Tioga Pass Prognosticator #8

[Mark Sedenquist]

Tioga Pass Prognosticator #8
This is our eighth attempt at predicting future road conditions on one of our favorite mountain crossings in the American West. Tioga Pass which is found on California State Route 120 connects California’s Owens Valley with the Central Valley while crossing the rugged Sierra Nevada Mountain range. When the snows of autumn descend on this alpine route, we know that winter in all of her majesty is about to close the high country for another summer road trip season and so this poll is a traditional rite of passage for the Great American RoadTrip Forum. (I know it just opened for the 2009 travel season, and the road isn't even dry from the snow melt, but time marches on...)

******December 2, 2009 Update: dcTPP (Darn Close -- Tioga Pass Prognosticator)
Official NPS Closing Date: November 12, 2009
*************Don Casey (CalOldBlue) Winter 2009 Click here for the declaration of dcTPP winner!

Last year, this famous road "officially" closed on October 30th. It actually wasn't that cut-and-dried. The Yosemite National Park site listed the road open until mid-December, but fall and winter storms had effectively closed the road in October. And so, obtaining an "official closing date" could be another long process this year. Last year, also marked the first "awarding" of the Tioga Pass Prognosticator Closing prize which went to Forum Member, weirj, who chose "On or before Halloween (Oct. 31st)". This year, the rules have been tightened a bit (same as the Opening Prognosticator 2009 rules).

Prognosticators Extraordinaire To-Date:
Tioga Pass Prognosticator Winners:
Phil Boardman, (PhilB) Spring 2009 (Click here for news about this achievement)
weirj Winter 2008
******dcTPP (Darn Close -- Tioga Pass Prognosticator)
*************Don Casey (CalOldBlue) Winter 2009 Click here for the declaration of dcTPP winner!
*************Lynn & Victor (Hotel Charlotte) Spring 2008
*************Joey (Kinless) Spring 2007

Official Tioga Pass closings in recent years:
2008: October 30th
2007: December 6th
2006: November 26th
2005: November 25th
2004: October 17th
2003: October 31st
2002: November 5th
2001: November 11th
And here are the Yosemite National Park Official Closing and Opening Dates for last several years!

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 Tioga Pass Road closing 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.
* As per revision on 11/08/09, a single calendar date can only be claimed by one member. If two or more members chose the same calendar date, and that date proves to be the "Winning Date", the prize will go to the member who "claimed" the date the earliest in this contest period.
*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.

*Moderator Dave Gomm (Southwest Dave) is the wrangler on this contest and he can answer any further questions you might have about this communal predictive effort.

And this is a very cool page -- it lists the opening and closing dates for other high Sierra Nevada passes, which might give you an edge as predict this year's dates.... (Produced by Caltrans).

Previous RTA Prognosticator Predictive Efforts:
Spring Opening 2006
Winter Closing 2006
Spring Opening 2007
Winter Closing 2007
Spring Opening 2008
Winter Closing 2008
Spring Opening 2009

Good luck! ...And may the best guesser prevail!

7-10-09: I forgot to add the photo of the kiosk here -- Look how beautiful it is there today!


RTA Editorial Team

[Mark Sedenquist]

I've never been close -- so don't follow my lead... But I laying claim to the 2nd of November at noon.

Mark

[PNW Judy]

October 31st at 8am

[glc]

November 8 at 4pm.

[CalOldBlue]

November 11.

My daughter's 3rd anniversary and the 3rd anniversary of Cal's 24-20 loss the the Wildcats in 2006, which ended up knocking them out of the Rose Bowl (again; finished tied w/ USC but lost on head-to-head).

Figure around 9pm... when my daughter walked down the aisle, and the Bears walked back to the locker room.

[Mark Sedenquist]

Not to say that you would do this, of course, but your post above made me think of the first line in this review....

Speaking of which, I just got my latest "The North Tunnel Echo" in the mail today....

Mark

[CalOldBlue]

I thought about joining (I was in a decent high school marching band on the peninsula), but as a junior transfer decided against it. Had I come in as a freshman I might have considered it.

That said, my band shared the field for a pre-game, back in the mid-60s. Somehow our band director got us appointed to represent Minnesota or Michigan or somebody whose band didn't travel for early season games, so we marched out of the South tunnel, faced off against the Cal Band, and played the Star Spangled together. I think we botched it bad enough they never invited anybody else to do it. Among other things we had an alignment issue due to the different hashmark placements between college and high school; we ended up stretched in the middle and bunched on the outsides. Ah well, we probably looked better than Stanfoo does now.

After pregame we headed for somewhere low in about section I or II and played "On Wisconsin" (or whatever) at (in)appropriate moments.

As for Johanna's wedding... yeah, they started up the ceremony right as they called back Jackson's touchdown for stepping out on the 40. Between my daughter, my wife, and Jo's aunt Sandi I figured discretion was the better part of valor. All the guys were in my corner however.

[Mark Sedenquist]

As for Johanna's wedding...

I think you made the wisest decision.... WRT the CAL band newsletter, I've never figured out how and why I got on that list -- must have given some $$ in the past or something. Nope, I was a USFS firefighter and transferred in sometime around my sophomore year -- but due to on-going fire assignments, I was on the 6.0+ year plan...And certainly never played my trumpet with sufficient skill to have passed muster with the CAL band.

Mark

[CalOldBlue]

...I was a USFS firefighter ...
Mark

God love you!

I assume you've read Maclean's "Young Men and Fire"? I searched out a copy after being told of the Mann Gulch tragedy on a "Gates of the Mountains" trip out of Helena one summer a couple decades ago. Also downloaded a pdf of "A Race That Couldn't Be Won".

Haunting read both; just finished a re-read a few months ago.

A teacher in Helena has put up a fascinating set of pages that constitutes a field trip to the Gulch, including historic and current pictures. http://formontana.net/gulch.html

[Mark Sedenquist]

I haven't read the book. I've read way too many accident reports and attended way too many memorial services for USFS firefighters over the years.

Here is the honor guard for the USFS Engine 57 crew that was killed near Palm Springs in the 2006 season.

Mark