Pinnacles National Park (September 2019)

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The Pinnacles National Park is relatively small US national park that protects an area covering the eroded remains of multiple volcanoes that erupted over 20 million years ago in what is now southern California. Positioned on the San Andreas Fault, this volcanic ensemble broke into two parts. The moving Pacific plate on the west took with it two-thirds of the ensemble and displaced them almost 200 miles north of their original location, where they now form the Pinnacles. During all this time, erosion created a surreal, but incredibly beautiful, world of broken crags, huge boulders, thin spires, and steep ravines. The area was established as a national monument in 1908 and upgraded into a national park in 2015.

 

I visited the Pinnacles several times in the late 1990s and early 2000s, but back then my focus was on rock climbing. After a lapse of some 15 years I returned to the Pinnacles in late September 2019, just to hike and take photos. The following is a sequence of photos (in chronological order) that I took along the clockwise loop highlighted in orange in the map below.

 

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The Tourist Trap, on the Bear Gulch trail soon after leaving the day use area.

 

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The Camel rock.

 

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The Monolith, at the upper-center of the photo, behind the wedged rock.

 

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Bear Gulch.

 

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Bear Gulch reservoir.

 

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Bear Gulch reservoir.

 

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Tiburcio′s X (the spire on the right of the photo).

 

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Reflection of Tiburcio′s X in the water of the reservoir.

 

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Along the Rim trail above the Bear Gulch reservoir.

 

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Discovery Wall.

 

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Looking up toward the High Peaks.

 

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The Pipsqueak ridge.

 

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The Carousel.

 

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The Anvil.

 

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View toward the south from the High Peaks trail.

 

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Pinch or Lynch Wall.

 

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Pinch or Lynch Wall.

 

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From left to right, in the right half of the photo: Salathe′s Silver, Nelson′s Needle, and Generation Gap.

 

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View toward the east from the High Peaks trail.

 

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View toward the west from the junction of the High Peaks and Juniper Canyon trails, with Goat Rock on the left and Resurrection Wall at the center-right of the photo.

 

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Goat Rock at the center of the photo.

 

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Photographer′s Delight in the rightmost photo.

 

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Condor Crag at the upper-center of the photo and Mechanic′s Delight at the center-left.

 

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Mechanic′s Delight at the forefront on the left side of the photo.

 

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The Balconies at the center of the photo.

 

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View toward the east from the High Peaks trail. A small portion of the Condor Gulch trail is visible on the left of the photo.

 

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View over the Condor Gulch trail from the High Peaks trail.

 

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View toward the west from the High Peaks trail, with Resurrection Wall near the center of the photo.

 

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Another view toward the west from the High Peaks trail, with Resurrection Wall near the center of the photo.

 

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The Balconies, at the center of the photo.

 

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View toward the east from the upper part of the Condor Gulch trail.

 

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Another view toward the east from the Condor Gulch trail.

 

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Casino Rock seen from the Condor Gulch trail.

 

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More crags along the Condor Gulch trail, soon before reaching the Bear Gulch day use area.

 

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Landscape just outside the Pinnacles NP, on the park′s eastern side: a completely different world.

 

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