While most photographers in California reserve a part of their consciousness year-round for thoughts of Yosemite (Valley and high country), at about this time of year many think about that location even more. This is the time when the waterfalls really begin to flow and often start to peak as the snow melts at higher elevations, and it is also the beginning of the annual “Great Greening” as plants start to come back to life. In particular, lots of us anticipate the return of the dogwood blossoms.

I’ve been hearing news, and I’ll pass a bit of it along here.

Roads – A week or two ago the NPS announced that they planned to open the road to Glacier Point today. They are usually pretty cautious about advance announcements like this – you’ll virtually never see such an announcement for Tioga Pass Road, for example – so the road is undoubtedly already clear. I have not confirmed today if they actually did open it, and you probably should if you are headed that way since there is some precipitation in the forecast for today and tomorrow. If the precipitation comes in the frozen form, well, Yosemite will often close a high country road for tiny amounts of snow… (Update: Looks like snow! For more take a look here. I’m betting on a delay in the opening of this road.)

The most recent report on Tioga Pass Road (as expected) did not offer an expected opening date, but did report that plows had gotten to the May Lake turnoff from the west. The Tioga Pass webcam has clearly shown for several days that the road over the pass has been plowed from the east as well. (It also shows a lot of snow still on the pass, and a very nice view toward Mammoth Peak…) Some enjoy the sport of predicting the opening date of Tioga Pass Road – I’m guessing “not durin the first half of May, but very soon after that.”

Waterfalls – Many reports (including from Michael Frye, who is also a good source of other info about the Valley) report that the waterfalls are roaring. Early in the waterfall season is probably the best time to go. Some of the waterfalls are fed by relatively low elevations snow melt, and that diminishes before long and leaves those falls reduced or dry. In addition, the earlier you go the smaller the crowds. (Leon Turnbull just reported on his recent waterfall visit over at the California Nature Photography blog.)

Dogwood blossoms – Several sources have reported that the bloom seems to be coming just a bit later this season. From what I’m hearing the trees are starting to blossom but this past week mostly the early green blossoms were seen, with the more familiar white blossoms still to come. Some had predicted that this might be the weekend for them, but with cooler weather and some rain others are now suggesting that the following week might be a better bet.