In 1968, I was in a Hippie Commune in San Francisco. Came time for me to leave for Connecticut. My partner had married an underage girl we'd met hitchiking so I was solo. Something happened to the car in Wendover UT (NV border) and something else in Milton PA. Otherwise, the drive was pretty near straight through. Taking turns with the foot on the gas to avoid leg cramps etc. This was during the period when I-80 was intermittent. So you'd go across NV on Route 40. Go though lots of places on non Interstate. A great trip. For example, the Tabernacle was the tallest building in SLC at that time. Went straight through that town and many others instead of the Interstate loop you would do today. Very happy I got to see the USA before the Interstate kind of ruined it.

Hitchiking?
Walked out of my parents' house in L.A. once at 1:30 in the afternoon and headed for the on-ramp at the freeway. Hot outside. 12 days and many very interesting rides, I was in Anchorage, Ak. Good trip.
Another one: Landed in New Jersey after 4 months of traveling in Europe, with $11.00 in my pocket. Guy at the airport pointed me in the direction of the turnpike. Walked out the doors with my pack and began hitching. 4 days later, and again, some pretty interesting rides, I was in L.A.
Drove through the night once with my 7month old son and his mom. Left Portland at whatever time, late afternoon on a cold December day, nearing Christmas, and straight through the night. She mostly slept while I drove, but she would spell me from time to time so I could catch a catnap. And, she also breastfed the boy in the backseat when it was time. Arrived at the snowy Bridgeport hot springs looking out over the Sierra Nevada at about 8:00 in the morning for a relaxing, much-needed soak. Then, back behind the wheel for the final 8 hr. push into L.A. Quite tired when we arrived. Good trip.

Ah, memories.

I've made the drive from Summit County to Minneapolis straight through twice. It's over 900 miles. One time was with 3 other people and the other was on my own (won't do that again). The time on my own was 3 or 4 years ago when I went out for my first SP winter gathering and I got stuck in Dillion due to weather for 3 days. I mean stuck like all I did was walk to the bar at night and roam around on foot during the day. I remember sitting having breakfast, saw on the news that I-70 was going to open and I fled.

I think that kind of long distance driving on your own is probably one of the most dangerous things you can do.

I drove from South Carolina to Los Angeles in 50 hours of straight driving. I never turned the car off (Honda Civic). It was a solo trip as I was returning from selling encyclopedias in Rock Hill. When I got to L.A. I was a total wreck and couldn't sleep for at least a day due to the hallucinations.

Subsequent drives from Los Angeles to Summit County (~1000 miles) have been no big deal until lately when the 13 hours of jamming makes me feel poorly for a while afterwards.

Did 1,043 miles in an exact 24 hour period in crowded Europe once.

Was heading out to get footage for a steam locomotive film I was making. Going to near Dresden via South of Stuttgart to get a few seconds footage of a class of loco that once used to work on the lines I was going to film near Dresden. The loco near Stuttgart was preserved on a plinth.

Didn't feel that well, and started to get an electrics problem with my Land Rover Discovery.

So got to the plinthed loco. Took some film and then went home!

Had short breaks in both directions on the ferry across the English Channel.

Rang Bobbie from the ferry on the way back. Lovely lady was over overjoyed that I was coming home straight away, rather than being away for a week or more. She loved me as much as I loved her.

Do miss her so very much. Always will do.

Not super long drives, but long weekends. Two trips I'm thinking of:

Drive from LA to Seattle and Mt. Rainer. 20 hrs. behind the wheel and my buddy and I arrive there first thing in the a.m. the following day. We get our permit and hike up to Camp Muir and then summit and descend the next day and turn around and drive back.

Leave O.C. late Friday evening. Arrive in Yosemite around 5:30 a.m. and at first light start hiking up to Washington Column. Climb the Prow. I had a book report due that Monday so I'm reading Babbit at the hanging belays. Bivy on Tapir Terrance and hike down North Dome Gully to the car on Sun afternoon for the drive back to O.C.

Good thing I was much younger when I did those. Nowadays, weekends like that would kill me.

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I don't think we should glorify long, sleep-deprived drives. At least a couple well-loved members of these forums have died or been severely injured due to car accidents. If you are tired, pull over and rest even if it means missing work or school--you're not fucking with only your life by driving when you're tired.

hamik wrote:I don't think we should glorify long, sleep-deprived drives. At least a couple well-loved members of these forums have died or been severely injured due to car accidents. If you are tired, pull over and rest even if it means missing work or school--you're not fucking with only your life by driving when you're tired.

Yep....just had a buddy flip his rig full of passangers, middle of the night, driving after a super long day and fell asleep at the wheel. Careful folks.

