Tuolumne Gas Station Closed For Upgrades

Beginning Monday, 9/8, the Tuolumne Gas Station will be temporarily closed for vapor recovery and dispenser upgrades. Fuel will not be available from 9/8 until 9/29. The sport shop will remain open for business and propane will still be available through 9/21, daily from 9 AM to 5 PM. Fuel is still available at Crane Flat Station 24 hrs/day. (NPS Press Release)

[Editor: Fill up in Lee Vining at the Mobil Station instead and enjoy some yummy fish tacos while you are there!]

Tioga Road to Open in Yosemite National Park

See you at the Mobil Station for fish tacos, it's Tioga Pass time!

From the NPS:

Yosemite News Release
May 19, 2008
For Immediate Release

Tioga Road to Open in Yosemite National Park
Visitors urged to take safety precautions for upcoming Memorial Day Weekend

Yosemite National Park Superintendent Mike Tollefson announced today that the Tioga Road will open for the season on Wednesday, May 21 at 8:00 a.m. for all vehicle traffic. The Tioga Road, bounded on both sides by State Highway 120, is the popular east-west crossing of the Sierra Nevada. There will be no commercial services available along the road. Additionally, the Tuolumne Meadows Campground, other campgrounds along the corridor, and the Visitor Center will not be open. However, there will be restrooms available on the road. All visitor services, including the campgrounds, store, gas station, etc. will open over the next several weeks.

Visitors who are planning to visit Yosemite National Park over the upcoming Memorial Day Weekend are urged to take extra safety precautions, especially along the Merced River. With the current warm weather and accelerated snowmelt, the river is running fast and cold. People should take extreme caution along the river and watch children at all times.

The park is expecting a very busy weekend. People should plan on arriving in the park as early in the day as possible. People visiting Yosemite Valley are urged to take the free Yosemite Shuttle Bus to explore the sites and hike on the trails. If people can not arrive early, they should wait until late afternoon to enter the park as park entrances can become congested, especially mid-day.

There are a limited number of first-come, first-served campsites available in the park. However, those are expected to fill up as the weekend approaches. There are many opportunities for hiking and overnight accommodations in the gateway communities surrounding Yosemite National Park.

Finally, the cables on Half Dome are up for the season. The cables allow visitors an opportunity to climb to the top of Half Dome and view the park from an elevation of 8,842 feet above sea level.

Tuolumne Meadows Winter Conditions Update

From the NPS

TUOLUMNE MEADOWS WINTER CONDITIONS UPDATE
April 24, 2008
Weather: (April 16 to April 23)
High temp: 59° (April 18)
Low temp: 6° (April 21)
New Snow: 3” (April 22)
Total settled snow depth: 23” as of April 24
Ski Conditions and Weather: It has been a cool and windy week at Tuolumne. A series of storms have passed us by to the north, bringing many prolongedepisodes of high winds and cold temperatures. We did get a few inches of new snow on Tuesday, but most of that blew away in the high winds the next day. The snow has been firm to icy in the mornings, softening somewhat in the afternoons. The Tuolumne River and most of its tributaries are now free of ice, in most spots the only way across is to use the summer trail bridges. The latest snow conditions report from the east side is that the Tioga Road (Highway 120) has been plowed from the road closure gate outside of Lee Vining up to the lower end of Tioga Lake. If all goes according to plan, Caltrans will have the road cleared and open to the public up to the park boundary at Tioga Pass for the opening day of fishing season on April 26. On our west side, skiers coming up the Snow Creek trail report that the snow line begins just above the summer trail bridge, which is about 1/2 mile above the top of the switchbacks; everything below that level has melted out. The latest report from the west end of the Tioga Road is that plow crews have cleared the first 12 miles of road east from Crane Flat.

Avalanche and Snowpack Conditions: For the latest avalanche advisory for this area go to www.esavalanche.org for the Eastern Sierra Avalanche Center and click on advisory. The ESAC site is updated several times a week and more often during weather events.

Wildlife: Birds seen in the past week include Mallard, Common Merganser, Killdeer, Northern Flicker, Williamson’s Sapsucker, Hairy Woodpecker, Black-backed Woodpecker, Violet-green Swallow, Steller’s Jay, Clark’s Nutcracker, Common Raven, Mountain Chickadee, Brown Creeper, White-breasted Nuthatch, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Townsend’s Solitaire, American Robin, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Dark-eyed Junco, White-crowned Sparrow, and Brewer’s Blackbird. We are still seeing quite a few Painted Lady butterflies migrating through the meadows during the afternoons. Animal tracks seen in the past week include Coyote, Pine Marten, Chickaree, Mice/Vole, and Hare. No sign of any bears up here yet.

Questions: If you have any ski related or weather questions feel free to call 209-372-0450 between 8:00 am and 8:00 pm. If we are out skiing, leave a message and a phone number so we can return your call. Please don’t call us with questions about road conditions, as we live 20 miles from the nearest plowed road and don’t do any driving this time of year. For current park road conditions call 209-372-0200. (Jeff and Kathi, the Tuolumne winter rangers)