Was cold at Wawona Campground, but warm on the way up, until we hit the valley above the falls. There we started seeing snow and ice on the trail, and temps dropped almost 20°F. Microspikes would have saved us some cuts and bruises.
No one else on the trail but dayhikers. Around 6800' we met a solo backpacker who had come up to hike the same route but returning down Chilnualna, and, like us, was expecting no snow. Instead he encountered knee-deep snow at the next (7540') junction that continued to Johnson Lk. He said you could take 10 steps on crust, then you'd be doing another 40 in powder. (He had no snowshoes.) At higher, sun-exposed elevations up to Royal Arch Lk., he said the trails cleared. But he turned around and backtracked there since he wasn't sure what to expect on his planned return route.
So we backed off to a campsite around 6400', where temps were just below freezing overnight.
