Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board tioga rd open?

On march 20th I'm leaving Denver, CO heading for San Fransico to move my ex back to san fran. I then want to climb MT. Dana. MY question is, is the road open through Touolome or do I have to go via Sonoma pass or is that open yet? Being from Colorado I would really appreciate any help from you Sierra climbers on which route, if any, will get me to the Tioga gate, where I plan to spend a day or two. I love this board and thank you in advance for any help you can offer me.
P.S> anyone need help with info. on Colorado 14ers let me know, I'd be glad to help
Rockman117@wmconnect.com

State route 120 over Tioga Pass usually doesn't open until late June or early July (or even later). You can check out California road conditions at http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/roadinfo/

As stated by the above link, those two passes are closed. Sonora Pass usually opens sometime in May, same with Tioga, depending on snow melt and accumulation. Going up and in to South Lake Tahoe is your best bet for reaching the bay area.
Eric J Lee

Unfortunately, there is not a chance either pass would be open. I don't think either one has opened before May, especially Tioga.
A shame for you. I absolutely love that hike up Mt. Dana from Tioga pass. The trail is steep, you gain altitude quickly and get to the summit in 2 hours easily. So there you are at 13K with a really cool view, one of the best in The Sierra with an excellent view over the Mono Basin in one direction with its interesting geology, and Mt. Lyell, Ritter, and Banner in the other. You can do this in the morning and be back in Lee Vining for lunch or down in Yosemite Valley before dark. For those who want warmup hikes, this area is great. You have Dana, and on the other side of the pass, White Mt. (not to be confused with the better known one which you get to via Westgard Pass down near Bishop). Then there's also Mt. Conness.
As for the warmup thing, you can overnight in Lee Vining at 6700 feet, but the motels there are the worst I've ever stayed in....good luck getting a hot shower and forget about fine dining. On the other hand, the area offers many other compensations.

Better luck coming through that area between Memorial day and early November.

Adrian

Tioga Pass has opened on Memorial Day weekend each of the last 2 years. That is the usual target date. Sonora Pass opened a week earlier each of the last couple of years.

Here's some mountain trivia.

Mt. Dana (13,057') is interesting because it's the most northerly 13er in the Sierra. It would be the most northerly 13er all the way to Washington, if not for Mt. Shasta. Any guesses as to what's the most southerly 13er in the Sierra? (There are two acceptable answers.)

Mt. Dana is one of 169 13ers in California, of which 30 are unnamed. In coming up with numbers like this, you first have to come to grips with the question "What is a mountain?" So some may not agree with my count. I haven't climbed them all, but expect to make a big dent in the remaining with a 9-day trip to the Kaweahs this summer.

If climbing all 169 mountains seems like a daunting challenge, climbing the 4000 m peaks is less so. There are 110 of them. The most northerly is the eponymous peak of one of this board's contributers, and the most southerly is ...? If the Kaweahs trip goes well, I'll have only one left to do.

My own invention is the "worthy" peaks in the Sierra. These are ones that are at least 13,000' high, and the easiest way up is class 3 or harder. I count 63 of them.

169, 110, 63 - or the 13 14ers - some are more interesting than others. But all are interesting to one degree or another. (This can be proved mathematically.) Another reason to quit going to Whitney so much!

Mono Lake from the top of Mt Dana (June 2002):



The Tuolumne campground opened early that year - about mid-June.

Bob R - I will guess Corcoran (unless you assume that a 14er is also a 13er, in which case I'll pick Langley). When you say 13 14ers, which of the 15 that I've seen listed are you omitting - Polemonium and Starlight?

Adrian- If you want good food, you need to go to the Mobile Station on the corner of 120 and 395. It sounds crazy but they have this great deli with some chef from Carmel. Affordable, great eats and I stopped in one evening and they had a band setting up. Whenever I’m in the area, I go out of my way to stop in, they have a large following down in Mammoth. The deli is open when they open up the pass.

Thanks everyone who responded to my question, it is as I had thought. Interesting info on the peaks as well and an awesome shot fron Dana's summit!!!! Thanks again this is a great board for sure. After I'm finished with the 14er's in Colorado I'll be on my way to the Sierra's and I cant wait. I have to say as much as I love the mountains of Colorado, the beauty of the Sierra's is unmatched in the U.S.

Trivia about that area: "High Plains Drifter" was filmed at Mono Lake. When the movie first came out I had never been out west and was baffled by the cries of seagulls in the background on the sound-track. The first time I was in Lee Vining I realised I was in "Lago".

Adrian

Jim R is right. It depends on whether you count a 13er as a peak that is 13,XXX' high, or if your criterion is any peak higher than 12,999'. I would guess that most people use the former. So, going north, Langley is the first 14er and Corcoran the first 13er; and Corcoran is north of Langley.

I think I'm in the minority in usually not counting Polemonium and Starlight as mountains, although I have climbed them both. But if I think about including them in the list, it seems that Keeler and Day Needles, and the East Horns of Williamson, and perhaps others, ought to come along too.

