Pinnacles National Park | 12/59

7L1A0266

Pinnacles National Park is the youngest park in the U.S.  It was officially made a National Park in 2013.  Before 2013, it was a National Monument dedicated to protecting the unique volcanic rock and the massive, and endangered, California condor.  We were talking to a ranger and asked what changed when they received the National Park status.  She said, “Besides the name, nothing.”  She mentioned that they did see a slight increase of visitors, but really, not a lot.

7L1A0277

Before we hit Bear Gulch reservoir, we made some quesadillas in the parking lot.  Madison loves the little food processor that we use.  It makes pico de gallo really easily – and doesn’t take any power.  It’s awesome.

7L1A0285

With our bellies full, we hit the trail.  It was .7 miles up to where we could paddle, so we figured that we could get there relatively quick.  We didn’t plan on navigating caves and tiny sets of stairs!  It was more than we bargained for with what appears to be a TV on our backs.  But we had a good time doing it.

IMG_0424

IMG_0432

We got to the reservoir and set up the kayaks.  It was very peaceful on the water!  We only saw a few other humans the whole time – it felt like we had our own private little lake.

IMG_0448

DCIM100GOPROGOPR2443.

DSC_0071

Above photo by Justin Spyres

IMG_0459

IMG_0470

DCIM100GOPROGOPR2488.

The goal of the trip was to climb, paddle, and bird.  I really wanted to see some condors.  I remember learning about them in grade school and knew that it was a once in a life time thing to see.

We had been told that the best chance to see the big birds was either at dawn or at dusk in the High Peaks area.  So, that meant either we stay out and climb late, or we get up early in the morning.  We decided to try our luck with the late climb.   The thing is, the climb we wanted to do was on the other side of the park – 50 miles away.

7L1A0630

We set out to climb The Citadel in the late afternoon.  It is a four pitch climb, so we knew it would take us a while.  We wanted to try to time the summit for sunset.  That way, if we were lucky, we could see some condors from the top.

IMG_0588

We timed it perfectly.  Madison let the final pitch and got us to the top right as the sun was going down.  It was beautiful.  But, there were no birds in sight.  Not a single one!  I was sad.

IMG_0503

IMG_0505

IMG_0518

We rappelled down in in the dark and got back to the RV kind of late.  We were alone in the parking lot when we got back.  We figured we would leave early in the morning to try and catch some condors at dawn, so we decided to sleep the few hours just parked there in the trailhead parking lot.  I don’t think this was technically allowed, but we figured it was better than driving out 40 miles and then driving the same 40 back a few hours later.

 

IMG_0548

We set out early the next morning to bird as hard as we could.  I was struggling that morning – I wasn’t feeling super well.   Which, actually, made it convenient to bird.  I would sit down when I felt sick, and pull out the zoom lens and see if there was anything flying above me.  Madison and I had a good time trying to determine if the flying animals were turkey vultures or condors.  For most of the morning, we had only seen turkey vultures – which was rather discouraging.

IMG_0561

IMG_0574

Then when we finally made it to the top of the High Peaks trail, we saw a condor!  It was huge!  The massive bird was circling way above us in the wind, and it still looked large.  I was snapping pictures with the zoom lens like crazy.  It was awesome.  And then – a sad thing happened – our SD card died.  For some reason the card registered “corrupted” and everything was lost – including the 1000 photos I snapped of the endangered bird!  I was very upset.

IMG_0582

IMG_0584

It was a magical moment for sure.  Perhaps that is the reason the SD card broke – it was a moment that the universe wanted us to keep to ourself.  The card failure did cause me to reflect on this idea as we drove out of the park.  In the day and age of Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat we share EVERYTHING.   There really aren’t too many moments that get tucked away in the “just for me” folder of life anymore.  In fact, some of those moments that should be saved, are the very ones that we are most excited to share!

It is a tough thing to balance, especially since we are funding our lifestyle by social media.  But I do believe that there are things that should be saved for ourselves.  I don’t know if the condor sighting is one of those moments, but it makes it easier for me to deal with the broken SD card to think that way.  (Don’t tell the universe, but if you really want to see the condor, watch the vlog at the end of the post – a video clip on our other camera made it out alive.)
IMG_0593

Later that evening, we hiked up to the caves in the northwest side of the park.  The caves are talus caves, or openings made between boulders piled up on a mountain slope. Humans love to squeeze in little cracks.

IMG_0598

IMG_0476

The caves on the other side of the park were closed for the bats that live in them.  Luckily we were able to explore these caves at least.  It was a different experience from the Lehman cave tour that we did in Great Basin NP.  We were free.  We were on our own to explore whatever part of the caves that we wanted.  There was no guide to tell us what to do.  It felt good!

IMG_0489

IMG_0604

We enjoyed our time in Pinnacles.  Mainly because we were alone for most of it.  During the three days we spent there, I would say we saw a total of around 30 human beings – that’s only 10 a day!  It was nice not to be right on top of other people as we tried to explore the park.  When we came out of the cave, I saw this little puddle full of pond skippers.  There were SO MANY of them.  There was no space for these guys to move around.  I realized that we were pretty lucky to be in such a nice place, and to have the space to enjoy it almost completely on our own.   I thought of people in New York or in Moscow that compete for space like these pond skippers.  It’s a tough fight!  Life is so nice when you have your own area.

IMG_0616

Vloggin’ the Pinns

9 Comments

    • Cees

      Some of them were a tight squeeze, but with a little bit of persistence we made it through! It added to the adventure for sure – we thought we were headed on a mellow .7 mile hike – little did we know! haha

  1. Julia

    Been following your blog since the beginning and check almost every day for new posts XD

    A few questions:
    1. I would love to learn how to climb/rappel. Personally, I just boulder for now. How did you guys learn how to do it? I’m sure there’s a lot to learn about how to do it correctly and safely (all the clips and gear and how to use that specifically)?

    2. How do you guys get the pictures of both of you while kayaking? Did Vladimir Kitten learn how to use a camera? 😉 Also your photos are so beautiful!! Did you just learn by doing, or did you guys take classes?

    Julia

    • Cees

      Hi Julia!

      First off, thanks for such kind words and for your support!

      I started climbing in college. It was just something to do with friends. I just learned the more I went. I’m no pro by any means… For me it is just an excuse to get out and touch rocks. haha. There is a lot to learn, but it’s not hard. Find someone to climb with that has experience and have them show you the ropes (literally).

      The pictures of both of us in this post were actually sent to us from a hiker who happened upon us at the reservoir! And shame on me, I totally forgot to give him credit in the post! I’ll do that now! Haha. Usually we will just try and take selfies with a GoPro…

      As far as learning photography. When Madison got a camera – I made a list of YouTube tutorials for her. So every day she would sit down and watch one or two and then practice the said skills. She’s getting pretty good, I think!! I didn’t practice as much as she did, so I let her set everything up and then I’ll push the button! Haha. But I’m learning as we go along as well.

      Long story short – you can definitely learn to climb and take great photos! Good luck!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.