Over New Years weekend, from the end of 2000 to the beginning of 2001, I decided to take advantage of the 3 day weekend, and take a brief bicycle tour. I rode down to the Pinnacles National Monument, about 80 miles south of San José, CA, spent a day hiking, and then returned on Monday.
I started off by meeting up with a training ride run by ACTC member Paul Leuty, and as we headed out of town, we randomly encountered one of Paul's friends. He joined us, and we continued south along Santa Teresa to Morgan Hill, where we had our usual coffee stop.
South of Morgan hill, the country opened up, and we were making good
time (20+ mph) on the level ground. Due to the added drag from my
panniers, I was unable to lead the paceline for any length of time.
In Hollister we stopped at the Teppan Yaki, a small restaurant, for
lunch.
At
this point, the others turned back north, and I headed south, following
route 25 through Hollister. Leafless winter orchards, vinyards,
and rugged range land made up the scenery. In one vinyard, an animal
looked at me, and then fled before I could tell whether it was a dog or
a coyote.
I stopped at a country store with a large sign in front reading "Bikers Welcome," presumably to welcome motorcyclists. Outside, there was a historical marker about the assaying of a mercury deposit, which is located in a nearby ghost town.
One of the few houses adjacent to route 25 has an unchained dog which barked loudly and ran into the road. I walked past it, keeping my bicycle between myself and the dog.
At 146, I turned west, and rode the few remaining miles to the Pinnacles Campground, about half a mile outside the monument proper. The campground, while a bit shabby, is very very conveniently located for those who wish to hike in the Pinnacles National Monument.
After setting up camp, and spending a few minutes to watch the quail
, I rode up to the entrance gate to obtain a trail map, and then returned
to the campground to prepare dinner.
I slept soundly, and awoke early, with frost on the inside of my rain
fly, and on my panniers.
Black
tailed deer wandered through the campground as I prepared breakfast.
I watched them for a few moments before they wandered off. Shortly
after I had returned to preparing breakfast, an enormous bobcat came through,
hunting unseen rodents in the grass. Whatever the bobcat was hunting
got away, and the bobcat gave me an annoyed look, and padded off into the
underbrush to the screeching of a Steller's
jay.
After breakfast, I cycled past the unmanned fee booth, and saw my first
view of the Pinnacles.
At
the still-closed visitor center, I paid my fee, and locked my bicycle to
the rack. Switching from cycling shoes to hiking boots, I headed
up the Condor Gulch
trail. The trail heads sharply uphill from the parking lot, past
cracked rocks, and up into the spires of the pinnacles.
At
the top of the gulch, there is a lookout, providing excellent views of
the valley, as well as a chance to look at a dry waterfall, which runs
between two of the pinnacles.
Above
the overlook, the trail joins the "high peaks" trail, which passes among
the pinnacles at the top of the mountain, and provides access to the tunnel
trail, leading down to the ranger station on the west side.
Up close and among the pinnacles themselves, you can see that the rock
is a jumble of small jagged stones "glued" together by another type of
rock.
Walking
down the tunnel trail, I could hear rock climbers above me, but could not
see them. Many rocks had beautifully colored lichens.
At
the bottom, the path went through a very green valley, and an intermittent
stream passed under the boulders. At the bottom, I stopped at the
ranger station to obtain more water, and watched some western bluebirds.
I
returned via the balconies cave trail. The cave is a narrow canyon
which had house sized boulders fall on top of it, producing a dark cave.
Each entrance to the cave has a gate, so that the park service can close
it during floods.
I returned to the visitor center via the old pinnacles trail and the bear gulch trail. The views from these were not nearly as impressive as the ones from earlier in the day.
Monday
I awoke early, despite the wild pigs which kept me awake for much of
the night. Once again, there was frost on my panniers. I started
off cycling wearing many layers, but stopped every fifteen or twenty minutes
to remove one, until I found myself cycling in short sleeves.
Several miles north of where I turned onto route 25, another bobcat walked across the road, and disappeared into the bushes. This bobcat wasn't as large as the one I saw on Sunday morning.
The
Teppan Yaki where I had stopped in Hollister on Saturday was closed for
New Years, so I continued on to Morgan hill, where I ate lunch.
Along the way, I saw an egret hunting in a field, and two couples on tandems,
one of which was a recumbent. A substantial headwind slowed my progress
dramatically on this leg of the trip.
From Morgan Hill, I took Santa Teresa back to San José, and then rode home.
