Over the MLK holiday, we visited the Eastern Pinnacles of Pinnacles National Park, near Hollister, CA.  This is one of my favorite places.  This year, we packed a picnic and visited two days in a row.  On the first day, we hiked the High Peaks trail–a 1600 foot climb–but failed to make it to the caves before dark.  The photo above is a view from that trail, about half way up the mountain.  On the second day we hiked the shorter trail, climbed through the talus caves, spread a blanket on a flat spot of volcanic breccia, and spent the entire day exploring the reservoir and surrounding cliffs and talus.

Pinnacles presents dramatic volcanic rock formations and lush plant life.  One of my favorite trees in this area is the Pinus sabiniana, or Grey Pine–sometimes called the Ghost Pine.  It has an interesting color that seems to perfectly fit the palette of the area.  Everything has a warm neutral tone–perfect for old film.

On the second day the kids went separate ways and explored the area each own their own, calling out across the valley to locate each other.  Each found his own special spots.   This enabled me to roam around the valley, catching up with each of them as they climbed and jumped, and catch them with my camera.

In next several posts, I’ll be telling the story of this trip with photos and short descriptions of the scenes presented.