Sep 8 – 11: Pinnacles National Park, California
Driving Route:
September 8th
Headed west again. Slow start to the day but not because I wanted to. I was up and ready to pull out at 5:30 am when the camp host told me that the people that had tried to take our campsite came in before first light and pitched a fit when they were stopped at the gate. It wasn’t pretty and if I was checking out early all the better but not to stop at the lodge unless I absolutely had to. Hmmm. Part of me was tempted to just because I was in the mood to throw some Barrymore around but I controlled the impulse for Benny’s sake.
As for our route outta there, I might have been able to arrange a better one in the initial planning stages instead of zigging and zagging back and forth, but such is life. I refuse to sweat it. And I could have gone back through Fresno but didn’t because people we met at the ranger program last night said there was a big, multicar pile up just east of town and it damaged the road and would likely be a problem for at least a week. Traffic issues we didn’t need so I took the southern route and got to Pinnacles National Park in four hours of driving instead of who knows how long.
I did take a short break from the road in this place called Coalinga and the State Food Supermarket to restock our fresh meat and veggies and to pick up a couple of hygiene items which are necessary for the female condition. It took me longer to put the supplies away than it did to go into the store and then get out of the check out line. I also smelled my way over to a way legit food truck serving Mexican food. Yum. It didn’t hurt that I could speak the language and was polite to Senor Papi, the older gentleman manning the grill. He laughed when I was obviously happy to see he used Maseca to make his tamales with.
I made their day with a large order. I bought a dozen fresh tamales and I’ve frozen the ones we didn’t already eat today. I got containers of chicken and steak fajitas but explained they could hold the tortillas as my nephew was wheat sensitive and I could make my own.
The guy on the register said, “We have gluten-free tortillas and chips if you’re interested. They cost a little more but …” He shrugged like it was not big deal then laughed when he saw Benny do his weird Snoopy Dance of Happiness.
Got a container of both black beans and pinto beans and then some cilantro-lime rice. I ordered some seasoned ground beef on the side and a pint of pico de gallo. An order of beef flautas on the gluten-free tortillas had my stomach rumbling big time. Fresh quacamole and mango salsa nearly did me in. Then Papi said Abuela had made some fresh peach salsa just that morning and I added it to the total as well. As another side I added Mexican Street Corn. The cheese enchiladas and several bottles of different Agua Frescas maxed out the cash I had on me as I had limited myself to what I took into the grocery. I was juggling everything when Papi came over to the counter and handed Benny a small container.
“¿El niño habla Español?”
Benny answered him politely. “Sí, Señor.”
“Muy bien. Limpias tu plato y es posible que tengas un poco de flan cuando tu tía te lo diga.” [Very good. You clean your plate and you may have some flan when your aunt tells you.]
Benny looked at me from beneath his lashes. I smiled and nodded then turned to the old man and said, “Gracias, Señor.” Benny looked him bashfully but managed to repeat, “Si. Gracias, Señor.”
That was a good thing that made up for the mess that could have been back at the camp. We walked back to the van, Benny helping with some of the bags and carrying his flan carefully. It took us a few minutes to load everything but we were soon out of the parking lot and watching the line to the food truck get three times as long as it had been when I first ordered.
We made it to the park just in time for the earliest check in to the campsite and for a picnic lunch. While we ate and as we put away our leftovers I told Benny, “We’re going to change things up a bit. Instead of starting with a day of short hikes, I thought we’d start with a big hike instead. It means we can leave the van here and start hiking right away. That work for you?”
“Sure Aunt Gus! The flan has me real bouncy!”
“I can tell,” I told him with a laugh. “It’s going to take the rest of our day. You sure you are up for this?”
“May I bring Little Bear and Gus the Pelican?”
He loved The Crew, all of them, but those two stuffies were still his go to “friends.”
“Rules and Regs still apply. You’re in charge of them. Agreed?”
“Yes, Aunt Gus,” he answered, amendable as always. Lord only knows what will happen if either or both of them ever get lost. I don’t even want to think about it.
I made sure that I had plenty of water, my day pack, a flashlight, and two bottles of the agua frescas (basically a natural fruit water that is all natural and refreshing that is frequently drank in place of sodas south of the border and in places with a high Hispanic population). Our hike was from the Pinnacles Visitor Center to Balconies Cave. It was a little more than nine miles but it had very little elevation change.
As we hiked I explained to Little Bear that Balconies Caves are interconnected talus caves, which were formed when giant volcanic boulders (some weighting thousands of tons) tumbled into the faults & fractured gorge below long ago during earthquakes and landslides. These giant rocks piled up, creating unique cave-like ceilings. There is no evidence of Native American habitation in these caves, despite local Native Americans (Mutsun and Chalone) living in the surrounding areas. There are legends of these caves being used as hideouts and for holding hidden treasure in the 1800s, though they are mostly written off as tall tales.
