Dogwood Trees

The Dogwood trees are in full bloom in the Stanislaus NF right now. Traveling to our campground this past weekend was such a delight. Dogwood trees were one of my parents favorite trees. They had numerous ones growing on their 2 acre wooded property. I don't recall those Dogwood trees ever looking this beautiful.

We camped at Wakalu Hep Yo campground by the Sourgrass Recreation area. 

A mudslide destroyed a portion of the campground and the bridge back in 1999.  

This is the bridge today. At the far end of the bridge by the bend is the entrance to the campground on the right and location of the mudslide. 

The view from the bridge is gorgeous! The mighty North Fork of the Stanislaus River is high this year. On Mother's Day weekend there were no folks out fishing, which was a surprise to us. On past trips here there have been numerous folks standing on or near the large rocks casting their lines. 

There are excellent views of the bridge along a small portion of the campground trail closest to the bridge. 

Since the campground was almost empty, we decided to try a site in the back area.  In the past, we have alway stayed at the sites closer to the entrance and camp host site due to the back area being full. 

Site 44 has a very nice area with a picnic table and area for tents. The plus to this site is that there are no neighbors!  It is situated away from the other sites in the back area. And perfect for the travel trailer!

It is also located close to the historic Miwok site. From our site is a path leading up to a clearing. 

Last time we were here at this clearing it was just grass and stones. Looks like someone is starting a spiritual maze. There was also a large firepit that looks like it hasn't been used. 

We hiked our favorite hike along the 4X4 road. This Mother's Day weekend only a couple of hikers were on the road. We were rewarded with numerous seasonal waterfalls. This waterfall was new to us and such a delight!

 

Snakes...

 ...within the grasses.

This pink flowering plant is called Snake plant since it's stems wander ...

and intertwine with the grasses. 

We were back at Acorn Campground in Tuttletown for a couple of days of relaxing and Spring hikes. 

From site 62, we were able to see the lake and...

the bridge. It's like where is Waldo in this photo, but in this case it's the bridge.

It's so nice to see the water level up. Our hikes along the shoreline were beautiful since Spring here is in full bloom!

Besides seeing the Snake plant, we saw White Fairy Lantern. Having PlantNet on our phone is so helpful in identifying these plants that we aren't familiar with.

The grasses this year are super high, due to the large amount of rains this past winter. 

Even though the grasses were so high, beautiful patches of flowers were in full bloom.

We hiked the trails for three days. First day in one direction, the second day in the reverse direction, and last day a short hike down to the point. It never gets old! So much peaceful beauty to heal the soul!!

Where the Ospreys Rule!

We headed back to our favorite lake during St. Patrick's Day weekend thinking the campground would be close to empty.

And we were correct! We were able to get our favorite site too!  

An easy walk down to picnic table!

Between the views, easy parking the trailer into site, the short walk down to the picnic table, great hiking trails right from the campground, and few folks at this time of year camping, we loved this area at this time of year. You couldn't pay me to come here in late spring or summer when it is hot...and it gets HOT! 

After lunch, we headed out to hike the trails. One of the trails heads down to the boat launching area. This weekend the parking lot was full-a surprise to us! We discovered there was a Bass fishing tournament. 

Onward we hiked just a bit inland and spotted this osprey hanging out on a branch just above the trail we were on. He showed he wasn't a fan of us by pooping. Luckily his aim was off!

We headed down to our favorite point before heading back to camp. We were surprised at the water level height. Back in April 2021, this area was so low that we took a hike down to look at the lupine. Back at camp, we enjoyed a quiet and restful evening.