Re: Tuolumne River crossing at Pate Valley- current conditions?

Hey all,

I'm looking for current information on the Tuolumne River Crossing at Pate Valley on the GCT. I am starting a trip from White Wolf this Thursday and would love to get a recent report.

Rangers are currently only saying the bridge is out, and some people have crossed. I'd love to get a better picture of the conditions.

Thanks in advance,

See here: https://yosemitenews.info/forum/read.php?17,92640,92640#msg-92640

That was last year.

There was also a recent post indicating that timbers had been helicoptered in, but work (repair) schedule is unclear.

Hey there Richard...
I just came across this thread and was curious if you went on your GCT trip and if you may be able to share some information about the Pate Valley footbridge.
Thanks for any information

Hey,
Yep, trip went fine. The bridge is no longer there, but a few beams remain, allowing you to walk across.
The NPS is supposed to be working on that bridge. I could imagine there will be a time when the beams are removed, but a new bridge is not built, making the river crossing difficult. Two weeks ago it was easy.
Have fun!

Thanks for the reply and happy to hear you had a great time!

There is a trail crew camp and they are working on it now. Just the stringers from the last few years, still working on the foundations. Seems not to be much visible progress, but once the foundation is complete progress should be much faster. They said nothing of a timescale, but my guess reading between the lines would be sometime in mid-September. When they are working, they don't want anyone to cross, but otherwise they aren't stopping anyone. We did the wade just downstream of the bridge. 3 ft deep at maximum with slow/moderate flow, ie you feel the push of the river but shouldn't knock you over.

Hi There Richard,

Another couple questions for you if you don't mind...from what I've been able to gather, the gates to White Wolf are closed and no one seems to have an ETA when they will open back up. Initially we planned to stay at WW the night before our trip...and then catch the hiker's shuttle from Tuolumne back to WW. Just trying to get Plan B together in case WW is still closed in the next few weeks when we're supposed to begin our GCT trip.

-How did you get to the White Wolf TH? (Walk in from Tioga Rd?)
-Did you leave a car parked near White Wolf and catch the hiker's shuttle from Tuolumne back to the White Wolf area? Or, leave a car at Tuolumne and catch the shuttle to White Wolf?

Again, thanks in advanced for any info! I really appreciate it

Hey,

Yeah, we hiked in from Tioga Rd. We had our cars parked at Tuolumne, and shuttled from there to the White Wolf area at the start of our trip.

When White Wolf road and campground was open it was much easier, but still an awesome trip.

Hi!
My friends and I are hiking from WW up to Tuolumne and we are trying to figure if we need two cars or not.
Did you take the hiker's Shuttle/bus from Tuolumne Meadows Store and get dropped off near White Wolf gate? Did you need reservations?
This is my first time using the shuttle.

You don't need reservations for the hikers bus, can pay cash onboard. I heard that you can buy online, too. It can stop right in front of White Wolf. (It did so yesterday.)

schedule: https://www.travelyosemite.com/media/821664/tuolumne-meadows-hikers-bus-rates-schedule-20190717.pdf