Were You at YFO? You Dodged a Bullet

We stayed in Mariposa, 30 miles or so from the entrance gate into Yosemite on Hwy 140--it's the way most of us got into the park from the hotel, riding along next to the very fast-flowing Merced River. There are other--and longer--ways into the park, but it would be tough to make it on 140 this weekend, since you'd have to get by this:



Took out a couple hundred yards of the road. There are a bunch of hits if you google "rockslide on 140," but here and here are the first two that popped up for me just now. I read that one of the boulders on the roadway right now was estimated at 130 tons! The road is closed at least through this weekend as they blast away the boulders with dynamite. This happened about noon on Monday--amazing that nobody was hurt, apparently. Unless they find somebody under the pile, I suppose.

Holy crap...guess we had good karma on our side.

OY VEY!

That would put a hurt in your day!

WE did not dodge anything. We were the beneficiaries of Miss Tyler's excellent planning.

Please do not ask me how she knew about this ahead of time. I understand NOTHING about what goes on inside a woman's mind.

Geez, those "Falling Rock" signs will now scare the crap outta me.

SacramentoMike said:

The road is closed at least through this weekend as they blast away the boulders with dynamite.

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I'm scheduled to ride through there on the 27th. I sure hope they have it cleared up by then!

So I guess timing is everything! Glad there doesn't appear to be any folks caught in that...what a mess to clean up.

--G

Looks like the FODS were meeting up after YFO.

Man that could ruin a guys day.

Road is open as of tonight says the local news.

Bugnatr said:

Man that could ruin a guys day.
Road is open as of tonight says the local news.

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Your state government at work.

Did anybody bring a Trials bike to YFO?

Where on 140 did this happen? There was already a section closed before El Portal that week. We stayed at an rv park just east of the prior rock slide.

Allen_C said:

Where on 140 did this happen?

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Bring up Google Earth and look about 1.75 miles east out of town. You'll see the big rock face on the north side of the road. That's where it happened. I think it happened early in the week. Looks like they got it cleared out yesterday, but there is still some sand on the road.

Holy crap!!

Using this thread to note that Mariposa is being evacuated now, due to a massive and fast moving fire. It looks like much of the Little Dragon is in an already burned area. The news channels are calling this the "Mariposa Fire", but the CalFire name is the "Detwiler Fire". Those views and photos we had in Yosemite are obscured by choking, dense smoke - Half Dome barely visible from Glacier Point, as shown in a TV news video.

https://yubanet.com/Fires/detwiller/

PRAYERS FOR THE GOOD FOLKS OF MARIPOSA WHO EXTENDED US SUCH HOSPITALITY.

Wow, Carver Jeff Rich & I rode thru Bear Valley on the way to Hornitos. It hurts when you can put a face on it!

This fire is really bad... only 5% contained at the moment... mandatory evacuations... not good at all.

https://www.sierrastar.com/news/local/article162117953.html

Smoke this morning up in Grass Valley. It's a BIG fire.

Live shot of the Detwiler Fire as it enters Mariposa. The fire WILL be entering town tonight on both ends. Crews will try to save all they can. PRAY HARDER THEN EVER FOR YOUR TOWN TONIGHT now that planes can not fly until morning. Its up to dozers and ground crews to save all the buildings

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