Bacon Ranch - Thurs, 2/13/20

Most folks in the campground were highly entertained by the turkey parade early this morning!  These fellas below were part of a large flock (30+/-) that wandered through camp.  The hens were clucking like hens, but the toms were mostly silent ... too busy giving the girls the eye!  Between turkeys, California Quails running pell mell through the park, calling "toe-MAH-toe," and clownish and raucous Acorn Woodpeckers, we were continually amused.  These woodpeckers live in large groups, hoard acorns by the hundreds and wedge them in holes in a tree trunk or power pole.  All these birds are fun to watch.

This morning's low was even colder than yesterday: 25.9°!  Frigid!  Marlene and Cliff broke camp in the cold, and with a last hug, we bid them adios, see you back in Nevada City.  However, before we left Pinnacles, Jimmy and I thought a stroll to Bacon Ranch would be a good way to finish our stay.  It's a beautiful (accessible) walk on a narrow path, and only a half-mile in length from the VC. 

Why do turkeys cross the road?

After crossing the sturdy wooden bridge (above), you're at the former homestead of Ben and Orea Bacon, among the earliest European American settlers in Bear Valley. In addition to the house (built in 1894), there's an iconic barn, blacksmith shop, an old garage, a corral, and a few more out-buildings.  Plenty of lofty shade trees on the grounds round out the place, and I tell you true, it's a most peaceful spot on this green earth.

Some of these Valley Oaks are up to 500 years old, pretty much at the end of their lives, and they're dropping huge limbs.  They're leafless this time of year, but just imagine how glorious they'd be leafed out.  The trunks are gnarly and impressive.  Jimmy's reading one of the Bacon Homestead signboards.

The barn.

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A simple home in a serene setting.

The house was locked, so after scoping out the grounds and outbuildings, we took off down the quiet old road (above and below).  It isn't used anymore, except for park personnel.  This used to be the road into Pinnacles.  We walked for another half mile or so before turning around.  Can you see all the Quail in the photo below?

The temperature had moderated enough that we we no longer cold, especially in the sun, but it IS still winter!  We heard this blooming willow before we saw it by the humming of a zillion bees, no doubt grateful for the willow's pollen this time of year when not much else is flowering.

This obviously ancient Valley Oak had tremendous girth, but it had already lost a big ol' limb.  I'm hoping Jimmy and I can return to see these trees leafed out; they're quite a wonder.  This entire nat'l park is a true wonder!

We managed to stick another 2.5 miles on our feet before we pulled out around 11/ish.  We weren't in a hurry and weren't going far ... north approx 25 miles.  And that's for another post. 😊

Pinnacles, Day Two, 2/12/20

We left our little electric heater on last night and it's a darned good thing we did. The overnight temp dipped to a very chilly 26°! Frost on the pumpkin, for sure! While we were all looking forward to hiking today, no one was interested in going out till the temp rose above 30°! Everyone was dressed in layers when we started out about 9:30. Today's choice was the Old Pinnacles Trial to Balconies Cave, roughly 5.5 miles R/T (though my step counter showed six miles). Rated moderate. Best of all is that much of it was relatively flat.

Radiant sunrise to begin our day!

We were not warm, walking in the morning shade, but breathed in the sunny warmth when the trail led us into full sun.  Reverse this for the afternoon, when we appreciated the shade!

I called this rock type, above, "conglomerate."  Not so, said Cliff the geologist, it's breccia.  Yesterday I learned about (pink) rhyolite and now breccia.  Very cool to learn new things.

Jimmy and I love hiking near water (stream, lake, river, ocean, etc), and we happily traipsed alongside and crisscrossed the tiny West Fork Chalone Creek, all the way to Balconies Cave.  

We didn't meet many people on the trail; all was quiet.  Sometimes we four stopped and simply listened, hearing nothing but birdsong.  Silence can be such a blessing.  Especially when the views are as breathtaking as you see in this post.

At a crossroads ... we continued straight.  It's still fairly early for wildflowers; we saw just a handful of small white blossoms, and several patches of Shooting Stars on the other side of the cliffs trail.

