Printable View
Just great. I'm going to bang my head against the wall if it is this Friday. I originally guessed the 15th but changed my vote to the 20th at the last second. I forgot the old adage: "Always go with your first pick"Quote:
Originally Posted by exodus
What I meant to say is that it will probably be a Friday or Saturday, not this Friday or Saturday. Sorry for the confusion. Heh.
According to this thread here (with visual evidence), they are targeting May 22:
http://forums.mammothmountain.com/vi...&sd=a&start=45
And with the warm weather to happen this weekend up there and no snow in the forecast... probably will be happening. Woo hoo! :)
That would be totally cool - I'll let Mark buy me a tank of gas! What are the odds it will be at 8am?
IMO, your odds are pretty darned good. They nearly always open in the morning, but every once in a while it's 12:00 noon.
Yosemite site just updated:
http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/tioga.htmQuote:
The Tioga Road will open on May 20, 2009, at 10 am, conditions permitting.
Spent past weekend in Lake Tahoe - having warmest time since 1982.
All three passes Carson Pass 88, Eberts Pass 4 and route 108 are open. Came over route 88 Monday and it was well open with snow well down.
A warmer time I think this year.
Just maybe you can stop banging your head against the wall ! ;-)Quote:
Originally Posted by Kinless
Joey (Kinless) was the dcTPP… (the official Darn Close -- Tioga Pass Prognosticator) in 2007, but it looks like he has the "lock" for the 2009 opening. Joey predicted noon today, and if it opens at 10:00 am PDT, he'll miss the extra "special prize" but he'll certainly win the free tank of fuel....
The "Contest"
You are welcome to use your predictive talents and if you manage to hit the correct date -- the RTA Editorial group will pay for a tank of roadtrip fuel in your personal roadtrip ride. Legal has suggested that we identify what this means.... So, for the record, the prize will be limited to $75.00 USD To win this prize, the date must be posted** on this Forum more than or equal to fifteen (15) days prior to the official opening date. (**Your "date" must be identified in a post on this thread...**) Further, you must identify a particular date in your post. And if you manage to identify the correct opening time within 60 minutes.... you'll receive an additional surprise gift from RTA. The official date for this Tioga Pass Prognosticator contest tracks with Pacific Time (USA), so no matter what date it might be in your local neighborhood, the date used for this contest will be the same one used by the officials at Yosemite National Park for Tioga Pass.
Standing by for the official time now....
Mark
According to this site: http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/roadinfo/clsdlst.htm it opened yesterday.
I'm seeing some 'reports' that it opened at 4:00pm, May 19th. Can't confirm that officially, though.
They are sometimes slow to up date the Official Yosemite website, but that's the one we are waiting for !
Just checked and nothing conclusive so far.
It's officially open.
But they have not yet stated when it done so.
Let me know when you find the official opening time!
Ye gads -- I just saw that message the indicates that maybe it opened yesterday.... In that case, PhilB would be the winner... so I'll guess at Tuesday 19 May at 10:30 am.-- PhilB
Mark
Still no official word to be found, but looking around a bit, there's been a few anecdotal confirmations that it was the 19th at about 4:00.
MarkQuote:
Originally Posted by Mark Sedenquist
I've been away with work for a while and not had a chance to look at the forum ... did I guess correctly? ... Errrmmm, I mean ... was my scientifically calculated prediction accurate? ;-)
PhilB
PhilB,
Well, it's either you or Joey (Kinless) -- somebody must know -- but I've not been able to get on official opening date or time....
Mark
I haven't heard anything else. The talk of the opening has died down now and the Yosemite site won't update.
I can't believe that the official site hasn't confirmed it's open and at what date it did so. It most certainly looks like the 19th was the official opening but even so, what are they doing !
The entrance Kiosk picture hasn't been updated since Sun 17th either.
I hope !
They have it listed now on the Yosemite website as opened 19th May
so well done PhilB [pkb4809].
No time of day given as yet.
[I have copied and pasted the listed opening day from the site as the date they listed was removed and has now been re-instated. [just incase it disappears again ! ]
Quote:
From Yosemite site
opened closed
2004 May 14 Oct 17
2005 June 24 Nov 25
2006 June 17 Nov 27
2007 May 11 Dec 6
2008 May 21 Oct 30
2009 May 19
Well, I guess it just wasn't Joey's year (Kinless). I tweeted him the winner on Twitter... but it was a premature tweet.... So, Joey is still the reigning dcTPP!
