This event started sometime in the mid ’70’s when I lived at the entrance to Alum Rock Park.
It was a big house with a great long driveway that could hold tons of Minis. But more important, Alum Rock Park was right at the base of Mt Hamilton and thus served as a jump off point for the start of this annual event. You have to know that while this event was never advertised as a competition event, you just can not get that many Mini Coopers together at one time on a open windy road and not expect some level of spirited driving. The event was planned first and foremost as a social event. Meet at my house, talk for a short time until we could get all the cars lined up, then start the first leg of the trip. View from My Space
Now, I don’t remember how many actual miles it was to the top of the hill, I think it could take an hour or so to get there if driven very non-Mini like.
The first leg of the trip was simply a drive through the park, Alum Rock Park that is. The only real challenge here was to keep the cars together in what at times seemed like a lot of other traffic in a isolated county park and more importantly we attempted to avoid getting any attentions for the park police. The park grounds were always well maintained (at least until the county ran out of money) and thus the drive through the tree covered roads was a real pleasure. Although we could drive through the park in less than 15 minutes we typically made our first “Keep it together guys’ stop at one of the many great shaded areas.
As we exited the park with its twisty roads and potential pedestrians we were finally able to use our right foot to see a little top end. The serene little valley allows us all to stretch the legs of the Mini while still in a non-threatening envirement. From year to year the number of Mini that made the run would vary as would the age and experience of the drivers. For some this was often one of the best parts of the drive as it was reasonably safe to drive as fast as you could. And while it still happened when we hard larger groups, it simply meant another stop for ‘re-grouping’ at the base of the first hills.
The first set of twisty road up the hill is good warm up for the top section. This part of the road is not really steep and more important the curves are such that they simply look fun and not at all scary. This were everyone can start getting real comfortable with the amount of hard braking, down-gearing and hard turns that will be critical as we approach the top.
The road to the top is the best road section of the entire drive. It is one of those roads that you have to really concentrate on. The curves are so sharp and a mistake is so costly that until you have driven it a couple times is can be very uncomfortable at anythong other than a slow speed. You have two things going against you; not only is the road very twisty with no time to rest, the drop off the side of the road is often hundreds of feet with little or no guardrail. If all this is not bad enough – the view is spectacular. The problem is that you better not take the time to look or you will be either run over by the Mini behind you or will find yourself tumbling down the hill as you miss the turn. Over the years that I can remember we never lost a Mini! Set you pace and simply drive to enjoy.
At the top of the hill we often took over the small parking lot while we rested our motors and our arms. It is easy to spend 20 0r 30 minutes simply taking a tour of the telescopes, etc. Lick observatory has a real history and it is worth experiencing.
More Pictures and history here:
