If you've been there recently you've probably notice all the dead trees from the draught/beetle infestation
Apparently the latest snow storm was too much for them.
Copied from the YNP website:
All roads closed due to heavy snow and fallen trees
Yosemite has received heavy snow, which has caused numerous trees to fall. As a result all roads are currently closed. Call 209/372-0200 (then 1, 1) to check current road status. People in Yosemite should stay indoors if possible to avoid falling trees.
"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
Was there last month with 100 trash bags thinking I'd help with clean up. I wasn't needed. Someone arranged a crew of volunteers the week before. Never saw the valley so clean. All that I picked up would fill a lunch bag.
Lots of trees were being cut down. Sad.
There are 3 kinds of people in the world: those who can count and those who can't.
By Summer, hopefully all the dangerous trees will down in the valley campgrounds and along the roads.Originally Posted by DavidFisk
"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
97 Inches of new snow this week with more on the way!
https://www.nps.gov/yose/blogs/updat...ary-6-2019.htm
This is the weekend to go up if you're interested in photographing the snow covered valley - plenty of snow coming which will build-up on the valley floor.
Thomas
I'm not allowed to discuss the reason for so many falling trees, since anything related to common sense observation and basic education is off limits as somehow being controversial this day and age. But that's OK. What the hell do I know? I've only got a degree in field biology and had property most of my life in the woods close to Yosemite. But I could perhaps be allowed to mention that it might be difficult to get into Yosemite over the next several days due to not only tree issues, but just the sheer amount of falling snow. My nephew is way down beside Hwy 49 near Maiposa and had three feet of snow yesterday. And the road get higher before dropping down into El Portal. So even if they keep the road into Yos Valley somewhat open, there is plenty more snow on the way, and at best it would be a slow slog requiring chains. I have been in Yos Valley under such conditions, and it is wonderful to be trapped in there with almost no one else around. Just be prepared to be disappointed if you can't even get in for a few more days. Check immediate road conditions and the weather forecast before going. Tire chains and a warm sleeping bag will be mandatory. Snowshoes n gaiters n full Goretex are also a plus when lugging a big camera over powder snow.
We lost a lot of trees due to beetles in the west end of our state, and subsequent fire. As it turns out this seems to have been a good thing. In their original state our mountains were more of a savanna than a dense forest. The restored openess has allowed more browse & grass to grow, greatly benefiting all wildlife (with possible exception of woodpeckers.)
Kent in SD
In contento ed allegria
Notte e di vogliam passar!
Do they require tire chains if you have studded snow tires? Asking as the last time I went over Donner pass is was snowing and after 40 minutes in line the CHP guy saw my out of State plates from a mountain state and the good Studded Snow tires and said "good to go". Folks were driving about 20 mph - and the road did not have more then 2 inches of snow on it. Lousy if you have summer or even all season tires, but chains for that small amount? Anyhow, it was fine.
” Never attribute to inspiration that which can be adequately explained by delusion”.
Don't mention woodpeckers. They are pretty and I like to wake up to the sound of them talking or playfully squawking or whatever cute sound that they make, but they otherwise drove us crazy poking holes in everything soft. I have an old fence post here I brought back with woodpecker holes every two square inches. If someone built a cedar house at too low an elevation, the whole thing could end up that way. There was one house photographers loved as a subject because the "whole thing" (scuse my pun) was full of holes, until it outright collapsed. When I was younger I studied the earliest aerial survey photographs for an indication of how things were post-Indian but before all the brush grew back up. They had cleared the land for millennia using fire to keep the meadows open not only for sake of their own villages, but for the deer, elk, and antelope they needed as game. On the plains, once bison had a major role in that too. And much of the native grass and other plant life and was dependent upon soil aeration from the hooves of big herd herbivores. In the big park lands right around here, cattle are still allowed to roam in many portions via rancher agreements, and wisely so, because they not only keep the ecosystem healthy, but greatly contribute to fire prevention. But most of them are of the relatively benign black angus variety. There are certain hereford and brahma bulls I sure wouldn't want to run into. So those breeds aren't ordinarily encountered on public land around here. .... Otherwise, Willie, the snow driving rules vary. Donner Pass is essentially a highly maintained
freeway and major truck route, so is more groomed that most mountain roads in California. It closed several days on end just this past month due to snow. Along with nearly Hwy 50, it's the only road over the Sierra kept open in
Winter. Our snowfalls are just too deep, and the terrain just too steep and avalanche prone to keep other routes open. But there's obviously a concerted effort to keep them open at least to the ski resorts. But even then, the Highway Patrol often stops cars at the bottom of a grade and checks to make sure you are carrying not only chains in inclement conditions, but also sleeping bags. One could easily freeze to death stuck in a traffic jam on any number of those highways. Mere studded snow tires would be the exception, and not the rule; and even when they are allowed, only in conjunction with 4WD.
Don't think I can speak for all Calif folks, but as an "outsider" (I was that even when I lived there :>), the CHP reacts to the cross section of drivers and conditions. One morning I was leaving L. Tahoe and was informed that the road down to Sacramento was closed. Roughly, several trucks and cars spun out.....and didn't reopen for 12 hrs. Yes, snow (or its amount) can be misleading....when there is ice.
Once (I was on the way to Reno) and put chains on and was about to hit Donner. Less than block away, in the front of me, was a trucker that was crawling up the hill (slowly), but it became obvious to all onlookers that he/she had issues. The driving wheels were chained up on this rig, but the rear of the trailer wheels were sliding to the right. Caltrans immediately escorted this rig, allowing space and to back-up to the point where the chains could be installed. Again, it was more about ice and only about an inch of snow. As you well know, mountains create the weather.....and folks respond....in various ways.
Les
It's even more dangerous around here because snow or freezing rain is so rare. This week those conditions did occur in a few neighborhoods in adjacent hills. Unless people are themselves skiers who frequent the mountains, as some are, they have absolutely no idea of how to drive in that. While I still had my place in the mountains, which was just below the average winter snowline, if I wanted to go uphill with my camera and snowshoes, I'd always wait for the first round of skiers to head up first and essentially skid the road dry. But even in the afternoon there was a particular curve shaded all day long that stayed icy. Those young macho dudes with their way-jacked-up Toyota 4WD's figured they were equipped to zip around anywhere ... And off they go, landing sideways or upside down down on some snowbank. It got even more comical whenever some newly relocated Highway Patrolman from the burbs would try to rush to the scene, or else be chasing them, and do exactly the same thing at the same spot. Two cars off the road instead of one. By the end of the day, there were usually three or four.
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