Road conditions causing concern for tourists and officials at Yosemite National Park
YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK (KFSN) -- Weather in Yosemite can be hazardous this time of year and CJ Jha's, from Missouri, car has the battle scars to prove it.
"I hit my car with a rock and apparently rocks might actually fall down, I was not expecting that, something that I learned."
Like many first timers to the park Jha was caught off guard by the slippery mountain roads. Wednesday night he stopped by a Chevron to fix his damaged bumper.
Mike Hirsch works inside and said the rain has caused problems for everyone.
"I actually have a four wheel drive, very good tires, and I myself was having issues, saw at least two people spin out, actually got the point where my wipers were barely keeping up with it."
Park rangers said river levels are relatively low right now, but with significant rainfall on the way they are watching trigger points closely.
If the Merced River reaches flood levels above 10 feet, roads, or even the park, may shut down.
"Generally speaking, what's going to happen is you're going to get a lot of tourists, it's basically a mass exodus, a lot of people asking for directions, wondering how to get to the next leg of their trip," said Hirsch.
Some of the gateway towns to Yosemite already saw flooding.
In Mariposa County, several low lying crossings are blocked off. CHP officers said they have only responded to one accident but received many calls for disabled vehicles.
"We got a lot of cars stuck, people try to pull off, we have lots of clay soil here and once that clay gets wet, people sink right in and get buried all the way up to their axles," said Sgt. Paul Curtin, CHP.
Park rangers are reminding visitors to think about alternate plans in case the parks close starting Thursday.
CHP officers say the bridge closings in Mariposa County will most likely extent to next week.
