At long last-Tioga Road opens! For those of you who have not been following the “above-average snowpack in the Sierra” saga, the long, snowy winter, and wet, cool spring has made for a very late summer. Tioga Road just opened on Friday, June 24th, one of the latest openings on record (for a complete list of opening dates see http://www.nps.gov/yose/trip/tioga.htm#dates). As someone who spends most of my summer wandering around in the high country, I’ve been waiting anxiously for the road to open.
The landscape is magnificent! I felt like I received a sneak peak of winter in summer. Snow covers most of the surrounding peaks, and Tuolumne Meadows is suitable for a short canoe trip. My family, who were visiting from the east coast, accompanied me on the excursion, and my father and brother were brave enough to hike with me through the mounds of snow and rows of suncups up to Gaylor Lakes.