Mill Canyon Road sheds it for summer
A chunk of the hillside the dirt road is located on is literally sliding off and taking the road with it.
A 1,000-foot section of Mill Canyon Rd. has slid a good foot in two weeks, approximately 18-inches since May, according to Mono County Public Works Director Jeff Walters. The hillside is also cut with many fault-like fissures some 13-feet across and 25-feet deep.
The road is located in the Walker/Coleville area and Marines from the Mountain Warfare Training Center at Pickel Meadows use the end of the road for training.
Supervisor Tim Fesko whose district includes Mill Canyon Road said the road is not heavily used but it is vital for fire suppression. The area sits above the town of Walker and is known as a magnet for lightning strikes.
Everyone’s in awe at the phenomena from Forest Service Geotechnical Advisers, California Fish and Wildlife Lands Program, Bureau of Land Management and the Mono County Supervisors, but no one knows for sure why the hill is sliding, what will happen next or how to fix it. The road will remain closed beginning where the damage starts and will remain closed for the next six months as the county monitors the slippage.
The slide is similar to a hard slab avalanche, Walters told The Sheet. The hillside is a mix of dirt and rock with perhaps a deeper strata becoming wet and slippery, like a layer of ball bearings with a small mountain on top. There is a water ditch which has been used by the DFW for more than a century located above the slide, but has been dry since before the slide started.
Aaron Johnson of the DFW Lands program said that there has been no previous record of this kind of sliding in the 40 years the department has used the ditch. He said state engineers will assess the road at the end of the August.
The county is only responsible for the road; the BLM manages the land surrounding it. Walters added, “I’m no geologist and I don’t play one on TV” but he would not advise the public to venture onto the hillside. He told supervisors he was unnerved at the sight and didn’t want to walk on it or through it. “The fissures are almost bottomless,” he said “and is it all going to go at once?”
The board decided Tuesday to keep the road closed where the cracks start and install a gate for soft closure for the next six months to see what happens.
Walters has been delegated authority to open the gate if a situation, such as fire, call for it. Forest Service firefighters could not reach a lightning-caused fire in the area due to the condition of the road last weekend. There is also a small Forest Service campground tucked back in the canyon and its also used by the DFW.
A meeting with BLM, USFS, the county and others was held on-site July 24 to discuss what could be done to remedy the situation. Walters said there were some ideas of how to fix the road, but for now its a wait-and-see game.
Who will pay to fix the road is also an open question, said Walters
Supervisor Fred Stump said that the county has little money to begin with and potential cuts in road funding looming. He suggested that other parties with interest, such as the Forest Service and Marines should participate in funding a repair.
Stump, former battalion chief for the Long Valley Fire Department said he’s well aware of the fire danger in the area, “But sometimes an action plan has to be modified.” he said, adding he wouldn’t drive a truck over the road for fear of his crew.
