Competition: Tioga pass prognosticator No 29. (Spring opening 2020)

[Southwest Dave]

A little snow falls on the highground today, but apparently it's not going to amount to much. Otherwise it's all pretty quiet with no further updates from Yosemite regarding plowing, or opening for that matter.

Todays scene from the Sentinel webcam.


Dave.

[tseeb]

If you have to have a reservation to drive Tioga Road, is it more open or less open than it was in late June 2019 when it was only open two hours a day? Or is open a yes or no? It sounds like reservation required could be what happens this June, but not yet sure what date. See https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/05/...e-with-limits/

In case my local paper is behind a paywall for you, the article opens with the following two paragraphs: Yosemite National Park may finally reopen as early as June, but with major changes: Visitors who want to spend the day at the famed Sierra Nevada destination would need a reservation and crowds would be limited to roughly half of normal.

Aimed at reducing the risk of spreading the coronavirus, the plan drafted by Yosemite park officials has not been made widely public and still needs approval from the Trump Administration’s Department of the Interior.

[Southwest Dave]

As with most things during this Pandemic it's a case of seeing how things unfold. The article is more about the park as a whole but the straight answer is either "yes it's open" or "No it isn't". 'Yes' coincides with Yosemite nps when they reveal the pass is officially open to private vehicles (visitors that do not work or live in the park) whether that be one car a day allowed to cross , or an unlimited number. Anything that veers from that criteria and throws a curveball will have to be dealt with as and when appropriate.

Sheriff Dave.

[Southwest Dave]

I'm going in with my prediction for June 20th @8am

Dave.

(tseeb being the only other person with an active vote at the moment !)

[tseeb]

Since Dave is the only one with an active vote, I need to decide whether to go ahead of him or behind. I'll take 6/16 at 8:30 PM if that meets the 15 day in advance requirement.

[Southwest Dave]

The first official updates state that the snow has been cleared on the Tioga pass but other Spring operations are ongoing. This includes road repairs, clearing of any debris (rock, trees) and setting up utility systems. There is no indication of when the road may open.

As Yosemite starts a phased approach to reopening, access will be granted to visitors with pre-existing wilderness and Half dome permits but otherwise the park remains closed. It has been announced that Glacier point road will open today for access to those people with valid Half dome permits.

Dave.

[Southwest Dave]

We will have to wait and see to be sure, but Yosemite NP has announced the Tioga Pass will open on Monday June 15th, but only to those people who have made a reservation to visit Yosemite NP. This has been put in place to restrict the number of visitors as Yosemite works with a phased reopening of the park during the COVID-19 pandemic. Yosemite will open to these visitors with reservations starting Thursday June 11.

Info taken from Yosemite nps page.

Entrance Reservations.

Based on local, state, and federal public health guidelines, the number of vehicles entering Yosemite must be reduced from normal visitation levels for public safety. This helps reduce overcrowding at the park’s most popular destinations. The park is aiming to increase public access while providing visitors with a reasonable opportunity to comply with health guidelines. The day-use reservation system is a temporary system that has been created to address public health concerns resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The day-use reservations only limits the number of vehicles; it does not limit the number of people.

Our 29th competition and (as far as I know )only twice has there been a bit of controversy over the opening, and that's the previous 2 opening contests!! (As we say here in the UK, you wait ages for a bus and then two come along at once)

We could have a new DcTpp (Darn close Tioga pass prognosticator) in tseeb who predicted June 16 @ 8:30pm but as I said at the start, we will have to wait and make sure the opening goes ahead.

Dave.

[glc]

From the NPS Yosemite website:

The Tioga Road (Highway 120 through the park) is closed. The road will open on June 15 at 9 am, conditions permitting. A reservation is required to drive on Tioga Road.

[Southwest Dave]

Tioga pass is now listed as open and I presume this happened, as planned, at 9am this morning. However it has not been confirmed on the official 'Opening and closing dates' page as yet to exactly when it opened, so just waiting for that to happen, but it is open !

Dave.

[Mark Sedenquist]

Quite a different world these days.

Mark