EL PORTAL, Calif.-
A main route into Yosemite National Park has been closed indefinitely by a rock slide.
The slide began with a trickle of rocks on April 29 and initially prompted sporadic road closures. The portion of California Route 140 was closed indefinitely June 1.
Motorists were advised to use alternate routes into the park. State Routes 41 from the south and 120 from the north were still open.
About 700 residents lost electricity Tuesday as crews relocated power lines threatened by a huge rock slide that has forced the closure of a main route into Yosemite National Park.
There were no outages within the park, which has backup generators, according to Mark Hendrickson, a spokesman for Pacific Gas and Electric Co. But residents in El Portal and Indian Flats were expected to be without power for much of the day while the power lines were moved.
The slide, which is about 600 feet long, 600 feet wide and 300 feet deep, threatened to topple two power line towers carrying 72,000 volts of electricity to the towns and the park. Officials feared the towers could spark a wildfire if they collapsed.
