Get In Touch
As the weekend approached, I could hear the call of the wild growing ever stronger.
Ever since the rain stopped coming down in buckets, I’ve been itching for a good adventure. Preferably in a new place with the sun shining down, warming my skin. Three days in Pinnacles National Park with some of my favorite people was the perfect solution.
Ok, it wasn’t completely wild. There was a great camp store that had novelty ice cream for sale (I can’t think of a better post hike snack). There were showers, though not always warm. There were delicious meals cooked by the aforementioned favorite people, many of which may be considered by some to be too fancy for roughing it. But I say, why not?
Though not a huge park, Pinnacles offers a perfect range of hikes for a long weekend camping trip. We did two short and one long hike, which also allowed us some campsite time to sit around, play games and just relax.
The first day we drove down, starting early and squeezing 5 people with gear into my Sentra, Silvia. We did a short hike to the Bear Gulch Cave Trail where we wound our way through narrow passageways of rock formations. Since it had just finished downpouring the previous week, there was a decent amount of water falling through the rocks and coating the pathways. 
The second day we woke early to get a parking spot at the Old Pinnacles Trailhead for a longer, steeper hike to the Balconies Cave Trail and then looped around to Hawkins Peak and back.
After the hike we went back to camp to join the rest of the group who had explored a different area of the park that morning. We all took turns heading to the showers (there were only two for each bathroom, hot water depended on who turned their shower on first) and relaxed with books or journals. It was suggested that we should all play a game called “Nasty Things”, like cards against humanity but slightly cleaner. This got us all laughing pretty quickly and learning some interesting things about our friends.
After, we cooked dinner then settled around the campfire for the evening. In a lull of conversation, we heard a rustling behind us. Everyone rushed to turn on their headlamps and see what was invading our campsite. We got the lights on just in time to see a fat raccoon running off with a ziplock bag full of naan bread. The “trash panda” had stolen it out of my friend’s zipped backpack that had been on top of the picnic table. Gutsy little bugger! I wish I had been able to grab a shot of him running out into the trees.
The next morning we packed up and headed out for one final hike along the eastern side of the peak we had hiked the day before. It was a perfect way to end the weekend.
If you’re looking for a beautiful way to spend a long weekend, I highly recommend this park, especially if you can go right after the rains come through. The fresh green brought a great contrast to the red and brown hues of the rocks and added a nice variety of scenery along the way.
