Hwy 140 to Yosemite is going to be closed for a LONG time

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pyro

Trad climber
Ventura
Jun 3, 2006 - 12:59am PT
wow!
Fluoride

Trad climber
on a rock or mountain out west
Topic Author's Reply - Jun 3, 2006 - 01:15am PT
Karl wrote "Let's keep the town of Mariposa in mind. If anybody has ideas about how to keep their economy from flailing too hard while the road is closed, please share them."

Even though it would be a one-time thing, some sort of benefit concert/art fest would work. Fundraisers like that really aren't hard to put together. Schedule it on a weekend and put the word out. Find local printers who would donate their services for making posters/fliers about it. Find a venue in Oakhurst or Evergreen (or one of the accessible towns) to donate the facility for a day, have artists/photographers donate a piece of artwork for sale or auctions, get gear companies to donate some gear for silent auctions, get local food vendors/restaurants to set up booths to feed the masses and have them donate a portion of sales, get some of the many local talented musicians/bands to perform (at no charge) at a benefit concert. Take all the proceeds from concert ticket sales, art/craft sales and gear auction money and donate the big lump sum to the Mariposa Chamber of Commerce to help out those who need it most.
Mr_T

Trad climber
Somewhere, CA
Jun 3, 2006 - 01:53am PT
Can that stretch be bypassed with a dirt bike? Climb/descend ridge before/after slide?
Lineman

Trad climber
Mariposa Ca
Jun 3, 2006 - 10:21am PT
Mr T
No you cant by pass that section on a dirtbike.The sides of the canyon in that area are real steep and covered in brush.
A way around is hwy 49 south then chowchilla mtn rd to wawona
You will need a dirtbike for that route or a high clearance
4x4 vehicle.Its only 13 miles to wawona from hwy 49s But a word of caution,There are many forks and people do get lost this way
The park had the gate closed at the wawona side last weekend to keep people from trying this route.I was able to get by on my 650 duelsport no problem.The ruts in the road are two feet deep in places! Bring a topo map if you have not gone this way before.It is easy to take the wrong turn and wind up somewhere you dont want to be!
Karl Baba

Trad climber
Yosemite, Ca
Jun 3, 2006 - 01:54pm PT
Nice Idea Fluoride

A benefit concert would best be held at the Mariposa fairgrounds so the local businesses would directly benefit.

Peace

Karl
Blowboarder

Boulder climber
Back in the mix
Jun 4, 2006 - 01:10pm PT
Any evidence of the river flowing faster thru the area, as a result of a restricted flow area from so much debris filling the channel?


In short, is Lake El Portal in the future?
Chicken Skinner

Trad climber
Yosemite
Jun 4, 2006 - 01:25pm PT
Yes,

The rapids have changed and there is the possibility of the river being dammed up. I don't think it would back up all the way to El Portal but it could to Savages, perhaps it could be called Savage Lake. I am going down there right now and will take some more pictures. It is changing daily.

Ken
susan peplow

climber
Winner of Diet Challenge!!!
Jun 4, 2006 - 02:26pm PT
FYI - the travel section of the LA Times mentioned the closure of Hwy 140 in today's paper. According to CalTrans is could be as long as 6 months before the road re-opens.

-S
Fluoride

Trad climber
California somewhere
Topic Author's Reply - Jun 5, 2006 - 10:57pm PT
6 months is probably generous...it'll probably be a year.

Chicken Skinner

Trad climber
Yosemite
Jun 5, 2006 - 11:10pm PT
Went there yesterday and took more photos until the local sheriff kicked everybody out of there. So the show is over. There appeared to be dust plumes shooting out of the fracture, well behind the upper headwall of the slide. The hill side dropped 17 feet in four days and the experts are worried that it may release everything at once and damm the river(pun intended). It will be a LONG time before the road opens.

Ken
Walt Heenan

Trad climber
Voorheesville, NY
Jun 5, 2006 - 11:26pm PT
I found this link posted on Gunks.com. Lots of pics including some aerial photos...

http://www.mariposacounty.org/sheriff/Rock%20Slide%20May%2029%202006.htm
WBraun

climber
Jun 5, 2006 - 11:33pm PT
I don't think so Jody. I believe the river will just flow to the right. Like in this picture. What do you think?

Bobbyg

Social climber
Fresno
Jun 6, 2006 - 08:48pm PT
somebody shoud be pro-active and put some large pipe conduits in the river just in case it does slide and dam the river.
Roger Breedlove

Trad climber
Cleveland Heights, Ohio
Jun 6, 2006 - 08:52pm PT
Hey Ken,

Do you know where the dirt road on the other side of the river ends up?
David Nelson

climber
San Francisco
Jun 6, 2006 - 08:59pm PT
Ken Yager is still out there photographing, and the hillside is still coming down. Notice how little of the road is visible:


Here is another, with a long part of the road entirely under the slide. It is still moving, so it is too dangerous for the road crews to start:


More fun with mountains and gravity. The width of the slide seems to be increasing and another tower may be threatened:


Here is a closeup of that tower. Note the (scared I am sure!) linemen scoping out the damage:
WBraun

climber
Jun 7, 2006 - 12:24am PT
"bring in the Seabees ...."

Now, someone is thinking, where are those guys.

What's with these people?

It's action time, not yaking for months about what to do.
Fluoride

Trad climber
California somewhere
Topic Author's Reply - Jun 7, 2006 - 01:21am PT
I hope those poor linemen are getting some awesome hazard pay for being up there. That's some crazy stuff.

Thanks for posting the pics DN. Man, just seems it gets worse and worse by the day.
Blowboarder

Boulder climber
Back in the mix
Jun 7, 2006 - 06:43am PT
This may be old news by now but I got this email yesterday from the infamous Hawkman who is in El Portal visiting his family:

"I'll send more pictures later. They stopped letting people go down and
look at the rock slide. They did some measurements, and the mass has
slipped 25 meters from the main hillside. They figure when it goes it
will be major (dust and shock wave) and will create a dam that will
flood all the way back to the El Portal Warehouse. xxx and xxxx are
high enough on the hill to be OK, but everyone down in the canyon are on
24 hour evacuation orders. It's really amazing!"


Names turned into porno grades to protect the innocent from association with blowboarder.
Patrick Sawyer

climber
Originally California now Ireland
Jun 7, 2006 - 08:13am PT
Bobbyg, not a bad idea about the pipe conduits but placing them might be a problem unless done with a helicopter.
TradIsGood

Trad climber
Gunks end of country
Jun 7, 2006 - 08:51am PT
Patrick

You might want to look at the jersey barrier in the picture above. Then think about the problem of keeping the pipe sections hooked together. LOL.

Wait until the end of the summer, when river is at lowest. Blow the hillside into a dam. Cut a diversion around it, build sluices in the dam, then fill the cut?

Really an interesting problem. First, you have to decide how good a solution you want.

FEMA? Some of them must be done with the Big Easy.
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