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t-bone
climber
CA
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May 16, 2009 - 08:15pm PT
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anyone know if the road is open all the way to the pass from the E side?
is the NPS ok with bikes on the road now?
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Karen
Trad climber
So Cal urban sprawl Hell
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May 16, 2009 - 08:47pm PT
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Just got back from the Eastside awhile ago, went up to Tioga pass yesterday afternoon to see if we could poach a bike ride down to the meadows.
We did. However, I got paranoid and turned around a few miles before the meadows thinking the tools might be at their compound.
It was paradise up there, so peaceful, not another soul.... and the road totally clear, well as far as we went. I will post a pic as soon as my boyfriend sends them to me.
btw...we are heading back up there to do the ride legally next week, the sign on the gate said the road opens to hikers and cyclists this Sunday and next Friday to the dreaded cars!!!
Can't miss an experience like this, so its worth making the drive from So Cal...!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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hossjulia
Trad climber
Eastside
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May 16, 2009 - 09:39pm PT
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I sure wish I was in shape (and had a sound bike) to ride all the way to Crane Flat and the Valley with Tioga Rd closed. That would be soooo fun!
Do it Karen!
I will do this, just not this year. My plan is to ride to the Valley the day or so before the road opens, and then get a ride back with one of my buds from there.
A new bike is in the budget for this summer.
I used to road bike a lot, and really wanted to ride to the Valley, and back. A few trips into Tuolumne with the road open, and I changed my mind.
Unless there is some administrative reason they can't open the road until Friday, I think it might go a day or two earlier.
The are a LOT of people around this weekend, the campgrounds in June Lake are briming, not full, but close.
And it is hot! About 80 in Lee Vining today.
Absolutely gorgeous!
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corniss chopper
Mountain climber
san jose, ca
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May 16, 2009 - 11:47pm PT
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bolt the bike fenders on or not with all the snow melt water running across the road.. soaked crotch versus extra weight?
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luggi
Trad climber
from the backseat of Jack & Elwood Blues car
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May 16, 2009 - 11:48pm PT
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climbed yesterday .....the green dressed fellows said the pass was to open this coming weekend? Sonora pass open already...Tioga seems to be for the memorial rush fest to Yosemite.
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t-bone
climber
CA
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May 17, 2009 - 12:15am PT
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thanks for the scoop Karen.
so, it sounds like it's good to go for a bike ride tomorrow.
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Karen
Trad climber
So Cal urban sprawl Hell
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May 17, 2009 - 03:11pm PT
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As promised, these pictures were taken a couple of days ago-Friday-
Sign was a bit ambiguous...
another shot taken in the park...beautiful scenery..
still a lot of snow...
Never have I experienced such peace in this area, what a world it is without cars!!!!
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Rhodo-Router
Gym climber
above the play park
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May 17, 2009 - 03:16pm PT
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I think not wanting bikers up there has something to do with wet-slide potential above Olmsted Pt.
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hossjulia
Trad climber
Eastside
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May 17, 2009 - 06:14pm PT
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Plenty of people biking and skiing up there today.
Estimate we saw over 50 cars parked between Ellery and the Park entrance.
It was 75f when I left at 2pm. 24f this morning at 6am. By 9 it was 55f. That's a big jump in 3 hours, and it did not freeze all the way through the pack. Lots of wet slide activity, most of it small.
I did a ski tour into Tuolumne in April and it was incredible being there with no people.
Glad you got to go Karen.
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rockermike
Mountain climber
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May 17, 2009 - 06:33pm PT
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I rode from Crane flats up to Olmstead a couple of years ago, just two days before official opening. Definitely one of the nicest rides of my life. Quiet, beautiful. Deer strolling along the road. I was in bliss; until the tools stopped me. It wasn't that I wasn't allowed to be there. Riding was OK during the day, but they made me empty my carry bags to "prove" I wasn't planning on camping illegally. (I wasn't, and had nothing but sweater and wind parka, which I needed later as temps dropped). What f*#king pricks. I've hatted those bastards ever since - and this from a guy that used to be pretty neutral on cop / climber issues. Completely killed my buzz. I now know what living in a fascist country is like.
did I read the post above correctly? Road open to bikes this week, then cars start next Friday?
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Karen
Trad climber
So Cal urban sprawl Hell
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May 17, 2009 - 07:04pm PT
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Yeah Rocker Mike, that sure was a buzz kill alright!!!
