Pinnacles National Park (Oct 11)
Nearby to the San Benito RV park were we stayed, was the Pinnacles National Park – which is one of the newest National Parks. This one become a National Park in 2013. https://www.nps.gov/pinn/index.htm
“23 million years ago multiple volcanoes erupted, flowed, and slid to form what would become Pinnacles National Park. What remains is a landscape unlike any other. Travelers journey through grasslands, chaparral, oak woodlands, and canyon bottoms. Hikers enter rare talus caves and emerge to towering rock spires…” We went to this park because of the Talus Caves. These caves are formed from falling boulders/rocks. They are not man made caves.
We hiked to the Bear Gulch Cave. This is considered a moderate hike because you are climbing all the rocks and boulders to get to the Caves. This is just the type of landscape you will see on the trail.
This is an entrance to a cave on the way to Bear Gulch Caves.
We made it to the Bear Gulch Cave. Many steps but worth it. When you go to this cave, you much bring your flashlight because there are many areas that you will need it. We used our cell phone flashlights and that worked very well. This is the beginning of the Bear Gulch Cave. Do you see the boulders hanging there? It is amazing that these huge boulders fell the way they did to form such a great park.
Unfortunately most of the pictures from the inside did not turn out well so you will have to do this walk so you can experience it.
From the cave, we headed to the Reservoir. This Staircase is what you have to climb to get to the Reservoir. It is a one person stair case so you have to wait for people to come down before you can climb it. That boulder hanging there is what you walk under but you hardly even notice it.
This Reservoir was the resting place for many who stopped to drink and eat. Many resting in the shade.
We took the Moss Trail back from the Reservoir. We were told by the Rangers to take the Moss Trail Back because it will be in the shade. The Rim Trail will put you at the top in the 90 degree heat – so we took the Moss Trail Back. Nice hike back.
Don’t be worried about the trail being over cliffs. There is enough room where you don’t think you would fall walking on this trail.
On our way to the Bear Gulch Cave, we came across a group of climbers. The park has many areas to climb. We spent a lot of time watching them climb and come back down. We had a great conversation with one of the ladies there who educated us all about the current climb. She also pointed out that there were many anchor points on the wall already. You could see the white dust up the wall where other climbers had gone. This was very inspirational. You can see two climbers below.
And no – we didn’t feel like kids this time! We wouldn’t even attempt this.
What a great
