Tioga Pass Plowing
There is still no word from the National Park Service about the beginning of plowing for Tioga Pass and the Tioga Road. The Mammoth Times ran an article that said plowing will begin the 1st of May. CalTrans has begun plowing up Lee Vining Canyon on the east side. The last report from the Tuolumne Meadows Report says that they have plowed as far as Ellery Lake.
There is also no news on the other Sierra Passes
Hey there
I just returned from the eastside. Monitor is open. Rumor has it (in Mammoth and Lee Vining) that Tioga will be open by Memorial Day. But, that is a rumor. I saw trucks, plows, etc. working 120 toward Ellery. There is an expected warming trend to start in a day or two (perfect for the fishing opener), but the last hand full of days have been really cold–unseasonably–with some snow, about 1-2 inches, forecast for above 6000′. This slows the plowing process, as you might expect.
Steven, you ought to start a little betting pool on Tioga’s opening day. But, what will the wager be??
Thanks for your great site.
PS Spring still not happening much in Lee Vining area. Some melt, but no green to speak of. The gulls, however, were starting to arrive when I was there. Along highway 88, above Jackson, the dogwood were just beginning to bloom. That is one of my favorite sites ever! And, no, no photos.
It seems that the plowing for Tigoa Pass is being put off for as long as possible?? In years past, the plowing has always started around April 14th. Why the change to start until May lst? I know safety is an issue but it just seems that the park prolongs opening the pass for as long as they can…
Safety is a big issue, but so is having the rangers to man the gate on the east end and patrol the road. I remember one year that was their reason for opening the pass late. They said they didn’t have the money to staff the east side. Who knows. It’s a government agency we’re talking about here. They live in their own world and will do what they want to do.
Up in the Tuolumne area there is also the issue of “road stability” and letting the meadows/environs around the roads dry up some before traffic is allowed. Otherwise, there are potential problems with damage to both the road and/or surrounding areas. This is why the area can be melted and/or plowed, but “they” still wait for a period of time. It can look like government inactivity–and believe me, I think the state and federal gov can be very very ineffective–when really it’s protecting the environment.
My $.02
Robin – thanks for your 2 cents worth. i always kinda wondered about that but your explaination does make some sense along with steven’s “not in the budget”.
They started plowing on the 21st.
http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/tioga.htm
[...] Online discussions include lots of interesting speculation and sometimes information that isn’t available from the official sources – perhaps someone knows a person working on the plowing crew or happened to pick something up in a conversation with a park employee. [...]
Looks like the pass will open at 8 am this Wednesday thE 21st!!