So those who are interested on this forum I will post the report from my 2012 hike when ever I get the damn thing up lol.
I set out this year to do 140 days in the sierra with 80% cross country travel. unfortunately I was injured badly crossing Rodgers Pass on day 108 and had to hobble out of the Sierra and home after 111 days total.
In the end I visited 202 lakes, climbed 13 peaks, 53 passes with 42 being cross country. I climbed and dropped around 200,000 feet while traveling 3 national parks, 2 national forests and 3 wilderness areas.
Here is one photo from my starting location of Mineral King, Franklin Lakes:
I'm recovering slowly. I nearly broke my tail bone in a nasty fall and sliced my finger open badly. On day two making my way out a Ranger helped me dig rocks out of my finger.
It was hard to walk out and it's still painful to do much but i'll recover.
The Sierra Animal has returned! I was wondering where you were or what you were up to.
At Hamilton Lake, I met a fellow from Texas who had talked to you last summer. He was leading a group of 6 from Tx, and they were planning on heading over Kaweah Gap and Pants Pass to see Lake Italy -- "because Rogue Photonic told me last year that it was a really pretty place". Unfortunately, one look at Pants and they decided on Kern Hot Springs instead.
At least I got over Pants Pass. Monster pass!
RP: rather than making a single huge trip report, why don't you roll it out piece by piece. IMO, it would be more fun reading in installments.
I think you might have your lakes mixed when you say Italy Lake. That is very far North from Pants Pass in the Mono Divide area.
They probably went to the Kaweah Gap area based on what I told them but not Pants. I did Pants for the first time this year. It's a loose one for sure. Twice I had the whole hill side go on me and I had to run across the slope to get out of the way of the slide.
I honestly don't know how I will write this report this year but it certainly will be in parts.
Sorry to hear you got hurt....it's a real bummer you had to end your trek early. Question from a jealous WZer: How do you have so much time to hike? I wish I could plan on taking 140 days off to hike the Sierras....and lose 41 pounds too......what's your secret....did you win the lottery?
Lol how I have the time is one of the most common questions I get.
I currently work in construction doing suspended acoustical ceilings and wall panels. Also FRP wall panels. But the key is I work for my uncle so I can get off all the time I want and have a job when I get home so I have been taking advantage of it while I can. I just save up all year and hit the trails or in this case just the mountains with no trails. ;)
If you mean unwanted company from the Marmots yes that was sure true. They got me good at Franklin Lakes and destroyed one of my new 100 dollar water shoes that I had never worn before. They also put a hole in my pack, my pot handle and stuff sack. They tried to eat my camera, my gps, my solar panel and cords, my trekking poles, my tent and probably more that I have forgotten about.
Another guy that was camped at Franklin Lakes that was just laying out woke up and a Marmot was chewing up his sleeping bag while he was in it!
It was a good year to attempt such a long trip since we had so little snow. I certainly am happy with what I got done. I feel that my skills in these mountains have reached a point of being an expert without an ego attached. Last year I didn't like going cross country as much due to how much more demanding it is but now I feel as normal off trail as on them. I also have slowly built up my climbing skills where I should start roping up. I have hit class 4 and 5 with major exposure but coming down that sort of stuff without a rope is just difficult! I lost the Rock Route on Clyde Minaret and ended up on some class 5 with a 1000 foot exposure. Luckily while climbing up though!
I just hate that what I had failed to do last year I planned for this year and failed again. Such as completing the Sierra High Route North of Tuolumne and doing the Enchanted Gorge, Cartridge Creek and the Murro Blanco. Oh well who knows maybe next year.
I think I will also try to do a major exploration of the Pine Creek Mine in the future. I found a way into the mine and it has 32 miles of tunnels and 3500 feet of elevation change from top to bottom. Anyone want to spend 3 days under ground with me lol.
So summit lists are: (in order)
Russell
Peak 12,345 (Copper Mine Peak)
Brewer
Peak 12,064 (White Fork Peak)
Peak 12,176 (Cartridge Peak)
Observation
Peak 11,255 (at the corner of Palisade Creek and the Middle Fork of the Kings
Langille
The Citadel
Charybdis
Godddard
Peak 10,755 (South of McClure Meadow)
Clyde Minaret
(Peak name removed) was probably the most cool because the original register is on top and I was the 5th summit ever of the peak and the first in 6 years.
I had many more peaks planned but the weather stopped most of them. I was going to climb Sill and Polemonium but I burnt my extra day with two other hikers at the Dumbell Lakes so I didn't have the time.
Last edited by Steve C; 09/25/1209:10 AM. Reason: peak name removed
... I think I will also try to do a major exploration of the Pine Creek Mine in the future. I found a way into the mine and it has 32 miles of tunnels and 3500 feet of elevation change from top to bottom. Anyone want to spend 3 days under ground with me lol. ...
