Best of California: Tioga Road

Tioga Road is a 60 mile highway that connects Yosemite Valley with Highway 395 that runs east of the Sierra mountains. Built in the 1930’s, Highway 120 is the highest highway in California.
About halfway on the highway from the Crane Flat Campground on the western edge of the road, is Olmsted Point Overlook; a rest point that offers amazing views of the north side of Half Dome that towers over Yosemite valley.
Tenaya Lake is a a few miles further east from the overlook at an elevation just over 8,000 feet. It was formed by the same ancient glacial activity that created Half Dome in Yosemite Valley. The lake bares the named of the tribal chief of the native people driven out of Yosemite valley by the Mariposa Batallion. The lake rests just west of the majestic granite formation, Pywiack Dome, which was the original Native American name for the lake, which means “lake of the shining rocks.”
Tioga Lake is the glacial lake just north of Tioga pass, that is the highest point on the road at an elevation just shy of 10,000 feet. The drone footage in the video is from the vicinity of Tioga Lake.