Tioga Rd plowing

[Phil]

According to their Facebook page, as of today, plows have reached Yosemite Creek. This is 5 days into this year's operations, and 20 days earlier than crews reached the same point last year.

Updates for Glacier Rd begin April 23rd.

[Justin-T]

Phil, are you sure you're not reading the post from April 20, 2012?

[Phil]

Ooops! I hate FB. Sorry about that. I didn't see the report on the /yose website when I looked, but on FB, saw the month and day, got excited about the progress, missed the year completely.

Oh well, turns out even better; they're only cutting through an average of 2-3 feet of cover, and already close to May Lake junction. Definitely easier going and faster than last year's ops. My pack's loaded and ready to go.

https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/tioga.htm

[Justin-T]

They usually have those old posts more clearly marked as a memory, so we'll forgive you this time

The May Lake junction is roughly half way so that's quick progress, although now they're hitting the avalanche zone, so it depends how much snow is on those steep slopes to the north of the road around Olmsted Pt. But still looking good for a mid-May opening I think.

[Phil]

On Tioga Rd (Hwy 120), plows are just east of Tenaya Lake as of today, cutting through 3-4 ft of cover. From the east gate of the park to Lee Vining is cleared of snow, but repairs and debris removal are still ongoing. No estimated opening date yet.

Glacier Point Rd tentatively opens to vehicles on April 28th.

[Justin-T]

They're all the way through to Tioga Pass, so now its all the debris removal, road repairs etc. I'm guessing a couple more weeks might do it...

[balzaccom]

Latest rumor among some of the staff s that the road may open as early as this Thursday!

[balzaccom]

And Glacier Point Road is closed again for snow...

It's spring!

[Justin-T]

Latest update from today is still talking about debris removal. My graph predicts May 13, but the forecast looks to be warm and dry for the next 10 days so I'm guessing that will be pessimistic, but not by much.

[Phil]

Last time there was a snowpack that was 67% of normal, opening was on May 15th. "Debris" is such a variable though. I have jury duty the 14th, so can't do anything about it anyhow....cutting into my backpacking season, "GUILTY".

[balzaccom]

Highway 120 opened today from 395 up to Tioga Pass. And Sonora Pass opened today as well.

[Phil]

Tioga Rd will be open to all vehicles on Monday May 21st at 9am.

Go forth.

[AlmostThere]

The rest of us will wait a few weeks and wander over once all the honking and yelling is done... and I like nighttime best.
Nothing better than having TIoga Road to yourself, in the clear moonlight.

[Phil]

The rest of us will wait a few weeks and wander over once all the honking and yelling is done...

What? You don't want to be the very first civilian of 2018 to make the drive?

Let's do this: We can release some doves and get a bunch of little Swiss children in lederhosen and blowing Tyrolean horns to wish us well and wave when we pass Crane Flat. Then we can pull over and all grill hot dogs at Tuolumne Meadows as we swat mosquitoes. It'll be...festive, and epic.

[balzaccom]

Not likely, Phil. Too much snow for BBQs or bugs. Give it a couple of weeks...

We drove Tioga Pass about four days after it opened a few years ago. Saw zero mosquitoes, but all of the trails had snow after the first couple miles. And stream crossings were.. interesting.