Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne

My friend Jim, up in Santa Rosa, cooked up a backpacking trip for Yosemite National Park that would take us through the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne.  This took several months of planning, and in the process, we decided to invite Dave along, as he and his family are moving to Colorado in July.  Jim figured that due to the drought, going in early June would be possible this year, and hopefully we would see the Canyon's raging river and waterfalls in action.

 Dave and I entered the park from the east, driving up Tioga Pass, which tops out at 9,945 feet.  Jim entered from the west.  We spent the first night, Sunday, at the Tuolomne Meadows Campground.

 Monday morning at the White Wolf trail head, we prepare to descend almost 4,000 feet into the canyon.

 Lichen covered branches.

 Snow flower was still evident.  This member of the heath family is parasitic, and uses a fungus to gain nutrients from certain tree roots.  It can pop up right through snow.

 Descending down, down, down to Pate Valley. Pictures don't do justice to the huge scale of everything in Yosemite! (Unless you're Ansel Adams).

 There were a variety of flowers in bloom.

 After awhile, we could see most of Hetch Hetchy Reservoir, the water supply for San Francisco.

 10.6 miles later, we reached Pate Valley, tired, sore, hungry, and searching for a campsite.

 We found an area near the Tuolumne River that suited us just fine.

 A bit of alpine glow as the last rays of sunlight left the peaks.

 Tuesday morning, and we are headed up river.  The construction of the park's trails in the 1930's involved some astonishing work that still lasts today.

 Dave spotted a garter snake at water's edge...

 and Jim spotted this small Northern Pacific Rattlesnake that retreated into a crevice.

 There was actually quite a bit of rain and snow that fell in May, so the river and creeks were running strong, along with numerous waterfalls spilling over the canyon's granite faces.

 The 60 foot waterfall at Register Creek.

 This was our first major cascade on the river.  We were so impressed, we decided to camp nearby.

 My home next to the river was thundering loud.

 Wednesday morning we knew we had a lot of climbing to do to get around Muir Gorge, which is practically impassable.

 The river slices violently through this narrow slot.

 We paused at the top of our detour around Muir Gorge to admire the huge rock faces around us.

 Jim and I glad to be on top of the hump.  You can see the river far below.

 A little later while we were eating lunch near the river, Dave spotted this large rattlesnake cruising along at water's edge.  I spotted him again a few minutes later moving through the brush.

 The waterfalls started increasing and so did the steepness of the trail.

 It was time to find a campsite, and this was a dandy!  It had a little beach, no bugs, a great fire ring, and plenty of wood.

 Our new home!

 Dave was our master fire builder.  Pine cones added an exciting flare!

 Thursday morning and just another unnamed spectacular waterfall.

 I noticed that at the top of each big fall there was usually a placid section of river.

 We called that tall vertical rock face "Little El Capitan".

 Waterwheel Falls doing its thing.

 Art in nature.

 The trail and surrounding area was submerged here.  I ended up carrying my boots and walking this barefoot.

 The sky started clouding up and drops began to fall.  We made it to Glen Aulin High Sierra Camp just in time to set up our tents before all hell broke loose.  We had hail, slush, rain, and thunder and lightning  fractions of a second apart.

 Jim got soaked trying to fix a stubborn door on his tent, which is too low to sit up in, so I invited him over.  We pretty much spent 14 hours in our tents. Notice that ball of ice slush at the bottom of the tent side.

 The rain stopped briefly, so I checked out nearby White Cascade.

 Looking down the river not far from camp.

 Friday morning and we headed out, determined to beat the impending afternoon storm.

 This is the area before Tuoloumne Meadows, our exit point.

 One last group shot at trail's end...

and the rain began.