The early bird catches the worm. That’s the saying. We learned today that when it comes to Pinnacles National Park on a Saturday in April, that anecdote rings true.
We set our alarms early this morning. Well, early for retired people. For some of you, 6:00am is your regular time to get up. But for us (me, really) 6:00am is early. It that upsets you, I suggest you retire as well.
We had breakfast, made coffee in travel mugs, broke camp, and were on the road by 7:10. I’ll tell you, we are getting very quick at setting up and tearing down. Makes for quick arrivals and departures.
Our drive to the east park entrance was a little over one hour. The town we are staying in is called Greenfield, which is amazingly appropriate. All around us, and indeed most of this valley, is consumed by agriculture. Our drive this morning took us past hundreds of acres of cauliflower (which we could smell!), a gigantic pimento farm, countless acres of unknown greens, and of course endless vineyards.
After cutting northeast through the town of King City, we began our climb into the surrounding hills. The views were incredible as we made our way up and into the Sierra Nevadas. We were surprised at how high the grasses grew on the peaks as we ascended. So many of the high places so far in our trip were brown masses of rock and dirt. The vistas were amazing!
When we finally reached the access road to the park, and passed the obligatory NP sign (see picture below), we were shocked to find a line of about 15 cars waiting at the entrance toll booth. Karen had read, the night before, that Saturdays in April can be busy due to wildflower bloom. I guess coming on a Saturday in April may not have been ideal planning on my part!
We were equally surprised when the ranger working the gate informed us that the only parking available was at the visitor’s center, only a mile into the park. At this point, it was only 8:15am! Apparently all lots in the park (limited as it is, due to the extremely small size of the park) were already full. Not only that, but they completely close the access roads as well! We were therefore forced to park at the visitor’s center.
Fortunately we were still early enough to find parking for Livvy. A park ranger suggested a 6-mile hike that would take us in range of the namesake “Pinnacles”, and provide some other great views. The hike certainly was spectacular! On the return, we even got to watch a Condor circling overhead, using the thermals to climb ever higher from its clifftop launch.
This park is indeed beautiful, and we only got to experience a small part. If you ever decide to visit, and we think you should, we’d advise to come on a weekday. If it has to be a weekend, get to the park entrance by 7:00am. When we were leaving the park just after noon, we saw that the rangers had completely closed the park because of lack of parking. There was a backup at the main gate for nearly a mile of people waiting for others to leave and clear parking spaces. Thankfully, we were heading out.
We were able to spend the rest of the afternoon in the bright sun of our campground, and likely burned in the process. The setting sun highlights and illuminates the mountains just to our east. It’s an indescribable sight. We settle in this evening reflecting on tomorrow, day number 20 and the midpoint of this trip. While we still have a LONG way to go, it is a bit sad that half is already behind us. But, as Pumba says, “You gotta put your behind in the past.”
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