Mt. Lowe Road (2N50)

Rescues, fires, weather, roads, trails, water, etc.
User avatar
walker
Posts: 248
Joined: Mon Apr 08, 2013 11:14 pm

Post by walker »

Great to see the before and after pics. From the top of Markham, you get a pretty good view of where all that rock is coming from. It's actually terrifying if you're ever around when there's a lot of rockfall activity.

I was once at the tunnel on a warm day right after a very cold snow storm the day before. As the sun heated up the south face of San Gabriel Peak, you could hear a continuous stream of rockfall bouncing down the cliffs. There were basketball-sized and even chair-and-table-sized boulders peeling off and bringing down tons of debris with them about every 20-30 seconds. We basically waited for a pause and ran from inside the tunnel to the saddle as fast as we could.

The cliffs on all sides of that upper branch of Eaton Canyon are really impressive when you see how loose and unconsolidated they really are. What's holding them up?
User avatar
HikeUp
Posts: 3831
Joined: Thu Sep 27, 2007 9:21 pm

Post by HikeUp »

Does anyone have recent info on Mueller Tunnel? Is it open? Closed? I am just wondering if any of the rain we've had this winter has caused closures/land slides, etc.

Thanks.
User avatar
Sean
Posts: 3725
Joined: Wed Jul 27, 2011 12:32 pm

Post by Sean »

Hiker Girl reports that a landslide fell at the west end of Mueller Tunnel.

20181125_115123.jpg


So once again vehicle access is blocked. Hikers and bikers should be extra careful crossing the rockfall zone at either end of the tunnel, especially after a storm. The FS will not clear the rocks due to the area being too dangerous for road crews.
User avatar
Girl Hiker
Posts: 1299
Joined: Fri Apr 04, 2014 7:46 am

Post by Girl Hiker »

I guess we will have to clean it up again :)
User avatar
psykokid
Posts: 80
Joined: Fri Mar 18, 2016 1:15 am

Post by psykokid »

I was up there yesterday doing a lollipop run from Eaton Saddle and there is quite a bit of rockfall on the far end of Mueller Tunnel. Easy to scramble over, but still quite a large amount of debris from the hill above.
User avatar
Sean
Posts: 3725
Joined: Wed Jul 27, 2011 12:32 pm

Post by Sean »

The west portal of Mueller Tunnel took another direct hit this winter. More of the concrete arch is gone.

IMG_20190514_093157501.jpg


IMG_20190514_093108507_HDR.jpg


Generally the road between Eaton Saddle and Markham Saddle is covered in rocks of various sizes from new slides. Users have beaten in a small path through the debris.
User avatar
ReFreshing
Posts: 66
Joined: Mon Nov 26, 2018 1:00 pm

Post by ReFreshing »

Sean wrote: The west portal of Mueller Tunnel took another direct hit this winter. More of the concrete arch is gone.

IMG_20190514_093157501.jpg

IMG_20190514_093108507_HDR.jpg

Generally the road between Eaton Saddle and Markham Saddle is covered in rocks of various sizes from new slides. Users have beaten in a small path through the debris.
? So sad to see...
Post Reply