For those of you just tuning in, you may have missed the North Mountain Lookout and the Diablo Dam Trail reports. Neither of which are really relevant to this report except that Stetattle Creek trail happens to be in the vicinity of the Diablo Dam trail.
It's nice to have multiple trails starting in the same area for the sake of flexibility.
The Stetattle Creek trail begins right after the bridge you'll cross between Hwy 20 and the
Park nearby (plenty of space) and start following the gravel trail along the river bank. Yes, it does appear to go directly into someone's back yard, but it's ok. Keep walking.
Keep your eyes peeled for Bambi who was taking a rest near by.
The creek is beautiful. Plenty of whitewater and whatnot. And moss. Oh, the moss!
The trail stays alongside the creek for a ways, but beware: parts of the trail are being undercut by erosion. In fact, despite my best efforts to avoid doing damage, one particularly sketchy step resulted in a large chunk of trail plunging into the creek. Luckily, part of my footstep was on top of a tree root which held me steady and completely prevented me from plunging into the icy waters.
Maybe its time to join a WTA Work Party.
I followed the trail for a ways further, until I was across from the huge washout.
After this point, the trail seemed hard to follow (but I didn't put any real effort into a search) so I turned around.
Those that opt to continue on can expect to find the trail switchback up the hillside a ways before continuing to follow the valley higher above the creek.
Beware and use caution... rumor has it that the trail begins to deteriorate beyond this point. People can and do become lost on this trail, so please be dilligent in making sure you don't become one of those statistics.
Here is a topo image of the Diablo area, showing the Stetattle Creek trail and also the Sourdough Mtn trail.
Here is a ridiculously small image of my route up Stetattle Creek, and the subsequent hike up the first 500 feet of elevation gain on Sourdough Mountain. That trip report will be coming soon.
Happy Hiking!
~E
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