by Phil » Mon Jun 19, 2017 7:40 pm
Boots and gaiters is all. Maybe a couple his and hers pairs of neoprene kayak socks. You might have a few wet areas that shouldn't be too bad out by the meadow, plenty of mosquitoes, and a couple really simple crossings of Delaney and Dingley Creeks where you probably won't even get your feet wet. Once you get out to just above Glen Aulin, you'll have a timber bridge above Tuolumne Falls and another short steel bridge at the pond below White Cascade right as you enter Glen Aulin itself. By then hundreds of people will have figured it out and come before you. You'll want to keep apprised of conditions, but you're not going to be blazing trails all alone. If it's closed, simple, you don't go. If it's open, have at it without any serious concerns as long as you stay cautious around the river and the slick rock at the edges of the falls.
If you want to go down to Waterwheel and that area, you'll undoubtedly have some trail flooding about a mile or so beyond the HSC, but you can usually either pick your way through it or go up right to find higher ground, but again, know before you go with a timely trail report.
One last thing to keep in mind is what Dave Ayers mentioned about coming in from behind Pothole Dome. The end of the meadow will be flooded badly, again with abundant hungry mosquitoes, but the trail is pretty well worn and easy to follow, skirting the hillside to keep you out of the muck. You'll save yourselves about 3 or so miles of hiking and come out just the other side of that first timber bridge I mentioned. It's the way the HSC workers go, the way the rangers go, and the way people that know about it and want to save time go. For all conditions, either call, or better still, take 15 minutes and stop by the wilderness permit station at Tuolumne and ask the friendly and helpful ranger folk what's going on. If they don't know themselves, they've undoubtedly talked to someone that's been there very recently.
***I should add: the bridge that collapsed is the span to the right as you cross Conness Creek and walk toward where the tent cabins would normally be situated. Unless you're camping, you really don't have any need to go across it and into the camp. But if there's a will, rest assured that plenty of people have found a way and created a new trail up the hill to get to the backpacker's area by the time you get there. If you're heading downriver, the trail is left at that point, over the rise and down. Can't miss it.