Ive come across more than one place that rent them. usually the same places that rent trailers, engine lifts, roto-tillers, ditch diggers and other stuff. might try calling around to some of those in your area to see if they have some in a bucket somewhere.

I think what happens is that the stores don't carry a helluva whole lot of them because typically, there isn't a need for them. Or, they order just a certain amount and don't restock.

The store I work at gets one shipment of snowboots and when they are gone, that is it {from what I've seen}.

I think the deal is, also, that we did have snow. Or, that there was predicted snow this 'season' {which is still on in the mountains, I've been to Yosemite with a lot of snow end of March/beginning of April as well as Tahoe, these are different areas} so people went out and bought them.

I've seen a lot of people go a long way to be turned around for lack of chains.

iSm, I think you would find them on your route {or like Capt Jack said, call those kind of places, great idea!} as those places might be more prone to snowfall.

And, I have to ask {too lazy to go and search}, where did you get reservations, iSm? I thought you had campground ressies? Do tell me, please? I am so living through your stories. Cleaning showers & closets and thinking of vacations.....

The Chevron in Bishop had a whole isle of chains and cables on Sunday. But it's not really on your way.

Napa sometimes has them. When I got my last set here they told me that basically they do one order for the season and when they're out they're out. What about Bakersfield?

You can only get sand chains in Bakersfield.


Free Buck Owens CD with Purchase!

:eek:

That's what we're relying on. I'm not gonna bother calling around here. Winter's long been over. We had snow in Southern California for about a week.


We cancelled our campground ressies when a spot opened up in the cabin. Too bad, because Lower Pines campground ressies are usually hard to come by, but I got these with no problem (perhaps because its freezing at night in Lower Pines in mid-April, who knows? I won't.)

The ressies I earlier referred to were hotel reservations in San Francisco that would have had to be cancelled yesterday to incur no charge. K and I had a long talk and decided to put our faith in finding snow chains somewhere from Manteco to Merced.


Not really, but it reminds me ... during that long talk yesterday, K recalled traveling from the eastern side of the Sierra through Yosemite to the west in April ... and his discovery that April doesn't mean what we at lower elevations think it means, when he was turned back after driving quite a distance through the Park on the Tioga Road.


Ooops. :(


I'm really not in the mood to do anything like that, so I hope we find snow chains in Merced or Turlock or somewhere. (Or that we don't get caught if we lie about having them "in the back.")

Yea all the passes from 395 thorugh to Yosemite were still closed last weekend.

I totally expect a full trip report on this, so we can adapt it to a screenplay about the epic voyage of two guys through rural California, in search of the holy grail of vehicle items, all for a four night trip into a National Park. It'll be reminiscent of "Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle". Extra mojo if you happen to ride a cheetah at some point during your journey. ;)

On our last camping trip to Kings Canyon - due to the lateness of my arrival and departure, I avoided meeting any rangers at park entrance of exit - so perhaps if you sneak in at dead of night, no chains will be required.

Only in So Cal could we have so much drama over chains.

I thought chains were just good intimate congress in California, that they'd be dramatic elsewhere?