Lots of us northern and central California photographers make trips to the eastern Sierra in the summer and fall – I know that many of you have been there in the past month to photograph aspens and other fall color. For many of us the standard route to the “east side” is through Yosemite National Park and over Tioga Pass on State Highway 120 to Lee Vining and the area near Mono Lake. From here it is a short drive south to Mammoth (about a half hour) and Bishop (an hour) and points south, including Big Pine, Independence, and Lone Pine.
As the fall season arrives and winter weather approaches, Tioga Pass becomes a less reliable route and eventually closes for the season. The seasonal closure typically occurs sometime in late October or in November, though the historical records show that it has happened as late as January 1!
But before the seasonal closure there are often a number of temporary closures as smaller early weather fronts sweep through. (One is underway as I write this on October 19.) It is my impression that the National Park Service is pretty quick to close the road, even for very minor snow. I’ve seen them close it for little more than a few flurries that left a fraction of an inch on just a few sections of the road! My hunch is that this is due to what I’ll call an “overabundance of caution” along with perhaps not having as much snow removal equipment available on this road as on some of the all-weather highways.
The good news is that most of these early season closures are temporary. It seems to me that they often last only perhaps 24-48 hours. To get current conditions you have several options. A Yosemite Park Current Conditions web page gives a general summary and generally lists seasonal closures. This page also lists the “road status” telephone number that shares current information: 209/372-0200 (press 1 then 1). More up-to-date web information is found at the California Department of Transportation highway 120 conditions page. The Caltrans Highway Information Service phone number should be on your cell phone, too: 1 (800) 427-7623.
When highway 120 is closed, what are the alternatives for northern and central California drivers trying to get to the east side of the range? At the edges of the winter season, especially when roads are being reopened in the spring, you may find that one of the other trans-Sierra highways that was closed for the winter opens ahead of Tioga Pass. For example Ebbetts or Sonora Passes might open a bit earlier, and they also might be cleared a bit fast in some cases after spring storms. However, most winter season closures are likely to begin at roughly the same time, since they are typically caused by the first really big storm – so at that point you’ll have to look to one of the all-season passes. Carson Pass crosses the furthest south of Lake Tahoe for northern California drivers, though it make a big difference if Monitor Pass is not open – this route best connects via Carson and then Monitor, after which you head south on 395. In really bad conditions, Carson is probably more likely to be closed or in bad shape than either of the two highways used to get to Lake Tahoe, 50 and 80 – so in an almost-worst case you might have to loop way north to one of those.
Wondering why I wrote “almost-worst case” in the previous paragraph? If you are on the east side and a giant storm comes in you may have to go south instead of north – and do so quickly since travel on 395 can become pretty challenging as well. If you do this in the winter you are going to have a long drive ahead of you! You’ll go to essentially the southern terminus of the Sierra and then cross to the west on Tehachapi Pass, enter the Central Valley (hours later!) and find your way to your destination from there. Be aware that snow is a definite possibility on Tehachapi in cold conditions, but at least it is a good, wide road.
Finally, southern Californians are probably wondering what all the fuss is about. I learned some years ago – after being brought up with a thoroughly northern California orientation – that the folks from the southern part of the state think of the Sierra in a nearly completely different way that northerners do. While I head straight east to the Sierra and enter the range via the gently rise of the western foothills before ascending to cross the crest via some high pass, they head north and east into the desert, cross some