If you spent the whole winter at Tuolumne, you’d be excited to see a flock of Bushtits, too.
From the winter rangers:
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March 5, 2008
Weather: (February 27 to March 4)
High temp: 61° (Feb 27)
Low temp: 4° (March 4)
New Snow: 0”
Total settled snow depth: 58” as of March 5
Ski Conditions and Weather: It has been a warm and sunny week here at Tuolumne, with daytime highs in the 50’s followed by overnight lows in the single digits. The snow has firmed up, providing great touring conditions. There are even some turns to be had on south facing slopes mid-day once the sun softens them up a bit, and even a few powder turns on the higher north-facing slopes. Skiers coming in from the east side report that there is still 1-2 feet of snow down at the road closure gate outside of Lee Vining. About a mile up the road from the gate the snow becomes patchy in some sunbaked and wind-scoured spots, so you’ll be taking your skis off and putting them back on numerous times until you reach Ellery Lake about 5 miles up the road.
Avalanche and Snowpack Conditions: For the latest avalanche advisory for this area go to www.esavalanche.org for the Eastern Sierra Avalanche Center and click on advisory. The ESAC site is updated several times a week and more often during weather events.
Wildlife: I was surprised to encounter a flock of 30-40 Bushtits (Psaltriparus minimus) foraging in the junipers along the top of the ridge north of Parson’s Lodge this morning. It was the first time I’ve encountered these small gray birds in the winter up this high in elevation. They are always fun to watch, full of energy and constantly chattering amongst themselves. Mountain Chickadees and a White-breasted Nuthatch were also feeding in the sunny trees near the Bushtits, as was a Townsend’s Solitaire. I almost always see Solitaires in the juniper forests, no doubt filling up on the tree’s rather bitter-tasting berries. Coyotes also spend a lot of time around the junipers in the winter for the same reason, the berries being one of the few sources of food for them this time of the year. Other birds seen in the past week include Common Raven, Brown Creeper, Red Crossbill, and the always noisy Clark’s Nutcracker. Animal tracks seen in the past week include coyote, pine marten, weasel, squirrel, mice/vole, and hare.
Questions: If you have any ski related or weather questions feel free to call 209-372-0450 between 8:00 am and 8:00 pm. If we are out skiing, leave a message and a phone number so we can return your call. Please don’t call us with questions about road conditions, as we live 20 miles from the nearest plowed road and don’t do any driving this time of year. For current park road conditions call 209-372-0200. (Jeff and Kathi, the Tuolumne winter rangers – 3/6/08)