Good morning! It is officially 0 dark thirty! I think It's 6:17. I'm at Pinnacles
National Park. I got in last night just before the sunset and I am going to go
hiking this early in the morning hopefully catch some California condors
Music
I have never been to this national park this is my second-to-last Park in
California I still have Channel Islands. Last year I passed this park twice and I
was so tempted to just go check it out but I really wanted to dig in because it
is a new park to me. It's actually the newest park and it's the latest of all
of our national parks it was commissioned in 2013 by President Obama.
It has been a National Monument since I think it was 1908 or something like
that. So a long time. I'm thinking I'm gonna do a 6 mile hike. That's a lot for
me but I think it'll be worth it in fact I'm pretty sure it'll be worth it.
The wind's gusting and... so I checked the weather yesterday but I don't have
signal today to be able to check it today. With all the layers I have and the
different options I'm sure I'll be fine. My pack's a little heavier than normal
because I'm just not used to going to on such a long hike and so I have some food...
and so let's go check this out!
[footsteps]
I'm barely up from the parking lot
and... come across this. It's so beautiful, I love it already!
This is really my kind
of a hike it's over a thousand feet elevation gain, which I know sounds
terrible to most people but... Lots of rock scrambling, which, if you've seen any of
my adventure videos you know I love to rock scramble. I just would really
rather go up and down then to just wander around, so I think this is gonna
be exceptional!
!o I've got almost two miles to the peak and then planning on
looping around and doing the Condor Gulch on the way back. I could just go
High Peaks and come back. So we'll see.
I was just down there >>>
As I'm shooting still pictures the
images are looking really washed out and I'm not sure how to change that.
I have everything on auto so it should just be working [laugh]
I have taken photography classes
I kind of understand the concepts but that's not information that I remember [laugh]
We'll see. Hopefully the images look okay. If not it's still beautiful.
And I'm loving the manzanita. So manzanita and madrone are two of my favorite trees.
They're very similar, kind of similar, as far as like the red bark and
the twisty turny branches and I just find them very very interesting.
I'm not even sure that I can comprehend the diversity of my lifestyle!
Two days ago I was riding my bike along the beach and by the boardwalk and through downtown in
Santa Cruz, yesterday I did a wellness consult and worked on setting up a van
build meeting with a potential client, and today I'm hiking up to 8,000 feet! [laugh]
It just kind of boggles the mind doesn't it?
[wind, footsteps]
Ah Ho! This is awesome!
The trail guide did say there are some narrow areas and that you shouldn't come
on this hike if you are afraid of heights. So, I am NOT afraid of heights. I
actually love being on edge of things, safely of course, and so... So yeah, I'm
excited to see that's nice narrow passage here.
Right now I'm very grateful to people who worked for the Civilian Conservation Corps back in the 30s
they're the ones who built these trails and it's awesome!
Steps and railings and tunnels and all kinds of things out here.
[wind]
I've climbed up a little bit from the stairs that I just showed you and then I
was looking for the trail. So, I was looking over here>>> and then I saw it,
just little steps going up!
[wind]
Yeah, I just climbed down that. I did turn around and
go backward. Just came up on this! Lots of pinnacles here. So cool.
If you're a rock climber you probably already know all about pinnacles but there are a ton of
rock climbing spots here in the park.
[wind, footsteps]
For me, up is always easier than down so I often have to crab walk on my way down.
Whatever. You gotta do what you gotta do! I'm a firm believer in staying alive and
staying safe! [laugh]
[fabric rustling, wind, footsteps]
[wind]
I am at the Condor Gulch overlook. I'm going pretty fast downhill.
I'm not I haven't even looked at the time but I'm feeling like I've been out
here for a while. And the path down hasn't been as interesting as the path
up and certainly not as interesting as the High Peaks. THAT was cool!
I loved that! So let me show you Condor Gulch.
The stream pools as it goes down.
[wind]
Alright, I just finished. I got back to the road. It could have ended about a
mile sooner for me but that's okay. I loved the high peak that was so cool!
Especially the old paths that the CCC had created.
I was all worried about what I was gonna
wear on this hike today because I would knew it was a long hike
and I wasn't sure just how warm it would end up getting or any of that or how
cold and uh all of that overthinking on my wardrobe certainly paid off.
I was completely perfectly comfortable the entire time.
A little more than halfway through I took off my hood from my wool hoodie and replaced it with my
hat. My ears were getting cold so I had to pull my Buff up over my ears but
everything was perfectly convertible and worked great.
So I visited the visitor center again after having lunch and relaxing a little bit and um
rejuvenating a bit; that was quite a strenuous hike! And now you can see I'm
hiking again I'm just gonna do a quick cave loop
and then head on to Williams Hill.
So this starts out with exactly the same place I was in this morning
[wind and footsteps]
This park really shows off the excellent work that the CCC did back in the 30s
and early 40s
[background music]
This is cool! [laughs] [background music]
A different kind of rock scrambling here! [background music]
[background music]
[metal scraping on rock]
How many videos do I have of me going sideways through holes? [laughs]
[water running]
Where I just came from
[water running} Going up.
[water running]
[metal scraping] [water running]
That was my water bottle scraping on the wall.
It's a little narrow through here.
Whoa!
[water running]
Very cool! Looks like you used to be able to go down in there.
[water running]
Wet! [water running]
Watch your head here.
[water running]
[laughing]
SQUEEZE! Oh, shoulders on both sides of the rock.
[footsteps]
I just got to show you this. This is
the trail. Looks like there's a metal grate under that concrete.
And then look at all that!
This is Joni with the Galavan. Enjoy your journey!
[Music]