Pinnacles was established as a National Monument in 1908, and early settlers and park workers used ropes and ladders to explore the cave system. In the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps built trails through the caves, along with surrounding stairways and bridges. And finally in 2013, Pinnacles became California’s ninth National Park.
“Wow Aunt Gus, how do you know all that?”
I snorted, “My brain is full of trivia, most of it useless. I’m just not always able to get my brain to spit it out when I want it to.” Then I chuckled. “Besides, last night after you went to sleep I read over the notes I’d made on this park. Hopefully you can learn something else while we are here. I’ll try to stop tomorrow and get your Junior Ranger booklet. Just don’t forget to take notes so you’ll be able to fill out your pages.”
He patted the pocket of the vest that Pei had purchased for him and I knew there was a little notebook and pencil stub in there, about like there being the same thing in the pocket of the capris I was wearing. Benny had his unique style of hieroglyphics in it and mine looked like LSD-laced shorthand but hey, whatever works.
The trail started at the Old Pinnacles Trail and followed it for about 0.7 miles. As it follows the West Fork of the Chalone Creek, the trail is sandy and shaded thanks to the water that feeds the trees. When the North Wilderness Trail broke off to the left, it followed the creek for the next four miles. The trail crossed the creek numerous times via rock hops – not horrible but I held Benny’s hand just in case – as it wound north and west. Downed trees were a common site and I learned on one of the sign-thingies that this area as the trail was not maintained by the park service. The trail was so narrow in many sections that we brushed up against shrubs growing next to the trail. Had I known this, I would have worn full pants instead of just capris. Thankfully Benny was wearing pants instead of shorts.
In the areas where the trail dropped into the old creek bed, cairns marked the way where the trail becomes difficult to follow. In areas of shade, there were small wildflowers growing all along the trail. They wouldn’t have survived in the full sun which was getting fierce and meant frequent stops for water. Cones from the evergreen trees in the area lined the trail as well. Volcanic rocks began to appear at around 4.5 miles.
“Aunt Gus?”
“Hmm?”
“Are there still for-real volcanoes? I know the Helens Volcano blowed up but are there still some that haven’t?”
“Yep. They even have a national park dedicated to them in Hawaii.”
“Are we going to see that park?” he asked hopefully.
“Maybe. One of these days. It is way far away in the Pacific Ocean and the van couldn’t come with us.”
“Oh. That’s not good. Where would we live?”
“Uh, don’t know. Until we get that figured out we could have that place be one of our future adventures.”
“Yeah! We can have lots of adventures forever. Just us. Oh … and The Crew.”
“Definitely. We’d have to bring the Crew.”
“Yeah. For sure.” I thought he was done until he said, “Maybe we can put the van on a boat and take it to ‘Cific like that.”
“Hmmm. Maybe. Lots of possibilities.”
“Yeah. Maybe we should just enjoy this adventure before we figure out the next one.”
“Now that sounds like an idea I can get behind. Shows you are using your noodle.” I spotted something and said, “Shhhh. Look.” I pointed and then slowly pulled out my phone so I could take a picture.
Florida is full of different lizards so they don’t bother me even if they do look like mini-dinosaurs. When I was a kid I used to catch them and hang them from my ears like earrings freaking Meemo out a few times. What a memory. I was always said when the lizards figured out all they had to do was let go and they’d fall off. The one I’d spotted was called a Western Fence Lizard and we heard them scurrying all along the trail.
The last creek crossing in this section of the trail was at around mile 4.6 and signaled the trail's departure from the creek bed. The trail began to climb up the ravine for about one mile. Late-season wildflowers lined the trail.
At roughly 5.5 miles, the trail exited the trees and turned left to climb to the highest point on the trail. There were great views of the surrounding hillsides and the High Peaks. The trees changed to shrubs as the trail moved away from the creek and ravine where water is more plentiful. We took another break, this time to apply some sunscreen.
From that point the trail began to descend to the Chaparral picnic area. The high peaks are in full view throughout that portion of the trail, so there were plenty of photo opportunities. Some areas of descent are steeper than others, but it still made easy traveling, especially with our walking sticks to give us added balance. Between mile 6.5-7, the trail became sandier making footing a little trickier. A few times I grabbed for Benny’s hand when I heard him start to slide. We slowed down for safety’s sake even if the decline made it feel like we should have been moving faster. There were also more people on the trail from the picnic area. After the picnic area things quieted back down again, at least until we intersected with the main Balconies Cave Trail.
The Balconies Cave Trail was a stark contrast to the narrow, unmaintained, exposed trail that we had been following. The trail is wide, well maintained, and a majority of the creek crossings are done via bridges. A wide variety of people were using the trail: day users, cave explorers, birders, and climbers as well as some thru-hikers. It is relatively flat and well shaded by the trees that grow along the creek and the tower rocks overhead. At 8.3 miles, the Balconies Cliffs Trail broke off to the left. If you were going to the cave, you stayed straight.