After a couple of miles, we were about to enter the cave.  We had to cross the creek first or find a way to dodge it.  I think I mentioned yesterday that these talus caves were formed when massive boulders (some as huge as houses) tumbled into Pinnacles' narrow canyons and got stuck before hitting bottom.  Hence, as we made our way through the cave, each of us was reminded that this is active seismic country, and we're dinky compared to those boulders!  (Nobody got hurt)

We made it past the creek, crawled over boulders

 and found the cave entrance, above.

You could not go through this cave without a flashlight of some kind or a headlamp (which Cliff and Marlene both had on).  Light occasionally seeps in from above, but it's dark.  One spot had steps, near Jimmy, above, left.  Jimmy and Cliff both are crawling up like crabs in the right photo.

Marlene is lighting the way.  See the short horizontal white stripe beyond Marlene?  That's Cliff's backpack glow-in-the-dark stripe.  Right, Jimmy is holding his phone flashlight on his face!  This was quite a challenge for us.  We had to climb up a slippery section which was the most difficult part, but we made it without getting hurt (always a good thing!).  The whole shebang is a quarter of a mile long.  See the smiling faces below?  We emerged!  Another couple was waiting for us to come out so they could go in and offered to take our pic.  Thanks!

But we still had to make our way off the boulders

 and back onto the "relatively flat" trail.

You see we are most certainly dwarfed by the rocks!

We ate our lunch on a wooden bridge near here.

Aha!  Up on the Balconies Cliff Trail, making our way to the last loop.

On the trail, we encountered several people with high-powered binocs and cameras, all the better to see North American's largest land bird (top, above).  They're much larger than their turkey vulture relatives.  The four of us did see condors soaring, too far away to capture on our cameras, but others shared their pics with us.  Once you know what to look for, they're not too difficult to identify in the sky.  Theirs is a study in recovery.  By 1967 the California condor was listed as "endangered" by the federal government. In 1982, only 23 condors survived world-wide. By 1987, all remaining wild condors were placed into a captive breeding program. Thus began an intensive recovery program to save the California condor from extinction.

Good news:  Since 1992, when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) began reintroducing captive-bred condors to the wild, the USFWS and its public and private partners have grown the population to 410 birds.  We were privileged to observe several, majestically soaring high above the peaks.  That being said, let me tell you that up close, they ain't pretty.

And so we began our way back to the car, jackets on, jackets off, jackets on again.  It was that kind of day.  As I said, I put six miles on my step counter and my feet did all right, notwithstanding the neuroma I developed a few weeks ago.  If you've never been to Pinnacles and will be in the neighborhood, make sure to put it on your "go to" list.  It is a marvelous place to hike peaceful trails, enjoy nature, (I saw so many different kinds of birds here), and admire the extraordinary scenery.

Those that wanted had time to shower and nap (no nap for me) before dinner.  Marlene and Cliff came to our Tergel for Split Pea soup and sliced baguette tonight, and homemade chocolate chip cookies for dessert.  It's a bit cramped with the dinette slide in, but doable.  After eating, we brought out our Yahtzee game and played a couple of games.  Fun times.  Enjoyable camping with friends.  Tomorrow they leave for home and we head north.

Ready, Set, Go: Mon/Tues, 2/10-2/11

We were ready! Monday morning we were set to go. But as Jimmy brought in our dinette slide, it jammed and it torqued … and it was never going to slide in like it’s supposed to. You can’t travel in an RV with the slide out! So disappointed, I canceled our three-night reservation at Pinnacles Nat’l Park in central California. Our first time Out and About in a year, and the stupid slide screws up. Jimmy dug out the two-inch-thick manual and studied it. While I was pouting in the house, he took apart the slide control box and discovered a way to manually pull in the slide, one side at a time. He met me in front of Tergal as I went out to tell him that our delivery guy called and our new (house) bed could be delivered this afternoon, and he pointed toward the dinette … my mouth fell open … the slide was in.  Huh?  In!  Hells bells. Not THE most auspicious way to start a journey! (But, our new bed was delivered.)  We'll leave the slide in while Out and About this trip, and pay a visit to the fix-it shop when we get home.

