We went for a weekend visit to explore this canyon located in the Stanislaus NF off of Hwy 4.
We snagged a site away from the large group of tent campers. There was only the camp host four sites down from us, which we could not see or hear the host from our site. The other three sites on our side of the street were empty.
Our dog guarded us from some small critter looking for food. Those killer chipmunks just need to be kept away from the RV and us.
Our site was level and clean. This campground is setup for mainly tent camping. There are some spots for small travel trailers.
We were perched up high and away from the other loops of the campground.
After settling in and eating lunch, we headed over to the day-use area to hike Rattlesnake Creek Road, 5N02R.
This is a forest road that high clearance vehicles can use to get back to some wonderful camping sites and fishing spots along the North Fork Stanislaus River. This portion of the road looks ok, but the beginning portion and other sections are either very rocky with boulders or huge dips from seasonal creeks.
A pole adjustment needed to be made for hiking over the boulders.
A good portion of this road parallels the river. A jeep loaded down with folks checking out some fishing spots drove by us.
A couple of times the road veers away from the river, which took us into a densely wooded area of sequoias. Calaveras Big Trees isn't that far away from here, which has numerous "big trees".
But we enjoyed this quiet and peaceful hike in the less popular area of the Stanislaus NF. We were the only folks hiking the road. The jeep was the only vehicle that drove by and there was only one group of campers down by the river off of a spur road.
Continuing down the road, the road crosses the Rattlesnake Creek, which makes for a wonderful place to stop for a cold dip in the deep pool by the road. The weather was warm enough for a dip, but we didn't even soak our feet in the cold water.
Instead, we kept hiking until we came to the end of the road where we were greeted by cows trying to keep cool in the shade of the pines. From there we turned around to explore the spur road before heading back to camp.
We had to cross the ruff terrain of the road before making it back to the entrance by the day-use area. I have no idea how one drives over this section with the dips and boulders without causing damage to the undercarriage of their vehicle. We saw numerous areas which looked like oil leaked onto the boulders.
Back at camp, we called it a day of hiking. We rested and read about other places in the Stanislaus NF to explore.
After an extremely quiet evening and falling asleep to the sound of crickets, we awoke to explore more of the campground. We discovered a trail by the bridge and river that looked interesting to explore. One section of the trail starts at the bridge and goes to the back loop of the campground.
Beside the trail is an amphitheater area with a Miwok hut.
The hut wasn't very large, but I'm sure it served its purpose.
The river is flowing fast through this section by the overlook.
Downstream were two guys fishing at a quiet pool of the river. They must of scrambled over the boulders to get to that spot.
The day was warming up quickly; so, we headed back to camp, rested a bit, and then packed up. Wakalu Hep Yo is a wonderful place to explore. Maybe we will return in the spring to check the river and plants that time of year. For now, we will explore other regions of the Sierras.