When we reached the Balconies Cave, I made sure to have my flashlight ready. Some people there that thought they were going to explore the cave turned back. I figured out why when I realized you needed to be plenty limber to pull it off. We packed up our poles as they would have just been a hassle otherwise. A sign-thingie told us the path through the cave can be slippery and may require crawling as you descend through the cave.
In all honesty, after Crystal Cave and all the crawling we did there, Balconies Cave was no big deal. I’m not saying that it wasn’t neat, it just wasn’t the crazy mess some people made it out to be. You descend and walk through from one side to the other, more like a tunnel than a cave. When you emerge from the cave, all you have to do is follow the creek (the trail isn't well marked here) down to where the trail picked up again and continue to follow the creek.
In a little more detail what you do is after entering the gate (if hiking this loop counterclockwise like we did), the first cave you reach will consist of narrow walkways, tight crevices and giant boulders. We had to really duck and crawl under some of the formations. This cave never gets completely dark, but I did wish for our headlamps a couple of times so I could have had another hand free to help Benny. We scrambled up a rough rock staircase, and here there were some people that turned around as well. The next cave system was more physically demanding and a completely dark cave. People that were afraid of the dark or that were claustrophobic had no business attempting it.
As we descended into that cave, we dropped about 15 feet through a narrow gateway of rocks into complete darkness, and then it opened back up. This is where you absolutely had to have a strong light source. Most of us did, those that didn’t followed us through. Benny had his heels stepped on twice until I pulled him in front of me. I can’t believe a grown man wouldn’t even apologize for being a clumsy ape and stepping on a kid … twice. A guy his size had no business attempting the cave anyway. Geez.
As we made our way through this cave, small white arrows helped guide us along. Another reason for a good flashlight. The ground was sandy, rocky & very uneven and without the light we absolutely would not have been able to see our own hand in front of our faces for a significant distance.
Pinnacles National Park is home to two major cave systems; Balconies on the west side and Bear Gulch on the east side. Both of these cave systems are home to multiple bat species. Remembering that fact I slowly looked up and managed to see several pairs of eyes looking back. Well guano. No wondering there were multiple signs reminding everyone to remain quiet inside the caves and avoid yelling/screaming. I mean, no kidding right? Bats were resting in the dark crevices and wouldn’t have appreciated the noise.
Only a few more feet took us out through the other gate, where Benny and I took a picture to prove we were there. I gave him the option of going back through – the cave is two-way traffic making things even more confusing for some – and he was all for it. I whispered to him I was going to try and take a few pictures in the dark cave and just to stand still and hold on while I did; that we would look at them on the other side.
I love my phone. I love the camera on my phone at least as much. It is why I have never bothered pulling out Lawrences old camera despite bringing it along for just in case. When we got through to the original entrance we stepped off the trail for another short break and then I showed Benny what I had been able to get for him.
From that point all we did was turn around and go back the way we came, both of us thorough satisfied with the day’s adventure. But there were still good things to come. Things were cooling off from the mid-day high and those that had been smart to hide from the heat were coming back out. Western Fence Lizards and bats weren’t the only animals we saw. There were deer, turkeys, turkey vultures, praise hawks, and what I think were condors though they were flying so high it was hard to tell.
We stopped for a break at the picnic area and that’s when I pulled out the agua frescas and a couple of tamales as a surprise. Yum, yum. I wasn’t sure if there were any big predators in the park so we finished quickly, stored our trash properly, and made our way back to camp without any more stops.
The Pinnacles can get very warm, especially later in the day. Once back in camp I had Benny wash up and cool down a bit while I refilled our water bottles. The campsite we have has 30 amp hook up but we will need to refill our water from the local potable water spigot. Once Benny was no longer red in the face I had him walk with me with one of our water jugs. The water spigot was a lot closer than the map made it seem so after that first trip, I had Benny climb up in the van, I locked the doors, and just walked back and forth until all of our fresh water containers were re-filled since it was only two sites down and the van was always in sight.
When I was finished with that we headed to the night’s ranger presentation. It had cooled off enough that Benny was nodding off towards the end. When we got back to the vanI set up the fan and in no time Benny was starting to nod off once again. I had him climb into night clothes and that woke him up enough that I decided to let him watch a documentary on his tablet. In thirty minutes he was nodding off for the final time and I let him fall asleep then put the electronics away after bookmarking where he left off.
Tomorrow we are doing the Bear Gulch Area. It is the only place to pick up a Junior Ranger booklet and I can’t forget about it. I’d rather have Benny falling asleep of that kind of thing that some digital something or other even if it is an educational something or other. Our brains are hardwired in such a way that electronics can sometimes over stimulate us and cause problems with our wake/sleep pattern. Unfortunately for me I need to do some adulting, including looking over some job boards and also looking into being a camp host. I’ve got a bottle of caffeine water on ice just in case.