Reposted from LJ so some may see this twice.
I'm trying to make good on my intent to get out and about more often, followed up last weeks road trip with a day-trip. So we pointed at a random spot on the map we haven't been to before and so went down to Pinnacles National Monument.
Of course, it was a bad idea to decide to make a first trip in July, but we're stupid rebels.
The
drive itself was fun, CA-25 is a pleasant drive through rolling valleys and then cutting over from Pinnacles to Monterey offers some good winding travel.
At Pinnacles, since it was over 100 degrees and most trails are completely exposed we just did the short Bear Gulch Reservoir trail, which is about a mile out and then another back with only a few hundred feet of elevation change. Anyway, some pictures from that.
Spoiler:
Getting up to Bear Gulch required not only climbing along the rocks
but also through the rocks
and even under the rocks.
But once at the top, after all the heat and dry, the reservoir itself is a welcome sight.
However, it may not be a good place if you have a couple specific phobias. The edge of the reservoir was home to literally thousands of dragonflies,
though we learned that the smaller ones were actually damselflies (the main difference being kind of like butterflies versus moths, in whether they hold their wings open or closed when at rest).
The marshy edge of the reservoir was also pretty active with snakes.
They were all common garter snakes but I don't suppose that matters to someone who doesn't like snakes. Even if, at the first sign of trouble they headed into the water.
