Competition: Tioga Pass Prognosticator. Spring opening 2018

[Southwest Dave]

Better than eating ice cream.

Wow ! That is amazing ! Hehe.

You should be fine, I don't think there has been a permanent closure for the season during September, certainly not in recent times. As you get towards October there is a risk of temporary closures which can be due to freezing overnight temperatures icing the road. We had to wait until lunchtime for it to open during one October as the sun went to work on thawing it out.

[tseeb]

I drove Tioga Pass and Highway 120 through Yosemite yesterday and will mostly let the pictures tell the story. I skied at Mammoth from 7:40 to about 11:45 with a break around 9 to sit out some very dense and wet fog that brought mixed precipitation at 10K', but was all rain at current ~9K' bottom of ski area. Snow was good early, but the moisture and warming temps made it sticky in most places. I was on 395 N before noon and stopped at Whoa Nellie Deli (highly recommended) at base of Tioga for an order of carnitas tacos.
5986TiogaPassOpenBaseSign.jpg5987WhoaNellieDeliTacosMonoLake.jpg5988TiogaPassGas.jpg
I ate one there, with a view of Mono Lake, then my last stop in the Park was at a picnic area next to Yosemite Creek where I had another half taco and the rest of the beans with some chips at a table next to roaring creek. Weather was on and off drizzle. I did not buy any expensive fuel at the base of the Pass. I had filled up in Minden, NV ($3.149 for regular at Arco) and made it to Mammoth, then home to San Jose (400 miles) before re[fueling at Costco today.
1836YosemiteCreekPicnic.jpg
There was not that much snow in most places on Tioga Pass and I don't remember seeing any around Olmstead Point. This picture is parking lot for bathroom by entrance station. The eight beer cans melting out from under the snow came home with me.
6038TiogaPassSnowGarbage.jpg

[tseeb]

I'm continuing in another post as I ran into the five picture limit. I stopped at Tenaya Lake and took the first picture with my phone that ran out space so the next and rest of the pictures are from my camera. The second picture of the Lake was taken while driving as a tour bus was coming and I did not want to get stuck behind it.
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The rest of the pictures I'm posting were taken from Olmstead Point. One is looking one way towards Half Dome which was partially in clouds and one is looking back towards Tenaya Lake.
1828HalfDomeZoom.jpg1833Highway120TenayaLake.jpg

[Southwest Dave]

Nice pictures thanks for sharing them with us.

Dave.

[tseeb]

A couple of more pictures from Olmstead Point. One is of some people hiking on the granite near the somewhat busy, but not nearly full, parking area. There is a lot of granite across the highway with even better views and, as long as it is not wet and you have decent shoes, it has very good traction.
1830OlmsteadPoint.jpg1835HalfDome.jpg
The last picture is another of Half Dome which I have day-hiked to the top twice. I also have day-hiked from near Tenaya Lake to Clouds Rest which is higher than and overlooks Half Dome and does not require a permit as Half Dome does when cables are up. Both hikes are between 15 and 20 miles round trip depending on route and include a lot of elevation gain and loss and are not to be taken lightly or without some training.

I did not stop much this trip as I needed to make a stop in Stockton before a business closed and I was tired from a lot of driving and skiing over three days. But now that I have my Senior Parks pass, I hope to return soon and do more exploring.

[keithg]

Wow ! That is amazing ! Hehe.

You should be fine.

Thanks Dave. :) I better get my A into G and start planning. Time is going by to quickly.

[tseeb]

I found a few more pictures from the East side of Tioga Pass to share. First one is going up the pass at about 8K' level with another 2K' to go.
5990GoingUpTioga.jpg
Ellery Lake and 13,061' Mt Dana which some people hike up from the pass, then ski down to this lake or come out further down highway if there is enough snow. This is the picture that made me do another reply to this thread.
6035ElleryLakeMtDana.jpg
A couple of crops of same picture of the Tioga Pass entrance station into Yosemite taken through my windshield while waiting for two vehicles ahead of me. This is the highest trans-Sierra pass in CA, but not the highest paved road.
6037TiogaEntrance2Yosemite.jpg6037TiogaEntrance2Yosemite2.jpg

[Southwest Dave]

Thanks for posting these pictures. It just makes me want to go back and drive it again even more !

Dave.

[Mark Sedenquist]

The Ferguson Fire along CA State Highway 140 is blanketing Yosemite Valley in smoke today:


Photo courtesy of The Yosemite Conservancy.

More news here:

SF Curbed.com

Wildfire Today.

[DonnaR57]

Having run into a similar situation up in Olympic National Park last summer, I certainly feel sorry for all the folks trying to visit Yosemite with this smoke. Unfortunately, "California" and "fires" together in the same sentence, is so common that it's almost scary. Right before we got home, there was a large fire in our East County, Alpine area.

Utah currently has a high fire danger. Last week, we saw signs to that effect. While in Cedar Breaks, which had a "no fires except for camping stoves" rule, a ranger told a man not to light up that cigarette. Evidently, cigarettes were also banned. Not even supposed to light up in your own car, because (as most of us know) too many people throw the butt out the window.


Donna