Snow forces 5 camps in Yosemite to remain closed for summer!

[Brent]

Five popular High Sierra camps in Yosemite National Park will remain closed all summer because of heavy snow, which is still piled up to 15 feet deep, the park announced Tuesday. It's only the second time since 1916 that the camps have not been able to open, according to a spokeswoman for the concession company that operates them. The first was in the El Niño year of 1996.

Five campgrounds along Tioga Road with a total of 522 sites will remain closed indefinitely, although the park plans to open them this summer, Freeman said. The one at lowest elevation, Crane Flat, is tentatively scheduled to open June 30, she said.

"We're just going to have to wait until things clear out a little bit," she said. "We're looking at a whole lot of water still sitting on the ground, and that can make getting utilities up and running difficult."

Update from today's Merc: Tioga Pass, the highest highway route through the Sierra Nevada, has reopened for the summer, the National Park Service announced Friday. "This is a late opening because of the heavy snowpack in the Sierra this year,'' said Scott Gediman, a Yosemite National Park spokesman. Tioga Pass closed for the winter on Oct. 17 last year. The latest opening for Tioga Pass on record was July 8 in 1933. The pass is typically closed from November through May.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercuryn ... 954868.htm

[Swimdude]

Yup, I was there last summer in August. And I must say, i'm not the least bit surprised.