Crews in Yosemite National Park are using bulldozers to help remove snow on Tioga Road (Highway 120).
The National Park Service indicated on Friday snow removal crews were 11 miles from the Crane Flat gate and within 3 miles of White Wolf at 8,000 feet.
They are plowing through 8 to 11 feet of snow.
Bulldozers are removing the top four to six feet of snow so that blowers can follow behind to remove the remaining 4 to 5 feet of snow.
Three dozers and three blowers are working on the road.
Yosemite had a record snowpack — over 240% of average — as of April 1. In the previous snowiest years, Tioga Road opened in late June or early July. There is no way to provide a more precise estimate for this year.
Tioga Road is typically open to vehicles from late May or June until sometime in November. Plowing typically begins around April 15.
The highest point on Tioga Road/Highway 120 is at the east entrance to Yosemite National Park at 9,945 feet.
Crews have reached Glacier Point at 7,214 feet overlooking Yosemite Valley.
Glacier Point Road will not open until July, 2023, due to road construction that must be completed prior to the road opening.
Since early April, crews have been able to clear more than 13 miles of deep snow on Highway 108 Sonora Pass, from the Sno-Park to Donnell’s Vista last week. There are approximately 15 miles of roadway remaining in Tuolumne County from the Mono County line to the east to be cleared.
The snow depth and roadway debris are expected to increase in the higher elevations, with Sonora Pass’s summit at 9,624 feet. Snowpack estimates are nearly 200 percent higher than an average year, 250 percent more than recent drought years, and as deep as 30 feet in some areas, according to Caltrans.
Currently, there is no estimated time for reopening Sonora Pass. The actual typical closing and opening dates vary from year to year, with Caltrans usually opening these passes by Memorial Day Weekend. Caltrans has stated that they hope to have Sonora Pass open up to Kennedy Meadows by that holiday weekend.
