The last weekend in April, we embarked on a camping trip to Pinnacles. Remember last time at Pinnacles? We had to cut it short because the RRS got sick. Bummer. This time I was so glad he was in better spirits. On Friday, we drove up the dusty 5 to go into the winding green hills to get to the park. The drive in that portion goes on for a while, but the scenery is a pleasant surprise to find in middle-ish CA.
The pinnacles of the parked formed from volcanic activity and subduction. The pinnacles formations used to be geographically in LA and moved up as the plates moved. Apparently there are some remaining pinnacles here still. As the newest National Park - it was signed into Park status from monument status by Obama in 2013 - it doesn't have as much of the developments for visitors yet. There wasn't a gate to pay - you had to do so at the visitor center, which was more like a camp store with some brochures. But they had It's-Its! Have you ever found those at the camp store?
The raccoons are really incredibly bold. You can hear them as they go from camp to camp trying to nab food because you can hear the humans trying to scare them away. The moon was nearly full while we were there so it was very bright at night. The wildlife sounds are like a symphony every evening and morning. Truly remarkable. The weather was so perfect. The ranger told us that just the week prior it had gotten up to 95. We were treated to highs in the 60s and lows in the 40s. A did just fine doubled up in his sleeping bags. I had considered getting him a sleeping bag liner, but really his sleeping bag is his sleeping bag liner.
Briefly the first night, we stopped through the Bacon Ranch to see the old homesteaders' set-up. The next day was our full hike of 9.5 miles. From the Old Pinnacles Trailhead, we hiked up to the High Peaks, into the Talus Caves on the west side, and back to the start on some really easy, flat trails. The high peaks were some really cool volcanic rock formations that are showcased more on the west side than east side. The trail had some really steep stairs that were drilled into the rocks by the CCC during post-depression days. It was a lot more secure than the chains of Angels' Landing. There was scrambling and headlamps necessary for the caves. And we were able to spot some California condors, recently recovering additions to the park. A lot of variety on this trail.
My first order of business was to have an It's-It once we got back to the visitor's center. The RRS sat around looking at climbing books, while I impatiently pestered him that I was ready for ice cream the moment we stepped in. He picked another hike for us on the East side. It included a walk through the woods, more caves, a reservoir, and more pinnacles. A lot of bang for our buck. I reluctantly did not protest despite our mileage doubling when we found out it was too crowded at the trailhead to drive there, which was difficult for me to get over mentally. Alas, the group wants what the group wants. It was a faster walk on the return to get to dinner over campfire! We got in over 15 miles that day. I was not so stoked for all of them, but it was a successful day nonetheless. I need to work on being less grumpy and not defaulting to 'no' so it was good for me. A is always good at making me do things that are good for me. Other things I learned is that when camping with L and E, we should assign one couple to prepare dinner each night. We always cook too much food individually. This was also the inauguration of my new hatchet. I had been waiting since the winter to test it out. A got to try his hand at making a fire without assistance from the kindling I made. This was such a fun trip. What a shame our next camping reservations aren't until October.
happy trails to you,
jt
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