TL;DR
If you’re interest in a 30 mile thru-hike that is just as beautiful as it is exhausting then you should check out Yosemite’s Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne. It drops down into canyon from White Wolf, giving you views of Hetch Hetchy as you follow the Tuolumne River through Pate Valley and back up to Tuolumne Meadows. This is the often recommended direction for this hike. Doing it the opposite way gives a brutal last day of elevation gain. Pate Valley is known for a high incident of bear sightings as well as rattlesnakes and more mosquitoes than you know what to do with.
Thoughts
This was our first Yosemite trip of 2017 and I had been pretty stoked about it since getting the permits in February. It was another one of those trips where you do tons of planning and research 6 months before and then don’t do anything until 2 days before leaving. The most difficult aspect of planning this hike is coordinating the transportation. This is a thru-hike so you either need more than 1 car or to hitchhike. The Tuolumne Meadows shuttle doesn’t go to White Wolf. From White Wolf to Tuolumne Meadows, where the hike ends, is a 30-45 minute drive each way. We had a decent size group so our plan of attack was to meet up at White Wolf at 9am, dump all gear and passengers, drive all the cars to Tuolumne Meadows/Glen Aulin Trailhead, then drive one car back to White Wolf. We were able to start hiking by about 11:30am.
Day 1 of this hike isn’t necessarily hard, just long and brutal on the knees, ~10.5-11mi. The first few miles are flat and slightly up as you crest the ridge that looks over the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne. From there, you start the downhill slog to the bottom. We stopped at about 5 miles in to a nice rocky area that overlooks the canyon area and Hetch Hetchy. For the next 3 miles you’re doing switchbacks down to the bottom. If it seems like you’re almost done, you’re not. They really do keep going. If the sun is out, these switchbacks will feel like an oven. Luckily, we were treated to a summer thunderstorm about halfway down. The downpour was warm and last for about 20 minutes. By the time the rain started letting up, we had hit the bottom of the canyon. From there we started following the Tuolumne upstream and into Pate Valley. Pate Valley exists where the Piute Creek joins the Tuolumne River. Its a moderately forested area with several areas where people have camped previously. You can tell from the fire rings and sitting rocks. We actually received mixed information from the park rangers regarding campfires. Tioga Rd wilderness station said no fires. Tuolumne Meadows wilderness station said fires were okay. Evenings were a balmy 75 degrees so a campfire was not in the least what we wanted. Upon reaching the place we wanted to camp, we realized we were being watched by a black bear and her 2 cubs. This was the first time I’ve ever seen bear cubs. They were a good 50 yards away and skirted the edge of the area our campground was in and then disappeared into the woods. Pate Valley is known for the highest number of bear sightings in Yosemite.
Day 2 started off with the temperature quickly ramping up early in the morning. After packing up camp, we decided to go for a quick swim before starting the 11mi day 2. There are 2 bridge crossings you do in order to follow the trail. The first bridge was still in tact but the second bridge was all but blown out from this year’s epic snow-melt. We received more conflicting advise on how to do the crossing. One ranger said don’t use the bridge, ford the river (which was actually pretty deep and running strong). Another ranger said use the bridge, just do so cautiously. We had talked to another group of hikers coming from the opposite direction and they said if you stick to the middle beam of the bridge we would be fine. So we did that and got across without any problems, but it sure looked janky.
We probably spent too much time goofing off and swimming but it felt great at the time. It was going to be hot so it was nice to relish the cold river water while we could. Day 2 really felt like eternity. I was coming off being utterly sick and bed ridding a week before, so the heat, elevation gain, and mileage really took its toll. Not to mention the worst fly and mosquito area I have ever hiked through. Even with bug spray on I had to constantly swat away flies and straight up smash mosquitoes because they wouldn’t leave me alone. For me, this hike really fell into the type 2 category of fun. In the thick of it, its mostly just a mind game to get yourself to keep walking, how to ignore the bugs, the pain in my feet, and the exhaustion. Writing this now and looking back, I can’t wait to get out there again. The trail was really quite beautiful but at the time you just can’t enjoy it. Lush wooded areas, frequent waterfalls, amazing canyon views. I recommend taking a lot of pictures to enjoy later. My favorite thing about Yosemite are those massive granite walls. They are awe inspiring. There they have stood for millenia. They are timelessness. And who are we to stand among them? They always remind me of mortality. Yet at the same time, we are so small and are capable of scaling mountains in our blip of a lifetime. How amazing it is to be human.
It was a long day, that about describes day 2. I’ve done higher mileage days before and this felt like the absolute longest (for whatever reason). We finished the final set of switchbacks up Water Wheel Falls just as the sun was setting, and topped it off with another bear sighting. Could not have been happier to have day 2 be over.
The day you hike out always has a bit of excitement to it. While I love backpacking, its nice to look forward to a shower and some In n Out. Day 3 is around 8-9 miles, depending on your map source. You continue up past Water Wheel to LeConte Falls and then onward to Glen Aulin High Sierra Camp. The camp was closed this year but the solar toilet was still open which a number of the group used. I was doing well up to about 2 miles pass Glen Aulin and then I totally tanked. My legs and feet wanted to be done. Luckily, the last few miles of the hike were more or less flat and on dirt trail. It still hurt terribly but its all a faint memory now. All I feel now is the satisfaction having done it and the joy of having spent a weekend out with my friends in one of the most beautiful places in the world.
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