March 12, 2024
Have you ever heard of a talus cave? It's essentially a cave formed when large boulders and detris fill a narrow canyon area. We were glad that the Bear Gulch talus caves were open when we visited Pinnacles National Park in central CA. We quickly opted to make the caves part of our loop hike to the reservoir.
Flashlights are required for the caves, preferably one per person, and you may want an extra pair of shoes and socks! We just barely managed to avoid soaking our shoes. Harold was a trooper, his knees letting him know that crawling on a metal grate to get through a tight spot was not going to be without consequences.
Views of the pinnacles as you hiked and a reservoir at the top were your rewards. We're not sure if we saw the condors. We saw some large birds near the reservoir, but they were a bit too far away for us non-birders to make positive identification. Oh well, but if anyone asks, we saw them. ; )
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| How's your balance? |
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| Good thing it was a weekday in shoulder season |
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| Pretty pinnacles |
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| At the reservoir |
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| Rim trail firecracker wildflowers |
