Ebbetts Pass & Sonora Pass open 4/17/2015

[SMR_SLT]

Ebbetts Pass & Sonora Pass opened today. It was my first ride over Ebbetts Pass in 2015 & my first ride over Ebbetts on my new-to-me FJR.

 

[Old Michael]

I'm guessing the snowplows had an easy time of it this year.

Did you have the road to yourself?

 

[SMR_SLT]

There wasn't much snow to be seen for this time of year. The road was dirt brown in many places but there wasn't a lot of gravel in the turns. I saw maybe 10 vehicles on the road between Lake Alpine & Kinney Reservoir & back, so there were more people up there than I expected.

 

[Bugnatr]

Ahh, two awesome mountain passes.

It's only mid April, another sad sign for our moisture content.

 

[CAJW]

One of the earliest openings ever. Sad to see unless you're gripping a set of bars.

Sonora, Ebbetts passes open early

By Union Democrat staff April 18, 2015 01:01 am
Sonora and Ebbetts passes, connecting the Mother Lode with the eastern Sierra, opened Friday, one of the passes’ earliest openings on record, according to a Caltrans press release.

The passes were closed in December for the winter. Over the past several weeks, Caltrans crews have plowed the roads and removed debris, including a huge boulder that rolled onto Highway 108.

The openings come in time for the opening of trout fishing season, according to Caltrans.

This marks one of the earliest opening dates for the passes.

The earliest opening on record for Sonora Pass, according to Caltrans data going back to 1940, was April 8, 1977, one of the state’s driest years on record. The pass was re-closed May 5 as a result of a spring storm.

The second earliest opening was April 13, 1994. It temporarily closed again due to spring snowstorms.

In 2013, another drought year, Sonora and Ebbetts passes opened on April 24 and 25, respectively.

Caltrans generally aims to open both passes by Memorial Day weekend.

Highway 120’s Tioga Pass remained closed as of Friday afternoon.

Drivers of all vehicles, including those with four-wheel-drive or snow tires, should continue to carry chains, because weather conditions can still rapidly change, the release said.

If heading out over the next week, check on road conditions with Caltrans (www.dot.ca.gov/cgi-bin/roads.cgi). This is because a storm system is supposed to move into the area early next week, bringing with it a chance of snow over mountain passes.

 

[dcarver]

Good info. I'm itching to quit wrenching and start riding

 

[SacramentoMike]

There's so damn little snow this year (I read the annual Spring snow survey showed five percent of normal for the date!), I'm surprised it's only opening now. I figured it never would have closed at all this winter.

 

[exskibum]

There's so damn little snow this year (I read the annual Spring snow survey showed five percent of normal for the date!), I'm surprised it's only opening now. I figured it never would have closed at all this winter.

It was almost that bad it seems, but the summit of Sonora Pass is 9,624 feet, so it has to be a more nearly snowless winter for that not to close.