A chilly and beautiful spring day at Mono Lake. Photo by Arya Degenhardt.

This Memorial Day weekend, unseasonable cold weather may complicate your plans to visit Mono Lake, Yosemite National Park, and the rest of the Sierra Nevada region. To make sure your visit during this beautiful part of the year goes smoothly, here’s what you can do:

—check the weather forecast
—check road conditions
—and plan your routes accordingly!

WEATHER
Even though it’s nearly June, winter has kept a firm grip on the Mono Basin. Snow is predicted for Friday, but the sun might shine through on Saturday and Sunday with temperatures reaching the 60-degree mark. Check the weather forecast and bring warm layers!

TRAVEL
We had heard that Tioga Pass (Highway 120) may open this weekend, however, avalanche danger is too high, and we’ve heard that Tioga Pass will not open this weekend. The next pass to the north, Sonora Pass (Highway 108), is not open either, but it usually opens around the same time Tioga opens. Please visit the California Department of Transportation website and enter the highway number for more information.

If you need to get from the Mono Basin over the Sierra Nevada mountains to Yosemite, Sacramento, or San Francisco, you’ll need to take Carson Pass Highway 88, and cross the mountains that way. Monitor Pass (Highway 89) is currently closed, however if it opens it is a very scenic yet curvy shortcut around the Carson Valley. From Lee Vining over Monitor Pass to Yosemite Valley is 289 miles and takes approximately five hours.

If you need to re-plan your trip to this area, Google Maps is a great tool for getting directions and finding alternative routes.

We look forward to seeing you at Mono Lake this weekend!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 26th, 2010 at 4:22 pm and is filed under News, Seasonal Update. You can view One Response on this post or leave your own response if you log in.