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There's a seminar I might want to attend in Yosemite in November and it may snow there. We also want a winter trip to Death Valley and the Mojave. Of course, there's no snow there, but there might be along the way crossing the Sierras. We also go to Kanab, Utah every Thanksgiving to volunteer at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. We always stay at a motel, but the TM sounds cozier.
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Robin...
I heartily concur with Bill's and Ed's advice about not towing on snowy roads. I had to do it once for about 30 miles...with only a motorcycle trailer...and I was never happier than to be able to get off the highway into a motel. Not only is it difficult to brake but the lateral (side to side) stability of the trailer gets really dicey as well...and tire chains don't help lateral stability a whole lot.
But living in California, you do have other options that northern clime folks don't. Yeah, Yosemite might be a bit iffy in November. However, your more southern destinations are probably do-able with your TM...if you're willing to be a bit flexible on timing and route.
Timing...if possible...should be tied to the 5 day weather forecasts. Head out only when you're reasonably assured of a 3 to 4 day period of good weather.
Your route planning should include thinking about going via lower elevation, more southern, albeit somewhat longer routes. Sometimes it's much easier to go around a wall (the Sierra) than over it.
For instance, if instead of taking a direct route over the Sierras toward Death Valley/the Mojave/southern Utah, you first went south to Bakersfield and then through Tehachapi Pass on Calif St. Rt 58 (a very good road) to I-15/I-40 at Barstow, you'd have a very good probability of snow-free roads even in mid-Winter. Yeah, it's probably substantially farther this way but road conditions are going to be much less of a concern. I lived near Riverside for a couple of years back in the early 90s and my recollection is that there were seldomly problems traveling around the Southern Cali desert and mountain areas up to Lost Wages, NV (Las Vegas) even in the Winter.