When friends, Marlene and Cliff, asked us if we’d like to join them at Pinnacles Feb 10-13, we said, Yes! Obviously we missed the first night, but decided to go ahead on Tuesday, the 11th, and they made a reservation for us when they got there on Monday.

After a five-hour drive, the last section through picturesque green-carpeted rolling hills, we arrived around 1:30ish, with plenty of time to set up and still get in a short hike. We’re camped directly across from our friends. The last time we were at Pinnacles was in May 2014, shortly after it was made into a national park, and it is as we remembered it. We’re looking forward to more exploration.

The first critter we saw was a coyote trotting down the road!  Above, the usual gang was out to greet us.  Both sexes of California quail, White-crowned Sparrows, and the ubiquitous ground squirrel.  Plus Acorn Woodpeckers, wild turkeys, Scrub Jays, a huge murder of Crows, a Bluebird or two, vultures, and (drum roll) The California Condor.  More about that later.

Our hike was to the Condor Gulch Overlook, a moderate, 2.5 R/T trek.  This is a gorgeous park, full of fabulous geology -- salmon-pink spires, buttresses, pillars, and two entrancing talus caves formed when massive boulders tumbled into Pinnacles' narrow canyons and got stuck before hitting bottom, forming the roofs of the caves.  All of this is compliments of a hot-headed volcano that spewed rhyolitic lava across the landscape. 

The three ants at the bottom of the above photo are Marlene, Cliff and Jimmy.  I'd climbed up higher, to see what was around the other side, I suppose.  Afternoon shadows were lengthening....

When I turned the other way, I saw these glowing spires.

 Like spray paint, many colorful lichens decorate the rocks in the park.

Big Berry Manzanita grows from a small shrub to over 18 feet and are some of the prettiest Manzanitas I've ever seen.  They were flowering, inviting bees and hummingbirds to have a taste.  The humming was loud!

The day was warm when we arrived, but we could feel a genuine chill in the air at this point.  Cliff and Marlene head back toward the trailhead, above.

As we approached the cars, we spotted the two black-tailed deer above.  They seemed unconcerned with our presence.  All the critters in the park must be used to people traipsing about their habitat.

We shared a delicious soup dinner at Marlene's home-on-wheels.  After eating, Jimmy and I learned a new fun card game called SkipBo (girls won!).  Tomorrow we'll have a full day to spend on the trails.  Welcome to Pinnacles (finally!)

Last day at Pinnacles - Thurs, 5/8/14

We picked a good time to visit this nat'l park.  Even in a drought year, glorious wildflowers bursting with blossoms, dazzled our eyes with color.  I've included photos of three wildflowers I'd never seen before. Meadows sprouting native and (and exotic) grasses were still a vibrant spring green.  The weather was accommodating, neither too hot nor too chilly, tho one morning surprised us with a 39° low!  Days were warm and mostly sunny.

Mariposa lily

Pinnacles campground is pocked with treacherous ground squirrel holes.  You could break a leg or hip if you made a misstep or even crack your head wide open if you landed on a fallen log.  An entire town of the durn things -- they're everywhere. California quail zipped about the camp, fun to watch them.  More than once I noticed the male quail would perch atop a log or fence post while his lady pecked thru the grass for seeds. Sounds good to me!

Two-fer (California quail and ground squirrel)

California condors were re-established in Pinnacles in 2003.  The first nest since reintroduction was built in 2010, and Pinnacles now manages a population of 32 free-flying condors.  Turkey buzzards are prevalent, but we were told how to identify a condor from a buzzard (soaring way up high) -- a buzzard "wobbles," whereas a condor, North America's largest land bird, well, a condor just soars. When we hiked the High Peaks Trail on Tuesday, we hoped to see a condor, and I'm not 100% positive that I did or didn't, but maybe I did. The bird was simply too far away to be sure.  I did see the North America's smallest bird on that hike -- a tiny Anna's hummingbird!  And the fella below.

Ash-throated flycatcher

Sticky monkeyflower

Acorn woodpecker workin' that snag!

