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By Mark Grossi
The Fresno Bee - June 27, 1998
An east Sierra business owner sneaked onto barricaded Highway 120 in Yosemite
National Park and took photographs Thursday showing little snow and lots of
open roadway.
Friday, the photographs appeared on the World Wide Web, along with this question: "Why is Highway 120 closed?"
Highway 120, or Tioga Road, remains California's only major Sierra east-west pass closed by snow and the persistent threat of avalanches. Other mountain passes in California have been open for weeks.
The anonymous Internet photographs added to the frustration in Mono and Inyo counties, where officials say daily tourism losses approach $1 million while the east-west artery is closed in June.
"I'm already behind $30,000 this month," said Don Murphey, owner of Murphey's Motel in Lee Vining. "They're taking away business for no good reason."
Yosemite officials, mindful of the avalanche in June 1995 that killed a park worker, said a snowy winter and spring complicated annual road clearing this year. They announced Thursday that Highway 120 would open Wednesday, the latest opening date in four decades.
Some east-side business owners are skeptical of the park's caution.
"Why is the danger all of a sudden gone on July 1?" asked Bob Agard, owner of Tioga Pass Resort, just outside the park's east boundary. "Those pictures show that there's no snow to avalanche. The park is lying."
Park officials disagree, saying active avalanche areas will be posted as "no stopping" zones when the road opens. The park's avalanche consultant, Norm Wilson, said an untrained eye may not recognize the danger in the snow and ice high above the roadway.
He said the snow and ice are heavy with water content and weigh several tons. If a slab of ice slides off the granite, it could be a killer, he said.
"Standing on the road, it would be easy to underestimate the potential for damage, death and burial," he said. "Whoever went in and took photos probably didn't check the densities of the snow. Whoever took the photos was in danger and in violation of the law."
Yosemite hired Wilson the year after the employee died in the avalanche at Olmsted Point, where tons of ice slid down the granite face and crushed a bulldozer that was clearing snow.
After the accident, the park established safety procedures and provided extra training for employees who clear the 46-mile road from Crane Flat to Tioga Pass gate to the east.
The investigation later suggested that east Sierra pressure might have influenced park officials to clear the road in haste. Officials now emphasize safety in their discussions of Tioga road clearing.
East-side interests from Bridgeport to Lee Vining to Mammoth Lakes say they support safety measures.
"That's a precarious situation," said Mono County Supervisor Joann Ronci, who has acted as an east-side liaison to the park. "I do not want to compromise safety."
But Ronci said she didn't see why the park couldn't be opened May 30 each year. She said if officials started to clear the road earlier, they could work more on Olmsted Point.
She said Caltrans should be more involved. Caltrans equipment is used in Yosemite, and Mono County crews clear several miles from the Tioga Pass gate to Spring Hill.
"I think it's time for us to all come together-state, federal and local people-and change the way we do this," Ronci said. "It's not working the way it is now."
TIOGA ROAD OPENING
DATES
1990 May 17
1991 May 26
1992 May 15
1993 June 3
1994 May25
1995 June 30
1996 May 31
1997 June 13
1998 July 1
Allan Goff, director of Tulare County Parks and Recreation, said Kings water levels continue to rise in other areas.
Goff halted river recreation this month in Tulare County.
Goff said he will tour the area Friday, assess how safe the region is and open the area as soon as possible.
Elsewhere in the South Valley, snow melt continues to drain into Tulare Lake Basin.
As much as a third of the dry lake bed has water, federal officials estimated.
On the San Joaquin River, flood releases have not caused problems yet, officials said.
Tony Buelna, Friant operations chief for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, said he expects farm demand for irrigation water to pick up in the coming weeks and consume more of runoff.
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