Wild River and Rattlesnake Creek

Wakalu Hep Yo means wild river. For 2000 years, the Miwok lived here seasonally in this beautiful canyon.

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.

We back tracked to the bridge by way of walking the road through the campground and then a side trail down to the main trail. After crossing under the bridge we only walked a short distance to a manmade overlook.

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.

Perimeter Hike

A beautiful Fall weekend provided my husband and I the opportunity to have a wonderful and strenuous hike at Mt. Madonna. Our hike started by descending the Sprigs Trail, which we were able to pickup close to our campsite. Somewhere close to the Sprig Staging Area we heard the sound of water. A small creek can be seen down below the trail.

After walking under the canopy of Redwoods and Bay Laurel, we headed off on the Merry-Go-Round Trail that presented us with views of surrounding ridges and valleys.

A short hike on Old Mine trail rewarded us with a surprise-- a small lake.

After backtracking to the main trail, we climbed the rest of the way up the hill to where the pens with the white deers are located for a short rest before heading back to camp. At camp we rested, enjoyed appetizer hour, and listened to the sounds of campers enjoying the company of friends and family. 

Next day, we walked around the other two campgrounds that are closed for the winter season. We stopped at a bench to soak in views.

We stopped to read about the Giant Twins, some of the oldest redwoods at the park.

And we noticed numerous banana slugs venturing across the roadways of the empty campgrounds. 

After exploring the closed campgrounds, we returned to our campsite which was quieter since many campers had already packed up and left.

Mt Madonna and Dog Friendly Trails

Mt. Madonna County Park is serene and gorgeous in late Autumn. Few folks camp at this clean and beautiful campground during this time of year. In our section of the campground, there were only three other campers.

And there were even fewer folks hiking the vast system of trails that traverse the hills of Redwoods, Tanbark Oak, and Eucalyptus trees that make up this wonderful park. We only ran into one man hiking with his two boys on the trails, but there were numerous folks that drove up to see the White Fallow Deer and Henry Miller Estate ruins during our visit. Hearst gave Miller two deer, and today the Park takes care of the herd.

One lonely male caged away from the rest of the herd could not be bothered with us, while a curious female came over to check on us.

 Not too far down the way from the encage deer are the ruins to the Henry Miller Estate.

Once a beautiful home with vistas of the Valley, the property now only contains the ruins of the estate that children enjoy climbing while adults ponder the massive wealth of "Cattle King" Miller and his good fortune for that time period. Miller came to California in 1850 with only $6, invested in cattle and land, became one of US largest land owners, and a millionaire- equivalent to a billionaire today.

After wandering around the ruins, we take the Lower Miller trail over to the Loop Trail, which we use to hike over to the Iron Spring trail. While hiking on the Iron Spring trail there are notices to stay on trail since there is an active archery course. The Archery Range encompasses a large area with trails connecting the many target areas. This system of trails is different from the hiking trail system.

It is on the Blackhawk trail that we pass the man with his two boys. They were reading one of the directional posts and trying to figure which way to get back to their parked car up at Hilltop. It seems that they had wandered too far off their hiking route for the day.

After a peaceful night's rest and before packing up to head home, we took a short morning stroll. We were rewarded with a bench to rest and enjoy the pretty view of the valley below.