Competition. The 28th Tioga pass prognosticator. Winter closing 2019.

[tseeb]

I drove W over Tioga Pass on Thurs, Nov 14. I think my original guess of Nov. 13 was based on that would be the day I'd need Tioga to be open to get to Mammoth, which opened the previous Saturday on man-made snow, and it would close.

I drove to Mammoth via South Lake Tahoe, stopping at Sly Park Reservoir for a short mountain bike ride that started just before sunset and finished in the dark, but before the full moon rose. Some of the advantages of going via Tahoe is that it breaks up the trip (I've never tried leaving San Jose early enough to ski Mammoth on arrival day) and fuel in Minden/Gardnerville area is less than in CA (although not as much less as it used to be except for diesel). Also my family has a cabin in So. Tahoe that had not been used since I was there at the end of Sept.

I'll let pictures (and captions) tell the rest of the story.
Early morning drives from Tahoe to Mammoth often have great sunrises. This is going down Kingsbury Grade
8463KingsburyGrade.jpg
Entrance to Yosemite. Snow on peaks in background is probably from last winter
8481TiogaEntrance.jpg
The entrance station may have closed on date of my original guess. Do I win anything
8482StationClosed.jpg
Next two pictures from Olmstead Point
8488HalfDome.jpg8490Avalanche.jpg