Flying Over "Winterlike" Tioga

Happy New Year 2025! 

Again, not trying to fool anyone. This was taken during the spring of 2024. It was obviously not winter, but I doubt very seriously I will ever get to my favorite lake when I was a kid during the heart of winter. So, this is probably the closest I will get to that experience.

With that said, I am sharing some of my drone pictures. So, looking toward Yosemite:

Another look toward Yosemite with Mt. Dana on the high point on the upper left:

Another shot nearby:

Then finally, looking back across the lake the other way:

Obviously, a lot more dry looking that way. However, you could not get really far going to the areas like Saddlebag Lake at that time. Right after this I did fly again at Ellery Lake. Not sure I am going to show any of that. I will think about it.

I'll link the drone flight below. Usually, I like to make my drone flights sound relaxing. This is no exception.

Okay! So, the last two blogs and videos were just me popping in and out of hiatus. I have thought about it, and I might do a "State of the Blog" in a few weeks before I get lost for some time. 

Flying Over "Winterlike" Tioga (Youtube Video)

The "Winterlike" Conditions at Tioga Pass

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

I have two special blogs for the ending of 2024, and the beginning of 2025. So, let me get to this one to end the year!

Not trying to fool anyone here, this was done during our last spring within days of Tioga Pass opening. Yosemite was not open yet and would not be for a bunch of weeks to a month after, so there was really no one near there. We encountered a few cars going up and down, but unless you just wanted to check out the area there was no real reason to be there. I had been to Tioga Pass once before like this in a previous blog (linked at bottom). 

Normally, I experience Tioga Pass during the summer, so I do not get to see it like this. I suspect that this is the same for most of the people that have been there. The reason being that unless you are able to travel from Yosemite on the western side to Tioga Pass/Lake you cannot get there during the late fall, winter, or spring. Tioga Pass is typically closed for most of the year. With that said, I have heard and seen pictures of people ice skating Tioga Lake back in the 1970's when I was a little kid. 

So, when I was there it was not a "winter wonderland" with snow covering everything, but you get to see the area with some "winterlike" features. My last video showed going down Tioga Pass, but I did this one going back up it. Enjoy:  

Next blog will be at the beginning of the year 2025. I will show some drone pictures and video of my flight of Tioga Lake like this.

A link to an old blog about conditions like this in 2017.

A link to an old blog from Christmas 2009 where I show another video of gloomy conditions going up Tioga Pass.

Flying Over Tioga Lake

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

 During the summer of 2022 I flew an older drone at Tioga Lake. I liked it since no one was around, but it was early:

The downside was I did not have a enough light. I ended up doing a hike that morning after this, but when I got home I looked at the pictures and video. The pictures I knew could be worked on like the above, but I wanted to go back and get better pictures and video. So, I had already vowed to come back in 2023.

And, I did come back a year later. Also, closer to noon than just a few hours after sunrise. No hikes were planned. Just do this! 

This shot above is close to something I had uploaded on here before. 

This time I wanted to be sure I got picture from all different parts of the lake. 

This is close to the one I did the year before.

Another...

Finally, I had to get the top of Mt. Dana in on the upper left high point! 

Tioga Lake is probably my favorite lake in the whole Eastern Sierra. I have great memories of it when I was kid when my dad and I would fish there. Years back I did scramble up to the top of Mt. Dana. I have been working on some old video footage I took from the top with the current A.I. technology. Not sure I will upload it publicly, but you never know. 

The day was the best weather conditions I had last summer. It was perfect. I have another drone flight I will show sometime next month on the same day. It was my favorite flight. 

As an aside, when I was here people were going into Yosemite's Eastern Entrance like usual. Then while I was flying my drone you can see on the upper right side in the video that the line started to get longer. By the time I left it was near where my brother parked at the end of the lake. Just something I wanted to point out. You will see it in another future video I will show next month.

One last thing in the video is I went by twice the area where the stream comes into Tioga Lake. I wanted to get more video footage of that, but people ended up having a picnic there! Lol! So, no I wasn't trying to "spy" on them, but I just did enough and kept going. I was going to fly lower and stick around, but decided that would seem like I was spying on them. 

Flying Over Tioga Lake (Youtube Video)

Winter, Spring, or Summer?

(GPS: N37°55.760 W119°15.200)

So last week Tioga Pass finally opened up, and I decided to visit. The High Sierra had an overwhelming snowpack over the winter and spring that had not been seen in quite some time. It was very strange seeing Tioga Lake like this. It had me wondering what season I was in.

I had never seen Tioga Lake with ice on it in person. That is something just legendary you see in pictures of people ice skating around Christmas time, but it doesn't seem real. Seeing this in person was different for me to say the least.

With the positive end of a drought that everyone wanted in California we have to remember that nature does not play by fair rules. There were some negative consequences of such an overwhelming snowpack in that there were some damages to places that will need repairs. Some people that hope to have their business running by this time of the year will still be closed until much later in the season. A lot of money is lost in both situations.

The waterfall drop from Ellery Lake at Tioga Pass:

Tioga Pass is such an epic place:


Winter, Spring, or Summer? (YouTube Video)

Be sure to read this article on the damage done to Tioga Pass Resort.

The music used in video from Incompech.com is called Silver Blue Light.