PINNACLES BIKE AND HIKE, 2006

There weren’t any bats in the caves at Pinnacles National Monument, but the hike, that included sloshing in ankle deep water, was sure worth it anyway. The caves are open to the public for only a few weeks each year to protect the resident bat families. We were there on one of the lucky weeks.

Here’s how the weekend went: we met in the town of Coalinga to start our ride up beautiful Los Gatos Canyon, a winding road that follows the creek, meandering past ranch country, meadows, and chaparral. We didn’t see as many wildflowers as we usually do, probably because of the late rains and below normal temperatures. We camped Friday night near the monument after attending a ranger program in the amphitheater. The stars were out, so we couldn’t imagine why the ranger told us of a 90% chance of rain that night. At about 2 a.m. we learned she was right. By 6 a.m. the rain was steady, so we holed up until the store opened at 9. The storekeeper had heard a weather report that promised clearing by noon. As soon as the rain stopped, we headed into the monument (by then it was about 11 a.m.) for our hike. Our planned hike on the High Peaks Trail was not an option, both for time considerations and for lack of view because of low clouds. When we left the park to start our ride to King city, there was lots of blue sky and beautiful puffy clouds. The birds were singing again. The final long downhill into King City was the best: the dreaded headwinds and crosswinds that are legion in that area did not materialize.

Sunday morning dawned clear and cool. After leaving King City we enjoyed many, many miles of a backcountry road with virtually no traffic. The cows grazing on the green hillsides greatly outnumbered the cars and bicycles. After a long, steady climb out of this ranchland, we descended into Priest Valley where we had lunch at a café that had picnic tables in the grassy yard. We finished the tour on this lovely, exceptionally cool and breezy day by negotiating the many ups and downs (that I call the “whoop-de-doos”) into Coalinga.

What a trip! Great weather, great scenery, great company. The six riders were Philip Conmy, Ron Hall, Janice and Larry Moore, Mike Wolfe, and Ellie Antonio.