Luther Pass

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Luther Pass
Pass height 2359  m
Sierra Nevada , United States
Valley locations Alpine County El Dorado County
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Luther Pass (USA)
Luther Pass
Coordinates 38 ° 47 '13 "  N , 119 ° 56' 45"  W Coordinates: 38 ° 47 '13 "  N , 119 ° 56' 45"  W.

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The Luther Pass is a California mountain pass in the Sierra Nevada between the Carson River Basin in the southeast and Lake Tahoe in the northwest.

It is crossed by State Route 89 and lies on the border between Alpine County (in the Carson River Basin) and El Dorado County (in the Tahoe area). The pass crosses a mountain spur that connects the Sierra Crest, the main ridge of the Sierra Nevada in the southwest of the pass, with the Carson Range in the northeast.

The pass was named after Ira M. Luther, a member of the Irish Brigade described by Mark Twain in his book Roughing It . In 1854 Luther crossed the pass with a covered wagon . He was also involved in later efforts to use the pass on the Central Pacific Railroad . The first route for the Pony Express over the Sierra Nevada in 1860 connected Placerville and Lake Valley over the Luther Pass with Woodfords and continued from there to Nevada , but the route was quickly replaced by the Kingsbury Grade .

Today the pass serves as an important link between South Lake Tahoe and US Route 50 north of the pass and the Kirkwood Ski Area to the south during the ski season . In summer, Luther Pass is part of a route from Placerville and Route 50 to US Route 395 and the Eastern Sierra over Monitor Pass, but this route is closed in winter.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. California Highways: Routes 89 through 96.
  2. ^ US Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Luther Pass
  3. ^ Robert Stewart: Mark Twain's Irish Brigade from Roughing It
  4. ^ Tom Schweich: Luther Pass, Alpine County, California.
  5. Farquhar, Francis Peloubet (1965), History of the Sierra Nevada, University of California Press, p. 101, ISBN 978-0-520-01551-7 .
  6. "Mountain Pass Closure Dates". , (PDF file). (509 KB), Caltrans, 2002.