Cool photos. I haven't made it to the A level myself. I planned to go up there this year and spend an extra day exploring but I thought there wouldn't be any water so I decided to pass it up.
I did go back into Brownstone mine and explored all of it I could safely. The mine was less flooded this year so I was able to explore the rest of the first level. All the ladders in that section are soaked though and I had them begin breaking on me so it was no good. I made it onto the 2nd and 3rd levels but the ladders werent very nice heading to another section of the 3rd level. I took a bunch of photos and videos this time around if anyone remembers my 2010 report.
If I do go into the Pine Creek Mine I think I will go serious on it and bring climbing gear and paint cans to mark tunnels so I don't get lost. I just wish I knew more about the tunnels because I know the mine had major cave in problems in later years and I don't know how much of the mine may be closed off in a vertical sense. I suppose that is what exploration is for though.
I thought it was a bit odd that the entrance I found and went into a bit there was a heavy layer of dust on the air which was rushing out of the opening I went in. I could be wrong but for there to be so much dust on the air would tell me there must have been a recent cave in and the dust was making it's way out of the mine.
Rogue, while you were away, you may have missed the publicity about the renewed assault on summit registers. It has gotten pathetic, and the original remaining seem to be targeted. Black Kaweah is now gone, and was original.
There is an informal agreement amoung the mountaineering community to not post about original registers, as that seems to make them a target for theft.
I'm suggesting that you might want to remove your reference to the peak you mentioned, for that reason.
It's a shame for sure that people would do this because the big question is why are they stealing them and what are they doing with the books?
A woman told me that Mt. Woodworth was considered the oldest in the Sierra. It dated back to some where like 1890 and had the original Leconte signatures in it. She also just liked the idea that it was the same book every single person that has ever climbed the peak has signed. I guess though a couple years back someone took it but in this case it was to donate it to a museum.
1. Someone is hoping to make a profit someday by appearing with a bunch of the original registers, and offering them to a museum for a profit. (I doubt this is the case).
2. Some self-righteous "leave-no-trace" freak with an attitude believes he is doing the world a great favor by "cleaning up" the wilderness. I suspect this is quite likely the case, based on the experience of people like Bob R, where the register on Thor Peak has been repeatedly removed.
If they want to clean up the wilderness they can do a hell of allot better then stealing mountain logs. I run across junk constantly in the backcountry. Even found a huge awning like you would have at a lake car camping for shade in Humphreys Basin. And one of the most common pieces of trash besides rusty cans. Ballons! Pack that out instead!
If they want to clean up the wilderness they can do a hell of allot better then stealing mountain logs. I run across junk constantly in the backcountry. Even found a huge awning like you would have at a lake car camping for shade in Humphreys Basin. And one of the most common pieces of trash besides rusty cans. Ballons! Pack that out instead!
we took that one all the way from Fish Valley to Whitney Portal
The Brownstone Mine main portal has been sealed by the USFS. You might be able to enter through a small portal at a lower elevation just off the trail, near one of the switch-backs, but I don't advise it. There is also an old exploration edit that starts near the Pine Creek mine main portal, which extends all the way under the primary work area of the Brown Stone mine, going under Pine Creek, but I don't know its status (a raise-bore was put up near the end of said adit while I was still working there). A former miner at the Pine Creek operation went into the Brownstone Mine last year by that abandoned adit.
Several local climbers have been putting up new routes on the wall to the West of the Brownstone portal. There is a fixed rope hanging in the area. Still secret information...
I'm not sure of the way into the Pine Creek mine to which you refer. The 8100 level (main portal), 1500 level, and A, B, and C portals were closed years ago. There is one portal, for rail cars, near the old mine engineering office, but that adit only goes in a couple of hundred yards or so. The ventilation shafts on top of Wheeler Ridge have either been blasted shut or have collapsed. I received this information from former Pine Creek engineers and geologists, because being a former employee up there I've always wanted to see inside the mine again. There is no longer water of any noticable amount coming our of the 8100 level portal, which is an indication of interior man-made or natural collapse of the adits.
Remember that the Pine Creek and Brownstone mines are private property - trespassing arrest hazard. They don't appreciate casual visitors. I've re-visited the Pine Creek site several times in recent years, but always have to explain that I am a former employee (but promise not to abuse my retiree status).
I'm not doubting your report, but if you have found a way into the Pine Creek mine, where is it? It could be interesting, but risky fun! There is always a danger of "getting slabbed"; miners' slang for being flattened by falling rock...
The entrance to the Brownstone Mine I use is inside the tram room where the cable runs back around. At the back of that area is a ladder that goes up into the mine. I didn't know about any way in near the switch backs. The hole you speak of from Pine Creek probably connects to the drill hole.
As for the Pine Creek Mine i'd rather not say where it is. There is always the chance that word can get around and the mine will be closed off. I don't mind mentioning how to get inside Brownstone because I have explored everything that can be done without climbing gear which was plenty enough for me.
