Pinnacles National Park (And S.F.)

We arrived at Pinnacles Campground in the early afternoon and were very pleased to see we had an awesome campsite. It was very private -- 50 feet of woods on all sides, and only one neighbor across the drive, and completely invisible. It was entirely shaded by a very large tree and had a small creek running behind it. The bear locker had a picture of a raccoon -- apparently a large clan calls this campground home. As soon as we went to bed we heard the raccoons running around and digging outside of our tent!

The campground also had a shower (just one operational... but hey, we'll take what we can get) which was wonderful news after spending a week in Yosemite, where camper showers don't exist. It also had a swimming pool, which we took advantage of after setting up camp and showering. We only had two nights here but were taking it easy after the marathon that was Yosemite, and were enjoying staying somewhere for the night and not having to pick up everything first thing the next morning.

Pinnacles National Park is on the small side -- only about 30 miles of hiking trails, so we didn't feel like we were missing much by only staying two nights. There is an East and West side to the park -- and no roads cross it, only hiking trails. It was not very busy -- there were several open campsites, the first available sites inside a National Park that we had seen all summer.

The eponymous Pinnacles are remnants of rock from a volcano that started out over the San Andreas Fault and has since migrated. Erosion has gradually exposed the rhyolite and andesite, creating very interesting shapes reminiscent of the Needles in Canyonlands.

We only did one trail while we were here, a combination loop that gave us a good taste of the geology and geography of the area.

We attempted to go through the Bear Gulch Cave but it was closed due to covid. The caves here are different than 'normal' caves -- these are formed by accumulated talus in fractures of rock. We were able to walk around the 'anteroom' of one though, and it was pretty neat.

This was a good loop hike -- a variety of things along the trail to be seen. We hiked counterclockwise, starting out on the Condor Trail that gradually works its way up to the High Peaks. Supposedly California Condors live here but we only saw turkey vultures.

High Peaks (Steep and Narrow) was a unique section -- toeholds were carved into the volcanic rock as you ascended the exposed Pinnacles. Quite the calf workout!

Several of these pinnacles were traversed before gradually making your way back down to Juniper Canyon. The last point of interest was Bear Gulch Reservoir, which we were hoping was fishable.... turned out it was full of snakes. 🙁

We wanted to do the Old Pinnacles hike the next day but we were feeling lazy and ultimately decided against it. We had a bit of a drive and also wanted to stop by the John Muir National Historic Site and the Rosie the Riveter WWII National Historical Park on the way to San Francisco.

Pinnacles didn't have any of the wow of the recent national parks we'd been too, but it wasn't crowded, the weather was good, and the hiking was great. What more could you ask for?

This trip has given us the opportunity to fill in our mental maps of the western half of the country. The mountain ranges, forests, valleys; where the land is flat and broad, or rocky and scrubby; what kinds of plants live where. The central valley of California was a big blank spot for both of us. We were surprised by how brown (gold, if you are being kind), this area of the country is! It blows my mind that this area provides a quarter of the food for our country? So arid a place?

John Muir (again) wrote about how there are two seasons here -- spring and summer. Spring is redolent with lushness and by Summer it is baked to a crisp. His home in Martinez, CA, was very beautiful. He had his "scribble den", which I hope to have something like one day too.

Rosie the Riveter National Historical Park had a very well done museum dedicated to the women who contributed to the wartime efforts of WWII. Turns out the Kaiser Shipyards in Richmond, CA is where American Industrialist Henry Kaiser first created the well known employer sponsored health insurance -- which lives on to this day.

We had never been to San Francisco before but had heard a lot about it. It's famous red bridge, it's steep and wavy streets, it's infamous cost of living. The cheapest accommodations we found (which was still close to $200 for two nights...) was a Hosteling International property right near Union Square. This was the first hostel we'd ever stayed at.

It was a really excellent experience. It was in a historic building, very beautifully done up in the lobby with what appeared to be original tile work and crown moulding. Our room had a private bathroom and everything felt so much more personal than a regular hotel. There was a shared kitchen and common area which were very nicely equipped. We made good use of the laundry room!

We walked from our hostel to Fisherman's Wharf to pick up rental bikes for the day. My Dad had suggested we ride over the Golden Gate Bridge... so that is what we endeavored to do. We walked through Union Square, Chinatown, Russian Hill, and saw the famously wavy block of Lombard Street along the way.

We realized about 2 miles into the walk to the bike rental place that we forgot our America the Beautiful annual park pass (which would get us into all the NPS sites for free) AND my passport book. Once we got to the rental place we decided to bike back down to the hostel to pick the stuff up -- the Hyde St. Pier cost $15 without it! Upon telling the bike rental attendant our plans to go back downtown he gave us the heavy duty lock.

After an invigorating bike ride through downtown San Francisco, we returned back to our starting place and visited the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park. The Maritime park had quite a few historic boats that had just reopened for visitors including a ferry boat, schooners, a square-rigger, and several tugboats.

We also watched a ton of people swimming in the open water. Golden Gate National Recreation Area is one the largest urban parks in the world, and seemed to protect quite a bit of the waterfront that we rode by.

My favorite boat was the square-rigged Balclutha while Vitali's was the tugboat Hercules.

We could see Alcatraz in the distance. Vitali thought he could swim the channel easily, confirming the feasibility of the famous escape. My Dad recommended we take a night tour of Alcatraz but we didn't have enough time and I was remembering all too well my last voyage on a boat.

We got a taste of how hilly San Francisco is on the ride to/from our hostel... and as we headed west towards the Golden Gate Bridge it got even worse... very large hills, everywhere. My butt was already toast too -- the seat on my bike was sort of a men's/women's hybrid -- and VERY uncomfortable. It was sore for days.

Nevertheless, we powered through and made it to Fort Point. Fort Point was created to guard the Bay during the Civil War. I didn't even know there were threats on the West coast during that time period -- turns out neither did the enemy, as no one ever came. It was foggy AF and very cold. We peered into the abyss, trying to make out the shape of the famous red bridge.

Vitali and I looked at each other and then back into the fog, in the general direction of where the bridge might be... and unanimously decided to go get sushi instead. It was at least 20 minutes across the bridge and then 20 minutes back because the Sausalito ferry wasn't running, and another 20 to get back to the bike rental place. We were hungry.

Interestingly, in the past year the bridge has started humming at certain times and engineers don't know why. It can be heard for a few miles around and apparently is very annoying to hear. We didn't hear it but it was very loud from the traffic anyway.

The bridge remained shrouded in fog the entire time we were there. The bike attendant told us it was "June Gloom" which is about the most depressing descriptor of "summer" I've ever heard. We only saw both vertical elements briefly while heading north towards Lassen.

Sushi was excellent and we spent the afternoon relaxing and then met up with Vitali's friend from college for dinner on one of the touristy piers, which ended up being a pretty good meal.

I wanted to hit John Muir Woods National Monument on the way north to Lassen Volcanic National Park but we heard from a ranger at Fort Point that the parking lot has a reservations system and by the time I checked the next morning's times were sold out, so that was a no go.

We both thought San Francisco would be a nice place to live -- great access to the ocean, lots of bike paths, tons of restaurants, free calf upgrade after living there for 2 months... but ultimately thought it was too cold and too expensive -- an apartment our size in Denver is twice as expensive here.

On to the next one!