Yosemite Forum

We have a trip scheduled for mid June to the Hetch Hetchy area. Does anyone know when Tiltill Valley is swamped out from snow melt, are you able to skirt around the edge of the valley and still go from Rancheria Falls up to Lake Vernon or are the sides of the valley too steep and treacherous. From my understanding the valley can be a few feet of water from the snow melt.

Your understanding of the conditions are right on all counts. Assuming that the bridges at Wapama aren't flooded (and even still there), Tiltill will be a mess...and then you'll be eaten alive by mosquitoes. But, depending on how you look at it, a month and half is either a long time or a short time, so definitely check park conditions before you commit, especially this year.

It's too bad there is no such thing as waterproof breathable material (the ones on the market are not breathable, not in practice, not breathable ENOUGH) that one could make waders out of for situations like this. There will be a lot of swamped meadows in our near future.