Pinnacles Visit

We visited Northern California to get a break from the New England winter weather. Not only was it considerably warmer than our home climate this time of year, we got to visit with my son and daughter-in-law as well; they live in San Francisco. In the first part of the trip, we stayed in Aptos at the northern edge of Monterey Bay, just south of Santa Cruz. We visited Pinnacles National Park on our first full day after arrival. I'm pretty sure I was there once before, but it was many decades ago. Other guests at the B&B where we were staying suggested we go to the east entrance, and we decided to follow their advice. Pinnacles has a west and an east side; there are no direct roads connecting the two sides.

After parking in the Bear Gulch parking lot, we hiked the Overlook Trail (yellow) and the Bear Gulch Cave Trail (green).

Our Pinnacles Hikes

While the Outlook Trail was pleasant, it wasn't as interesting as the hike up to the Bear Gulch Reservoir via the Bear Gulch Cave. There was a light rain shower twice during the Outlook Trail hike, but it didn't bother us too much.

We enjoyed the striking smooth red bark of some of the trees on the trails. After returning home, and doing a bit of googling, I've decided this is a Manzanita tree. I've seen them before when I lived in California, but had forgotten what a unique and colorful appearance they have.

Manzanita Tree

 View of some "pinnacle" formations towering over Bear Gulch.

Monoliths in the Distance

High Silhouette

The remaining photos are from the Bear Gulch Cave trail loop.

Rock Wall

Here's Deb demonstrating her massive strength to keep these rocks from colliding. This gap occurs right before the entrance to the cave.

Deb Keeps the Rocks from Colliding

The cave was quite a joy to climb through. It had steps inside, and one could stand up most of the way except in a few places. Parts of it were extremely dark; we had to use our cell phone flashlights to see where we were going. The next two cave pictures are of a particularly colorful section using two different aspect ratios. These were at ISO 5000 at 1/20 and 1/25 seconds respectively. I do not recall seeing the color on the rock with my eye. Nice that the camera reveals it.

Cave Color

Shining Through

After exiting the cave, we had an adventure figuring out which piles of rocks to crawl though to find the stunning Bear Gulch Reservoir.

Reservoir Peak

Boulders and Trees

Enjoying the High Res

Late Day Reservoir Blue

High Terrain

On the way back down, after the lovely reservoir visit, Deb used her great hiking boots with good grip to take a detour out onto a steep outcropping to see a magnificent view of the valley below. Here she is standing atop big rocks. Did I say these were BIG rocks?

Feeling Small

The Pinnacles terrain is unique and impressive!

Trailside View

All photos © 2018, all rights reserved.  Contact philslens@gmail.com for licensing or to order prints.

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Zion Day Four - We Bid Adieu

Alas we come to our fourth and last day at Zion post. We needed to head back to Las Vegas to catch a show (David Copperfield!, very entertaining) then to the airport for our red eye flight home.

Before we left Zion, while we had some thoughts of climbing yet more trails with crazy drop offs and views, in the end we decided to take it easy. We strolled along the Pa'rus Trail which meanders along the Virgin River in the valley of Zion Canyon. This gave us a different perspective on the awesome Zion scenery.

Driftwood

I thought I'd try a panorama shot, which in this case was a combination of six separate photos covering at least 180 degrees.

Zion Valley Panorama

Virgin River with Mountains Backdrop

Since it was mid-April, we were a touch too early in the season to see all the Zion flowers, but there were a few. The Watchman Trail and this Pa'rus Trail afforded the best opportunity for colorful flowers to grace our way. Here's a sample:

Utah Purple

Since the Virgin River was the star of this Pa'rus Trail, I thought it only appropriate to take a few more "silky river" shots. These next three pictures are all 1/15 second exposures, which is not particularly slow, but slow enough to cause the water to look this way.

Water Dance

It was mid-day and we were under bright sun. I wanted to slow the shutter speed down as much as possible, so I really needed a neutral density filter on the lens. Lacking that, I thought I'd try my clip-on sunglasses. Deb helped hold them in front of the lens while I held the camera steady atop a rock. Check this out:

High Class Lens Filter

The above photo didn't turn out quite the way I wanted. You weren't supposed to see my "lens filter". After cropping the photo a bit in post-processing, I obtained the next photo. Perhaps it isn't the most spectacular photo, but it's more or less what I originally had in mind.

Virgin River Show

Just twenty feet away from the last shot, this cactus flower was adorning the trail:

Cactus Flowers

This turned out to be the last picture of note. We left Zion to head home via Las Vegas.

We left feeling incredibly moved by the beauty and majesty of Zion National Park. We have had the pleasure of visiting many of our nation's National Parks, and, while they all have something to offer, our Zion visit was truly special. It will remain a fond memory for us always.


All photos © 2016, all rights reserved.  Contact me for licensing or to order prints.

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Zion Day One

Zion is amazing.

We could not believe the beauty here.


On our first hike we took the Emerald Pool trails and visited the lower, middle, and upper pools. We were greeted by this lovely waterfall on the lower trail. The trail goes *under* this.

Emerald Pool Falls

Rainbow Spotted at Fall's Base

After the Emerald Pool trails, we headed to the Weeping Rock trail.

This next photo is one of many classic views in Zion one gets by looking up.

Zion Grand Theater (my name for this, not theirs)

Indeed Weeping Rock weeped. Again, the trail takes us *under* the water, where we watch from behind the spray. Amazingly this water is not a waterfall, but rather, the spring water sourced far above seeps through the porous Navajo sandstone, a process that takes nearly a thousand years before it reaches the overhanging blind arch we are standing under, known as Weeping Rock.

Weeping Rock

Flowers Bursting on the Weeping Rock Wall

High Tree

Next up, we took the Riverside Walk along the Virgin River to the start of the Narrows.  Zion Canyon was created by the Virgin River.

Silky Virgin River

Late Day Red Walls

This relatively flat stroll along the Virgin River goes for one mile, and was definitely one of the highlights of our Zion visit. The river scenery and surrounding majestic walls were breathtaking.

Virgin River near Temple of Sinawava

We Felt Small Compared to Walls like These

The Narrows was closed due to high April snow runoff. For those that aren't familiar, this "hike" involves walking directly in the water upstream (or downstream). Here is the enticing "bottom-up" entrance to the Narrows seen during the golden hour.

These next two photos are two of my favorites taken in all of Zion and Bryce:

The Start of the Narrows

Deb wanted to get her feet wet both to soothe them from the day's hiking and so that she could get at least "two feet" into the Narrows. She says they turned purple right away in the icy cold water. You can see a few other brave souls in the background that actually went up river even though it was "closed".

Narrows Therapy

More on this trip will follow in my next blog entry.

All photos © 2016, all rights reserved.  Contact me for licensing or to order prints.

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