Book excerpt: This book is a step back into time and the history of California's Scenic Ridge Route. When it opened in 1915 it was hailed as the "Magnus Opus" of mountain highway engineering. By-passed by the Ridge Alternative in 1933, it was left to the elements and all but forgotten. In this book you will visit sites like Sandberg's famous Summit Hotel where you would have seen Cadillacs, Packards and Studebakers during the road's heyday; the former site of the opulent Hotel Lebec, playground for the world's finest; the Ridge Road House; the National Forest Inn; and Kelly's Half Way House. Motorists faced 697 curves when navigating this famous moutain highway. You will follow "Ridge Route Annie's" adventurous search for gold. Read how highwaymen relieved unsuspecting motorists of their valuables and the 1922 blizzard that stranded scores of motorists. All of this in addition to early history on north - south routes and how Los Angeles had to entice the Butterfield Stage and later the Southern Pacific Railroad in Los Angeles. While this book focuses on the 1915 Scenic Ridge Route, it also addresses the 1930 Ridge Alternative, (U.S. Highway 99) and the current I-5 Ridge Route Highway.