Pinnacles in the clouds

One of the first things we did (besides go wine tasting) in California was hike at Pinnacles National Monument. I have no idea what the differences are between a national monument & a park, but whatever. We totally lucked out in a couple of ways. First hiking on a Monday and on the West side of the park which has no services and as a result we were the only ones there for hours. Second it was cloudy and threatening rain; very unusual for Soledad in May. Usually rains stop in April and nothing falls all summer. Normal temps in May are the 80s and 90s which I'm glad wasn't the case. It's dry, chaparral country and that would have been brutal. As it was it actually sprinkled on us a bit and made colors really pop despite the low(ish) light. Here's a few from that hike -

Pinnacles and all the rock formations are the remnants of an ancient, extinct volcano -
http://wickeddark.smugmug.com/Travel...7_qnbio-XL.jpg

Golden Yarrow on the steep slopes -
http://wickeddark.smugmug.com/Travel...9_rHh5W-XL.jpg

Pretty faces -
http://wickeddark.smugmug.com/Travel...2_JrEwe-XL.jpg

A favorite winery near Pinnacles is named for the Chalone indians who used the area around the park as a seasonal gathering location. When it got too hot, they moved back into Salinas valley where the now famous Monterey fog cools things down.
http://wickeddark.smugmug.com/Travel...9_3NS6A-XL.jpg

Anyway...thanks for checking it out. I'm still processing stuff from this hike and may add to this thread later. I think our hike took twice as long as it would have if I didn't stop to take a shot of just about every one of the million wildflowers or the terrific scenery. Ah well, luckily the husband is used to it.

As usual I like the set and the text that goes with it :)

Ditto Marko

nice set indeed. I love the close up of the striped flower. it's beautiful!

thanks three amigos.

Here are a few more...the wildflowers in California are amazing. The sheer number of them is mind-boggling. May is a great time to visit there if anyone is planning a trip.

This is where the trail started to get steep. It got worse and handrails had to be installed - also a bridge jammed under an overhang spanning a chasm, but this is the best composition and also shows my favorite flower (if only for the name) - sticky monkeyflower. I swear, that's the official name, ever after known as stinky monkey-butt to me and my husband.
http://wickeddark.smugmug.com/Travel...7_RjPvP-XL.jpg

Here's a closer view of stinky monkey-butt -
http://wickeddark.smugmug.com/Travel...9_9bG4V-XL.jpg

Valley view below the treeline -
http://wickeddark.smugmug.com/Travel...5_HNvBZ-XL.jpg

Crinkled onion (you can see this is touched with sun as the clouds started to break up) -
http://wickeddark.smugmug.com/Travel...2_6NtGB-XL.jpg

Wow, beautiful colors and bokeh effect on those flowers.

Excellent shots in all of them WD. Really enjoy the narrative with it also.
Thanks for sharing your trip.

thanks you two. there's more to come.

very nice set, The last shots got something good going on.. love the vivid purples.

The flowers definitely stand out. Think I see why 'monkey-butt' was ad-libbed :)

What sort of animals live in this region?