Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion Whitney Portal Water Shutdown 8/17

Yes, that section of the Pine Creek Pass trail was originally built as a trail for mules, and later as a road, to access the Brown Stone Mine. Every Spring our crews would clear that section with a D9 Cat and front-end loader, so that development work could continue at the Brown Stone.

Since the Brown Stone Mine is no longer active, that section of road keeps getting rock fall from the embankments. A few years ago the current management of the Pine Creek facility (Pine Creek Development Corp.) cleared the road about half-way. No more work has been done since then on that road by the company. Sometimes the Pine Creek Pack station packers will clear away rock that are causing problems for their mules and horses.

The old mine road that goes from the Pine Creek Mine facility to Morgan Pass received heavy avalanche and rock-fall activity this past Spring. I haven't been up there this Summer, because of reports of the road having slid away into the canyon. Travel from Pine Creek to Morgan Lakes might be problematic.