I was worried about the tools and what they could do to us trespassing cyclists. This woman who drore up as we were getting into our bike gear stated she saw a ranger with a gun a few days back. Our conversation then digressed into paranoia, this woman felt they could do a number of things to us: confiscate our bikes, heavy fine us both, arrest, ect., we decided to risk it anyway, but like my earlier post stated we did not ride many miles into the park.
The few pics we took are awesome!!! posted back a few
edit to add: down 395 on the Sherwin grade we got pulled over for speeding. The CHP was cool though, we only wrote us up for some fix it stuff and gave us a warning about speeding. He did state to tell others heading up to the Eastside to be aware of the road work north of Bishop and on the Sherwin grade (right now the north bound traffic is being funneled over onto the south bound side-so only two lanes), and to obey the posted speed limits.
I asked him why they were ripping up the north bound lanes, they've never appeared to be in bad condition. He explained the sides of the road fall off steeply and when people drive off the road they go air born and roll, so the repairs will result in leveling the sides of the road.
so there you have it....
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hagerty
Social climber
A Sandy Area South of a Salty Lake
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May 17, 2009 - 07:18pm PT
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Rhodo-Router wrote:
>I think not wanting bikers up there has something to do with wet-slide potential above Olmsted Pt.
<
There are also multiple slide paths that cross the road a little west of Tioga Pass.
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F10
Trad climber
e350
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May 17, 2009 - 08:13pm PT
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Karen, thanks for the photos, need to get up there!!!
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NotIt
Trad climber
Malaga Cove
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May 17, 2009 - 09:56pm PT
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I'm missing something.
How can NFS ticket for illegal overnight camping (cyclists) in TM if the entire area is open to ski use all winter?
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hossjulia
Trad climber
Eastside
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May 17, 2009 - 10:08pm PT
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Once Tioga Rd closes in the fall, all of Tuolumne becomes wilderness. Then on April 15, it reverts back.
The winter LEO's up there can't use their snowmobiles until April 15.
In the fall, after the store and campgrounds close and sometime before the pass closes, they post big signs, no camping, and sometimes, no stopping!
So once it is no longer wilderness, you have to camp in a campground there, and if they are closed, well there is no camping.
I wonder if you were to bike in and then ski/hike a ways up say, Lyell Fork, into the permanent wilderness area with a wilderness permit, if that would be legal right now?
So complicated, these rules.
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alive.in.dreams
Trad climber
Fish Camp, CA
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May 17, 2009 - 10:50pm PT
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Went on a bike ride from the Yosemite Creek Trailhead (farthest out you can drive as of today) to Olmstead Point and it was glorious! Also met alot of bikers who had from from the Eastside and they said it was totally clear.
Word on the street is there will be a Thursday/Friday opening to all traffic.
Hot Springs... here I come!
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Bargainhunter
Mountain climber
Central California
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May 18, 2009 - 12:36am PT
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Mmmmm...look at all that delicious water in the photos...heading straight for LA!
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NotIt
Trad climber
Malaga Cove
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May 18, 2009 - 09:29am PT
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Thanks for the clarification. It was obvious that at some point the meadows reverted to traditional NPS camping rules, but I figured that it would coincide with the opening of the gate - I didn't know that 4/15 was the magic date.
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corniss chopper
Mountain climber
san jose, ca
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May 18, 2009 - 07:31pm PT
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some rules are for the good: no snowmobiles screaming over the Echo Peaks and on to Clouds Rest... that image would be too much.
Think Norway invented that ski with a rife thing:
"The world's first known ski club, the Trysil Rifle and Ski Club, was formed in Norway in 1861 to promote national defense at the local level."
Those dudes would have known what to do to a snowmobile sneaking in from Sweden without a permit. Bullet through the engine and
'have a nice walk back home Erik! But wait! Here's a rope because
you have to drag your snowmobile out of here..."
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hossjulia
Trad climber
Eastside
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May 18, 2009 - 07:44pm PT
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"Make-up yur confused minds. Keep folks out with any mechanized contraptions during the Winter or let em ALL in!"
Geesh, who's confused? I, or khanom, never said, or meant, anything like that.
(Where do you get this stuff anyway, did you flunk reading comprehension?)
ALL I said is the rules are confusing. And they obviously are.
That is not a complaint or a wish they would change.
Stop reading things into posts that are not there!
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