R02/R03 TR: Tuolumne to McGee Pass via JMT, July 2021
Posted: Thu Jul 22, 2021 4:04 pm
Recently completed a multi-day outing along the JMT, starting at Tuolumne, heading south, and exiting at Tully Hole by going over McGee Pass. As the Tuolumne rangers admonished, the JMT is by no means pristine wilderness as it is very impacted by the 50,000 visitors it sees every year. Still, it was a lovely hike with rewarding scenery and friendly encounters with fellow hikers. We were not affected by any of the (13!) wildfires the rangers said were burning in the Sierras at the time. Saw many marmots, deer and pika.
For the first 4 days, weather was perfect: clear, with highs in the upper 70s and lows in the lower 50s. We had rain the 5th day and then a torrential thunderstorm with pea-size hail the following day.
Some things that particularly drew my notice on this trip:
1) everything is DRY. So much so that not once did I have to remove shoes to accomplish a creek crossing along this route, even when there wasn’t a bridge. Major creeks were still flowing enough to provide adequate water for hydration, but most seasonal streams were bone-dry.
2) the dryness extends to snow; there was none on-trail anywhere along this route, nor any on the peaks visible from the trail… unless you count the sad remnants of a few northern-slope glaciers here and there (see below for pics of the bowl on the eastern side of McGee Pass in August 2017—a high-snow year—versus the same area in July 2021).
3) bugs were mostly a non-issue along this route. PCTers gave dire warnings about problem mosquitoes in the valleys following the (southbound) PCT/JMT split near Thousand Island lakes, but we encountered none to speak of along the JMT. Mosquitoes were abundant at Fish Creek near Tully Hole on 7/18, however.
4) knowing there was a “chance of scattered thunderstorms” in the area on 7/20, we got up early enough that day to crest McGee Pass before 8am. We had reached a treed area along the McGee Creek trail when a thunderstorm opened up directly overhead. Heavy rain and hail completely submerged the trail and swamped everything around. We stood, feet together, hiking poles dropped, and 100 ft apart for the better part of an hour while we watched lightning repeatedly striking the sides of surrounding peaks. It was wild! And scary.
5) Not sure if it’s the result of just this storm, but parts of McGee Creek trail have been badly affected by mudflow (the trail’s not washed out and it’s still passable, but it’s definitely not as much of a cruiser as in the past).
6) mental note: if I suspect a storm is coming, I should make an effort to keep stocked up on water beforehand because creeks roil with mud from storm run-off.
Bowl east of McGee Pass in Aug 2017 (high snow year):
in July 2021 (low snow year):
Sorry the photos are so tiny. I kept getting “too big” size errors when trying to attach them, so I overcompensated. 
For the first 4 days, weather was perfect: clear, with highs in the upper 70s and lows in the lower 50s. We had rain the 5th day and then a torrential thunderstorm with pea-size hail the following day.
Some things that particularly drew my notice on this trip:
1) everything is DRY. So much so that not once did I have to remove shoes to accomplish a creek crossing along this route, even when there wasn’t a bridge. Major creeks were still flowing enough to provide adequate water for hydration, but most seasonal streams were bone-dry.
2) the dryness extends to snow; there was none on-trail anywhere along this route, nor any on the peaks visible from the trail… unless you count the sad remnants of a few northern-slope glaciers here and there (see below for pics of the bowl on the eastern side of McGee Pass in August 2017—a high-snow year—versus the same area in July 2021).
3) bugs were mostly a non-issue along this route. PCTers gave dire warnings about problem mosquitoes in the valleys following the (southbound) PCT/JMT split near Thousand Island lakes, but we encountered none to speak of along the JMT. Mosquitoes were abundant at Fish Creek near Tully Hole on 7/18, however.
4) knowing there was a “chance of scattered thunderstorms” in the area on 7/20, we got up early enough that day to crest McGee Pass before 8am. We had reached a treed area along the McGee Creek trail when a thunderstorm opened up directly overhead. Heavy rain and hail completely submerged the trail and swamped everything around. We stood, feet together, hiking poles dropped, and 100 ft apart for the better part of an hour while we watched lightning repeatedly striking the sides of surrounding peaks. It was wild! And scary.
5) Not sure if it’s the result of just this storm, but parts of McGee Creek trail have been badly affected by mudflow (the trail’s not washed out and it’s still passable, but it’s definitely not as much of a cruiser as in the past).
6) mental note: if I suspect a storm is coming, I should make an effort to keep stocked up on water beforehand because creeks roil with mud from storm run-off.
Bowl east of McGee Pass in Aug 2017 (high snow year):
- Bowl east of McGee Pass, Aug 2017 (high snow year)
- Bowl east of McGee Pass, Jul 2021 (low snow year)