While ascending the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne this Sunday, my wife and I encountered a few "odd" conditions. One was that the Tuolumne was muddy-brown from above Muir Gorge to Return Creek. This isn't something I've seen--or would expect--in Sierra rivers: there usually isn't much topsoil for rain-induced runoff, and what soil there is tends to be light-colored granitic sands, resulting in more an opaque, milky look. Anyway, all the muddy water was flowing from Return Creek; the Tuolumne itself above Return Creek was white and clear, as expected.
Of course, there were thunderstorms on Sunday (and Saturday), but I'm wondering if something unusual happened in the Return Creek drainage to cause this much muddy runoff (landslide?), or if it's normal during heavy rainstorms for this creek.
(The other "odd" condition were some sand/mud-flows below the Return Creek bridge that completely obscured the trail for a few hundred feet with up to a foot of sand/mud--they almost looked like lava flowing over the ground, but were more like wet sand or even quicksand. I suspect that since this area had recently burned, the rains washed down now-bare topsoil...
)
Oh, and we encountered only two people between Pate Valley and Glen Aulin--I think the down-canyon travellers were holding back at Glen Aulin due to weather-related conditions (the lower part of the glen was flooded, as it was a month or so ago).
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/01/2011 06:37PM by basilbop.