R02 TR: Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne Aug 17-20, 2020

[jartelt]

I backpacked the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne route in Yosemite NP this past week (Aug 17-20, 2020). We started at White Wolf Road and ended the route at the Tuolumne Meadows Visitor Center. From there, we took the YARTS shuttle back to White Wolf to get our car. We stayed at the Tuolumne Meadows backpackers campground the for 1 night before and after our trip, which was great because the main campground is closed and Tuolumne is not very crowded at all.

The overall trip was great. We start hiking during the heat wave, so we got a 6am start hiking up White Wolf Road. The original plan was to take the YARTS shuttle to White Wolf the morning we started, but we decided to get an earlier start by driving there ourselves. I think this was the right call because it was super hot by the time we reached the exposed switchbacks that lead into the Grand Canyon. By the time we reached Pate Valley it was really, really hot, but we were able to sit in the Tuolumne River to cool down. We saw a pair of bears and a rattlesnake in Pate Valley so be vigilant in that area! We ended up camping in Pate Valley and I think there were maybe 5 or 6 other groups that eventually made camp there as well. It did not feel crowded, but was not exactly private either.

Temps started to cool as we worked our way up the canyon to Tuolumne. We ended up camping across from Grand Mountain for our 2nd night and near the base of California Falls for our 3rd night. We had a ton of privacy at each camp and had private swimming holes. I was able to catch trout with my fly rod near each camp, which was a lot of fun. By the last night, the smoke had started to move in so the canyon views started to get obscured. It was not too bad, but was unnerving since we had no idea how far or close the fires were. Once we got out to Tuolumne Meadows, the haze wasn't quite as bad. After spending an extra night at the backpackers camp, the sky actually cleared a bit so we did an extra day hike around the meadows. The drive out of Yosemite was a different story as it felt like we were driving into the apocalypse with all the smoke near Groveland and further west.

The Tuolumne river is fairly low, but most of the falls are still flowing nicely. There are also still plenty of swimming/fishing holes along the way. Morrison Creek and Register Creek were essentially dry, so do not plan on getting flowing water from there. Return creek still had flow. There were various places along the trail that seemed like creek/stream crossings, but all of them were dry. We really never got close to getting our feet wet unless we wanted to! Overall I thought it was a really great route and was not nearly as crowded and many other Yosemite trails are.

Here is a report I wrote up that has more details and all my pictures: https://backpackers-review.com/trip-rep ... -yosemite/

A few highlight pics below:

Lembert Dome the night before our trek


Hetch Hetchy


Pate Valley bears


Falls and swimming hole


Muir Gorge


Colby Mountain


Fishing with a view


Sunrise


Waterwheel Falls


LeConte Falls


California Falls swimming hole


Glen Aulin


Falls at end of Glen Aulin


Tuolumne Falls


Tuolumne Meadows

[davidsheridan]

Thanks for the TR, Looked like a great trip. Very dry in Tuolumne.

Excellent swimming holeS indeed!

[gary c.]

Nice!
Thanks for sharing

[windknot]

Thanks for the report and beautiful photos!

[The Other Tom]

Thanks! Great shot of Lembert Dome.

[gjanee]

I realize the OP is perhaps long gone, but in case you're still on this forum... was White Wolf closed at the time you did this hike, and was YARTS willing/able to drop you at White Wolf regardless? Asking beause I would love to do this hike, too, and am just wondering about the bus situation when White Wolf is closed as it is now (and the gate is locked).

[jartelt]

I realize the OP is perhaps long gone, but in case you're still on this forum... was White Wolf closed at the time you did this hike, and was YARTS willing/able to drop you at White Wolf regardless? Asking beause I would love to do this hike, too, and am just wondering about the bus situation when White Wolf is closed as it is now (and the gate is locked).

We did the trip in 2020 and, yes, White Wolf was closed at the time (with the gate locked). We did indeed take YARTS. White Wolf was not an "official" stop for YARTS but the bus driver told us he could drop us off at the large turn out near White Wolf Road. He basically said that he would let us off so long as he could find room to pull off the road safely in the turn out area. The turn out was maybe a quarter mile past White Wolf Road, so we just hiked that section along Highway 120 to get back to our car, which was parked on the side of the road near the White Wolf gate. Hope that helps!