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Yosemite Closed Till 1/30
Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2021 12:21 pm
by maverick
Yosemite NP:
Yosemite National Park will remain closed at least until Saturday, January 30, 2021, conditions permitting. Park staff continue to clear roads and trails, mitigate hazard trees, and work toward restoring safe conditions for employees and visitors due to last week's Mono wind event. A significant winter storm is forecast to begin Tuesday night. Hazardous conditions, including substantial snow accumulation, falling trees, and dangerous road conditions, are anticipated through the week.
When the park reopens, it will be open 24 hours per day. Upper Pines Campground will open on February 8. Yosemite Valley Lodge and The Ahwahnee will open on February 5. Visitors will be able to enter the park using El Portal Road (Highway 140), Big Oak Flat Road (Highway 120 from the west), and Hetch Hetchy Road. Areas south of Yosemite Valley (including Badger Pass, Wawona, Mariposa Grove, South Entrance, and Wawona Road) will remain closed until further notice.
Re: Yosemite Closed Till 1/30
Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2021 6:37 am
by The Other Tom
It'll be interesting to read the Tuolumne winter ranger's report for this week.
Re: Yosemite Closed Till 1/30
Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2021 10:59 am
by Harlen
The Other Tom writes:
It'll be interesting to read the Tuolumne winter ranger's report for this week.
Indeed! They nearly burst all their gaskets shoveling things out in 2019. Just yesterday I had the great fortune to meet a fellow Sierra guy ("Tim") who used to live and work winters out of Rock Creek Lodge, and summers as a BC Ranger out of Piute Cabin above Leavitt Meadows. He knows Rob and Laura Pilewski well, and says when he saw them awhile back he noted the corded muscles on Laura's arms, and mentioned it. She told him it was all the snow shoveling they had to do in March of 2019. [*It was a fairly random meeting- he married an old friend, whom I hadn't seen in 20 years, and now lives in the forest just north of Santa Cruz. I being a Treeworker, she had me over to climb and cut some leaning/broken trees that threatened the yurt they live in. I did it for just $100, plus the promise of a later meeting to hear Tim's Sierra stories.]
Re: Yosemite Closed Till 1/30
Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2021 11:28 am
by LMBSGV
Mav, thanks for the post and photos. We were supposed to be there this week on our yearly winter trip during the full moon and had our reservation cancelled. In 2019, we managed to get in right before the storm hit so it was spectacular with almost no people due to the roads closing after we got there. It looked like these photos.
YosemiteFalls-trees-CM-2-1.jpg
Re: Yosemite Closed Till 1/30
Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2021 1:00 pm
by maverick
I would have gone up this weekend, either to YV or DV for 5-6 days to do some photography, especially after this second round of snow, but the campgrounds don't reopen in YV till 2/8.
Plus my county has a 150 mile travel restriction, which puts Yosemite Valley and Death Valley beyond my range, and I can't do the required quarantine 10 day after a trip.
Closure Extended Till 2/1
Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2021 5:54 pm
by maverick
Yosemite NP:
Yosemite National Park will remain closed at least until Monday, February 1, 2021, as a result of an ongoing winter storm. Yosemite Valley has already received over 18 inches of snow, and it continues to snow. Heavy, wet snow has caused trees and branches to fall throughout the park, causing damage to park facilities and vehicles. There have been no injuries reported.
Yosemite's road crews continue to do an amazing job to clear park roads and parking areas. However, with ongoing falling snow and tree failures, it is not safe for the park to reopen.
When the park reopens, it will be open 24 hours per day. Upper Pines Campground will open on February 8. Yosemite Valley Lodge and The Ahwahnee will open on February 5.
Visitors will be able to enter the park using El Portal Road (Highway 140), Big Oak Flat Road (Highway 120 from the west), and Hetch Hetchy Road. Areas south of Yosemite Valley (including Badger Pass, Wawona, Mariposa Grove, South Entrance, and Wawona Road) will remain closed until further notice.
Yosemite Reopened 2/1
Posted: Mon Feb 01, 2021 2:03 pm
by maverick
Yosemite NP:
The only access to the park will be via Highway 140.
Big Oak Flat Road (Highway 120 from the west) is anticipated to remain closed for several days due to hazardous road conditions.
Wawona Road (Highway 41) is closed until further notice. (Visitors will be able to access Yosemite West using Wawona Road from Yosemite Valley, but not from the south; tire chains are required.)
Hetch Hetchy Road will also be open.
Yosemite National Park has been closed since January 19 due to a series of winter storms. Strong winds and heavy, wet snow have caused trees and other hazards to impact park roads, trails, and other facilities. Park road crews have been working hard to mitigate hazards and restore safe conditions for park visitors.
Tire chains may be required at any time, even for those with four-wheel drive vehicles (
https://go.nps.gov/chains). Temporary road closures possible at any time due to road and weather conditions.
For updated 24-hour road and weather conditions for Yosemite National Park, please call 209-372-0200 (then 1).
For information on public transportation to Yosemite National Park and current bus schedules, please visit the website for the Yosemite Area Regional Transportation System (YARTS) at
www.yarts.com.