Nov 7 - Pinnacles National Park, Paicines, California

   We spent the morning in camp.  I had a conference call with one of my ex-clients, for whom I helped with her bill paying, for many years.  They called and asked if I could help out again, in a more oversight capacity.  So, the call was to discuss what that might look like.  They know I can't do anything that requires time-sensitive action, and that I am traveling to places with and without cell phone or internet service.  But, I think we can make it work.  They are wonderful folks to work with.
   We ate lunch, then drove the 20 miles over to Pinnacles National Park.  We weren't really aware that this park existed, until we happened to notice the signs while driving to this Thousand Trails campground.  I looked it up on the National Park Service website.  I'm glad we decided to go.
   The short trip there was through small mountains, that were so smooth, they seemed covered in blankets of yellow grasses.  No jutting rocks.  They were often times high, but still smooth looking.  Lots of ranch land.  Then we arrived at the national park, and the mountains changed.  It turns out this is the location of  Fault line plates meeting and subducting, volcanoes forming, erosion, and lots of other neat powerful actions, occurring over millions of years.  In any case, the landscape is totally different than the smooth foothills.  Rock spires, ramparts, crags, massive monoliths, sheer-walled canyons, and boulder-covered caves describe this national park.  They have Talus caves, which are caves formed from huge rocks falling into narrow canyons and lodging themselves into the gaps.   Then erosion further erodes the spaces underneath them.
   We hiked a 2 mile loop that went through Bear Gulch caves, coming out at a sweet reservoir, and then along the mountain rim.  The caves weren't really "underground", but some of it was really dark, and you needed a flashlight to see your way.  Some places Peter needed to sit on his butt and skooch through,  or slide through narrow passages, or climb stairs to get to the top.  It wasn't difficult, but it was challenging.  Definitely outside our regular hiking comfort zone.  But it was REALLY COOL!
  The final steps led you out onto a rim, around a little lake, surrounded by mountains.  It was very paradise-looking.  The last part of the hike went along the mountain rim, with great vistas.  There were so many great rocky outcroppings, or huge boulders dropped into valleys, with great colors to the rocks.  This was indeed a very different hike, but adventurous and exciting.
  This park caters to mountain climbers, who, for some reason seem to want to climb up these steep huge rocks.  We saw some with ropes hanging from the sides of one sheer mountain.  CRAZY.

Pinnacles National Park photos (lots of them):