A Drive To Remember

You have been forewarned, novice drivers, it is strongly recommend for you to call it a day and turn around once you reach Kirkstone pass.

But adrenaline junkies who love living life on the edge (literally) soldier on to Hardknott Pass!

What does it feel like to drive on this notorious pass? Well, if I had taken my eyes off the barrierless road for even a slightest moment, I would have found myself driving into a hairpin turn and plummeting down the side of the cliff.

I held on tightly to the steering wheel with my knuckles turning white and jammed on the brakes to a shuddering halt as the ABS struggled in vain while the tyres clawed for traction.

“What am I doing on this road?” I asked myself. Then again, “what road?”

The impossibly narrow and steep road had crested and vanished right before my eyes leaving me with the view of the cloudy grey sky.

Numerous hairpins on the pass achieve gradients of up to 25% with the final cliff pushing a whooping 33%.

As I gingerly tapped the accelerator persuading both myself and the car forward an inch at a time, I was met by a short lived steep decent followed by a tidal wave of tar as the road ascended like a roller coaster yet again.

Keep your eyes glued to the roads because they are about to get seriously narrower! Take a careful look at the photos, those are 2 way streets!

This time, as I tapped the accelerator, the rear tyres of the car spun getting what some might consider “cool sideways motion”.

But at this point on a narrow pass with the risk of falling off a cliff, the only sort of motion I was feeling was in my bowels.

“Look at that cute sheep!” my passenger exclaimed. As though I had a lack of things to be focusing on at the moment. This pass has even been described by The Guardian as one of Britain’s “most outrages roads.”

Therefore, for those who have little or no experience in driving on narrow country roads with barely enough room for 1 car to pass yet accessible both ways, do not even consider about attempting this.

It may be considered a daunting endless slalom to some, but to me, it was the drive of my life.

P.S. Hold your breathes as we squeezed past cars on the impossibly narrow paths. Yes! those are 2 ways roads with little banks for cars to squeeze past and not walking paths! The photos were captured as we squeezed past the cars.

More photos can be found on Instagram & YouTube (Monkyseendo)