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Snowbound California roads still getting a major plow job

In this photo taken Tuesday, June 6, 2017, a National Park Service snow blower clears the entrance to Yosemite National Park, Calif. This year's heavy snowfall has crews working to clear Highway 120 as summer approaches, the only road through Yosemite that connects the Central Valley on the west side with the Owens Valley on the east side of the Sierra Nevada. Crews used plows, excavators, and massive snow blowers to open the eastern entrance to Yosemite. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli) In this photo taken Tuesday, June 6, 2017, a National Park Service snow blower clears the entrance to Yosemite National Park, Calif. This year's heavy snowfall has crews working to clear Highway 120 as summer approaches, the only road through Yosemite that connects the Central Valley on the west side with the Owens Valley on the east side of the Sierra Nevada. Crews used plows, excavators, and massive snow blowers to open the eastern entrance to Yosemite. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

By Associated Press June 15, 2017 1 min read

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. (AP) – Summer is almost here but you wouldn’t know it on some of California’s highest roadways.

Crews are still working to remove snow from roads through two national parks.

A Yosemite National Park spokesman says there’s no projected opening date yet for Highway 120 that crosses the Sierra Nevada. Lassen Volcanic National Park expects to open its main road early next month.

Crews last week used plows, excavators, and massive snow blowers to open the eastern entrance to Yosemite.

The highway climbs the side of a steep canyon to nearly 10,000 feet above sea level.

Drivers for the California Department of Transportation say the wet snowpack has presented additional challenges this year because it’s harder to cut through and heavier to lift.

Plow drivers have also contended with the usual hazards: avalanches and rock fall.