California's interior mountains

Two weeks ago, I took a drive up into those (slowly-greening) California hills. I drove the length of Calaveras Road to Sulno, CA, hugging the rims of the hills while wondering what the heck made one drop-off rate guardrails and another one, just as lethal if you missed it, not. Let's just say that those mountain roads give a whole new meaning to the term "steep shoulder".
( Pictures. Of Mountains )