18 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY january 5-11, 2023 www.montereycountyweekly.com Crown JewelPinnacles is celebrating its 10-year anniversary of becoming a national park, but the park has been millions of years in the making. David Schmalz As a coyote trots across a meadow in the western foothills of the Gabilan Range, it stops and turns toward the road to see a single car approaching Pinnacles National Park. As the car passes, the coyote keeps its eyes on the road, waiting for another car it can hear—but not yet see— before trotting on its way. It’s a crisp and clear afternoon in December, and further east down the road, the lot at the park’s western trailhead has partially emptied out on account of hikers who got earlier starts. The plan for the day’s hike is a classic: a four-mile partial loop that climbs up the Juniper Canyon Trail, and just over a mile in, hits a junction at the Tunnel Trail, the exit of the loop. From there, continue up Juniper Canyon another half-mile to the High Peaks Trail, the crown jewel of the trails at Pinnacles. Climbing up Juniper Canyon Trail from a creek and into switchbacks, the Pinnacles’ spires glow in the sunshine, with hues colored by the approximately 350 species of lichens endemic to the park. At the end of that trail, atop the ridge, a sign pointing north toward High Peaks notes: “STEEP-NARROW.” Built in the 1920s and ’30s, a trail like High Peaks could never be built today: It traverses the park’s spires, and in several places, stairs have been hammered out of rock, some of which have room for only a left or right foot. Aside these stairs are metal railings, sunk into stone, as the climbs are steep, and falls dangerous. On a level part of the ridge, looking up, a California condor, a critically endangered species which calls the Top: A California condor takes flight from its perch atop one of Pinnacles’ spires. Above right: The welcome sign on the eastern entrance to the park. Left: An adventurous stretch of the High Peaks Trail, which was built in the 1920s and ’30s. David Schmalz karen Loutzenheiser Courtesy of National Park Service
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjAzNjQ1NQ==