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Thread: Where/when to go in Yosemite in February?

  1. #31

    Join Date
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    Re: Where/when to go in Yosemite in February?

    After a Mono wind hit the sierras I've seen mountainsides above Wishon Lake that looked like a giant hand came along and knocked over all the trees!
    Thats sure not the place I'd want to be.
    "I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White

  2. #32
    Drew Wiley
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    Re: Where/when to go in Yosemite in February?

    I absolutely loved the sound of those winds. Any problem trees or limbs near the
    house were kept well trimmed back, but the pasture had periodic losses. But which
    Wishon lake are you referring to, John? The one on the lower San Joaquin upriver
    from Millerton, or the one in the high country on the North Fork of the Kings? Our
    local jargon was a little different from the map perhaps.

  3. #33
    Preston Birdwell
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    Columbia, CA
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    Re: Where/when to go in Yosemite in February?

    If you are planning to access Yosemite Valley via Hwy 120-Big Oak Flat Road in the near term, be advised there was a rock fall that has closed the road indefinitely.

    Here's a note from our Sonora news, dated today:

    Yosemite, CA -- Big Oak Flat Road, a continuation of Highway 120, is closed because of a rockslide that occurred at 11:30 last night.

    Yosemite National Park Spokesperson Scott Gediman says a boulder, "the size of a house," fell into the road and brought with it tree branches and several smaller rocks.


    Gediman says the best case scenario is that the debris will be removed over the coming days and Big Oak Flat Road will reopen "within the next several days." He says the worst case scenario is that there is structural damage to the road and it will need extensive repairs. Gediman says this scenario could result in the road being closed for "several months."


    At this point Yosemite is calling Big Oak Flat Road "closed indefinitely."


    Once Highway 120 enters Yosemite National Park it becomes Big Oak Flat Road. ...Yosemite Valley is currently only accessible from Highway 140 and Highway 41.


    Full story and a photo is here.

    --P
    Preston-Columbia CA

    "If you want nice fresh oats, you have to pay a fair price. If you can be satisfied with oats that have already been through the horse; that comes a little cheaper."

  4. #34

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    Re: Where/when to go in Yosemite in February?

    Quote Originally Posted by Drew Wiley View Post
    I absolutely loved the sound of those winds. Any problem trees or limbs near the
    house were kept well trimmed back, but the pasture had periodic losses. But which
    Wishon lake are you referring to, John? The one on the lower San Joaquin upriver
    from Millerton, or the one in the high country on the North Fork of the Kings? Our
    local jargon was a little different from the map perhaps.
    Sorry Drew, my bad! I was thinking of something that happened at Mammoth Pools probably around 20 years ago. It looked like an entire forested mountainside decided to lay down and surrender to the wind.
    I don't know why Wishon stuck in my brain
    "I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White

  5. #35
    Drew Wiley
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    Re: Where/when to go in Yosemite in February?

    Thanks John. But you're taking me even deeper into nostalgia and getting me a bit
    homesick. I made a custom each Spring to spend a night on the summit of Kaiser Pk
    overlooking Mammoth Pool, Balloon Dome, and that whole incredible vista up there.
    50/50 chance any year due to potentially wild weather, avalanches on my preferred
    route etc. Now it's down to once a decade. Did it in my 50's view camera and all,
    but still have to do it in my 60's. For those unfamilar with the area, this is the second deepest canyon in North America, right below this spot, about twice as deep
    as the Grand Canyon, and only slightly less deep than the Middle Fork of the Kings
    immediately to the South. From the summit Balloon Dome looks like a little wart in
    the bottom of the canyon, yet it's bigger than Half Dome in Yosemite.

  6. #36

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    Re: Where/when to go in Yosemite in February?

    It is a grand view!
    "I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White

  7. #37
    Drew Wiley
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    Re: Where/when to go in Yosemite in February?

    Another walk analagous to Kaiser you might really enjoy John ... Go up past Beasore
    Mdws to the big mdw just below Merced Peak. Nice campsite (unless mosquito season)
    then short uphill hike to Jackass Lks (nice family campsite like Twin Lks below Kaiser).
    You can stairstep the upper lakes onto the ridge to the summit of Madera. Even wider
    view than Kaiser - clear into Nevada. About the same effort - 3500ft vertical, though
    I can recommend a "fun route" too for ice axe enthusiasts. I've had a 4x5 up there,
    but 8x10 would be a bit of workout, esp w/full backpacking gear. Or you can take
    Norris Cr trailhead and just follow the leading edge the entire way, just back of the
    main cliff - no climbing at all, just steady uphill with fabulous views all the way up -
    Ritter Range directly across canyon, Lady Lks and Clark Range over the cliff, all the
    way to Kaiser Ridge and Shuteye Ridge the other direction, then finally, clear across
    the crest to the east. The higher lakes don't get much visitation.

  8. #38

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    Re: Where/when to go in Yosemite in February?

    Just about every time I've been up to Jackass Lakes there have been skinny dippers, lol! I've done quite a few searches in that area with the Madera
    Country SAR in the 80's. It is a great place which I really need to revisit this spring. There used to be some diggings down hill from Jackass Lakes with some nice broken rocks I've always thought would make a great fireplace, but since the Wilderness & the road closed, theres no way to get them out.
    Now I'm getting nostalgic! I took my young bride up there on a pack trip and we met the "mule lady" I don't remember her name but she used to play on the Fresno Rockets ladies baseball league during the 1940s. She drove a school bus in the valley and spend every summer up there with her two mules and not a few times I'd be called out on a search only to find the mule lady coming back down the trail with some hiker, rock hound or fisherman on the back of her pack mule and she'd call out "Hey I found someone up here thats lost!" We shared our campfire with her and she shared the liter box wine she brought up in her saddlebags with us.
    Good times!
    "I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White

  9. #39
    Drew Wiley
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    Re: Where/when to go in Yosemite in February?

    Wonderful, John. Too bad my folks aren't alive. They probably knew her. My mom
    would take me up to Granite Creek in the summers and I'd run wild. Someday we'll
    have to do a 4WD rendezvous atop Shuteye Pk. I haven't been up there in a long time. It was my living room view for many years. There are some fantastic rock
    formations up there very tempting to an 8x10. Tried driving my dad up there when he was 92, but the snow was just too deep, and after that he was just too bony to handle a true 4WD bumpy ride. We did make it around the Sierra Byway a number
    of times however, plus all the more reasonable roads of the Kings and San Joaquin.
    He too had a lot of geology background, so it was a lot of fun discovering this and
    that. I sometimes wonder if I annoy my backpacking companions by giving a running
    geology lecture along the trail, but most of them seem genuinely interested.

  10. #40
    Preston Birdwell
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    Re: Where/when to go in Yosemite in February?

    Just a follow-up to my note on the Big Oak Flat road closure...

    The NPS has put in a temporary fix on the road. It will be open for traffic this morning (Saturday, 1/28).

    The road will be temporarily closed for approximately three days next week in order to do some repaving. The days and times have not been decided.

    --P
    Preston-Columbia CA

    "If you want nice fresh oats, you have to pay a fair price. If you can be satisfied with oats that have already been through the horse; that comes a little cheaper."

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