High Sierra Topix

Hello. My family and I have been planning a trip to Grand Canyon of Tuolumne for a while now. The trip is supposed to start Sunday morning, leaving from Tuolumne and ending at White Wolf. I'm getting a little worried about the reports of squirrels with plague and fires closing Tioga Pass road. Does it seem like we're headed straight into some sort of disaster, or am I over reacting? TM campground is closed until Friday. Tioga Pass looks like it'll be open later today.

Can anyone comment or provide any advice? What are the conditions really like? Should we be considering a cancellation or is the news just over-hyped and we should go?

Thanks in advance!

Conditions in Tuolumne are ideal - no rain is expected; conditions are mild.
The pass is open, and so is the store...winds blowing the smoke are in your favor too.
The chances of contacting the plague are minute.
Suggest reversing your trip route, starting at White Wolf and up the Tuolumne Gorge - better. That Pate Valley - White Wolf stretch going up - 4,000 feet in 4 miles - sort of sucks but...HYOH.
I wouldn't worry - go! Have fun!

X2 on going from White Wolf to the meadows. That would be an ugly way to end your trip, plus my experience is that you don't really see a river when hiking down it.

You will enjoy your family trip much more, going from WW to TM, the climb from Pate to WW is long, and not the most ideal way to end an otherwise great trip. Would not worry not much about the plague in the backcountry, and the smoke issue should be okay, monitor it by using the info on this link: http://www.nps.gov/yose/learn/nature/aqmonitoring.htm
Please do write up a TR when you get back.

You won't catch plague if you don't play with Alvin and his friends.