When we woke up this morning we were quite surprised at how nice our campsite and the scenery was for a BLM campground. The campsite was very well kept and completely free! We couldn't believe it.
On the drive to Pinnacles National Park we noticed the sky was cloudy but it didn’t look too bad.
Once we got to the park it was pretty apparent a storm was rolling in.
We didn’t have service on our phones so we checked with the rangers and the forecast for the day had completely changed. That meant we also needed to change to be more prepared because it was very likely to rain during our hike. We put pants on and grabbed our rain coats and headed to do the Bear Gulch Caves and Pinnacles High Peaks Hike. The rock formations were really impressive.
Cave pictures never turn out that great, but I wanted to include them anyway because they were pretty cool. This cave is a talus cave and part of the cave was closed because of a resident maternity bat colony.
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After we walked out of the cave we saw this random chair labeled “contemplation chair.” Neither one of us sat in it though lol
Here is a picture of Bear Gulch Reservoir.
During the hike to the high peaks we saw a lot of unique flowers. We also saw this really cool tree where parts of the tree were covered in a thick, waxy bark and was still alive while the rest of the tree had dead bark.
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We snapped a few more pictures as we noticed the storm rolling in faster. Since it was most likely going to rain we asked a group of hikers to take our flag picture for us.
Sure enough, about 5 minutes later it started pouring on us. We were completely exposed so we just kept hiking through it in hopes to find a ledge or something else to wait under. It came down hard for about 20 minutes, but finally the rain stopped and the blue sky started to poke through the clouds. We were pretty cold at this point because of the wind and rain, but there was really no point in turning back since we were already more than halfway through the hike.
We kept climbing higher and higher and the views started to get better and better. We also noticed some really cool boulders.
Once we made it to the top the sun started to dry us out. The view out over the park was breathtaking, even though it was still stormy in the distance. While we were up there we also got to see one of the park’s Californian condors in the distance!
We watched the condor for quite a while and then we decided to hurry back before more rain came. On the way we met back up with the group and talked about traveling with them for the rest of the hike. I captured one last cloudy shot of the Pinnacles.
Back at the car a group of older ladies came over to chat with us because they noticed the writing on Honu. They were so friendly and even wanted a picture of us standing with the car which they emailed to us. Thanks Sandra!
Haha not sure what is going on with my hat...
Next we headed for Santa Barbara to visit with our friend Blake. When we arrived we met his roommate Sam and his dog Lupine and also his friends Kyle and Zach. We all had a great night catching up and chatting about our roadtrip.
Lesson of the Day: Don't forget to bring the rain ponchos you bought specifically for the roadtrip. Especially when you know there is a chance for rain!
Word of the Day: talus
Lesson of the Day: Don't forget to bring the rain ponchos you bought specifically for the roadtrip. Especially when you know there is a chance for rain!
Word of the Day: talus