Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne

Check in to White Wolf Lodge anytime after 5pm. Meet your guide(s) and the rest of your hiking companions at 6pm on the porch of the lodge for a short meet-and-greet and trip orientation. Dinner tonight is on your own. White Wolf Lodge offers a buffet for guests. 

After breakfast on your own, you will meet your guide(s) in front of the White Wolf Lodge at 8:00am and then we’ll hit the trail! The hike into the canyon is mostly downhill to the Pate Valley area for our first night’s camp. After getting the tents up, we will enjoy some backcountry gourmet cooking, before settling in under the starry night sky.
8.5 miles, Elevation: +375’/-3990’

We’ll start our day with a hearty camp breakfast before grabbing our packs and hitting the trail. The sound of water rushing over rocks will accompany us on our meditative journey up this impressive river canyon. After hiking up through Muir Gorge, we’ll select a nice camp near the confluence of Cathedral Creek and the Tuolumne River. Options for swimming and/or fishing once we get to camp, or just bask in the glory and rest your feet as your guide(s) make yet another sumptuous feast, followed by stories and sipping beverages around the campfire.
9 miles, Elevation: +2199’/-864’

After breakfast we’ll break camp and continue our hike up the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne. With less mileage on the agenda, there will be more time for taking pictures and playing in the pools beneath the many cascades that adorn this section of the river. After getting our fill of water (and waterfalls!), we’ll finish the day’s hike, arriving to the Glen Aulin High Sierra Camp, which has potable water and pit toilets, getting us ready for tomorrow’s return to civilization. After our final feast, we’ll sit around the campfire chatting with other visitors to the Yosemite high country.
7 miles, Elevation: +2425’/-125’

On our last day of the trip, we’ll hit the trail by 9:00, and enjoy a leisurely walk (with light packs) up past granite slabs and outcroppings, continuing to trace the river’s path, until finally emerging in Tuolumne Meadows, one of the most biodiverse locations in Yosemite, painted with Sierra wildflowers. We’ll have time to grab a soft-serve ice cream cone at the Tuolumne Meadow store before hopping on the hiker’s bus at 2:15, delivering us to White Wolf at 3pm, where we will say our goodbyes, our minds full of memories, and hearts full of beauty.                                                                                                                                                                              6 miles, Elevation: +975’/-250’