Seasonal Creeks and Waterfalls

We headed back to Wakalu Hep Yoo Campground off of Hwy 4 this past weekend.

Nobody was around our location of the campground. Everyone wanted to be at the end or back where it was dark and wet.

We were at site 2, which is located across from the camp host site and near the exit and entrance. Not even the camp host had arrived for the first weekend of the season.

That's correct! Nobody was around us. It was like we had the entire campground to ourselves. Just the way we like it, peace and quiet.

When we camped here last fall, this creek wasn't flowing. This is close to the entrance to the campground. We could hear this creek and the river from our site, a very soothing sound.

Luckily for us, a very large group of off-road vehicles had finished their touring of the road we wished to hike. They were all parked at the day-use area, Sourgrass, when we headed up the road to explore what mother-nature had created.

We were surprised at the numerous seasonal creeks that we encountered. Last fall the road was dry and there was only one creek to cross.

This is what the creek looked like in the fall.

And this is what the creek looks like this spring. We couldn't even cross the creek to continue on the road.

So as we headed back, we enjoyed the waterfalls.

One creek had numerous falls. If we were younger and willing to climb up the hill, it would have been fun to explore those falls too.

After a relaxing evening and a peaceful sleep, we explored other areas of the campground and found this snow plant hiding under a young pine.

The path under the bridge lead to this swollen creek. We didn't feel like crossing what looks to be a slippery bridge.

So instead, we crossed the bridge and explored a portion of the trail across from the day-use area before heading back to camp for lunch and breaking camp. Next time we visit here we will explore the rest of that trail.

The Ospreys

Again, we headed back to one of our favorite winter campgrounds at New Melones Lake.

There were more folks camping this weekend then we have ever seen this time of year. This must have been due to the weather forecast of beautiful clear sky with warm temperature of high 60's. And, the weather couldn't have been more perfect with the temperature around 72F. We got lucky to snag the RV site down by the walk-in area. There were only two groups in the walk-in area. Lucky for us they were camped down below our viewing of the walk-in area.

But sadly for the osprey family that had built a huge nest on top of the tree in the walk-in area, one group of campers were camping down the hill and most likely too close to the osprey's nest.

After settling in and having lunch, we headed off for a hike along the Carson Creek trail.

While hiking along the trail by the lake, we only came across a couple of hikers. Most of the activity was on the lake with boaters zooming around and numerous fishermen basking in the peacefulness that the lake had to offer that day.

After climbing Tower Climb, we crossed the street at the staging area and headed back down the hill. We came across a seasonal stream that was swiftly flowing downhill toward the lake.

After crossing the street at the bottom of the hill, we continued on on the Gold Rush trail into the campground. During our trek back to our campsite through the campground, we took note of other promising sites to use in the future visits.

Back at our site, we were surprised that nobody else had shown up to camp at the other walk-in sites. There was a large boy scout troop that camped by one to the sites close to one of the bathrooms. Wimpy scouts for not camping in the walk-in areas, but wonderful for us since we had this excellent view. Plus, we also enjoyed watching the male osprey perched high up in a tree, close to our site, eat half a large fish before flying the remainder of the fish over to share with the female protecting the nest.

Besides the osprey show, we were rewarded with the viewing of many woodpeckers darting around the dead pine trees looking for their meals.

Weekend Retreat at New Melones

The weather forecast was calling for clear skys and warm daytime temperatures. So, we pack up the RV and headed east to one of our favorite winter campgrounds for the weekend.

The water level was higher than we had seen before. Justin, the camp host, told us that the water was rising 3 feet a day due to the runoff from the winter rains.

There weren't very many folks camping here this weekend. Might be due to the fact that the nighttime temperatures were going to be down in the 30s.

We hiked the Frontier Trail and the Angels Creek Trail for an out and back hike of 7 miles. The cows mooed at us as we walked by their grazing area. There were numerous folks hiking the Angels Creek Trail.

Back at camp, we relaxed while watching the sunset over the lake. There were numerous folks fishing on the lake not too far from our campsite. Not as many boaters out as there as there were last year.

Once the sun went down, we headed inside the RV for a warm bowl of Pho and a peaceful night's rest.

Fraser Flat

We went back to Fraser Flat Campground on the South Fork of the Stanislaus River towards the end of September for a weekend of exploring and hiking.

There were more folks camping than we had expected this late in the season. We squeezed into a spot away from most of the campers. We were lucky again with nobody in the sites beside us.

After setting up camp, we headed off to Crabtree trailhead to hike up to Chewing Gum Lake. Yes, that is the name of the lake. It has been on my bucket list of hikes after seeing its name.

This is the start of the trail over the Bell Creek. Meeks enjoyed a good long drink from the creek before heading off.

We had a slow and steady climb that took us up out of the canyon.

The 4.4 mile hike to the lake is about a gain of 2,000 ft. It felt like we would never reach an area that would leveled off.

After a good hour climb we came to the Emigrant Wilderness sign. We still had a long way to go.

After some period of time we came to a level area where the trail crosses the Bell Creek. We had gotten a late start in the day for this hike, sometime after 2 pm. After realizing that we had another 1-1.5 miles to go, we decided to turn around and head back down to the car since we wanted to be off the trail and back at camp before dark.

The trail was under the canopy of pine and was easy to follow. We were happy for the shade since the day got hotter than what was predicted for that day.

We were happy to make it back to the trailhead and Meeks was too since she got to enjoy another long drink from the creek. That water must have been delicious!

Luckily we were smart enough to turn back when we did on our hike. By the time we got back to camp and get the grill ready for dinner, the sun started to set.

In the morning, we hiked up to the aqueduct and then explored other areas close to the campground along the river.  This area is such a beautiful area that on our next trip here we plan to hike from the campground to Strawberry by way of the forest road close to the campground.

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.