Pinnacles NP Feb 20

I had not been to Pinnacles in a decade. The rocks, trails, and the infrastructure had not changed since, but its status shifted from a national monument to a national park, fueling increased visitation pressure on a small natural area with about 500 parking spaces in total. I had heard reports of multiple hour-long lines just to get into the park, and this being a prime holiday weekend in the spring, we were motivated to pack up camp in the dark, drive an hour to the smaller western entrance, and arrived before the 7:30a opening. We were maybe six in line with a long string of cars quickly forming behind us. This early start was critical to the success of our day and all that we were able to see. Within 10 minutes of parking we set off first for a 2.5 mile loop in the Balconies cave and cliff area as the parking lot was nearly already full. We were probably the second or third group of people on the trail so found it quiet and peaceful. And cold! The chill in the low spots was surprisingly strong at this early hour.

We entered the tilted slot canyon and clambered beneath the large chockstones to the dark hole of Balconies Cave. We descended downward in a spiral to gain the main floor then exited the other side of the cave where we picked up a trickle of water. 

We looped back along the bench trail above the talus cave, enjoying the views of Machete Ridge and Balconies Cliff. In little time we closed our 2.5mi loop and swapped out some gear at a now full parking lot before heading back out for a longer hike.

We now went up the Juniper Canyon Trail towards the more popular central area of the park. Juniper Canyon was surprisingly green and pleasant. Soon enough the trail started switchbacking upwards into the pinnacles as the views improved with every bit of height gain. We veered left onto the Tunnel Trail with its neat combination of tunnel and bridge, then continued upward to the junction with the High peaks Trail.

The High Peaks Trail contoured for a while until we got to the carved stairway and railings leading up to the tallest pinnacle formation. Here we has a traffic jam with other groups talking themselves into continuing along the trail. Eventually we got through and continued on to the saddle near Scout Peak, where we had a snack and debated what to do next.

After some deliberation we decided to hike onward to Bear Gulch Reservior and Bear Gulch Cave, even though it meant dropping and regaining another 1000 feet of elevation. We made quick work of the downhill, and passed several groups climbing in the vicinity of Bear Gulch. We took the Rim Trail to the reservoir then went downward into Bear Gulch Cave. Although the upper talus cave portion was closed off, the lower cave was much more interesting than I recalled with bridges, waterfalls, rock arches, etc. in cool and dark passages.

We looped back to the reservoir on the Moses Spring Trail, a nice enough less busy bypass to the talus caves. Overall I thought the sunny and sweaty hike back up to the High Peaks saddle was not as punishing as it could have been. I think it was helpful that the trail had three distinct sections to help pass the time with a flatter ridgewalk section in the middle before the steepest switchbacks. Another quick snack break and we continued down the other side back to the parking lot.

Our heart of the Pinnacles loop was about 8miles and our Balconies loop was 2.5mi, not a bad overview of the park for the limited time we spent. We passed a long line of cars jockeying for parking as we exited and drove back home. All in all we had a nice day of hiking.

Big Sur Coast Feb 18-19

It had been well over a decade since I found myself on the rugged Big Sur coast and I had not been to Pinnacles since it had become a national park in 2013. I knew time, people, and societal evolution towards online social promotion would only degrade the experience. It has that dangerously approachable distance for a weekend getaway to San Francisco and Los Angeles and the easy appeal of roadside photo ops. Invasive pompas grass seemed to be spreading with the efficiency of wildfire along the coast, a new development. We struggled to find state park campsites both nights despite planning months in advance. Some private campsites were well over a hundred dollars per night. 

We set off as early as we could, finding a tasty posh cafe in Camarillo to fuel us with breakfast. By the time we past through Goleta we were both finding a need to stretch our legs and so we opted for a short uphill hike to Gaviota Hot Springs. This was a nice little trip down memory lane for me and I enjoyed the greenery, sycamores, and oaks along the way. The main spring pool was much as I remembered it (including the warm but wish it was warmer temperatures) although surely scooped out wider and some bigger palm trees. The lower pool still had the milky blue color I remembered (and even cooler temperature), but seemed to be much smaller in size. We dipped our feet in for a few minutes and called it good, with so much more to see and do with our day.

