Every year, right about this time, an internal clock begins ticking in my alpine-obsessed brain: the count-down to the opening of Tioga Pass on the east side of Yosemite.

For those of us west of the Pacific Crest, and particularly those of us in the Bay Area, Tioga Pass stands as a winter barrier to the goodness that is the eastern Sierra. Yes, you can drive north through the Tahoe area and south down highway 395, but that is a major detour that eats up significant amounts of precious weekend hours.

A quick Google search for “average Tioga Pass opening” reveals this little gem: Tioga Pass Road Opening and Closing Dates.

The pass’s earliest opening was April 8, 1977. The latest opening was mid-summer on July 8, back in 1933. Imagine what Tioga Road looked like then. Hell, Bodie, CA, the famous ghost town, was still a working mining town at that point.

The average opening is May 29. We’ve had a pretty big snow year, so I imagine the pass will open later than average, but who knows? Let the guessing game begin.

That shot above is a picture I took early-season last year when I got stuck on the east side of the pass after pushing through a storm only to get rained out on my plans anyway. Hopefully karma will not punish my vulgarity with a later-than-usual opening date.