Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Snow Conditions around Mt Dana and Tioga Pass

Has anyone driven over Tioga past recently? I was curious how much snow was covering the meadow next to Mt Dana and how much snow is on the peak.

I'm sure there are others with closer pictures from this weekend, but here's a shot of Dana from Dunderberg:

<a href=http://www.fedak.net/modules.php?set_albumName=DunderbergPanorama&id=P6122970&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php>http://www.fedak.net/modules.php?set_al bumName=DunderbergPanorama&id=P6122970&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php</a>

Dana is on the horizen just right of center and this angle gives you a good view of the dana couloir.

(Click on the picture to see the full 5MP version. The file is ~3M and will take a bit to load)

There's not much snow left in the meadows up there, not sure about the area near Dana...

Beautiful picutres, thanks for sharing them. I am planning on doing Dana from the east side and the crossing the pass over to Mt. Gibbs. I have tried this hike twice now and could not complete it for one reason or another!!

BTW, the full stitched together panorama is <a href=http://www.fedak.net/modules.php?full=1&set_albumName=dunderbergpeak&id=dunderberg_panorama&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php>here</a>.

I drove over Tioga Pass a few days ago and I was amazed at how little snow there was for this time of year. I camped along the shore of Mono Lake the previous morning and I noticed Dana still had some decent snow on her from the eastern side, but I didn't notice while driving to Tuolumne Meadows. The meadows were clear and starting to green up.

Hi, thank you for the wonderful scenery! Where exactly were those pictures taken from? I'm planning on climbing Dana as a day hike again on Thursday as part of my prep for my JMT hike in July. Any other sudgestions from Tioga pass would be apreciated.

Thinair

http://www.trailjournals.com/entry.cfm?trailname=2352

Looking at the Yosemite Park map I don't see a "standard" trail to the top of Mt. Dana. Is it a scramble? What level of a climb is it (e.g. class 3, class 5). How far is it from Tioga Pass in miles and time? How difficult?

> I don't see a "standard" trail to the top of Mt. Dana.
The "standard" trail is not an official park trail, but there is a well worn use trail for much of the route.

> Is it a scramble?
The upper half is a light talus scramble

> What level of a climb is it (e.g. class 3, class 5).
Bottom half class 1. Top half class 2.

> How far is it from Tioga Pass in miles and time? How difficult?

About 3 miles with about a 3000ft elevation gain.

Just to add a bit, the trail starts almost immediately across from the entrance station.

And it is a trail almost the entire way up if you do not lose it. I lost it just a few hundred feet from the top and was doing some scrambling which would have been okay except for feeling the altitude - a bit queasy. I did find it again. I was also thirsty and hungry but the queasy kept me off of any intake until I got to the top. I felt fine once at the top. From the top, the trail was pretty easy to follow on the way down but occasionally, it is irregular and a switchback can hide somewhere.

Great views of Yosemite and down to Mono Lake.