Like we did last year, yesterday my husband and I ventured up Highway 120 West on bikes and skis to check out the snow conditions at Tioga Pass.
Caltrans has plowed the road clear of snow all the way up to Tioga Lake. At that point we hopped off our bikes and stepped into our ski boots for the remaining 1.25 miles to the eastern entrance to Yosemite National Park.
Ellery Lake and Tioga Lake remain nearly entirely frozen over. Snow on the road ranges from almost none near Tioga Lake to several feet of drifts in other places. The road was covered by about 3.5 feet of snow at the entrance gate to Yosemite.
At the gate we met and chatted with one of the Tuolumne winter rangers, Rob, who was shuttling supplies and gear via snowmobile as the rangers move out for the year. (Public snowmobiles are not allowed in Yosemite.)
Overall, snow conditions look similar to this time last year, which makes sense—the snowpack is just about the same.
Caltrans just posted an update about their Tioga Pass plowing progress, but, unusually for this point in April, there has been no official word from Yosemite National Park about plowing progress from the west. That makes it more difficult than usual to estimate when Tioga Pass might open.
Top photo by Elin Ljung.