The calendar might say January, but outside it feels like never-ending autumn.
To experience it firsthand, take a drive up Tioga Pass Road in Yosemite National Park. The famed thoroughfare has never before been open this late in the season, and folks are taking advantage of this unexpected high country access by ice skating on frozen Tenaya Lake and hiking around Tuolumne Meadows.Or head up to Huntington Lake, situated at 7,000 feet elevation in the Sierra National Forest. The shoreline is completely snow free as dozens of snowmobiles sit parked on cement outside Rancheria Marina. Or go to Grant Grove in Kings Canyon National Park, where over the holidays visitors strolled through giant sequoia groves in T-shirts and hiking boots instead of parkas and snowshoes.All are symptoms of one of the driest starts to a California winter on record. And with no storms forecast in the near future (save for a slight chance of snow showers Saturday) the conditions may extend well through the month."It's terrible for skiers but amazing for hikers," Yosemite park ranger Kari Cobb said. "These kinds of opportunities don't come too often. It's really something special."At any time of year, Tenaya Lake is one of the most spectacular settings in the Sierra Nevada, set at 8,150 feet elevation in a giant bowl of glacier-smoothed granite. In a typical winter, with Tioga Pass Road closed for the season, it is typically the domain of backcountry rangers and hearty cross-country skiers.But in recent weeks, with the road open and the lake covered with ice almost a foot thick, it isn't unusual to see 100 people ice skating or sliding along on sneakers. A few hockey games, complete with sticks, pucks and goals, have even broken out.Standing on the frozen lake mid-morning while marveling at the surroundings, you can hear the groans and crackles of the ice. Kind of spooky.Although the National Park Service has placed signs around the frozen lake to warn about the potentially dangerous conditions, rangers aren't stopping anyone, either."It's kind of like swimming without a lifeguard," Cobb said. "People have to choose the level of acceptable risks they take."There have been no accidents or incidents, Cobb said, though a few warnings have issued for bringing dogs onto the ice. Dogs in Yosemite are prohibited except on roads and paved trails."That includes frozen lakes, definitely," Cobb said with a laugh.Tenaya Lake isn't the only attraction. At nearby Drug Dome, ice climbers use ice axes, crampons and ice screws to ascend a frozen fang of water a couple hundred feet tall. At Tuolumne Meadows, 9 miles up the road, trailheads and parking lots are lined with cars even though all park-operated services are closed for the season. Cobb said Tioga Pass Road will remain open until snow forces its closure.Dozens of hikers stroll along the Tuolumne River, parts of which are also frozen, while rock climbers head for Cathedral Peak and Fairview Dome. There is some snow on the ground, both in the meadows and around Tioga Pass, but the faces of the majestic peaks lining the Sierra crest -- Mount Conness, Mount Dana and Mount Gibbs -- have but a thin, shiny sheen.Daytime temperatures at high elevations have been in the 40s and 50s. But it feels warmer when the sun is shining, as Cobb herself discovered during a recent hike around Pothole Dome."It was very warm -- I was in a tank top," Cobb said. "I brought a jacket, though. I was prepared. And gloves and a warm hat, just in case."That's the thing about winter. Conditions can -- and often do -- change rapidly. And once the sun sets on these short days, temperatures quickly plunge into the teens.No matter how rosy the forecast, never venture into the mountains during winter without a kit of essentials in your vehicle. (See accompanying box.)Overnight parking is not allowed this time of year along Tioga Pass Road, alleviating the temptation to linger. So get a sunrise start to fully enjoy the autumn-like conditions.A couple weeks from now, winter might actually start feeling like winter again.