PhilB [pkb4809] is only the second awarded winner in seven attempts. So congratulations to Phil!
Phil Boardman of Stoke on Trent (UK) is the Official 2009 Winner of the Tioga Pass Prognosticator #7
Mark
Looks like Kinless won again this year?
The Pass opened on May 20 at 10 a.m.! LINK
As you can see from your link this was an estimated opening time, prior to the opening and does not represent when it was opened. It is about time they updated the page to save confusion but this link that was referred to earlier has the official date May19 thQuote:
The Tioga Road will open on May 20, 2009, at 10 am, conditions permitting.
Mark Thank you so much.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark Sedenquist
In award ceremony style I'd just like to thank a few people ... my school maths teachers without whom probabilities would mean a lot less to me, probably ... the weather forecasters at the BBC for showing me the way when it comes to predicting weather based phenomenon ... but mostly to all the other RTA forum Tioga Pass Prognosticators who didn't predict May 19th, leaving it free for me to have a guess at.
;-) ;-) ;-)
Thanks once again. I'll try to use my free gas wisely, and I'll be sure to use the advice and guidance from the RTA forum to help with that.
Keep up the good work.
PhilB
Phil,
Now.... you need to defend your title.... The road is not even dry yet, but we've started the TIOGA PASS PROGNOSTICATOR #8 about when the high country road will close for the season next fall.... More information here.
Mark
Congrats Phil! :D
Mark
Thank you so much ... the gas gift cards arrived in the mail last week :-)
I was delighted to see that you also sent an RTA baseball cap and RTA bumper stickers ... Thank You so much!!!
So if any forum readers see a guy in an RTA cap, driving a rental SUV with RTA bumper stickers around California (Los Angeles - Santa Barbara - Morro Bay - Monterey - San Francisco - Yosemite - Fresno - Sequoia - Bakersfield - Los Angeles) July 12-26, with a silly grin on his face like he's driving on free gas ... gimme a honk on your horn :-) ;-) :-)
Regards
PhilB
I'll be in LA on the 26th of July, so I'll keep an eye out for you!
Mark
Hi
Just thought I'd follow up with a picture that my daughter caught, with her camera phone ... of me pumpimg free gas into our rental car.
http://www.roadtripamerica.com/forum...1&d=1248982567
Check out the RTA baseball cap and the silly grin that "getting your tank filled for free" causes.
I had just about given up on using those gift cards. We hadn't seen a Mobil/Exxon gas station since we left LA (where we had picked up the rental car with a full tank) ... since then we had been all the way up the coast to San Francisco, inland to Yosemite and down to Fresno ... we had asked the receptionist at the hotel did they know was there a Mobil/Exxon station nearby and had been assured "No, there are no Mobil/Exxon gas stations near here ... Certainly none in Fresno ... I've only ever seen one on LA" ... so I'd decided that the only (and best) use I could make of them was to give them as extra tips to servers in LA restaurants/hotels when we got back there (the rental car could be returned empty and I didn't think the rental company deserved any tips ... story later) ... So imagine my surprise (or perhaps you can see it on my face in the picture) when we go out to eat and pass two Mobil gas stations in quick succession about 5 blocks from the hotel!?!
Thanks once again.
Regards
PhilB
P.S. I'm sure I will get around to producing a roadtrip field report eventually ... just need to get over the jetlag first.
This made MY day!Quote:
Originally Posted by pkb4809
Darn, I chose that card based on where I knew you would be driving -- I see them all of the time in the southwest. Phew! Sure glad you found one!Quote:
I had just about given up on using those gift cards.
Mark
Glad you liked it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark Sedenquist
Don't beat yourself up ... I hadn't really looked very hard, and had believed someone when they told me that they weren't available locally ... so I was REALLY surprised when I found one ... once I'd seen one of their gas stations they seemed to be everywhere. If I'd have been that bothered I could just have typed "mobil exxon gas station locations" into google and would have found this site.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark Sedenquist
If I really thought about it, maybe it's an unreasonable question to ask someone ... I can't think what brand of petrol (gas) the station two minutes from my house sells ;-)
We had a really fantastic trip ... made all the better by the knowledge gleaned from RTA.
Thank you all.
Regards,
PhilB