We’ve been to Pinnacles National Park in the past, and thought we’d do it again. On the way out of King City though, a truck driver flagged us down and told us that something was wrong at the back of our RV. Alan pulled over to check it out. Sure enough – the stinky slinky storage tube had come away from the back bracket and broke the bracket and that end of the tube. Fortunately I’d bought some duct tape as part of our “tool kit”, so we used that to patch it up until we could get back into town to the O’Reilly Car Parts store.
We ended up purchasing a neat little ratchet set, an extender, and a 1/2” wrench in order to completely disconnect the back bracket and take the tube down. Alan worked hard to get the bracket off, with several bleepable words, he succeeded. We stored the tube in the back of the RV and were once again on our way.
We arrived at Pinnacles’ Visitor Center and checked in, got a map, and headed up to the trail head for Bear Gulch Overlook and the Pinnacles. This trail is about 3 miles round-trip, with a 550 elevation. I was so sure I could make it up there and past that to the pinnacles. Ha!
Bear Gulch Overlook trail kicked my butt. I hadn’t hiked like this in a long time – the elevation gain was what got me. I could have hiked it easy if the gain had been half of what it was. Despite my slow progress, we got up there to the overlook. I felt good about that achievement. Along the way we saw lots of pretty flowers coming into bloom, along with a Spotted Towhee, Acorn Woodpeckers, a turkey, vultures, and on the way back out, a coyote. No condors though.
