On September 7th and 8th then again on September 14 and 15, members of Valley Outdoors worked in conjunction with the Dirt Ninjas volunteer group and The Inyo National Forest to work toward reopening Wheeler Crest road access via Sand Canyon, (INFS 30E302 ).
This critical road was severely damaged during the past two winters. The Dirt Ninja volunteer group formulated a plan to repair the road and worked through the process with the Inyo National Forest (INF). Valley Outdoors worked in a supporting role in those efforts.
Work began on the first weekend with heavy equipment moving approximately 70 tons (140,000 pounds) of material provided by the INF over 2 days. The material had to be transported 1.1 miles up a 15%-20% grade to the main work site. To facilitate moving such a large amount of material the lower section of the road (INFS 30E302) had to be brought back up to USFS standards which included stabilizing washouts, regrading the roadbed and reestablishing water bars to prevent further damage. The fix before the fix.
Once the road was satisfactory to shuttle material up, rock and earthen fill was placed in the washed-out areas and the crews slowly crept up the roadway. The following weekend, September 14 and 15, work continued with limited equipment use and volunteer hand crews to clear upper water bars, shovel dirt and rocks as well as trim back encroaching vegetation from the last 2 years. Vehicles were sent on the roadway for the first time in over two years thanks to all the hard work and partnerships.
It really needs to be noted, during the two weekends work was paused on several occasions to allow people walking dogs, hiking, a group of hunters and the Rock Creek pack stations annual livestock drive to pass. This exemplifies the definition of multi-use trails and the importance of this road for all recreation.
Some stats on work done: 67 hours on heavy equipment was donated, approximately 180 volunteer work hours donated, 12 dump trucks of material donated (5 already placed and the rest required to finish). All the work done was directly supported by donations from agencies and our community. A HUGE thank you for all who stepped up.
Although much work was done, and the road is now passable by a high clearance 4×4 (USFS road standard L2) more work is needed including rock hardening the Witcher Creek crossing. Please keep an eye out for future volunteer workdays to finish the job. Sign up at ValleyOutdoors.org.
We would like to take this opportunity to remind everyone to TreadLightly on our public lands. Travel Responsibly, Respect Other Users, Educate Yourself, Avoid Sensitive Areas and Do Your Part on our public lands so we can keep the outdoors accessible to all.
Valley Outdoors is a Bishop, California based 501c3 serving the Eastern Sierra. We work hard to keep recreation open to all and, in partnership with community and agencies, seek lasting solutions. Without your ongoing support we could not do this. Thank you to all who have supported us and, in the future, please consider supporting our efforts with tax deductible donations.
