When you go to the end of our driveway and look to the south, the pavement ends in about a hundred yards. On the left side of the road, there is one house about a quarter of a mile south. On the right there is not another house. There is National Forest and Olympic National Park. The next house would be somewhere around Hoodsport or Shelton.
The road goes up. Then it goes up, then up from there. I have heard that the uphill is constant for seven miles. I have heard that the grade is 14 percent, which is pretty steep. I have driven to the top once.
Around a half of a mile up the road is a steel gate, which is always open. Another half a mile up the road is another pair of gates, which are usually closed except during hunting season. One of the roads goes across the side of the hill, the other continues up.
There is very little vehicle traffic on the unpaved road. Especially when it snows.
Where the road changes from paved to gravel, a road takes off to the West. There are several houses on that road. It dead ends about a quarter a mile in.
This makes the hill an excellent sledding hill. The snow compacts well, and the road ends up very slick. The last time it snowed, we had to rescue three vehicles from the ditch. A fourth truck made it out without our help. Three of the four were on the same 40 foot stretch of road.
You need to have a sled that steers, because the road is not straight. Not a lot of sharp turns, but enough that you will end up in the ditch or maybe over the embankment. I think I need to invest in an old runner style sled.
If they open the upper gate, the sled run is 7 miles long, and I have heard you can reach speeds of 40 mph.
What could go wrong?
