The river forecast calls for our Rio Merced to reach 'flood stage' on Saturday night and to hover near there for at least a few days. The diurnal cycling of the snowmelt runoff has the river in Yosemite Valley peak after midnight, then ebb lowest in early afternoon. We noticed this readily today, while watching a peewee flycatch: the trail near El Capitan Bridge was drying out from last night's peaking. At Devil's Elbow and near Middle Brother, the river owns the trailbed.
Tioga Road will open this Saturday morning; it's a good June to be a skier. Backpackers will find reasonable conditions by late July; until then there'll be lots of snow, wet trails and challenging stream crossings.
Mosquitos are biting in Yosemite Valley. Dogwoods starting to fade. More lupine in bloom. Special 3-hour tram tours have started this week, focusing on single subjects in depth: birds, geology, waterfalls, etc.
been there for 2 flood and miss not being there. i love the spring run off and the falls exploding!
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