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hey looking into doing a long route around the mt dana/gaylor lakes/mt conness/saddlebag lake area.

i know the road is closed, but how close can i get to there? where exactly is the closure?
thinking about putting a craigslist ad up asking for a lee vining snowmobiler for a ride up.
i know the tioga pass resort used to operate but the guy at the desk this fall said they closed up for winter a few years ago.

are there any other access options or should i plan on skinning up from lee vining?

thanks!

so it looks like i should wait until spring when the road opens up closer to the pass from the west, or just add a long day to my route if i do it from mono lake in march.

any other tips? is there a site to go for this information? the only official site i could find just says 'closed'

I went up to Tuolumne during early May of last year, pass was still closed. If what you're after can wait until the road opens, I would highly recommend it. Once the plowing/clearing of the road begins, SOMETIMES the caltrans guys will be very gracious and give you a ride up to their highpoint, wherever that is. We were not so fortunate, however managed to snag a ride on the way back down which was a much welcomed treat.

Anyway, I would probably recommend waiting until the road is clear, winter snowcover can prevail up there for quite some time.

But obviously, much of this is predicated upon what your objective is....if you would care to disclose more on that, I might be able to assist you further!

If your objective was the "Normal Route" up Dana, how close could you get to the trailhead?

WML wrote:But obviously, much of this is predicated upon what your objective is....if you would care to disclose more on that, I might be able to assist you further!

i'd love to get up there while it's isolated; seems like you'd have all of eastern yosemite to yourself...spent a few days up in that area this summer, would love to get back there on skis.
no real objective other than looking for a good time in the mountains.

You can still get it while it's isolated in the Saddlebag Lake area most of the time, but I would recommend waiting until 120 is open to the pass, not necessarily through the pass. Not too many people hangin' around the Conness area until Saddlebag Road opens up, and it's not too far of a skin/walk up the road to the lake.

For supplemental reading I would recommend the TR recently put up regarding Cathedral Peak in the winter. The folks who did that had similar sentiments as I did heading up there before the road opens.

WML wrote:You can still get it while it's isolated in the Saddlebag Lake area most of the time, but I would recommend waiting until 120 is open to the pass, not necessarily through the pass. Not too many people hangin' around the Conness area until Saddlebag Road opens up, and it's not too far of a skin/walk up the road to the lake.

For supplemental reading I would recommend the TR recently put up regarding Cathedral Peak in the winter. The folks who did that had similar sentiments as I did heading up there before the road opens.

@WML thanks man, sounds like that's prob my best bet. yeah that TR sounds gnarly. def worth waiting a bit.

one last question: what's the best place to track the road conditions?
is this page the best? http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/conditions.htm

thanks!

that as well as dot.ca.gov - and type in 120. That will give you a good idea of what is open and what isn't. Also, the forums on here and supertopo can be useful getting up to date info in terms of how far along they are in the process once it becomes 'that time of year' again.