Yosemite Area Roadways post winter storms

[Max Rockatansky]

Really the title of the thread kind of is the gist of the thread.  Really I didn't have an agenda today in regards to the stuff I usually do on this forum, there was just a solid clearing in the weather this week coupled with 41 reopening near Fish Camp that was great for a quiet weekday drive:

https://flic.kr/s/aHskWhNdLR

Some observations though.....

-  41 north of Oakhurst reopened on Wednesday this week from recent slide damage.  I didn't see any visible damage to the roadway but there was a lot of mud and tree debris.  The flag zone was right by the 4,000 feet placard and lasted about 15 minutes, I would speculate it would have been a good 30-45 minutes during the peak of the day. 
-  Finally got a picture of the CA 41 END sign.
-  The Wawona Road had some minor slides but nothing that looked like it would have caused a problem over the winter.  The snow line was anywhere from 4,800-5,200 feet above sea level, so no chain requirements.
-  Some of the roads in Yosemite Valley were flooded or damaged enough to require closure.  Some of the roads are getting pretty ground up from obvious wear from chain usage.
-  I confirmed that the TO US 395 sign on the El Portal Road is indeed gone.  The US 395 was MUCTD compliant instead of a cut-out and was present up until last year. 
-  The white spades are still weird...
-  Almost nobody was using CA 140 in the Merced River Canyon, I didn't encounter a car in front of me all the way to Mariposa.  Given that I wasn't stopping to see things like I was in January I was able to keep a solid 50-60 MPH pace sans the Furguson Slide.
-  This didn't occur to me until today but all you get heading west on CA 140 for CA 49 is a JCT sign and no reassurance marker at the actually junction.
-  CA 49 essentially is virtually unsigned south out of Mariposa.  I noted there was no END sign at CA 41 but I don't really really recall seeing much in the way of reassurance shields. 
-  All the tree removal operations I saw south of Oakhurst in 41 are long gone and any road damage/clean-up seems to be complete.

Should be interesting to see what affect the storms coming up this week have on the mountain highways.  I noticed that most of the slide closures on CA 1 north of Cambria were extended to April the 14th this morning.  Doesn't seem like this freakish weather is quite done yet.

[AsphaltPlanet]

Yosemite is beautiful.  Beautiful crystal blue sky as well.

[Max Rockatansky]

Yosemite is beautiful.  Beautiful crystal blue sky as well.

Yes it is, I've never needed much excuse to go up there other than I felt like going for the day.  Sequoia and Kings Canyon are on a similar level but generally Yosemite is much more accessible in the winter time due to three roads entering the Valley.  A lot of people complain about living in the Central Valley even though they are just a couple hours for all those mountains the Sierras, national parks, and of course a ton of awesome roads. 

[rita_b]

What a beautiful place, it's like heaven on Earth! And the waterfall... Awesome