Nomad Adventures

The Pinnacles Experience

Pinnacles NP turned out to be Ray’s favorite so far. We camped inside the park at a campground that had electric hookup, so we didn’t have to worry about air conditioning, which was good because the temps were in the 80s. Our first night there we went for a bike ride at dusk and encountered a tarantula crossing the road. (Why did the tarantula cross the road? So Ray could film it of course!)

We found the park to be so accessible- it was small enough to hike from one side to the other and it was not terribly busy. There was a school group of teens on the trails and in the campground when we were there and it was cool to see them on the trails and trying out rock climbing.

We had fun on the trails and exploring the 2 cave systems in the park, and seeing condors soaring on the thermals was an experience not to be missed.

Pinnacles was an unexpected treasure.

Yup, that’s a tarantula!
The trails were loaded with interesting views around every corner.
The talus caves were challenging to navigate, requiring crawling at several points. Talus caves are formed by large boulders.
Inside the cave – you have to use headlamps but I was surprised to find I had left my sunglasses on when I emerged into the sunlight. No wonder it was so dark in there!
At this reservoir I saw red dragonflies. But I didn’t get to see the red legged frogs indigenous to the area.
A viewpoint from high up on a trail.
California condors riding the thermals. It’s hard to distinguish them from the turkey buzzards at a distance. There are binoculars set up at several viewing sites in the park.
Trail sights reminiscent of a fairy glen. So happy our travels brought us to Pinnacles!

pianogwen

2 responses to “The Pinnacles Experience”

  1. Awesome! Love seeing your adventures and reviews. This park is closest to where I grew up and I can’t wait to get back to it since I only went once!

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