Come See Yosemite, May 14-21, 2017

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I started packing our suitcases today. We are having autumn here in Australia and days are getting short. Can't wait to be in USA for summer again. We are flying to LA 8th of May. Hopefully we find some friendly Mexican in Corona to service our RV and after that we are on the road to Yosemite.
looks like Steve have some drama with the road colaps, but all is working out well after all.
Looking forward to see you soon.
Jan and Olga
 
Hello Jan & Olga,
We wishing you a pleasant safe flight. It's going to be a looong one
Chris
 
Thanks Chris
We are using American Airline this year. Delta. Hope that they will not beat us on board. ;D
 
We just hope you find friendly TSA Agents this year.  No excuse for what happened last time.
Travel safe, we hope to see you while you're in the US.  Can't make Yosemite  :(

Team LoLa . . .
 
Hi Larry and Loretta
Sad that you can't make it mate. I will call you from USA if they let us in(hehe)
Hopefuly officers in LA emigration will not put us to detention this year.
 
The Park announced this morning that Big Oak Flat Road into the park will open May 1st. This is the extension of RT 120 that has been closed.
I'm ready for the Rally.

ken
 
We may be in the area around that time, still planning our route. If we are I will be in touch as I'd love to meet other forum members. ;D
 
The official announcement from NPS: https://www.nps.gov/yose/learn/news/yosemite-national-park-announces-re-opening-of-big-oak-flat-road.htm

Note there will be some one lane sections and night time closures for a while, but I am so relieved! On to Yosemite (along with other stops in California for us).
 
It's official.  I got a similar notification as the one Pam & Kevin posted above.  Big Oak Flat Road to reopen on May 1st!  Thanks to all who stuck with us through this process.  See you all in Yosemite.  I will post some updates soon.

Steve
 
It's official effective yesterday May 1.  Big Oak Flat Road/Route 120 has reopened into Yosemite Valley.

 
A few updates on the road have been posted at https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/conditions.htm

The summary if you don't want to look it up is:
Closed Monday, May 15, from 9 pm to Tuesday, May 16, at 5 am. On May 16, expect 15-minute delays from 5 am to 5 pm. No other closures or delays are currently planned.  In other words, things should be fine but expect some delays.
 
I had mentioned in an earlier post that there is a lot of construction going on in the park which is not expected to be completed until the end of the month.  Much of the park is currently one-way traffic only which is causing traffic to go from Lower Falls to El Cap to get to Happy Isles for example.  It slows things down and you just have to be patient.

Another wrench in the works is the flooding that we are currently experiencing.  Yesterday afternoon at 2:00 pm the water at Pohono Bridge was at 10.26 ft, down from over 11 ft at midnight.  Flood stage for the river is 10 ft so they are watching it closely and closing areas based on the water. Swinging Bridge was closed yesterday but will probably be back open today. It is anticipated that the water will continue to decrease over the next week.  We are anticipating some rain in the valley and snow on the mountains this next week that could possibly have an impact on the water level.

You can follow the forecast on your mobile phone by going to:

http://www.cnrfc.noaa.gov/mobil/riverImage.php?id=POHC1&type=Fcst



 
It appears that everything is on track for our rally next week.  I checked in with the park and confirmed everyone's reservation.  It looks like we may have had one cancellation.  I have heard nothing from them personally, but the park shows their reservation as cancelled.  I sent them a PM, but also got no response.  Nonetheless, we are on schedule for a great rally.  Looks like we will be 8 coaches total. I will be arriving a day early (on the 13th), just to make sure everything goes smoothly.  We will have a meet and greet happy hour on Sunday afternoon, once everyone is settled.  Probably 4:30 or 5:00pm.  Location to be determined. The extended weather forecasts show sunny to partly cloudy conditions all week.  Temps in the low 70's during the day and low 40's at night.  No rain is forecast.  It appears that the road closure issue is resolved for the most part.  The information posted above (by UTTransplant) is the latest info.  Since we will be traveling into the park on weekdays, traffic should be lighter.  The only item of note is that on Monday evening, the 15th, we will all need to be out of the park by 9:00pm for a one night road closure.  If anyone has any questions for me, let me know.  Look forward to seeing all of you a week from today.

Steve
 
One more update.  For those wanting to check out things to do in advance, the link below is an excellent resource for information about things to do in Yosemite.  The section on hiking gives great information about the various hikes in and around Yosemite.

https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/yv.htm

 
I have two sons who work in Yosemite.  One for the park service and one for the concessioneer.  If you see them, tell 'em their dad is watching them.  ;D
 
Nice. Flight in Delta was fine and emigration officers did not detain us this time. maybe they realize now that we are visiting country and will spent money instead steeling americans jobs. That made me happy.
My RV Phoebe started after 10 months perfectly after first key turn. All is working and we are slowly heading for Yosemite Rally. I am not sure how many days this trip will take us. We will be stopping somewhere for oil change. Hope that some of the truck stops will be able to do this for us on spot with delay.
See you all soon
Jan and Olga Stiskala
 
FYI Glacier Point will be open.  Our Preventive Search and Rescue group has been asked to do patrols there beginning on Saturday.  The water levels have dropped so more of the meadows will also be open.

Hope you all enjoy your stay. 
 
Jean, I certainly hope you are right.  Glacier Point is one of my favorite places and I assumed the road wouldn't be open until sometime after our rally was over, but I remained hopeful.  This is great news.

Thanks,

Steve
 
We made it out of Utah and are camping north of San Francisco until we head to the rally. Visiting friends, drinking wine, seeing San Francisco - will be fun. I expect Yosemite will be better!
 

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