Today was quite a day. We woke up, packed up, and headed out to get breakfast and try to get a ride back up the mountains as soon as the road opened. We went to the Mobil gas station just off Tioga Pass Road, at the recommendation of my brother who said they have a great restaurant. We had breakfast burritos and unlimited coffee and loitered for hours, along with many other dirtbags and motorists waiting for the road to open. In the meantime the weather forecast for tonight was looking snowy. We wondered if we should stay in town about night, or if the road would open at all today. We were about to give up, standing outside in the cold when suddenly many cars seemed to be headed up, and a man in an RV we meet earlier pulled up and offered to take us up. The pass had just opened, and we were finally back at Tuolumne Meadows at about 1:30 pm. We checked with the ranger about conditions and decided to head out, getting closer to our next high pass. It may be snowy but tomorrow will be sunny. We hiked out 8.2 miles and found a nice campsite, built a fire and enjoyed the fact we weren’t getting snowed on. The clouds looked less ominous this evening, so if we are lucky it will be a cold but dry night.