I've read your report at Sierra Topix; interesting stuff.
The door you entered has since been sealed off by the USFS. Probably just as well; it isn't really safe in there, even if it gives the appearance of being solid. Maybe word got around that people were going inside and the USFS got nervous.
The Pine Creek portal you found is probably the old 1500 level portal (1500 feet above the Pine Creek mill site), which was blasted shut, but I guess they haven't gone back to check it in quite a while. Deeper into that adit (tunnel) you will find a large metal "air-door" which was part of a system for controlling ventilation inside the mine (to clear out radon gas inside the mine). If the air door is closed you won't be able to proceed further. If you can hear air coming out, the door might be open. If you are able to go further into the adit, it is shored up with steel and timber, but possibly flooded in some places. Have fun!
You mean the entrance to Brownstone Mine I used has been closed after I used it this year? If so I'm not sure how they would close it off other then to blast it shut or take the ladder down.
The 1500 foot level you speak of I assume is zero level. That main adit is indeed blasted shut although if you go up to the rock air is roaring through it so the door you speak of in there must be open.
The entrance I found also had air roaring out of it.
Although it's incomplete many of the photos from Brownstone Mine can be found in Week 13
I also have lots of videos from inside the mine but it will probably take me awhile to do anything with them since I have to first learn how to edit videos.
I'd love it if we could get a 3D map of Wheeler Ridge with the Pine Creek tunnels in it.
No, the main portal entrance is closed with some kind of heavy spray-on ensulation. Where is the smaller door you used? Is it to the left or right of the closed portal? There are at least three small entrances up on the face just to the right of the closed portal, that the miners used to access via wooden ladders.
Ok, I just looked at your photos...now I'm confused, but nothing unusual about that...
Did you find the water pipe just down hill from the portal? Good, fresh H2O. There is also a nice rock fire ring outside the closed portal, with a rock bench for sitting or sleeping.
Yes, Zero level and 1500 level are one in the same, I believe.
Now you've got me thinking about more exploring there next Summer. Hmmm...
At Brownstone if you go left from the closed off adit there is a mostly collapsed building. You climb through the mess and you will be inside the tramway room where the cable would turn and run back down the mountain. At the back of this room about 6 feet off the ground is a ladder that leads up into the mine itself. It's a bit difficult to get onto the structure that the ladder sits on but it can be done. Inside this room is a collapsed ladder system leading 30 feet up to the first portal on the cliff walls. I climbed up ladder systems and was able to get onto the level with the second portal leading out on the cliffs but I did not go to the opening because the bridge system that led to it looked sketchy. From that opening is an ore chute and a ladder system that isn't in very good shape that went up as far as I could see. That probably leads to the final level and exit.
Half of Brownstone mine is dry and the ladders are in good shape. The other half is completely soaked. Two years ago there was so much water that I could not even get into one whole area of the mine but on this low snow year I was able to explore it. The ladders in that section are completely rotted though.
I did indeed find the pipe coming out of the wall. That was a great source to get water from. I camped at the mine itself using the nice fire pit with that rock bench. I had to build a place to set up a tent though so there is at least one now.
I'd recommend exploring Brownstone while you can. The ladder that goes up into the mine is still plenty safe to use but it's starting to show wear. Down the road it will fall apart.
Most of the mine is nice and safe to explore. Solid granite walls with no sign of cave ins. Fresh air flowing through it and no signs of mice droppings other then on the second level.
The vertically drilled hole was created with a machine called a "raise-borer". That's why the sides look relatively smooth. It would have eventually been, with further work, turned into a "ore pass." Blasted rock would then be dropped down into the ore pass, breaking into smaller pieces on the way down. At the bottom of the ore pass would be a large metal grate, which could be opened to allow ore to be transported by rail cars or a front-end loaders. This ore pass would have been about 1,500 feet deep.
In the case of this particular mine, the ore would have been transported by rail to the portal, and then moved to the Pine Mine crusher system for further processing.
When the price of tungsten collapsed, the company decided not to proceed with further operations in the Brown Stone mine.
I should probably have a chat with the experienced, retired miners who still work at Pine Creek, to get their opinion of the condition of the interior of the Brown Stone mine, before venturing into possible danger. Better safe than sorry, eh?. Remember what was said about space travel: "In the silence of space, no one can hear you scream." Same applies to underground mines.
Have you ever considered studying for a mine engineering degree? Colorado and Nevada schools of mines offer excellent courses.
Thanks for the insight. I wondered how that thing would have been drilled since it's 8 feet wide.
It is very true that no one will find you under ground. I explored Ubehebe TALC Mine in Death Valley and that was one of the most dangerous mines I ever climbed through. Down one hallway all the beams holding the back up were broken and in a V shape. I still climbed down through it though. Although the video on that adventure sucks here it is:
Nope I never considered mine engineering. Sounds like both a fun and challenging field. I left school far too long ago for me to consider anything requiring it.
