily populated area: Riverside, CA. My friend had just moved into a trailer on the top of a steep hill on the outskirts of the city. He was having a house-warming BBQ. I just about died when I turned off the highway and the pavement ran out. I couldn't believe that there was a place in southern California where any real roads were unpaved, but sure enough there was a road sign saying Wild Mule Rd, which was the road he lived on according to the map. I think it was even a dirt road, which is a step down from gravel because it is dusty when it's dry and muddy when it's wet and develops bad ruts. I cringed as I drove off the pavement and then said a little prayer as I hit the gas to make it up the insanely steep hill. I made it, of course, and had a great time at his little house that overlooked a city of about 300,000 people. The best part of the trip, though, was the surprise at sunset when I heard a "hee-haw" and saw a small herd of mules go past! The road was actually named after the wild mules that live in those hills outside the fastest growing city in the nation (at that time at least). Crazy world.
But back to country driving. I now live on a gravel road, which really is a type of paved road because gravel is brought in to cover the bare ground and provide traction. It still gets a little dusty or muddy, depending on the weather, but not near as bad as a true dirt road. We only have 1.5 miles of gravel between us and the highway. It's a short distance compared to what some people around here have. This is what the road usually looks like:
If you're not used to country driving I bet your first reaction to that picture is "Oh my gosh, there is a large piece of farm equipment on the road and the road is not very wide!" That's my reaction, anyhow. Even when it is a normal car coming from the opposite direction, it feels a little tight to me. But everyone slows down and moves aside on approach and you always get where you're going.
It's hard to see in the picture above, but there are usually three tire tracks in a gravel road. Because it is not very wide, cars tend to drive with one tire in the center of the road. That means there is one track on either side from the outer tires of the cars going either direction and the third track, in the center, is formed by both directions of traffic. You want to drive in these tracks because the rougher gravel has been pushed aside and most sharp objects that may have been there once have punctured one of the many cars that drove in those tracks before you (at least that's the way I think of it). Of course, you should move toward the outer edge of the road for oncoming traffic and when going up a blind hill.
I mentioned ruts earlier, as in deep groves in the road. Gravel roads will develop ruts in them with time and also after very wet weather. Here are some ruts that developed after a big snow melt:
Go figure, that picture doesn't demonstrate the three tracks I just talked about (I'm not making this stuff up, I swear!), but when the road is really muddy it's safer to drive in a previous car's ruts rather than trying to tame fresh mud by sticking to one side of the road. That's okay, though, because the locals won't go out on muddy roads if they don't have to, so traffic drops drastically along with the chance that you'll come across an oncoming car.
Some of you (very few I imagine), are wondering how a gravel road recovers from ruts. Well, eventually a county crew will come along and "grade" it. A grader is a big piece of equipment with a flat blade on the front. It grinds down the ruts and ridges to make the road even again and redistributes the gravel. It is a very good thing when this happens. However, passing a road grader puts me more on edge than anything else. They are quite wide and push a pile of gravel to one side as they travel, so you not only have to maneuver around them but also have to grit your teeth as you drive over a hill of gravel. Still, they are polite as anyone out here and I've never had a problem getting past.
I hope this entry doesn't frighten you all out of taking a drive down our country roads. You don't need a pick-up, SUV, or ATV to drive here. Gravel roads are perfectly safe for any vehicle as long as you:
- Drive the proper speed (in our county the limit is 55mph, although there aren't any signs to tell you that).
- Look both ways approaching intersections for vehicles about to cross your path (clouds of dust can tip you off before you ever see a car).
- Move to your side of the road for blind hills (I almost ran into a grain truck head-on because it was in the middle of the road coming over a hill).
- Be patient with farm equipment because they can't maneuver as fast or as well as you can.
- Keep in mind that people live alongside these roads that may have pets or small children.
- Beware of raccoons, badgers, skunks, coyotes, deer, and jack rabbits that may be in the road. As much as I don't want you to kill a wild animal, I also don't want you to have to pay for the extensive damage that it can do. As my husband says, don't watch the deer that just ran in front of you, watch where she came from to see who else is about to jump into the road because that is the one that you will hit!
Posted by Susan at June 7, 2010 
Categories: New Residents, Rural Living
Tags: paved haxtun dirt grade country pave safe gravel driving phillips county colorado farm road
Categories: New Residents, Rural Living
Tags: paved haxtun dirt grade country pave safe gravel driving phillips county colorado farm road
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