Acorn Creek to Satan’s Cesspool

 January 7

This morning we are departing from the Acorn Creek trailhead with a destination of Satan’s Cesspool, a set of rapids along the American river. We have sunny skies with cool temperatures of about 37°F at our start.

The trail starts off through a fairly flat trail under a canopy of oak trees. The beautiful Tyoyon plant with its red berries standing out against its darker green leaves is interspersed amongst the Oakes.

There are beautiful, moss colored rocks of all sizes in this area. We are walking parallel to a corn Creek with its beautiful water sound in the background.

We have two very small creek crossings before passing by more moss covered tree trunks. 

In addition to the varied green covered moss, we also are coming across a large number of fungi showing off many different shapes and earthy colors.

The Scotchbroom is an attractive bush, however, is an invasive species that is very difficult to manage.

One very interesting topological feature on this hike is a very obvious transition from Oak, woodland tree-line and brush absent of a trees. Literally on one side of the trail the Hillside is covered with oak trees, the other side of the trail has no trees and thick brush made up of Manzanita and chemise.

I’ve come across another large, wild mushroom along a section of trail that again shows the rapid transition from wooded to non-wooded

We’ve been hiking mid slope along the hillside and now will drop down a number of switchbacks a little lower in the valley. This terrain is sprinkled with Oakes but wide open on the under story.

This picture of a large oak shows its resilience. The trunk snapped off yet. It is still thriving with sideways grove off its branches.

Soon we enter a portion of trail that is wide open with nothing but grasses around us.

We reached a junction where we take a side trail down to the river. There is a small tributary off to our side that has beautiful clumps of ferns growing in it.

This elevation also supports the growth of pine trees. One of which pictured rises high into the sky with no branches on its lower section.

We reached the river and walk across rocks that are normally submerged in the summertime. The power of the water has made them very smooth over the years.

The river is a a beautiful setting. We sat on some rocks overlooking the water for lunch.

We have come across a Pacific Madrone. It has a broad based leafs that it keeps you around. surprisingly It is considered an evergreen even though it has broad leaves and not needles.

I was able to get a close-up picture of the Pacific Woodfern as well. This is the one shown in a larger clumps in the tributary.

On our return trip, we have a good view of the river, which now is well below us in the distance.

This area is part of gold mining country. The minors would dig deep pits, exploring the ground, looking for gold veins. This one has filled with water. My attached video at the end of this posting shows another one that is dry.

As I came over one small rise, there is an oak tree bare of leaves, but sporting very round clumps of mistletoe high in canopy. It reminds me of a tree seen in the Dr. Seuss books.

It is a bit difficult to see in the pictures, but there is gold mining evidence with this water channel lined with rocks. It was built for diverting water to allow for sluicing.

 We arrived back to the parking lot having hiked 6.93 miles with the total elevation gain of 1063 feet. The temperature started at 37°F climbing to our current temperature of 60°. The skies remained cool and it was a beautiful day for a hike.