Pinnacles National Park, California

We visited Pinnacles National Park in California on our way south from San Francisco. The Pinnacles are the remains of an ancient volcano that was split as the Pacific Plate moved north along the San Andreas fault. The rest of the volcano is 195 miles southeast, the Neenach Formation, near Los Angeles. The Neenach Formation has had a lot more weathering, reducing it to rolling hillsides with occasional outcroppings. The Pinnacles Formation is very dramatic, almost an otherworldly landscape that has been visited over the centuries.

We found the landscape amazing, with stark vistas of rough-shaped rocks all over. In late June, all the creek beds were dry, so we did not have to make any difficult crossings. The many spires and outcroppings have created hazardous trails, with fallen boulders creating caves out of slot canyons. So much fun to explore!

Pinnacles in the distance

A jutting rock

The ranger warned us about an active beehive on the trail we chose. We saw the sign and were surprised to see that the bees had their home up high in a tree. We felt fairly safe walking under the branch that must have been twenty feet up. We saw a small cloud of bees and heard their buzzing.

Avoiding engaging with nature

The bees did not come out in the picture

Walking further down the trail

Walking in the heat

Some of the fallen rocks look like they are ready for more movement or would provide locations for a fantastically hard game of hide and seek.

Not allowed to explore over there

Not wanting her picture taken

How do trees grow in such a harsh environment?

Crossing a dry creek

We spotted a few geckos and squirrels, including the one in the picture below.

Good camouflage, eh?

The big feature here is a cave scramble that we did not do since one of us had an injury and at least one other person was very reluctant to do rock scrambling in the pitch dark.

Gateway to the cave

Cutting through the cutout

A little bit of railing to keep us on the right path

Sunshine trying to make it through the tumbled down rocks

Another surprising tree

Tight rock formation

Blocking the path...almost

We got close to the entrance but then lost the trail. We backtracked to the car, which always goes much faster (or at least seems to).

Following a riverbed

Not well-camouflaged squirrel

Last view of the rocks

We did feel like Star Trek (the original series) must have filmed in this area. I expected a Gorn to pop up at any moment for a fight.