Stevens Canyon Trail: Power Line Down / Update

At the end of July '22, just as I got to the gate at the end of the paved road, a strange sound came down the power lines overhead. It sounded like the noise you hear in a rail way ahead of a far off train, or like a supersonic projectile whizzing by. You could see waves running down the lines and reflecting back from each power pole.

Since there's nothing up the canyon past here, I had assumed the lines had been disconnected when the last cabins were demolished about 8 years ago. But then a local resident came up to see why his power was out, so then I knew these lines were still live.

Why PG&E hasn't abandoned/disconnected these lines is beyond me. These are the sort of lines that can cause fires when trees like this fall on them, as has happened many times in previous years. They actually sent a crew up to repair this line after a tree fell across it! I guess it must cost money to disconnect a power line. You need to add disconnecting hardware to the end pole or additional bracing for that end pole since it'll be supporting the tension of the lines running up to it. Maybe there is some reason this line is left energized that I'm unaware of.

There are about 12 power poles up from the last residential connection just past the gate at the end of Stevens Canyon Rd. that have live high voltage wires strung on them. Last pole with the transformer is 146938.

Makes one wonder how many similar unused sections of power lines there are around the state that could be disconnected and made safe?

More to come...
Subscribe for more content like this
Comment, like, share & click the bell icon
And as always, thanks for watching