What a surprise it was on the morning of March 19 when we left what we thought was a so so camp site to drive into the real Pinnacles National Park. We did enjoy watching the bunnies hop around and the quail scurry here and there, but there wasn't much else near the campground. Little did we know what was to be found just about 2 1/2 miles away.
We decided to drive up and at least do a short walk on the Bear Creek Trail before leaving the park in the morning. Our short hike turned to an almost 4 mile hike up and down the mountain. The trail was fragrant with wild lilac and wild flowers bloomed along the way.
We skirted a stream until we got to a narrow pathway between the rocks which eventually became the caves. We couldn't hike through the caves because we had neglected to bring our flashlights, alas something for next time.
We continued on to the reservoir. Which was a spectacular site.
After leaving Pinnacles we took a dirt road over to 101 at Gonzales and headed for Arroyo Seco Campground. This was a nice quiet campground, only us and one other guest. The hosts were quite chatty. The highlight of our night here came at sunset when hundreds of bats were suddenly overhead.
Our final night we headed to New Brighton State Beach in Capitola. We made a stop at Sea Cliff State Beach, about 2 miles south to check out the cement boat sunk at the end of the pier.
We decide to enjoy the beautiful day and drive home down the Great Highway, stopping at Landsend to get a beautiful view of the bay and bridge.
