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

[Southwest Dave]

Yes I think you are right Donna, for now they may well leave it to nature to 'work' on the snow. Although it will still require manpower to clear debris and inspect the roadway condition, so it's a bit of a balancing act between not wasting resources and being ready for opening up to the public. (I'm not sure social distancing is an issue up on the Tioga pass for the crews)

Dave.

[Mark Sedenquist]

I'm thinking that they'll let nature do the hard work of clearing the roads?

Donna, as Sheriff Dave mentions, most of the work has to do with repairing the road from winter storm damage. And the road would probably sustain even more expensive damage if they let the melt happen without active human management. It is even possible, that such damage could close the road "forever."

I think they will need to spend the time and $$ to repair the road -- even if they never open it to the public.

These certainly are interesting times!

Mark

[tseeb]

I didn't look for this until last night when it was already too late to jump in between Utahtea and Donna and pick May 21, the Thursday before Memorial Day. While I think the week following Memorial Day would also be a good guess, I'm going with June 1st at 9 AM. I think they could have it open earlier this year, like by next Friday May 15, but I'm picking June 1 since Yosemite is still closed and California, who controls access from the East, is probably under stay-at-home order through May 31.

Surprisingly, Monitor and Ebbetts passes are both still closed although Ebbetts looked mostly snowfree at 8,730' summit on April 27. See pictures and story posted at https://californiaalpscycling.bike/2...action-report/ on May 2. Monitor is lower and farther E so it gets less snow.

[Southwest Dave]

It appears to be that no road crews are yet working on Tioga pass although the weather continues to do it's best to assist. Temperatures are reaching 80F in the valley and 70F at 8500ft today !!
I can only imagine what a wonderful feeling it must be to be one of the few residing in the park right now.

Dave.

[Mark Sedenquist]

I bet the high country waterfalls are gorgeous about now.

Mark

[tseeb]

Monitor Pass opened yesterday, Friday, May 8. Last year, when Tioga did not open for more than 2 hrs. a day traffic until July 1, Monitor opened on April 26. While story at https://www.tahoedailytribune.com/ne...remain-closed/ says "This opening follows weeks of extensive snow and debris removal by Caltrans crews..." the snow removal part sounds like BS to me as I think most of it would have melted by now. I tried to find history of CA highway pass openings and found link on first post of this thread and at https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/tiogaopen.htm both go to a dot.ca.gov page that only (so far) including opening and closing dates from last winter and closing dates for this winter. Previously, I think they went to a page with a lot more history.

[glc]

Yes, I remember that page. Another one that's gone is the full text list of all road conditions in California. Now you have to search road by road.

[Utahtea]

I didn't look for this until last night when it was already too late to jump in between Utahtea and Donna and pick May 21, the Thursday before Memorial Day. While I think the week following Memorial Day would also be a good guess, I'm going with June 1st at 9 AM. I think they could have it open earlier this year, like by next Friday May 15, but I'm picking June 1 since Yosemite is still closed and California, who controls access from the East, is probably under stay-at-home order through May 31.

Surprisingly, Monitor and Ebbetts passes are both still closed although Ebbetts looked mostly snowfree at 8,730' summit on April 27. See pictures and story posted at https://californiaalpscycling.bike/2...action-report/ on May 2. Monitor is lower and farther E so it gets less snow.

I guessed May 22 because at the time I was hoping for more snow, which we did get. I was hoping it would open for the Memorial Day weekend but Covid19 happened and if I were to guess now, I’d say it would be after the Memorial Day weekend to avoid holiday crowds.

Utahtea

[tseeb]

The road from Lee Vining to Tioga Pass is open, but Yosemite National Park and road through it is still closed. Hope we don't end up with another Sheriff's ruling (or maybe I need to also lobby him). I received the following in an email today (and verified it at https://roads.dot.ca.gov/):

9,945' Tioga Pass:
"TRAFFIC ADVISORY: Caltrans has opened its gate on State Route 120 East leading to Yosemite National Park. However, the park remains closed at this time. Caltrans reminds all Californians that it is important to stay at home to fight the spread of COVID-19. #StayHomeSaveLives" - Caltrans District 9, 5/15/20

9,624' Sonora Pass:
"TRAFFIC ADVISORY: Caltrans has opened Sonora Pass/State Route 108. California's Stay At Home order remains in effect. While the road is now open, a late season winter storm next week may require it to be closed again. Please check quickmap.dot.ca.gov for the latest." - Caltrans District 9, 5/15/20

8,730' Ebbetts Pass:
"Alpine County – The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) announced today it has opened Ebbetts Pass, one of the seasonal highways in the Sierra after completing necessary road repairs and removing winter snow and debris in preparation for the summer season." - Caltrans Disctrict 10, 5/15/20

[Southwest Dave]

The road from Lee Vining to Tioga Pass is open, but Yosemite National Park and road through it is still closed. Hope we don't end up with another Sheriff's ruling (or maybe I need to also lobby him). I received the following in an email today (and verified it at https://roads.dot.ca.gov/):

Hi tseeb.

It's quite normal for Caltrans to plow CA120 up to the entry gate of Yosemite, but it has nothing to do with this competition which is only focused on the section of Tioga pass within Yosemite NP between Crane flat and the east entry kiosk.

Dave.