A virtual village of Acorn woodpeckers lives in the Valley oaks of the campground.  They are noisy, busy, comical, chattering, and never still.  It was a contest to hear who got our attention first in the morning:  quail or woodpecker.  I've seen trees so full of holes (stuffed with acorns) that it's a wonder the trees don't tump over. Or a power pole -- they can do a job on those, as well.

Gnarled, ancient and beautiful

Indian warrior

My man 💘

Wednesday morning, we strolled along Chalone Creek and the South Wilderness Trail. Nothing strenuous, merely ambling along like two people who have all the time in the world -- what a grand feeling.  More flowers, grasses, trees and birds to check out.  We laugh when I say I'm actually looking for rusted tin cans, à la the Saddle Ridge Hoard!  Very relaxing morning.

That afternoon we hopped on our bikes, rode out of the park on a dirt road.  We pedaled easily for several miles, encircled by rolling hills.  No one else around, just me and Jimmy on a bicycle explore. Tomorrow morning we depart, head for our Nevada City home. Company coming tomorrow, and the next day -- O boy!  Guess who?

Surely enjoyed our Pinnacles National Park visit.  

I love California.

Pinnacles -- a real peak experience! Tues, May 6th

Pinnacles isn't simply a beautiful place, or a fine area to explore, hike and camp.  Rising out of chaparral-covered mountains east of California's Salinas Valley, Pinnacles is the spectacular remains of part of an ancient volcanic field. Here it gets really interesting: One-third of this field lies 195 miles to the southeast! You can thank the San Andreas Fault Zone, which runs just east of the park and the geological forces that have shaped this landscape for millions of years.  Fault action and earthquakes account for Pinnacles' talus caves, formed when boulders fell into deep, narrow gorges and lodged between the rock walls -- which Jimmy and I experienced yesterday on our hike.

Pinnacles isn't all spires and crags; tho our pictures mostly show these.  While elevations in Pinnacles range from 824 ft along Chalone Creek to 3,304 ft atop North Chalone Peak, much of the park consists of gentle rolling hills.

Today we picked a different hike, up Condor Gulch Trail, a 1.7 mile (one way) strenuous trail. That's what we decided initially, but when we junctioned with the High Peaks Loop trail, we opted to return to our start point by way of this different (but longer) trail. The elevation gain was 1,300 ft, which is why the whole durn thing was rated strenuous. Altogether the hike was approx 6 miles. And it was truly awesome!

Our route.

Hiking this loop enabled us to see 360° worth of Pinnacles' special scenery.

Jimmy is eyeing the bird nesting hole on the rock face, left.

It looked well used.  Tomorrow I'll talk more about the birds.

On the Condor Gulch Trail, at the Overlook.

Alone on the trail, silent, all I could do was breathe.

Skies were partly cloudy; without sun we didn't get overheated trekking uphill.

Break time!  Lunch at Condor Gulch/High Peaks Loop junction.

We were actually cold up here.

Looking back on our trail.

"Balconies!"  Pinnacles is famous for this formation.

Spires and crags.

Jimmy is smack-dab in the lower center of the trail in his yellow shirt.

We discovered what the brochure meant by "steep and narrow,"

on the High Peaks Trail.  It wasn't a typo.

Did I sign up for THIS?  ("steps" continue at the top of the pic, and on, and on!!)

Of course, what goes up, has to come down.  Steep and narrow, uh-huh....

I am actually perched on the edge of the rock, that falls away behind me.

Hard to determine from the pic.

Oh yeah, that's our trail down there.  Down!

Encountered this fella (maybe 8"?) sunning itself.

We got right up next to it, and it did not move.

Down, down, down.

Amazing adventure.

OK, we were tired when we wrapped it up. That's all right. Better to wear out than rust out! We stopped often to take pictures. We paused frequently to gawk... and on this trail we couldn't gawk and walk at the same time! How could we not stop to look? Dinner was ready for us after showers. I make meals before we leave on trips and all I have to do is hot 'em up. I'll finish by saying, we were early in the sack!