April 17th--Parks Valley to Pinnacles

Today was the day i had set aside to explore the Pinnacles. I set out from my camp near La Gloria Rd. at about 8:30am with just a little breakfast of Lara Bars and Emergen-C. I rode slowly down the still-dirt road, trying as best as i could to avoid the many washboarded parts of the road, cattle crossings and hidden rocks. Unfortunately, i soon got a pinch flat from one of the latter.

That was fixed quickly and i carried on, slowly, still watchful of the road surface, which detracted greatly from my enjoyment of the area. The road flattened out somewhat abruptly at a ranch and soon hit Hwy 25. The valley through which Hwy 25 and the San Andrea Fault run is beautiful, rolling range land, punctuated by sideways oaks and creaky windmills.

It was a short ride down Hwy 25 (also called Airline Hwy, for reasons i have not yet been able to ascertain) to Hwy 146, which leads into Pinnacles National Monument. I passed by the commercial campground and checked out the scene there, including the price, in case it was reasonable. It was $10, so i decided to just stealth camp somewhere in the park (a decision i am current unsure about--we'll see how i feel in the morning).

I first went up the road to Peaks View, a small day-use area that apparently used to be the park's solid waste dump. I'll be headed back there at dawn to make my breakfast. I then headed up a somewhat steep road to the Visitor's Center to see if there were any free maps. Alas, no, but i did make a note of the trails on their 3-D map.

I filled up my water bottles and headed to the nearest picnic area, just up the hill, to eat yet more carrots and peanut butter, finishing it off (except for two longer carrots which i plan to use for stirring later, as i forgot to pack any utensils). I took a bathroom break just a ways further, and then locked my bike, rested behind a large boulder, out of general view.

From there, i hiked up through the Bear Gulch Caves to the resevoir. The spires of the old, mostly eroded volcano were amazing, unlike anything i'd seen. When i got to the resevoir, a school group was there, freaking out about reports of a baby rattler in the cave. I hadn't seen it. The resevoir was much smaller than i had imagined. In fact, aside from the rock formations, the scale of the park in general is much smaller than i had imagined. I hiked to a spot along the shore where there did not seem to be much traffic and set up to do some typing. Most of these entries, starting from the second day, were entered at this spot, looking out across the lake to enormous spires and circling birds (no Condors as far as i could tell), with the sounds of rock-climbers' calls echoing around me.

I spent a good deal of time here, probably developing a great case of skin cancer. I headed back, this time along the Moses Spring Trail, where i came upon some frogs. I didn't see them close-up enough to tell if they were the endangered red-legged variety. Coming back to my undisturbed bicycle, i planned to bike up to Old Pinnacles Rd. and around to the Balconies Caves. Unfortunately, i didn't even make it ten feet before i felt my bike dragging behind me. I looked back and saw that the front support of my rack had snapped in two, probably due to the repeated stress of laying the bike against various objects.

I panicked for a few moments, briefly considered JB Welding the piece back together, ruled that straight out, and then realized that my collection of zip ties would probably do the trick nicely. In the midst of numerous offers of assistance from an RV-driving Frenchman, waving away his clothes hangers, rope and plyers, i jerry-rigged a perfectly workable solution together with four zip-ties and some used bike tube to protect the paint. Of course, i say "perfectly workable" having ridden maybe three miles since then. We shall see.

I carried on toward Old Pinnacles Road. Once there, it began to seem a mite chilly and the shadows were seeming a bit long, though it was just shy of 5pm. I set about more or less inmediately to try to find a place to set up camp. The old road, it turns out, had been largely torn out as a means of rehabilitating the adjacent creek, which had been constricted as a result of the road's construction within the floodplain. As such, it became rather difficult to find a place to camp out subtly that was accessible by bike. The old campground had also been shut down to allow for the rehabilitation of the river. I ended up burrowing into some chapparal just off the path.

It has become cold rather quickly, so i've decided to forgo dinner tonight and get into my sleeping bag. Hopefully, i'll be able to make up for the deficiency tomorrow morning, when i hope to get as far as Parkfield.