A New National Park

The Pinnacles are striking

Our final day was a trip to the nation's newest National Park – Pinnacles. It was a new Park for Caty and me, too.

Map: Framable Wanderings

Located in a mountainous area east of the Salinas Valley in Central California, it's about five miles east of Soledad and 80 miles southeast of San Jose. 

Elevation within the boundaries range from 824 to 3,304 feet at the peak of North Chalone Peak.

The Park is geologically significant because the massive stone pinnacles ...

One of these things is not like the other

... do not match the surrounding rolling hills ...

Hills

That's because the eroded leftovers of the western half of an extinct volcano moved 200 miles from their original location on the San Andreas Fault, embedded in a portion of the California Pacific Coast Ranges. 

It certainly looks volcanic

Large-scale earth movement also created talus caves that can be found in the park. Deep, narrow gorges and shear fractures were transformed into caves by large chunks of rock falling from above and wedging into the cracks, leaving an open area below. Caty and I didn't visit any caves.

Passport stamp

It's a small Park with two unconnected entrances – east and west. The east side has shade and water and is more developed; the west has high walls. We visited the less developed west.

There is no road through the park. From the pictures and video, it, like everything else in California, is much prettier in the spring than summer. It's very yellow now and all the creeks are dry.   

In the 1880s the area was known as the Palisades, but it shifted to Pinnacles around 1891. 

The Park's namesake

Schuyler Hain, a local homesteader led tours in the area, advocating the preservation of the Pinnacles. In 1906, Pinnacles Forest Reserve was established. It became Pinnacles National Monument in 1908 and then a National Park this January.

The Park has some of the highest densities of Prairie Falcons anywhere in North America. Peregrine Falcons breed there and a California Condor re-establishment program has been in place since 2003. 

We saw only Steller's Jays ...

Pretty blue against the green trees

California Thrashers ...

This was a new bird for me

... and a Greater Roadrunner ...

Meep Meep!

Although there is significant wildlife, we saw only a Ground Squirrel ...

It was a hot, hot day

Thirteen species of Bats have been documented at Pinnacles, with a further three species considered likely. The talus caves provide roosting and breeding habitat for the Bats.

Pretty but rugged

Vegetation in the Park is about 80 percent chaparral with woodlands, riparian and grasslands merged into the chaparral.

In the warmer portions of the park, large areas of greasewood cover slopes, along with manzanita, gray pine, canyon live oak and blue oak. 

Cooler portions of the park have higher proportions of pines and oaks, together with California buckeye, hollyleaf cherry, and coffeeberry. Willows and elderberries are found along the intermittent streams. 

Fire has been a dominant influence on the region's flora, both from natural causes and from intentional intervention by people. When the region was inhabited by Native Americans, they used fire as a tool to encourage the growth of preferred food sources, and to herd small game during hunting. Since the disappearance of native peoples, the hills have become brushier.

Trip date: July 26-August 8, 2013

Whales and Other Critters

Our goal was Whales (again!)

After San Francisco, we headed to Monterey for more whale watching. Caty had researched and found a highly rated tour that regularly sees Humpbacks, Dolphins, Orcas and Blues. Our trip was a tad disappointing – but just because we are spoiled. 

We did see Sea Lions ...

Kissy kissy

... and Harbor Seals in the harbor before we headed down the dock to board ...

Whatcha lookin' at?

Heck, we even saw Sea Lions on the dock before we boarded ...

He wasn't lookin' too happy

On the whale watch, we saw four humpbacks, diving and fluking. 

Humpback diving, most likely feeding

One set of two was very close to the shore ... 

These were really close to civilization

... and very close to another whale watch ...

Our boat may have looked like that to them

Unfortunately, no tail or fin slaps and no breaches. Just diving and fluking ...

Even repeated behaviors are fun to watch

Of course, there were lots of seabirds, primarily the prehistoric looking Pacific Brown Pelicans ...

Proof birds descended from dinosaurs

Plus some close-up Pigeon Guillemots ...

Love the red legs

The only Dolphins we saw were Pacific Bottlenose Dolphins in the harbor when we returned – they were too fast for photos.

Still a fun afternoon

Monterey Bay

The next morning, Caty and I went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. It's a fabulous aquarium and we had a great time.

We did not take cameras because there's really no point in photographing captive animals. 

I am glad we didn't because we found the constant picture-taking at the aquarium incredibly annoying. 

Photo: Monterey Bay Aquarium

The aquarium was packed – some of the displays were almost impossible to see. When everyone in the crowd is holding up a phone or camera, it's even worse – especially when they "can't get it right" and keep trying over and over and over and over. 