Gaviota Hot (warm) Springs

Onward we drove through oaks draped with lace lichen and the Santa Barbara wine country. We detoured off the highway to the pier at the end of Avila Beach to have a look at the neat pillow basalts in the coastal cliffs. Despite the February day there was a surprising number of kids playing in the surf on the beach.

Avila Beach pillow basalts

We drove straight on past San Luis Obispo and detoured yet again to Morro Rock, the seaside dacite monolith. Here too there were lots of people out and about, enjoying a midday break or starting their holiday weekend early like us.

Morro Rock

Next was the obligatory stop to see the elephant seals in San Simeon. Pups nursing, raised chest head-bump face-offs, and bouncing blubber runs down the beach. We didn't stay long but long enough to enjoy some of the antics. 

San Simeon elephant seals

We then entered the cliff hugging meandering section of PCH, weaving in and out of valley mouths and traversing various landslides. We made a few of the classic roadside stops near Big Creek, Bixby Creek, and McWay Creek. It was sunny if crisp. The roads and stops were busy but nothing like they would be the following day we guessed.

Big Creek Bridge

Bixby Creek Bridge

McWay Falls

As the day got on Heather mentioned wanting to actually step foot on a beach and I agreed. We drove down the one-lane side road to Pfeiffer Beach, which despite being yet another place to pay to access, was an exceptionally nice beach with sand dunes, sweeping coves, cliffs, seastacks, and caves. This was the only place we went on the coast that I had not already been and was an easy highlight for me. It was particularly cold as we walked barefoot on the wet sand as the sun lowered; I did my best to explore the beach and snap photos before the light left. We found pockets of red sand related to some of the sheared ophiolitic rocks being eroded and walked the length of the beach. I had spotted a tenuous and not obvious to most way up the main prominent seastack formation and without drawing too much attention climbed up. Here I got to see a neat clifftop garden of over a dozen native (and non-native) plants including some nice succulents, and a commanding view over the entire beach. Particularly neat were the fascinatingly intricate tafoni weathering of the fractured sandstone.

We stayed at Pfeiffer Beach until sunset then drove on to our spot in Pfeiffer Burns Big Sur State Park nearby. Despite being fully booked online, we found the campground less than half full and pleasantly quiet once our neighbor turned their generator off. In the morning we packed up and went for a short walk towards the Big Sur River gorge. Once wading was in store we headed back through the redwoods and set back off on the road heading north.

Big Sur River

We drove the rest of the coast, now thoroughly busy with holiday weekend traffic. We decided to skip past Point Lobos (BUSY) to Cannery Row and then backtrack a little before sunset. Monterey was an epic struggle to find parking and the illogical one-way streets and no back turns ensured I made a loop and a half around before we found some parking up a hill but close enough to where we wanted to get. We checked out the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which was more polished but perhaps smaller than I remember. We saw lots of neat things but the "flamboyant cuttlefish" won the day. We strolled through Cannery Row, found some thai food, then drove to Point Lobos. Frustratingly the last entry was at 4:30pm and everyone was required to exit at 5pm- ridiculously early! We were the second to last car allowed entry and tried to make the most of the short half hour by walking the coastal trails near the south end of the park. I think other times I had been here the waves were larger and perhaps the weather more raw, but still the granite coast had some scenic wonders.

China Cove

At the loudspeaker of a trucked ranger we exited the park, stocked up at a nearby grocery store, and drove east on backroads and then a windy mountain road to Oak Point Campground in Fremont Peak SP, the only campsite we were able to reserve within a reasonable distance of Pinnacles NP. Though dark when we arrived and dark when we left in the morning it seemed a nice enough spot beneath oak trees with the distant city light below us. Once again the fellow campers were respectfully quiet and it was calm and peaceful apart from the occasional owls.