Early Summer

Sometimes there is more to timing a summer vacation than just counting the days. Signs of the oncoming recreation season often vary from year to year. One variable of particular importance to those who venture into the Sierra Nevada is the annual opening of the Tioga Road over Tioga Pass in Yosemite National Park.

State Route 120 over the 9,941-foot pass links north-south U.S. 395 and the eastern Sierra region with Yosemite Valley and California’s Central Valley.

The National Park Service and Caltrans have announced that the Tioga Road will open--weather permitting--on April 29 this year, several weeks earlier than normal. The reason, of course, is the mild winter and meager snow pack. This is good news for high-country wanderers who seek an early start to the backpacking season. Not so good for those who enjoy late spring cross-country skiing in the Sierra.

For a stretch of about 200 miles--from Lake Tahoe south almost to Lake Isabella--the Sierra Nevada is snowbound each winter. Only four roads cross the mountains: over Carson, Ebbets, Sonora and Tioga passes. Tioga, the highest, is the last to reopen. Each spring, it becomes a gateway to the dreams of Californians and visitors lured by the freshness of a mountain environment shaking off the snowy blanket of its winter slumber.