Tioga Road opened up on May 3, fairly early as far as the history of openings go. [It has temporarily closed in the meantime, but should reopen soon]. I sure appreciate the hard work that the crews have done to open up the road and make the needed repairs to get us in to the high country this early. Although the road is open, there can still be delays due to weather and road work. Yosemite National Park said that they are continuing to work on accessibility improvements, repairing or replacing existing failed curbs, subgrade repairs, culvert improvements and grinding up and repaving the existing roadway. You can always get the latest on the road conditions by checking their website or calling for the current status of all park roads at (209) 372-0200 then follow the prompts.
OK, now on to the fun stuff! The weather reports were a little iffy on opening day, but we headed up the second day to check out the conditions. I would like to invite you to join us as we drove, stopped for pictures and took a little hike to check out the conditions.
We had a short delay at the construction for the new shed at the Hwy 140 rock slide, maybe 5 minutes. They sure are making progress!
As we headed across Tioga Road, we were surprised at how much had been accomplished on the new paving project. The road is very nice and smooth. We did have to stop and wait for a maximum of about 15 minutes for the pilot car on our way home though.
We made a stop at Fiesta Lake on Tioga Road. There are always nice reflections at this small lake on the right hand side of the road at a pullout.
Of course, we needed to stop at Olmsted Point for those classic views of Half Dome and Clouds Rest.
Next stop, Tenaya Lake!
We headed to Tioga Lake next and wow, was this lake low.
Our original plan was to drive to the base of Saddlebag Lake Road, park, then walk up to Saddlebag Lake. It was a great surprise that Saddlebag Lake Road was open so we drove up.
We stopped at the overlook before we reached Saddlebag Lake to admire the views. Mount Conness is always beautiful but I was amazed at the lack of snow for this time of the year. While Gail and I took pictures, Steve relaxed on a rock.
We arrived at Saddlebag Lake! Gail discovered that the restroom was open but I was so looking forward to checking out the lake closely so Sally and I headed down through the snow.
Saddlebag Lake was unbelievably beautiful. Swirling, melting ice along the shore created amazing patterns.
Here came Steve and Gail. I had slid down on my rear end because it was just easier and faster and I love doing this! You can see the big slide mark where I did this in the snow. Gail was inspired to also butt slide down the hill but she was able to go much farther than I was. . .until Sally ran to “help” her.
We walked along the edge of the lake, taking in the beauty of the lake and surrounding mountains. It was early in the day so we decided to walk around the lake and see if we could make it to the next higher lake, Greenstone Lake. Tiny clouds started growing into larger clouds, creating wonderful contrast for our pictures.
Gail Gilbert took this picture of us as we reached the upper end of Saddlebag Lake. The lake was very low.
We made it to Greenstone Lake and found a big rock to sit on for our lunch.
I walked around the edge of the lake and was blown away by the beautiful reflections. The clouds moved across the mountains, creating an ever changing light to play with.
It was time to head back and after some some last looks at Saddlebag Lake and cloud capped Mt. Dana, we followed the same route that we had taken in the morning.
The afternoon snow was more melty, causing us to posthole or have the weight of our leg go all the way through the snow. That makes the walking tough and even though our little hike up to Greenstone was only about 5 miles round trip, it felt like much more with that snow. (Second and third pictures by Gail Gilbert)
Just in case you are wondering the previous dates that Tioga Road opened, I located a great table with that history of the opening dates on Yosemite National Park’s Home Page.
|
Tioga Road |
Glacier Point |
Mariposa Grove |
Snowpack |
||||
|
Year |
Opened |
Closed |
Opened |
Closed |
Opened |
Closed |
as of Apr. 1 |
|
2015 |
May 4 |
Mar 28 |
(Didn’t close |
7% |
|||
|
2014 |
May 2 |
Nov 13 |
Apr 14 |
Nov 28 |
(Didn’t close |
(Didn’t close for |
33% |
|
2013 |
May 11 |
Nov 18 |
May 3 |
Nov 18 |
(Didn’t close |
(Didn’t close for |
52% |
|
2012 |
May 7 |
Nov 8 |
Apr 20 |
Nov 8 |
(Didn’t close |
(Didn’t close |
43% |
|
2011 |
Jun 18 |
Jan 17, 2012 |
May 27 |
Nov 19** |
Apr 15 |
(Didn’t close |
178% |
|
2010 |
Jun 5 |
Nov 19 |
May 29 |
Nov 7 |
Mar 26/ |
Nov 20 |
107% |
|
2009 |
May 19 |
Nov 12 |
May 5 |
Nov 12 |
92% |
||
|
2008 |
May 21 |
Oct 30 |
May 2 |
Dec 12 |
99% |
||
|
2007 |
May 11 |
Dec 6 |
May 4 |
Dec 6 |
46% |
||
|
2006 |
Jun 17 |
Nov 27 |
May 25 |
Nov 27 |
129% |
||
|
2005 |
Jun 24 |
Nov 25 |
May 25 |
? |
163% |
||
|
2004 |
May 14 |
Oct 17 |
May 14 |
? |
83% |
||
|
2003 |
May 31 |
Oct 31 |
May 31 |
Oct 31 |
65% |
||
|
2002 |
May 22 |
Nov 5 |
May 17 |
Nov 5 |
95% |
||
|
2001 |
May 12 |
Nov 11 |
May 15 |
? |
67% |
||
|
2000 |
May 18 |
Nov 9 |
May 15 |
Nov 9 |
97% |
||
|
1999 |
May 28 |
Nov 23* |
May 28 |
Nov 23 |
110% |
||
|
1998 |
Jul 1 |
Nov 12 |
Jul 1 |
Nov 6 |
156% |
||
|
1997 |
Jun 13 |
Nov 12 |
May 22 |
Nov 12 |
105% |
||
|
1996 |
May 31 |
Nov 5 |
May 24 |
Nov 5 |
111% |
||
|
1995 |
Jun 30 |
Dec 11 |
Jul 1 |
Dec 11 |
178% |
||
|
1994 |
May 25 |
Nov 10 |
51% |
||||
|
1993 |
Jun 3 |
Nov 24 |
159% |
||||
|
1992 |
May 15 |
Nov 10 |
58% |
||||
|
1991 |
May 26 |
Nov 14 |
79% |
||||
|
1990 |
May 17 |
Nov 19 |
45% |
||||
|
1989 |
May 12 |
Nov 24 |
83% |
||||
|
1988 |
Apr 29 |
Nov 14 |
31% |
||||
|
1987 |
May 2 |
Nov 13 |
51% |
||||
|
1986 |
May 24 |
Nov 29 |
137% |
||||
|
1985 |
May 8 |
Nov 12 |
97% |
||||
|
1984 |
May 19 |
Nov 8 |
85% |
||||
|
1983 |
Jun 29 |
Nov 11 |
224% |
||||
|
1982 |
May 28 |
Nov 15 |
131% |
||||
|
1981 |
May 15 |
Nov 12 |
77% |
||||
|
1980 |
Jun 6 |
Dec 2 |
144% |
||||
|
Average |
May 27 |
Nov 5 |
May 23 |
Nov 17 |
|||
|
Median |
May 24 |
Nov 12 |
May 24 |
Nov 12 |
|||
*Re-opened December 23, 1999 – January 1, 2000.
**Re-opened December 16, 2011 – January 17, 2012.
Sources:
http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/tiogaopen.htmlhttp://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/tiogaopen.htm
