Snowpack levels <> Grand Canyon if the Tuolumne

[jfbruin34]

Fairly new to this wonderful HST community. Tried to read the rules, hoping this it the right place to ask this question.

At the sage advice of Mark Skor we snagged permits for Glen Aulin => White Wolf to hike the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne starting 6/16. I've heard/read a few times that high snowpack levels can make some of the creeks very dangerous to cross at that time of year.

Any advice on:
A) whether we should re-think our wkd based on current snowpack levels
B) how to best keep tabs on how conditions will likely evolve as the weather warms up?

Our group is late 30s / early 40s and in good health with reasonable backpacking experience. Not grizzled veterans yet, but we've summited most of the LA/OC peaks + Whitney, had no problems with Kearsarge Pass from OV and several 3-4 day overnights in the Eastern Sierra, I'm taking a wilderness survival course this spring and another in our group has summited Mt. Baker and Mt. Reinier.

Thanks!

[Harlen]

Hey again, I Google searched "Hiking the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne," and got a lot of info, so far I haven't seen the recent info on the status of the damaged bridges, but you can probably find it in one of the posts there. I was stopped by this on the status of the rattlesnakes there in the Pate Valley:

…and 8 feet later ran into my first huge rattlesnake on the trail. Over the course of the rest of the trail I would probably run into about 10 rattlesnakes. In my entire life of hiking I have never actually encountered a rattlesnake while hiking in the sierras, so the fact that I saw this many was remarkable... By the end of the hike I was just stepping over rattlesnakes as if they were sticks, completely un-phased…

Myself, I would recommend staying at least somewhat phased by big rattlers. Anyhow, good luck on your trip.

[Wandering Daisy]

http://cdec.water.ca.gov/snowapp/swcchart.action

The website above lets you look at snowpack for various years. The annual "snowpack" is based on peak about April 1. What determines the flow in the river early June is the melt. If you play with the data you can see that by mid-June, most snow is gone regardless of the percent average snowpack. There is some delay in melt vs maximum flow in the river. But the take on the data is that mid-June you in normal to wet years the river crossings will be similar. Very dry years, less.

I did GCT in 2003 (95%) snowpack, 2012 (43%) and 2018 (67%). 2002 we had to wade through up to crotch deep water in the valley below Glen Aulin; 2012 just crossing a few wet spots, 2018 (67%) mid-calf water. The crux crossing in 2003 was Register Creek. We went upstream and crawled across a slippery log. In 2012 it was a knee-deep wade and the bridge into Glen Aulin was flooded in the afternoons. In 2018 the crux was simply that the bridge in Pate Valley was in ill repair (not recommended) so I just turned around and went back up to Tuolumne. 2003 we went from Tuolumne to White Wolf and hitched back to the car. Going up the hill to White Wolf was really hot and miserable. 2012 I started a loop from Lukens Lake trailhead the day Tioga Road opened. 2018 it was an in-and-out from Tulolumne. I also tried to do it the year (cannot remember the date) the bridge at Rogers Creek washed out, so we had to turn around and go back. Another trip in September in the late 1990's as part of a big loop from Twin Lakes; no crossing issues and swimming holes were a savior in the heat. We took 3 days to go up the canyon because we stopped so many times to swim!

Plan for wading. It may be very hot or not- mid June can go either way. Yes, there are lots of rattlesnakes. Possible that there will be no water going up to White Wolf. More likely one or two sources. At any rate carry plenty of water. As last resort, if you end up stopped by any of the crossings, you can just go back to Tuolumne. Personally, I would not camp in Pate Valley, but cross the bridge and walk about half a mile or so up the trail and camp. This avoid the worst rattlesnake and bear area. Lots of bears too in Pate Valley. There are some nice campsites about quarter mile or less off the trail- one across from Cathedral Creek and another between the trail and the river, I think it was upstream of Waterwheel Falls, maybe California Falls?

Take lots of photos! The canyon and falls are amazing. There are lots of trip reports you can look at.

Dates of trip: 6/6-9 2003, 6/5-9 2012, 5/31-6/3 2018

[Enigmagic]

it's too early to tell what the snowpack will be like later in the season, and when Tioga Road will actually open.

we did the same trip last year starting June 12th and had no issues. there were a decent number of blowdowns between White Wolf and Pate Valley after last winters big wind storm, all were easy to walk around or over. the park rebuilt the bridge at Pate Valley in late 2019, so that is no longer a concern. the Register Creek crossing was low enough to rock hop without getting wet. of course it was a very low snow year and it was quite warm for the duration. just a few days prior the temps around Tuolumne hit the high teens/low 20s... I'm sure that would have kept the creeks even lower than they already were.

DSCF0143.jpg

Typical blowdown jumble

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Pate Valley bridge

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Register Creek rock hop

[c9h13no3]

hike the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne starting 6/16

Between the likely low snow year that's developing in the Sierra, and date in the middle part of June, I'd think you'd be fine. You will have to wade quite a few creek crossings, but I'd go on that trip. Check Daisy's link for water levels, peak flow usually happens in May, but it can extend into June if the snowpack is big or May is snowy.

[Stardew_Valley_88]

Did this trip last year in early June and there was basically no snow to be found. Should be fine by June this year. Saw 4 bears the first day at Pate Valley, then none the rest of the trip. Did see a couple rattlesnakes in the Pate Valley area. Great trip and highly recommended. Random cool note - we ran into Flea from RHCP on this trail. If you check out his instagram from June 2021 you'll see he posted some footage from Yosemite. He has been going there since he was a kid.

[erutan]

I crossed register creek in the first week of June in '14 (it's the only significant crossing). It was at most calf high though fairly swift - if you have trekking poles and some sandals in case you can't rock hop it things should be fine. I did it later in the season another time and it was simpler - I'm generally on team hop vs wade, but that time wading seemed the safer bet as the rocks were wet.

Lower Kern canyon also has rattlers (haven't seen any), the only time I've seen them in the Sierra was between Pate Valley and ~5,500ft upstream, 2 on one trip, one on another. Startled me, but wasn't a big deal. Don't have headphones in and keep an eye on where you step - they generally just want to be left alone so keep your distance if you can and give them room room.

[maiathebee]

I'm thinking of doing this Memorial Day so you'll have beta if you check the early season conditions pages.

[maiathebee]

Bumping this to see what people think about Register Creek crossing over Memorial Day given the wild spring we've had (more snow in Tahoe in April than in Jan-March combined! And it just snowed another foot this week!). I realize I'm asking you to read the tea leaves.

[c9h13no3]

Bumping this to see what people think about Register Creek crossing over Memorial Day given the wild spring we've had (more snow in Tahoe in April than in Jan-March combined! And it just snowed another foot this week!). I realize I'm asking you to read the tea leaves.

I'd let it rip. Obviously it still may not make sense to cross, but I think it'd be worth walking down there to find out.