I agree with your assessment of Polemonium and Starlight vs. Keeler and Day Needles, and in addition I don't see how Mt. Muir makes the 14er list. Btw, there is an East and a West Horn on Williamson and they also are at least as worthy as Polemonium and Starlight of summit status.

i like the trivia Bob R, something to think about until the board starts heating up for the season. Do u kNow of anyone who Has done the CA 14ers and the 13ers ?

another trivia question? do u know who has the 2nd most FA's (of peaks and different routes on peaks)in the sierra not counting the valley (climbing routes) ??

Re: Tioga Pass open/close dates:

Go to this URL for a neat little chart of opening and closing dates for Tioga Pass Road from 1980 through 2003.

http://www.nps.gov/yose/trip/tioga.htm

The earliest was April 29 (1988).
The latest was July 1 (1998) -- our plans were altered this year by this very late date which was due to a significant El Nino that year.
Most dates are in mid to late May, with some dates in June.
Interestingly, during this same 23-year time period, this past fall (2003) was the earliest date (by almost a week) that the pass was closed for the winter. Wonder what that says about how much snow is there and how long it has been there this winter?

Re: Service Station Deli and Fine Dining in Lee Vining

If you're referring to the "Whoa Nellie Deli" at the service station at the intersection of 120 and 395, I ordered one of their custom sandwiches there last autumn. If you can call throwing a mass of sandwich ingredients flat and unprepared on top of an uncut piece of bread on a plate and handing it to you as a "sandwich", then you'll love this place. Otherwise, I would first watch and see what comes out of the cooking area for others in line ahead of you before committing to buying anything there. I was most unimpressed with my food order -- one of the biggest wastes of money I ever spent at an eating establishment (I wouldn't call it a restaurant). In all fairness, perhaps some of their other menu items are great. But what I got wasn't. It went way beyond "some assembly required". It's unlikely that I'll go back to this place for food again. Frankly, you'd get much better food at the Pavillion cafeteria diner in Yosemite's Curry Village.

Then on the other end of the food spectrum, unless something has changed in Lee Vining since the last time we ate there (1999), there is, in fact, one *very* fine dining restaurant in Lee Vining. I can't recall the name of it, but they only do dinner, and the restaurant is in the lower level of a two-story building, in which the upper story (which is at street level) is a photo gallery for either Galen Rowell's or Ansel Adams' work (I can't remember which). We have had enough experience with fine dining to immediately recognize that the food and ambiance at this place was top rate (with a corresponding price to match), not to mention a great view overlooking Mono Lake. It was located on the east side of the road on 395, not far north of 120. It's not much to look at on the outside, but inside is different.

CaT

Vinze 3.0 - in response to your second question, after looking through Secor's book, it looks like the 2nd most FAs might belong to Galen Rowell. He has an awful lot.

Bob R - also while looking through Secor's book, there are two additional 13ers in the Langley area - Joe Devel Peak and Mt. Pickering. Where are they in relation to Corcoran?

I've found the food at the Whoa Nellie Deli very good, especially the fish tacos.

bearbnz, thanks for pointing out about the Horns. The way I learned it, we referred to them both as "the east horns of Williamson." I see from Secor that he calls them as you have reported.

vinze 3.0, there are probably a few who have done the 13ers in addition to the 14ers. I'm almost positive Carl Heller did. I have access to his logbooks, and will check one of these days.

Another likely candidate is Doug Mantle. Doug has climbed the Sierra Club SPS's list of 247 Sierra Nevada mountains five times over, and is well on his way to the sixth. He's very list-attuned, having also done the Seven Summits. (BTW, as of a few years ago, only about 15 people had done the SPS list twice, and none three times or four times.) Last time I talked with him, his list of mountains climbed numbered about 3600.

Jim R, you are correct about Pickering and Joe Devel. I was focussed on Sierra Crest peaks, and simply spaced it. Tunnel vision!

And vinze 3.0 guessed at my intent here. This time of year, the board has room for a little diversion. We are all fixated on Mt. Whitney - for good reason - but there are a lot of other nearby peaks worth scrambling up. I am always looking for ways to get people to think about them.

Bob R - it's working. Been thinking about Mallory, Irvine, LeConte, and Lone Pine Peak nonstop lately. We have an opening on our July 30 - August 1 Meysan Lakes overnight if you're interested...

Finally, I gotta ask - Secor says there's one unclimbed Sierra Nevada peak - do you know which one it is???

I kinda thought it was better that Secor left that peak unnamed!

I take a fishing trip to the June Lake area every year and we usually fish Ellery Lake (top of Tioga Pass). We go in late May and have been able to fish Ellery the last 3 years (although 2001 and 2003 was casting between the ice and the shore into about 30 feet of open water). The road has been wide open and in great shape at that time.

For Lee Vining food - I wouldn't call them great food, but Nicely's has good diner style breakfasts and Mono Cone has good old style fast food (gotta have a deep fried burrito when I'm there - reminds me of Little League). . .

Not healthy or highbrow food by any stretch, but tasty nonetheless. I've found the deli at the Mobil to have pretty good sandwiches, but a little pricey for what I'm used to.

One of my goals for this year is to top Carson Peak in the June Lake area - just because it's always there taunting us when we're fishing the loop.