Of the more surreal scenes to come out of the powerful New Year’s Eve storm of 2022, which socked Northern California with immense amounts of snow and rain, one that takes the cake is this array of giant boulders strewn across a roadway near Lake Tahoe.
The rocks tumbled down Saturday night on Highway 50 near Kyburz by the Eldorado National Forest. (Fun and seemingly relevant fact here: Kyburz used to be called “Slipperyford.”) Nobody was injured and there was enough room in one lane to allow traffic to pass, slowly, in both directions.
However, the rocks will need to be severely injured in order to move them. Caltrans District 3 wrote on Facebook they will “require explosives” to clear. That’s gotten a lot of folks excited. “Can you post a video of said explosions?” asked one man. “Explosives….😆😆,” wrote another. Said a third: “Dang, you’re pretty much seeing it all with this storm.”
Highway 50 is far from the only road seeing difficulties in this weather. Traffic all across the Bay is wonky due to flooding and closures. Rocks and mudslides shut down major roads in Mount Diablo State Park on Sunday. And the Oakland Zoo announced it will need to close until Jan. 17, or possibly later, due to rain that opened a 10-foot-deep sinkhole at the vehicle entrance.
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