Yosemite National Park, California

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We had no trouble getting out of Yosemite Valley this morning, even though road signs had changed and some of the closed road was now open. We were on Tioga Road by 8:30 am. It was drizzling in the valley and as we climbed altitude snow flurries fell. We took our time. There was little traffic. We enjoyed the alpine scenery and made our photo and geology stops. The winter’s snow still covered much of the ground and the meadows were flooded. It was cold and we got out the hats and gloves. During the day we drove through snow flurries, light snow, sleet and heavy snow. Once in a while the sun peaked out. In the morning the snow was not sticking to the road. The only disappointment was that fog obstructed some views.
When we crossed Tioga Pass after one o’clock, it was snowing hard. Tioga Pass is the highest auto pass in the U.S at over 9900 feet. We had taken about 5 hours to drive the road and the traffic had increased considerably during that time. On the return trip we ran into heavy snow and road conditions deteriorated. There was a about a 10-12 mile stretch of road that was covered with snow (some cars were skidding). CT did good with her snow tires. About an inch or more of snow had accumulated. At the lower elevation it was only raining. As we descended we noticed there were no cars going east. The road had been closed to eastbound traffic. Good thing, we were glad we started back when we did.
We checked into our last campsite in Yosemite about 3:00 pm. The location of the campground was convenient. It was close to Tioga Rd. and on the way to San Francisco. We enjoyed Yosemite and now we’re ready to move on. We certainly experienced weather extremes; 98 degrees on Monday and a little snow storm on Friday. Didn't see any bears but the waterfalls were outstanding!

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Photos

It's Snowing
We were starting on the Tioga Road

Olmsted Point
That's Half Dome on the right. You see that rock everywhere! It wasn't snowing here, and the clouds were great.

Weathered Granite at Olmsted Point
I thought the details were neat.

Tree and Rock
Interesting combination at Olmsted Point.

Tuolumne Meadow
This is a large meadow on Tioga Rd that is very green in the summer.

Tioga Pass
At the higest point of the road the meadow was still snowcovered. Snow was coming down fast here.

Lake Tenaya
Heading back it looked like the sky was clearing. This was before we hit the bad patch of road.

Cloud's Rest
Interesting light on the mountain

Comments

[kimberly]

Your picture of clouds rest is just stunning! We didn't make it to Yosemite when we were in California but it's a definate the next time.