13-March-2023 Pinnacles National Park

I left Santa Maria this morning and headed about 2.5 hours north to Pinnacles National Park. As my daughter Kristen has said, it's definitely one of the most underrated National Parks. Wow what a day!!!

I enjoyed the ride north through the lush green hills. In sections where the mountains were steep they were grass covered, and eventually as I got into the flat valley there were lots of orchards, vineyards and crops.

When I got to the visitor center at Pinnacles I asked the Ranger to suggest a hike and she said her favorite was a 4.5 mile hike to the peak. She described it as strenuous, steep and narrow - sounded like the perfect challenge!

The bottom 3/4 of the way was a standard switch back hiking trail, and the views kept getting better the higher I got. There was even a cool mini-tunnel blasted through the rock - how fun. Then I reached a point where things got narrow and steep and some parts of the trail were formed by carving out steps into the rock and providing the hiker a handrail. I'm not a fan of heights so it took a little mind over matter to traverse a few sections.

The pinnacles all have different shapes and sizes and if you use your imagination you can see some characters, animals and other shapes as you hike through them. I made it to the top and enjoyed my sandwich with a delicious view.

It took about 3 hours to summit and return. When I got back to the parking lot I wanted to explore another trail that Kristen had recommended - a trail through a cave! I had also asked the Ranger about this trail and she said that if you take it you'll get wet feet as water levels are about mid-calf. Exciting!

This "cave trail" led through a lush valley which contains a small stream. The grass and moss were so green it almost looked electric. Quite a contrast to the desert landscape I had been hiking through recently. I reached the entrance to the cave - it wasn't well marked and had Kristen not told me about it I never would've found it. To get in, you have scramble over some big boulders and then walk through a very narrow corridor in ankle deep water (while ducking under giant boulders) - things were getting exciting! The first section was mainly wet and low ceiling and sections of darkness were short so that you could always see light in the distance. Nothing too scary .... yet!

I exited this section thinking I had traversed through the cave only to find that it required some scrambling over rocks and then there was a small white mark over a hole down into the darkness. I realized that this was the only way forward and was the real cave, and I mustered a bunch of courage and lowered myself into the hole. I have included a short video below at this entrance to the cave. It was wet in the cave and footing was slippery and as I got deeper down, and I was initially concerned I might not be able to climb my way back out.

The cave was COMPLETELY dark. Kristen had told me that if I shined my light on the cave walls I would eventually find a small white arrow indicating the direction of travel. It was rather unsettling to be alone in the darkness - but at least I knew I was on a path and decided to push forward. Below is a second video of the chamber of the cave where I was in complete darkness (other than my headlamp and flashlight).

After some more scrambling down and through the cave I finally got into another chamber where I could see light on the opposite side – I saw my way out! There was a waterfall in this chamber of the cave - weird to hear the water flowing and not be able to see anything. Hard to take pictures in the darkness and they really wouldn't do it justice.

Traversing thru this dark cave was definitely one of the most exhilarating hiking experiences I've ever had! The exit from the cave was through the stream bed and to my surprise it required a 1.5 mile hike back to the parking lot. The sun was dropping lower and the views were beautiful. Ended up hiking nearly 8 miles with a total elevation gain/decent of 2000 feet. What a spectacular day!

after my hike I drove less than an hour northwest to the town of Marina, again through so many farms - the valley soil is dark and fertile - no wonder there are so many crops here. I also noticed that every couple of miles there was a bell hanging on the side of Route 101. Turns out this is the marker for the historic El Camino Real route, which translates as the Royal Road or the Kings Highway. It is a 600-mile commemorative route that connects 21 different Spanish Missions (along with a number of sub-missions, Pueblos and presidios) throughout California. I will have to save doing that route for another future Adventure.

Here is beginning of cave journey - this part was mostly light and just in about ankle deep water:

Here is video of where I had to lower myself into the cave:

And here is video from inside the totally dark chamber:

I sure do feel my knees tonight from the steep downward hiking and squatting thru the cave.