Has anyone recently (in the past two years) hiked this old segment of the Old Coulterville Road (from Crane Flat Campground to Foresta)? If so, how's the old road condition? Portions of it still shows up quite well on Google Earth, so I think it could still be walkable unless some the portions that are not viewable from Google Earth have been totally obliterated by time and the forces of natureby plawrence - Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra
QuoteparkloverHopefully by June they will have the section of the 120 between Foresta and Crane Flat opened by then. I truly doubt that section of the Big Oak Flat Road (it actually once was signed (a very long time ago) as Hwy 41, not Hwy 120) won't be fixed and reopened until late summer — at the earliest. There's so much work they must do to repair that road. That's why there's no offiby plawrence - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quotechick-on Pic not showing. You may want to move to flikr. It's free and easy. (just make up a new abuser id) Another free and easy to use website one can upload photos that will generate a static URL so you can link your photos to websites is: https://postimage.io (It's similar to tinypic.com but with a cleaner interface and less ads (and no annoying pop-up ads).by plawrence - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
I can see your photo now. So based on your photo and the chick-on's photo, it looks like the new sign was installed sometime on the 10th or 11th of April.by plawrence - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quotecalberry No one was working during the rain this past Thur., so I 'snuck' in and got this photo. I was also surprised to see that the road was all 'chewed up' to and over Stoneman bridge. Sure hope they do that with the road between Lower Fall and the lodge! Steve Steve, Are you still able to see the photos you posted on this thread? I can't. If you can still see yourby plawrence - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
QuoteThe Other Tom Some of us get free admission all the time But a lot of us don't.by plawrence - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
In celebration of National Park Week, all U.S. national parks will have free admission this weekend (April 15-16) and the following weekend (April 22-23). https://www.nps.gov/findapark/national-park-week.htmby plawrence - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
by plawrence - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
And who knew that on a clear day one could see Half Dome from the James E. Roberts Memorial Bridge:by plawrence - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Also for those still traveling up Hwy 120 from the west, Caltrans is doing major retrofit work on the James E. Roberts Memorial Bridge (that's the Hwy 120 bridge that crosses over the Don Pedro Reservoir) that will necessitate one-lane traffic controls during the day and nighttime closures starting at 5:00 PM (on selected dates like Tuesday and Wednesday (April 11 & 12). https://www.facebby plawrence - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quoteeeek The effort to open roads over the Sierra Nevada mountains has begun in earnest. The California Department of Transportation has begun its spring clearing of Highway 108 over Sonora Pass and Highway 89 over Monitor Pass. http://www.recordnet.com/news/20170405/spring-clearing-underway-on-sonora-pass-monitor-pass That article misquoted Caltrans when it stated that Caltrans hopes toby plawrence - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
I feel bad for the businesses along the Hwy 120 corridor (Buck Meadows, Groveland, Big Oak Flat). They are (and will continue to be) hurt really hard by the Big Oak Flat Road closure, at least until Tioga Road opens up sometime in June or early July. By the looks of it, I don't expect this section of Big Oak Flat Road to be open to the public until late summer at the earliest.by plawrence - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/snow/COURSES.04by plawrence - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Yeah, it's pretty cool. Only three bears appear to have GPS collars that are operational, but one of the seems to be pretty active (the one along the Pohono trail) considering that there's still a lot of snow up there.by plawrence - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quoteparklover I just came back from Yosemite and while I was there heard that they are trying to get the circle and the new road done by Memorial Day Weekend. Hopefully, weather-permitting, they can have the road and circle completed by early May. Otherwise, it's going to be gridlock in the Valley during the month of May.by plawrence - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Happy birthday, Dale! Wishing you many more happy birthdays, happy trails, boundary markers, and amazing vistas to experience (and sequoia trees to boop)!by plawrence - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quotequmqats How many miles of 10 plus feet of snow are they having to plow through? How many downed trees are buried in that snow? How many rock/mud slides? How much repair work to the road and culverts? How long will it take to >SAFELY< clear the avalanche zones? ( they're EXTREMELY careful with this since they've had fatalities in years past when plows get carried over the edge by avby plawrence - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quoteeeek Too obvious. Agreed. I think having Putin's face carved on Half Dome is a lot more subtle.by plawrence - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Declaring the Majestic Hotel is too generic of a hotel name for the Yosemite's famed 5-star hotel formerly know as the Ahwahnee —that tourists and travel agents were confusing it with other hotels called the Majestic including the Hotel Majestic in San Francisco — the U.S. Secretary of the Interior signed an executive order today over the objections of the National Park Service to rename Yoseby plawrence - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
So is Rainbow View (even with the downed trees) easier to access via the west (either from Tamarack Creek (or the Old Big Oak Flat Road) trailheads? Or has it become very inaccessible from that direction too?by plawrence - Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra
And here's a 1933 map of Yosemite Valley showing how much the cabins (I think these were only tent cabins) of the old Yosemite Lodge complex extended toward Yosemite Creek. And here are a couple of 1924 maps showing how close the Yosemite Lodge tent cabins came to the banks of Yosemite Creek:by plawrence - Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra
QuoteJustKeepWalking Quoteplawrence Quotechick-on Quoteplawrence Isn't there one also at the Lodge that you can boop? There's none at the Lodge. It's on the road (just west of) to Superintendents Cabin (Residence 1 ?) ... We were told there were 2 near the Chapel. We only found one. The guy who told us wasn't at the desk so we couldn't find out any more info. There's 4 at the old villaby plawrence - Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra
Crystal Cave should be open by then. I think it's worth the price of the tour. (You can only explore it on a guided tour.) https://www.nps.gov/seki/planyourvisit/crystal-cave.htm https://www.recreation.gov/tourParkDetail.do?contractCode=NRSO&parkId=135840by plawrence - Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra
Thank you for the link.by plawrence - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quotechick-on Took this Thursday from Old Big Oak Flat Road (Rockslides) (more on that later) Union Point and 4 Mile Trail... And some rock thing-a-ding Sadly Agassiz Column doesn't appear to be in view (nor Moran Point). But least your photo has a grand view of South Dome in the background.by plawrence - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Will it service North Lake and the North Lake campground, or bypass it?by plawrence - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
Quotechick-on Quoteplawrence Isn't there one also at the Lodge that you can boop? There's none at the Lodge. It's on the road (just west of) to Superintendents Cabin (Residence 1 ?) ... We were told there were 2 near the Chapel. We only found one. The guy who told us wasn't at the desk so we couldn't find out any more info. There's 4 at the old village site .. across from Sentinel bridby plawrence - Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra
The image quality of the built-in cameras of smartphones have improved so much in recent years, is it necessary or worthwhile to bring along a separate dedicated camera to snap high quality photos while visiting national parks like Yosemite? Is it worth the extra weight and bulk when hiking (or backpacking) deep in the backcountry, especially when it evolves a lot of elevation gain, as it usuaby plawrence - Photography advice, critiques and tutorials
Well, with the storms scheduled to come in next week, maybe this winter/spring season can make a run and catch up to the record snowfall and snowpack of 1983:by plawrence - Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada. News & Discussion
The Upper Yosemite Falls Trail to the top of the falls and then onward and upward to the top of Eagle Peak. Or instead of heading west to Eagle Peak, head east to Yosemite Point and then to North Dome.by plawrence - Backpacking and Hiking Yosemite and the Sierra