Chains Required

On the day of xmas eve, the four of us went into Yosemite on a boondoggle!  We headed out at 8:30 am to go to Badger Pass for some skiing.  We knew when we left that the road to Badger was closed due to a fallen tree, but that they were working on clearing it and to check back every 45 minutes or so. 

First boondoggle stop was at the gate of Yosemite.  They told us that chains were required - even with vehicles that had snow tires and 4 wheel drive.  So off we go to put chains on the rig for the first time ever!  Jim had to do some roadside repairs to the chains but we had them on likety split!

Then it was time to help a local gal who had never had to put chains on in all her 17 years of living in Yosemite!  Apparently, there is a new Superintendent of Yosemite who is big on chains.

So off we go with our chains and head to Badger.

We get halfway up the road and get turned around - the road is still closed.

So we head down to Bridal Veil Falls for a little hike.

This allowed the dogs to get out of the car and run around a little.  Which caused us fits of giggles!  See video below:

After the hike we headed back up road towards Badger but the road was still closed.  So we stopped and had some lunch while we waited.....and we put the chains on the rig for the second time!  We asked the ranger who was blocking the road if we still needed chains to get to Badger and he said, "no".  So we promptly took them off.  Only to hear an announcement by the same ranger, 5 minutes later that chains would be required!  DOH!

We waited about 45 minutes and the road opened!  YEA - off to Badger!  All in all it took us 4.5 hours to get to Badger - normally it takes about 1.5 hours.  But it was a fun boondoggle!