If any of the Sierra Passes are open....
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Originally Posted by
ssamiraa
We're driving from Las Vegas through Death valley
Welcome to the Great American RoadTrip Forum! Until you get here and see what the weather is like -- you really won't have a definitive choice of routes. There are way too many variables. I think you have seen some of these posts, but be sure to look at the second post in this thread for links to commentary about this route AND look at the bottom of this page!
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and then staying overnight at a Lone Pine on highway 395 (this is changeable if it doesnt fit with the plan!
If one of the Sierra Passes is open and you do go north from Death Valley -- I would stay at Bishop --bigger town, great bakery, wonderful murals and friendly people.
It has been a very dry winter and it is even possible that Tioga Pass (into Yosemite could be open -- extremely unlikely -- see this poll....) but the first pass you ought to consider is Sonora Pass (not Carson pass) It is the closest pass to Yosemite and even though the state claims that it is not plowed -- it is kept open much of the winter.
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via Carson Pass on route 88 then via Jackson south on the 49
While it is true that Carson Pass is usually kept open, if you go that far north, you might as well just keep going north over Luther Pass and take US-50 (which is open 95% of the winter) west to CA-49 at Placerville and then down to Yosemite.
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2. Go south on the 395 and then cut across west from Ridgecrest to Bakersfield on the 178 and then north on the 99 via Fresno and then the 41 into Yosemite from the south.
This would be the faster route, and you could stay overnight at Lake Isabella or Kernville. The absolute fastest route is US-385 to CA-14 to CA-58 to CA-99 to CA-41 to the Park. All of these routes are scenic and fun.
Mark
Pre-planning is a useful state, but...
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Originally Posted by
ssamiraa
...but at least i know which options I have either way.
The best part about roadtrips, for me, is that they are ultimately open to change. I hope you let us know what you discover out there!
Mark
One of our summer features
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Originally Posted by
jwest
Mark, and others - I live on the East Side of the Sierra and keep close track of the passes....
Always great to have locals intel -- Welcome to the Great American RoadTrip Forum! I have been over all of the Sierra Passes a couple of times in the last 18 months. I did five of them in one day last October (zig-zagging my way from east to west, starting with Carson and ending with Monitor that afternoon -- Ebbetts remains my all-time favorite pass in summer. I actually prefer Sonora as the first spring pass each year -- that snow chute at the top is amazing!
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Even though there hasn't been much snow down low this winter, there has been a lot up high. CalTrans will not even think about opening any of the passes until at least May 1 - and then they might tackle Sonora.
One of our contributors lives on base of the pass on the west side and he gets up there pretty regularily -- even when Caltrans reports the pass is closed. I have been over the pass twice when the road was officially still closed (the gates were open).
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Don't count on Tioga until Memorial Weekend - not only does it need plowing, but the NPS budget has to allow for posting Rangers up there, and they always drag their feet doing that. Memorial weekend is a definite possibility though.
We will just have to see this year -- Snow pack reports are not encouraging in some respects.
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As for Sherman Pass - that pass is not plowed by anyone.
Well, not officially, but residents up at Kennedy Meadows have been known to "scrape" a little bit from time to time.
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Right now there is a bunch of snow on the north - shady- side of the pass and I wouldn't count on it being open much before Memorial Weekend.
You could be right -- I drove most of the way last year -- a week earlier and it was OK -- this year, is much drier along the entire range.
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And - Sherman Pass road is definitely NOT the quickest way to get to Sequoia National Park! It looks good on a map, but it is wiggly, up and down, and definitely NOT a shortcut.
No one here has ever suggested that it is a short-cut -- but it is an extraordinary glimpse into the southern Sierra high country.
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It would take one all day to go from the Owens Valley over Sherman, down into Johnsondale, and up over Camp Nelson, down to Porterville, and up to Sequoia NP.
Absolutely. And our recommendation is to stay overnight at McNallys Fairview Lodge -- grab a couple of steaks and listen to the Kern River all night.
One of the articles, I am working on will present some ideas and tips for using all nine of the Sierra Nevada Mountain crossings. Do you have some more tips that I could incorporate into that article?
Mark
