June 17, 2013 - Pinnacles National Park
(Click on picture to enlarge)
Pinnacles East Panorama
Pinnacles East
Lichens
Local Fowl - Turkey Vulture
Spreading his Wings
Turkey Vulture in Flight
Pinnacles West
The Balconies
Pinnacles Moonrise
Pinnacles National Park
June 17, 2013 –
We depart Temecula at 6am heading north to the 42nd visit to our National
Parks. This trek will take us to our country’s
newest National Park - Pinnacles. This Park encompasses 26,000 acres in the southern
portion of the Gabilan Mountains located about 30 miles south of Hollister, CA
and 50 miles east of the Pacific Ocean.
In 1908, Teddy Roosevelt exercised his presidential powers
granted him by the American Antiquities Act of 1906 and thus set aside this
site as Pinnacles National Monument. Earlier this year Obama and Congress came together
with one of their rare partisan votes and upgraded Pinnacles to National Park
status.
What’s the difference between a National Park and a National
Monument you ask? The major difference is to become a National Park; both
Congress and the president must approve a site. However, the American
Antiquities Act grants the president the sole power to claim any lands under
the jurisdiction of the federal government as a National Monument. Teddy
Roosevelt utilized this power frequently and during his “reign of preservation”,
as president he deemed 18 sites as National Monuments, thus preserving these
historic and cultural sites for future generations to enjoy and explore. Five
of the Monuments have since become National Parks…including Pinnacles. The
others are Petrified Forest, Lassen Volcanic, the Grand Canyon, and Olympic.
Teddy was also responsible for helping to establish the US
Forest Service, 51 Federal Bird Reservations, 4 National Game Preserves, 150 National
Forests and 5 National Parks.
Generally speaking, our National Parks are sites that
contain a wide variety of natural resources that are to be protected and
preserved for now and for future generations. Hunting, mining, and consumptive
activities like logging and grazing are prohibited.
National Monuments are set aside to preserve at least one
nationally significant resource. National Monuments are usually smaller in size
than National Parks and typically lack the diversity of attractions found in
our Parks.
With that being said, as we trekked about Pinnacles, I
wondered why this land was upgraded to National Park status. For 105 years, Pinnacles thrived as a
National Monument. And quite frankly, would not have qualified in my book as
having the right mix of natural resources to bump it to Park status. My guess -
there was either money or politics involved…and most likely both to motivate
Obama and Congress to agree to the upgrade!
As for the Park’s attractions – the jagged rock spires (or
pinnacles) are the main event. Yet these formations are wimpy when compared to
the towering “needles” we discovered while traveling thru the Black Hills of
South Dakota in Custer State Park. The
Needles are admirably tall spires of eroded granite and were the original site
proposed for the Mt. Rushmore carvings. If it were up to me – Custer State
Park held far more “National Park” cred than Pinnacles!
Other points of interest at Pinnacles include two talus caves
created by massive rockslides that formed a roof over narrow canyons. Hiking
through these caves requires flashlight and good footwear! The Bear Gulch Cave
was closed during our visit due to an annual bat migration.
The Park has two entrances – the East Entrance is accessed
off of CA Hwy 25. At the junction of 25 and CA Hwy 146, head south and proceed
to the Park Visitor’s Center. The West Entrance is accessed off Hwy 101 through
the town of Soledad. Once you exit 101, follow Hwy 146 into the Park. This road is very narrow and sometimes becomes
one lane…so drive with caution! Also, Hwy 146 does not go through the Park so
do not think you can access the east from the west…or vice versa.
The west side has a Visitor’s Center, a picnic area and
hosts the trailhead for the Balconies and Juniper Canyon Trails. There is no
camping facility on the west side. It is a day use facility only.
The Pinnacles Campground is located in the east side of the
Park. Being mid June and off-season, the Campground was sparsely populated. The
Ranger at the Visitor’s Center tells us to take a look around the Campground,
pick a desirable site and then come back to the Center to Register. We jump
back in the Highlander and make our tour around the grounds to seek out the best
site.
Site number 57 is ideal! Very private. Vacant. Water onsite.
Close to the potties. As we approached this campsite, a black Honda passes us
heading back in the direction of the Visitor’s Center. Hmmm.
Terry says to me, “I hope that guy didn’t choose #57.” Of course he did! When we went back to the
Visitor’s Center to register for the site, the dude in the black car had just
reserved the site for the next two days! Damn! Five minutes too late for the best
site in the Park! We settled on site #59…two doors down from the dude who stole
our campsite!
Fifty-nine is a desirable site as well. Next to a small
stream and nestled amongst the oaks, we set up camp for a two or three night
visit. It’s private enough as no one has taken #58 or #60 and we can’t see any
of our neighbors who occupy #62 and #64.
June 18th
– We’re up at the crack of dawn in an attempt to get some sunrise shots of the
Pinnacles from the Peaks View parking lot. Weather has blown in and clouds
cover the skies…and the peaks! It’s far
cooler than expected and both Terry and I have sweatshirts on this morning. The
car thermometer tells us its 57° at 6:45 this morning. Quite the contrast to the
80°+ mornings we experience in Phoenix this time of year and unseasonably cool
for Pinnacles in June.
After snapping a few marginal shots, we venture further up
the road to the Bear Gulch Day Use area. This is the end of Hwy 146 on the east
margin. Here I will begin my High Peaks hike later in the morning. Because
we’ve got C-Dawg in tow, Terry will be unable to join me for the hike.
The guidebook rates the High Peaks Trail as strenuous. I
would rate it a notch below moderate. The
trail has an elevation gain of a bit over 1,400 feet, however, it’s scree free,
wide open and trees or the granite rock formations shade many sections. Very nice hike!
The hiking trails are very well maintained and were in
excellent condition during our visit. At the “pinnacle” of the High Peaks
Trail, I came upon a California Condor (an endangered species) perched atop the
tallest granite boulder and a Turkey Vulture (abundant species) resting on
another “pinnacle” about 50 yard below. These birds look very similar and dwell
amongst the cliffs within the Park. I was treated to the aerial acrobatics of
the Turkey Vulture…however; the Condor was completely satisfied sunning himself
atop his perch.
After descending from my “pinnacles hike”, Terry, C-Dawg and
I noodled around the campground playing games and decided that two days here
was plenty. Without C-Dawg, I could see spending more time hiking the well-groomed
trails. With him along…better to move on to our next destination!
Happy Trails friends!
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