For all readers who never had the chance to go inside the tunnel, here is the description of my experience in doing that back in 1968 and 1974.
There were very few visitors to the whole West Portal area in those days and only my wife and young son were there. No one else was to be seen in the area. The area was only reachable by 4x4 and, especially in 1968, the jeeping craze had not yet caught on as it later did. On some Colorado jeep roads which we once had to ourselves, in later years I had to get out and direct traffic!
This description is for 1974; here's how I got in:
I went down the same hole which I went down in 1968. It hadn't changed except somebody probably had cleaned out fallen dirt and small rocks in the intervening 6 years between visits. That hole possibly was originally made by the group with the late Dow Helmers and the late Charlie Webb for access just 8 years before I was there in 1968.
Notice that I said "down". Getting in and out of that tunnel was a vertical experience. A person first had to go to the very top of the large rocks and timbers which blocked the entrance. This was at the very top of the original stone portal. At that point, there was a dark hole directly beneath your feet. One side of the hole was the stonework of the portal. The other sides were fallen boulders, timbers, and smaller rocks, all in a mish-mash. You didn't start down there without a very good flashlight (with new batteries) in your hand. You literally had to slowly climb down there using your feet and your hands at the same time. I supported myself on the fallen rock and and on the timbers from the collapsed snowshed. The boulders, rocks, and dirt had buried those timbers every which way. IIRC, it was about 10 feet down until you were standing on the top of the inward sloping scree of dirt and small rocks which made up the the steep, loose slope which slanted down to the tracks. The tracks were easily seen through about a foot and a half or two feet of clear, ice cold snow-melt water (they can be seen clearly in various photos). You then walked sideways down that slope to wherever to wanted to be to make a photograph.
In order to get out, you had to reverse the whole process to get out to the light of day. Going up was harder than going down but I was young and enthusiastic back then (31 for '68; 37 for '74).
Both times, I took with me my medium format (6cm X 6cm) dual lens Mamiya C330 camera which was permanently mounted on a heavy aluminum Gitzo brand tripod. Doing so involved some minor acrobatics to get camera, tripod, large flash gun, flashlight, and me down and up again, all in one trip at the same time and in one piece. If you've ever been in a deep cave with all the lights out, you have an idea of the total darkness in the tunnel. My flashlight was just bright enough for me to properly focus the camera after setting up it and the tripod on that slope. All the redwood timbering had turned black except for where the white fungus was growing on them, so I focussed on the fungus. I readied my bulb-type flashgun and had some extra bulbs inside my shirt. I then opened the lens and left it open. Then I flashed the flashgun a few times, changing bulbs each time. I was copying the same technique that Charlie Webb used for the photos in Dow Helmer's book. I did it this way in both 1968 and 1974. I also owned a large strobe flash but deliberately left it my Scout. The flashbulbs put out far more light than the strobe could.
After my first 1974 photo, thunder sounded outside and came rumbling down the hole. This made me nervous since the slope I was standing on and the hole consisted of material which had washed down or fallen from the mountain slopes outside and buried the snowshed timbers. I had to get out before rain started. I got my gear together in a hurry and climbed out with all my gear as fast as possible.
My 1974 photo was about the same as my 1968 one except that someone earlier had gotten a lot further into the tunnel. That person had stuck a straw broom, handle down, into the debris from a partial ceiling collapse (which also appeared in my 1968 photo) which was about 20 or 30 feet from that initial inside slope.
So that was my experience both times inside that tunnel. No place for anyone who has even the slightest hint of claustrophobia ! I do not suffer from claustropobia since I've been in and out of mines and such all over the West since I was about 10.
Here's my 1968 photo:
015-08 Tunnel Int.-West 7-9-68 v.2 smaller.jpg
Best regards, Hart Corbett
