July 11, 2024 - CaliforniaHiking in the Pinnacles
To beat the heat, we got up early this morning and arrived at Pinnacles National Park -- western entrance -- at 7 AM, just as it opened.  We parked in the Jawbone Parking Area which is the trailhead for the Balconies Cliffs-Cave Loop.
   
The Balconies Cliffs-Cave LoopTrail  skirts the north side of the park's High Peaks.  It's 2.4 miles round trip and rated easy to moderate.  Sounds perfect for us!
 
And we're off!
   
Pretty.
   
The sun was bright this early in the morning.  Temperatures were nice and cool at this point.
   
A little splash of color makes the picture.
   
Gradually climbing into the Pinnacles.
   
A dried-up stream leaves a white residue.
   
 
   
Joe holding up a giant rock.
   
The trail gets narrow between some massive rocks.
   
Narrow gaps in the rock provide the only passageway through this pass.
   
Heading down into the cave.
   
It was pitch black down in the cave passageway.   Headlamps would have been best, but we were able to get by using our smartphones.  I did hit my hand on a rock in the dark which left a pretty good bruise.
   
We made it!  Emerging back into the light.
   
 
   
After leaving the caves, we continued heading east along the West Fork Chalone Creek trail for a half mile or so before turning back.  We could have gone all the way to the east side of the Park if we had continued.  But every step eastward was one step further from the car.  And we knew the heat was coming ...
   
It's easy to see why they call this The Pinnacles.
   
Now heading westward on the Balconies Cliffs trail.
   
We were excited to see these guys soaring at the top of the cliffs.  California Condors.   Unfortunately, no.  Just Turkey Buzzards.  Like you might see hanging around the runway end at Essex Skypark.
   
I just say it was cool to see them just soaring around the tops of the granite cliffs, never flapping their wings.
   
I wonder why they call this the Cliffs Trail?
   
 
   
 
   
Down there is the way we came up, through the cave and narrow passageways through the rocks.
   
Sort of like a poor man's El Capitan.
   
Another round rock ready to roll down the hillside.  The trail is visible at lower left.
   

I wondered what trail the Mountain Men had hiked on the Pinnacles Hike back in October 1966.  I'm thinking it might have been the one we were on now, since we probably entered the park from the west side, and the Balconies Cliffs and Caves Trail would have been perfect for a bunch of kids.  I only have one memory of that hike and it was a dirt trail that gradually climbed next to giant rocks.  This picture is fairly close to what I remember, minus the trees.
   

Out in the sunlight, it's definately warming up.
   
 
   
 
   
 
   
A good size tree is growing on the side of that massive rock cliff.
   
Close-up.  As the chaotician Ian Malcolm of Jurrasic Park says, life will find a way.
   
 
   
Descending from the Pinnacles.  Just in time.  It's starting to get hot.
   
Looking back at the High Peaks in the center of the park.  Trails go into the High Peaks but they are strenuous and you better be good at climbing.
   
 
   
We made it!  Back to the parking lot.
   
We hadn't finished the Prewett Point trail yesterday afternoon so we did that next.  It's only a mile round trip.  I'm glad we did it because we were rewarded with this outstanding view of the heart of Pinnsacles National Park:  the High Peaks.
   
 
   
A little history of Pinnacles National park.
   
The panoramic view.
   
Looking to the northeast, we can see the area we hiked this morning, that pass just right of center.   I understand why there is no road through the park;  it would have go to through that pass, ruining it for hikers.
   
A close-up of the pass that the Balconies Cliffs - Caves Trail runs through.
   
The dry grass has a unique beauty.
 
I really enjoyed Pinnacles National Park and would recommend it.  But if you go in the summer, you better do your hiking early.  It gets seriously hot here.
   
 
   
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