Seriously, folks, step aside so other people can see! Plus, if the sign says "no flash," I think it applies to everyone, including you. The poor octopus was getting zapped repeatedly.

Photo: Monterey Bay Aquarium

The jellies were incredible as were the seahorses. 

Photo: Monterey Bay Aquarium

Best of all was Sea Otter feeding – and the fun things they do to give the Otters a workout. They bring buckets of ice for the Otters to jump in, steal from and chomp on. They have only female rescues. In addition to being on display, they also serve as surrogate mothers for rescue pups, which are later returned to the Bay. 

They have a fabulous film about Luna, a rescue pup. Adorable.

What's even cooler is that there were birds, Sea Otters ...

They were a bit far out, but clear to see

... and Harbor Seals just outside the aquarium.

Harbor Seals giving us a show

Among them was a queen (that's a female Otter) and pup. 

We saw the queen dive and catch and eat a sea star

There was also a colony of Brandt's Cormorants sharing the rocks with the Seals ..

A common sight by on the rocks

We watched for quite some time ...

And they watched us

Now, I don't know what's better, inside or outside the Aquarium.

Trip date: July 26-August 8, 2013

Muir Woods and San Francisco

After such a lovely sunset the night before ...

A pretty time to see the coast; a rough time to drive the winding road

... Caty and I continued down the coast  ...

A pretty drive

... to Muir Woods. Along the way, we saw some California Quail ...

Just popped out on the side of the road

... and a couple of Deer ...

A Mule Deer buck with small antlers

Caty enjoying the trees

Muir Woods National Monument

We arrived at 9:00 a.m. and the parking lot was already full. Admission is free from 8:00 to 9:00 a.m. and it was a Saturday. So!

Named after naturalist John Muir and part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Muir Woods is on Mount Tamalpais near the Pacific coast, in southwestern Marin County. It protects 554 acres, of which 240 are old growth coast redwood  forests, one of a few such stands remaining in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Green, green, green

Different than their cousins the giant sequoias (AKA redwoods), coast redwoods are known for their height and not their circumference. While they can grow to nearly 380 feet, the tallest in the Muir Woods is 258 feet. Most of the redwoods in the monument are between 500 and 800 years old. The oldest is at least 1,200 years old. many other very green plants grow in the understory of the redwood grove.

Muir Woods is hard to photograph because it is always dark

Before the logging industry came to California, there were an estimated 2 million acres of old growth forest containing redwoods growing in a narrow strip along the coast. By the early 20th century, most had been cut down. However, Redwood Canyon remained uncut because of its relative inaccessibility.  

One of the nation's many wonderful Parks

William Kent, a rising California politician and his wife, Elizabeth Thacher Kent, much of the grove from the Tamalpais Land and Water Company for $45,000. Later, when a plan to dam Redwood Creek and flood Kent's property emerged, Kent sidestepped the threat by donating 295 acres of the redwood forest to the federal government, bypassing the local courts.

We are lucky Kent saved this beautiful land

In 1908, President Theodore Roosevelt declared the land a National Monument, the first to be created from land donated by a private individual. Kent insisted the monument be named after naturalist John Muir, whose environmental campaigns helped to establish the National Park system. 

The woods were peaceful and calm, the trees beautiful. It's not as dramatic as Sequoia. Many of the trees are taller, but not as big around and they are definitely more tightly packed. 

They are still big trees

San Francisco
We then drove on to San Francisco. 

The City on the Bay

The weather was sunny and the crowds were insane (it was, after all, the weekend). 

How did we end up at Fisherman's Wharf on a Saturday?

We had lunch on Fisherman's Wharf and then decided to do a hop on/hop off bus tour. It sure beat trying to walk through the crowds!

Transamerica Building

We didn't hop off until the base of the Golden Gate Bridge. 

Caty capturing the iconic bridge

By the time we got there, fog had rolled in, wind had picked up and it was cold. Still, we got some fantastic views, including sun shining on the city ...

A nice view

... and Alcatraz (which, by the way we couldn't tour because tours were booked up until Aug. 22!).

I don't think I'll ever get there; it is always booked

We had to wait forever for the next bus because of the traffic and it was so packed, photos were difficult.

San Francisco Bay

The ride across the bridge in the open bus top was cold, but very exciting. The ride back was even colder!

Mark Twain: "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco."

After we got off the bus, we ate dinner at a Russian restaurant called Stroganoff. Caty had stroganoff and I had vareniki - delicious. By then, I was exhausted from all the driving and the cold, so we just crashed. Perhaps wasted time in the city, but it just confirmed that we're not really city girls.

Oh, well

Trip date: July 26-August 8, 2013