Could snow block some Hwy 108 vacation spots into July? Businesses push state to plow faster
Recreation providers way up Highway 108 are pleading for faster plowing of the monster snowpack.
They worry that the route might not open fully until July, about two months later than usual for campers, hikers and other visitors.
A spokesman for the California Department of Transportation said it is working as quickly as it can to clear the road safely.
The snowed-in places include Camp Jack Hazard, which has served children from Stanislaus County for about 100 years.
“This late opening is frustrating at best,” Executive Director Jason Poisson said in a May 3 news release, “as Caltrans has had ample time to prepare for the challenges of this year’s unprecedented snow season.”
He issued the release along with the Pinecrest Lake Resort and the Kennedy Meadows Resort and Pack Station. The lake is not within the closure but some of its patrons take side trips to higher elevations, Operations Director Heidi Lupo said.
Snow closure every winter
Snow closes 108 every winter from a few miles east of Pinecrest to a few miles west of Bridgeport, in Mono County. In most years, the highway opens fully by midspring, allowing drivers through Sonora Pass at 9,624 feet.
This year, the plows have cleared the highway to Eagle Meadows Road, about a dozen miles from Pinecrest. They have 13 more miles to Kennedy Meadows and another eight to the pass.
The snowpack still is dozens of feet deep in many places, and the plows attack it with spinning blades that toss the white stuff to the side. The warming weather melts some of the pack.
Caltrans has not announced an estimated date for a full opening. The agency has brought in extra employees and equipment, said an email Tuesday from Rick Brewer, a public information officer.
The job entails not just snow but fallen trees, rocks and mud left on the highway from winter.
“We share the public’s desire for opening this route and appreciate the need to open for the good of the area economy and the state,” Brewer said. “Opening will depend on our crews’ ability to clear the massive snowpack and other hazards as safely as possible.”
The news release suggested that Caltrans hire private contractors for some of the plowing. Brewer said that’s not in the budget.
Tourism employs about 2,500
Tourism is big business in Tuolumne County, employing 2,550 people in the latest report from Visit California, a state agency.
The county includes the part of Yosemite National Park traversed by Highway 120. That road’s upper stretches still are being plowed. Lower down, badly cracked pavement has cut off access to Yosemite Valley from the north.
Pinecrest Lake is perhaps the most popular spot in the 108 corridor, created in 1914 on the south fork of the Stanislaus River. The resort offers lodging, dining, boat rentals and more for visitors, a good number of them from the Modesto area.
Kennedy Meadows has hosted visitors since 1917 along the middle fork of the Stanislaus. Guests can find lodging and dining on the site. They can rent horses for treks into wilderness areas in the Stanislaus National Forest and Yosemite.
Resort owner Matt Bloom said he has not been able to get up there to assess possible property damage from the storms. He said he appreciated the efforts of local Caltrans employees, but they need help from other state or contract crews.
“It really appears that the management in Sacramento could not care less about rural communities,” Bloom said.
Former YMCA camp
Camp Jack Hazard is just north of 108 in the Dardanelle area. Poisson said it, too, could have storm damage that will burden the nonprofit’s budget. The site offers swimming, hiking, nature lessons and more.
Modesto residents Jack and Buena Hazard founded the camp in the early 1920s. The YMCA of Stanislaus County soon took over and ran it until the Y chapter folded in 2009 amid financial trouble. The camp has been operated since 2011 by the Jack and Buena Foundation, based in Modesto, and is rented to users around Northern California.
Mono County has year-round access on Highway 395, a north-south route. Lupo said the 108 opening brings a welcome boost from the west, including visitors based at Pinecrest.
“If we see a further delayed opening,” she said, “we will lose visitors to other areas of California, seeing a drastic reduction in revenue for businesses, the local economy and through county taxes.”