Joe White wrote:

hamik wrote:I don't think we should glorify long, sleep-deprived drives. At least a couple well-loved members of these forums have died or been severely injured due to car accidents. If you are tired, pull over and rest even if it means missing work or school--you're not fucking with only your life by driving when you're tired.

Yep....just had a buddy flip his rig full of passangers, middle of the night, driving after a super long day and fell asleep at the wheel. Careful folks.

Absolutely. Sleep deprivation is often an understated danger. However (and this is not directed to you specifically but to the general audience), it's also pretty clear that the thread just asked for stories that others might find entertaining. Sharing is just sharing, not "glorifying". As climbers, think how boring our stories would be if we were worried that others might label our tales of close shaves and near misses as glorification of those same dangers.

I've had some a few drives that I considered epic, but nothing compared to some of the ones mentioned here. SC to Cali in a push? Wow.

I've also had some close calls though. I'm something of a narcoleptic at certain times of the day, and I've drifted off briefly while behind the wheel more times than I can count. I hit a jersey wall (the cement interstate barriers) on I-495 near D.C. once and it bounced my wheel right off......I had drifted 8-10 feet over the shoulder before hitting it. I was thankful to the engineer who came up with the flared design at the bottom that saved my ass.

I've been getting better about pulling over now. With someone in the car I can go forever, even if they're not awake the whole time. But I can't hack it by myself anymore, and I'm not even an old guy.

The key for me on these long drives is to pull over and take a catnap. On the interstates, there are generally rest areas. It's not so much the lack of sleep, it's that my eyes need a rest from looking at the road.

Here is my longest example: On July 4th weekend in 2008, Mt Rogers in VA was the only state HP I hadn't done where it wasn't expected to rain. From NJ, I left the night before for the hike, probably before 11pm. Although I had plenty of caffeine, I needed to nap twice on the way - and I arrived at Grayson Highlands State Park in VA sometime before 9 am.

I hiked the mountain - no problem there - and then I headed back to NJ sometime in the afternoon. I was still driving as it turned dark again, and eventually I needed to sleep again. Since I was at a point where there were no rest areas, I got off at an exit, parked my car on a main street in a town, put my seat back, and fell asleep for a couple of hours.

I remember that when I got back to my place in NJ, that it had been about 24 hours since I had left previously.

My suggestion is: don't try to do it all at one time using stimulants. Take a nap every few hours.

fatdad wrote:

Joe White wrote:

hamik wrote:I don't think we should glorify long, sleep-deprived drives. At least a couple well-loved members of these forums have died or been severely injured due to car accidents. If you are tired, pull over and rest even if it means missing work or school--you're not fucking with only your life by driving when you're tired.

Yep....just had a buddy flip his rig full of passangers, middle of the night, driving after a super long day and fell asleep at the wheel. Careful folks.

Absolutely. Sleep deprivation is often an understated danger. However (and this is not directed to you specifically but to the general audience), it's also pretty clear that the thread just asked for stories that others might find entertaining. Sharing is just sharing, not "glorifying". As climbers, think how boring our stories would be if we were worried that others might label our tales of close shaves and near misses as glorification of those same dangers.

Good point fatdad

Dan and I climbed the Ortler a year ago. On climb day we got up at 2:30 am, ended up on the summit late (3 pm? I forgot), and back at the car at midnight. We drove home, but stopped so often for naps that it took twice as long. I walked in the door at 7 am Monday morning.

Anyway, I'm glad we took naps. We knew trying to force it was dangerous.

My brother and I drove 36 hours straight to the Bugaboos. We took turns, one person driving and the other person sleeping in the back of the Volkswagon. At first we were driving in 4 hour shifts, then 3 hour, then 2 hour, then 1 hour.... By the time we got to the Bugs were able to drive only 15 minutes at a time before the threat of falling asleep forced another shift change.

Now I commute 2-3 hours each way, alone, sometimes gotta drive home after working a graveyard shift. I carry a pillow, blanket and .357 and pull-over to sleep whenever I need to get some shut-eye.

Nothing as epic as some, but one of my longest days...Memorial Day Wkend 2008.

Basically I started a ways east of Rapid City, SD at about 4am. Took back roads through the Black Hills, a small stretch of I-90W to Buffalo, WY and from there up to Cody and onto the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway. Thinking that Bear Tooth Pass would be open I travel ~ 20 (sloooow) miles up 212 to find out it's closed (the sign said it was, but I just had to be sure...) Now I have to cruise through Yellowstone instead of backtrack WY296.

About 24 hrs and 1000 miles later, I ended up at my buddy's in Missoula. Started in foggy mist, hit the Black Hills and Powder River Pass in heavy snow, caught a pretty heavy rainstorm, and then pure sunshine after Cody. I also almost ran out of gas on 296, luckily there is a little general store out there that saved me!

Will remember that one for a long time....