From tomorrow, 8/28/2013, until after Labor Weekend, part of the Tioga Pass Road (120), from Crane Flat to White Wolf will be closed.
This means that during the closure period there will be no access to Yosemite Valley from Tuolumne Meadows, or access to Tuolumne Meadows from Yosemite Valley.
This can't be right. That is an easy day hike.
Gee, you'd be a good text editor. I assumed that the average reader would understand that access back and forth by the Tioga Pass Road, the Tioga Pass Road, the Tioga Pass Road (that black, paved thingy called highway 120, that the RV's buzz around on!?)would be restricted. Grrr!
Of course the hiking trail from the Valley to Tuolumne Meadows is open...so far.
Sorry for the stupid joke. The "easy day hike" wouldn't include having to come all the way back the same day!
Actually, the easy day hike is from Olmstead point to the Snow Creek trailhead near Mirror Lake. 12 miles with very little uphill as opposed to 24 miles and about a 1500 foot climb out of Tuolomne over Cathedral (you actually have to top 10,000 at one point to get over 9700 foot Cathedral, and then another climb out of Sunrise. Lots of JMT hikers in Lone Pine last week had to take the Olmstead option (the shuttle was running to Olmstead) To get back to cars or YARTS in the Valley.
Yes, that is a fairly easy hike, with many switchbacks down to Mirror Lake. Once down in the Valley, it passes through an old Indian camp site that is regarded as sacred by local Indians. Before the arrival of the white man, part of the trail was used by Yosemite Indians to travel to the annual Summer encampment at Tuolumne Meadows.
Just below Olmstead, the trail passes through an area the park rangers call "Bear Valley", because it seems to be used a lot by bears roaming back and forth from the high country to the Valley. There are many, many bear scratched trees visible from the trail.
Several years ago I did a trans-Sierra hike with a group of American Indians (a migration re-enactment by tribes from the East and West sides of the range), one section of which went through that area. Before entering "Bear Valley" the spiritual leader of the trip warned us to remain silent so as not to awaken the bear spirit that dwells there. He smudged us completely all over and prayed, and then we hiked on through safely with no bear encounters. Non-Indians might think spiritual rituals like that are cute, but Indians take it very seriously. There's a kid's song that starts, "If you go down to the woods today, you're in for a big surprise..."
Tioga road is still closed, but Hwy 120 is back open into Yosemite Valley.