Concise guide to Pinnacles National Park (Caves + High Peaks) - Run + Hike trip Date: 15 October 2016Duration: ½ day Distance: ~12 miles Difficulty: Medium to Strenuous Elevation gain: ~1000 feet Trailhead: Chaparral parking lot (West Entrance to the park) Trail/Route: Chaparral Parking Lot (West Entrance) -> Juniper Canyon Trail -> Scout’s Peak -> Back down on Juniper Canyon Trail (run) -> Tunnel Trail -> Hawkin’s peak -> High Peak trail -> Rim Trail -> Bear Gulch Reservoir -> Bear Gulch Cave trail -> Bear Gulch Caves -> Moses spring trail -> Bear Gulch Day use area -> Bear Gulch trail -> Bench Trail -> Near Old Pinnacles Parking Trailhead -> Old Pinnacles trail -> Balconies Cave Trail -> Balconies Caves -> Balconies Trail -> back to Chaparral parking lot. Info: This route gives you a concise tour of Pinnacles NP including high peaks, the two caves - Balconies & Bear Gulch, the reservoir and the walk along the dried West Fork Chalone Creek. Leaves out Chalone peak and Northern Wilderness Other trips: Trip1 Trip2 NPSWebsite Gurmeet Best time to visit: Early winter, spring. It gets quite hot here. Map
Earlier to 2013 a “National Monument”, Pinnacles was granted National Park status in January 2013 under the office of President Barack Obama. The name “pinnacles” was termed by newspapers from the then called “Palisades” in late 1800’s bringing in popularity among hikers and picnickers alike. Having been here on a couple of hikes I have become very well versed with all that the park has to offer; both to avid hikers and tourists. Some parts of the landscape reminds me of the Hoodoo’s in Bryce Canyon National Park - Utah. This park unlike other national parks in California (Yosemite NP, Sequoia NP, Joshua Tree & others) is less visited making it a great destination for people looking to disconnect from the mundane routine and blend with nature. It also provides a great location for rock climbers with multiple bolted routes featuring both sport climbing and top roping. Coming back to our hike; since we took the anti-clockwise loop and had already reached high peaks, we headed towards the Bear Gulch reservoir. This part of the hike is mostly downhill along the high peak trail which becomes rim trail at the very end. There is a diversion that takes you to the base of Bear Gulch caves bypassing the caves but I suggest visiting the reservoir first and then descending down through the caves. The arid desert terrain does not give away any clue of water bodies in the vicinity and so it’s a very pleasant surprise when the reservoir comes in sight. On most days you can find climbers conquering the tall talus walls near the reservoir. From here, the trail loops in a gigantic arc with nothing very exciting to look out for or to talk about. We pretty much ran and fast-walked this part of the hike. Closing in on the second talus cave formation in Pinnacles - The Balconies, you should already be gaining some elevation; mind you Anshuman considers Pinnacles one of the “flattest” national parks in California but then again he recently ran a 75 miler in Colorado averaging 10k feet. Balconies is slightly shorter in length when compared to the Bear Gulch caves but is less maintained which translates to more fun. There is one section which needs you to be on all four limbs and crawl up through an opening but it isn’t too much of a struggle. Both caves definitely do need some form of artificial lighting and I strongly advise carrying high power headlamps or flashlights; batteries included that is. (should go without saying unless of course the purpose of the flashlights were something other than illumination, like self defense). |
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