Bear Gulch Cave (Pinnacles National Park, California)

Taking a long weekend to visit Monterey, I decided to do some hiking in Pinnacles National Park, which is about an hour from the city. In 1993, the US Congress upgraded the landmark from a National Monument to a National Park, but what they did not do was provide budget to create a road across the park. As there is no road allowing passage from the eastern to the western side of the park, I decided to explore the eastern side today and possibly return tomorrow to see the trails available from the western entrance.

After a long drive through the golden rolling hills of the central valley, I finally arrive at the entrance to the park. As remote as this area is, I'm a bit surprised to see how popular it is. Cars fill the parking lot of the visitor center and campground. I pay my entrance fee, speak with a somewhat grumpy park ranger and then make my way to the Bear Gulch area of the park.

The park is centered around an ancient volcanic flow, and over the centuries the spires created from erosion of that flow have cracked, broken and toppled into the deep valleys to form piles of house and car sized boulders. In and around this field of titan-sized rocks, a 'cave system' has been formed. The Beat Gulch Cave is my first destination on this trip.

Hiking up a small valley, I pull out my cell phone to take advantage of the flash light as I enter the first part of the cave. Stairs lead up and around the precarious passageway. Maneuvering through this area takes some contortionist skills (even worse in the darkness), but I manage to find my way through. I should have brought my headlamp, but I lazily decided to leave it in the jeep.

Eventually, I pop out above the original path and onto the upper trail. It leads around the small valley and back to the parking lot. As I approach the trail head, I'm amazed to see and hear ten or more woodpeckers going to town on some nearby dead trees. I've seen woodpeckers before, but in my experience they tend to be loners. I've never encountered so many together. 

The trail and 'spelunking' only amounted to about 1.75 miles and as the sun sets in the distance, I know I need to get on the road and to my hotel. I don't know that I would travel too far out of the way to visit what I've seen of the park so far, but since I'm in the area, it was well worth the detour.