mountain ridge near Emigrant Lake reaching an elevation of . This was a treacherous routing, and was rerouted via blasting a path through the Carson Spur in 1863. The path through the Carson Spur was re-dynamited and widened to its current form in 1960. The first numerical designation for the Amador County portion of modern SR 88 was SR 8, which overlaps the present highway from Alpine County to Jackson. Unlike modern SR 88, it continued south to Mokelumne Hill, then to Valley Springs along modern State Routes 26 and 49. A small portion west of Jackson was part of SR 104. Significant parts of the highway have been re-aligned and improved from the original wagon trail. A bypass of Jackson's historical district was completed in 1948. The highway was assigned the 88 designation by the time the California Department of Highways, predecessor agency to Caltrans, announced major upgrades for the highway were in progress or recently completed in 1958. Already completed was a re-alignment of the eastern approach to Carson Pass. Originally the eastern approach ran along the south shore of Red Lake. The realigned highway passes the lake to the north. This change lengthened the approach, but reduced the grade. Improvements expected to be completed soon included paving a road to be used for the highway west of Martell towards what is today SR 124 and re-alignments along parts of the ridge, including bypassing a mountain in the ridge area called Peddler's Hill. The highway was not originally maintained in the winter, but became the most recent trans-Sierra Nevada highway to remain open year round in 1971. This change coincided with a change in ownership, and construction to significantly expand what is now called the Kirkwood Mountain Resort - which lies between Carson Pass and the Carson Spur. The developers building the resort agreed to build and donate maintenance facilities for Caltrans and contribute funds for snow plowing. Historical landmarks As the SR 88 corridor has history that predates the automobile, there are a number of historical markers and landmarks along the roadway. These include: The Trail of the 1844 John C. Frémont Expedition, at the northwest corner of the Calaveras River (postmile SJ 6.09) Clinton, on Clinton Rd., south of the highway, in Pine Grove—Clinton was the center of a placer mining community during the 1850s and of quartz mining as late as the 1880s. This town