My Trails into the Past

One of my favorite places to hang out while growing up was The Creek. It wasn’t until much later that I learned the creek was called Las Trampas Creek. Its source starts in Lafayette where Happy Valley Creek, Lafayette Creek, and Old Jonas Creek come together. The creek then travels east towards the city of Walnut Creek until it joins the San Ramon Creek to form Walnut Creek. Some parts of the creek have been channeled in downtown Walnut Creek, some parts have been “tamed” with small dams and concrete banks (riprap), and some parts still appear natural, though watershed maps indicate our area was earth constructed. To us, the creek upstream from the dam was pretty wild with tall trees and deep pools. At the end of our street, Paulson Lane, there was a small diversion dam. In the winter, water flowed over the dam and spilled into a widen plain. In the summer, only a small portion flowed through openings below the top of the dam. The dam top was wide enough that we could walk across. W...