A Walk in the Shadows of Towering Pinnacles

Nothing prepares you for the sight of them.

The approach from the west offers a view of classic California cattle country--round, rolling, grassy hills. Suddenly, popping out of the land like a stage set, are the towering rock spires of the Pinnacles, a Bryce Canyon in miniature and a place like no other in California.

Located about 300 miles north of Los Angeles, the Pinnacles crown the obscure Gabilan Range.

About the only one ever to sing the praises of the Gabilans is John Steinbeck in East of Eden: “I remember that the Gabilan Mountains to the east of the valley were light gay mountains full of sun and loveliness and a kind of invitation, so that you wanted to climb into their warm foothills almost as you want to climb into the lap of a beloved mother.”

Steinbeck, however, means the gentle Gabilans that line his beloved Salinas Valley, not the rugged volcanic anomaly that is the Pinnacles.

The Pinnacles are far from pastoral. The San Andreas fault is located four miles to the east of the national monument’s eastern boundary. You can see the infamous rift zone from the Pinnacles’ high country trails.

The fault’s movement is responsible for devastating earthquakes, notably the great 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Scientists estimate that the Pacific plate on the west side of the San Andreas, is moving northward at a rate of about 1 1/2 inches a year.

As you hike the park’s trails, you might contemplate that if present theory holds up, in a few million years, Pinnacles will be located in San Francisco. And a few million more years after that, Los Angeles will be located where the Pinnacles now stand.

The Pinnacles volcanic formation, as geologists call the sky-scraping rocks, is about 23 million years old. Millions of years after the volcanoes fell silent, wind, water and earthquake faulting sculpted the rock into the fantastic formations we see today.

Costonoan Indians roamed the Gabilans for 500 years, but occupied the Pinnacles area only sporadically. In the 1820s, the Spanish named the range for a raptor-- gabilan, or sparrow hawk.

Giving the Pinnacles some press in the 19th Century was the notorious bandit, Tiburcio Vasquez, who hid from the sheriff in the maze of rocks, and many a tale of lost silver mines. However, it wasn’t until early this century that people began to appreciate the area’s unique scenery.

By national park standards, the Pinnacles is relatively small--16,000 acres. But there’s a lot of park packed in and around the pinnacles that gave the national monument its name.

Besides the high spires, there are slopes bristling with digger pine, rolling grassland and a pretty canyon cut by Chalone Creek.

Pinnacles is very much a hiker’s park. Most of the major features can only be visited on foot. The park is also popular with rock climbers, who constantly challenge the highest pinnacles.

If the introductory loop described below is too much for a day hike, consider the two-mile (round trip) Balconies Trail (an interpreted nature trail) to Balconies Cave or the 1 1/4-mile (round trip) Bear Gulch Nature Trail.

The national monument has two entrances and there is no road connection between the east and west sides. I prefer the west entrance, where there is less traffic, both by cars and hikers.

Before you hit the trail: 1) Pick up a trail map and the Balconies Self-Guiding Trail brochure at the Chaparral Ranger Station. 2) Fill your canteen; no water is available en route. If you come to Pinnacles in winter, be aware that pipes often freeze and you won’t be able to get any water at the park. 3) Check the batteries on your flashlight. You must have a light to walk through the Balconies Caves.

Directions to trail head: From Highway 101 in Soledad, take the Soledad/Highway 146 exit eastbound. Drive 12 miles to road’s end at a parking lot at Pinnacles National Monument. The trail to High Peaks leaves from the east side of the park entry road.

The hike: Juniper Canyon Trail meanders along Moses Creek, which is frozen in winter. The path passes scattered oaks and begins a series of switchbacks among large rocks. After more than a mile of steep ascent, you can catch your breath at the junction with High Peaks Trail. There’s a bench here, from which the resting hiker can get grand views of the surrounding high peaks.

The trail steepens, heading for a sharp ridge crest. Pipe hand rails fastened to the stone help you negotiate the narrow trail. You’ll head up and down staircases hewn into the rock by Civilian Conservation Corps workers of the 1930s. The half a mile or so of trail snaking among the peaks is terrific--unless, of course, you’re afraid of heights.

Emerge from the high peaks with a great view eastward of the San Andreas fault zone and of nearby Chalone Creek Valley.

Pass an intersection with Condor Gulch Trail, which leads down to Bear Gulch Visitor Center at the east entrance of the park. Stay with High Peaks Trail.

Leaving the rocky spires behind, descend through an oak-dotted grassland. The trail drops past some glassy-looking volcanic outcroppings and through chaparral to a bridge over Chalone Creek and the signed junction with Old Pinnacles Trail.

At the junction you bear left onto Old Pinnacles Trail, which follows the west fork of Chalone Creek. The trail ascends very gently beneath the boughs of digger pine and occasionally crosses the creek.

Springtime wildflower displays are lovely near the creek. In mid-winter, the large pear-shaped pods of the California buckeye enlarge and split open to release large chestnut-like seeds; in May and June, snowy-white flowers blossom on the long erect spikes of the plant.

As the trail bends south, you’ll come to a signed intersection. A trail on your right leads up to the Balconies Cliffs, while the one straight ahead leads to Balconies Caves. Head into the caves.

The caves were formed when boulders, loosened by earthquakes, fell into this narrow canyon, forming a roof over it. Running water enlarged the caves.

Emerging from the caves, join the Balconies self-guided nature trail. If you have the park service pamphlet, you can learn about everything from volcanism to lichen, as you return to the trail head.

HIKING / GABILAN MOUNTAINS Juniper Canyon, High Peaks, Old Pinnacles and Balconies Trails * Where: Pinnacles national Monument. * 8.5-mile loop with 1,500-foot elevation gain. Longer and much shorter loops possible.

* HIGHLIGHTS: Dramatic rock formations; view of San Andreas Fault. * DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY: This hke moderate to strenuous, but some easy ones in the area.

* PRECAUTIONS: Steep trails, use hand rails. Flashlight necessary to explore caves. * FOR MORE INFORMATION: Call Pinnacles National Monument at (408) 389-4485.