DISTANCE: 22km / 13.67 miles
ELEVATION GAIN: 1047m / 3434'
TIME TAKEN: 9:30
PINNACLES NATIONAL PARK
SAN BENITO COUNTY, CA
CHALON, OHLONE, RUMSEN, AMAH MUTSEN STOLEN LAND
SOUNDTRACK: Church Of Misery: Cerebrate Pigs
SUMMITS:
• North Chalone Peak: 1007m / 3304'
• South Chalone Peak: 996m / 3269'
PHOTO ALBUM
MAP
I was embedded in a party camping trip to Pinnacles National Park, wherein most of the attendees were more interested in dropping acid and swimming in the campground pool. As this was my fourth visit to Pinnacles, I had something more profound in mind (not that dropping acid wouldn't have been profound in it's own way), visiting the high point of the park for the first time. Also, my friend Rob Coons was coming to meet up, and he suggested extending the hike to include the infamous "Pig Fence Trail." And so it was to be. I met up with Rob in the parking lot at about 7:00AM. I knew Rob as an avid photographer of many local punk and metal bands, but secondarily, I knew he was a big time hiker, so it was only a matter of time before we teamed up for an expedition, there being so few punks / metalheads around willing to hike more than a couple of miles or even get up early for that matter. And so, we were off. Going up Bear Gulch past the talus caves and through the patch of giant boulders to the reservoir. Past this point, to me, was new territory. The Chalone Peak Trail was well maintained, graded, and good time was made heading up. Now with elevation gain, views of the High Peaks, to the north, and Mount Defiance to the east. Views then opened up to the west of a thick fog belt settled down over the Salinas Valley. It was just after 9AM when we reached the lookout tower on Chalone Peak North. It was very civilized, for a mountaintop, with a bathroom even. But we were about to go beyond the civilized world to a realm of unspeakable cruelty. JK. Nice view now to South Chalone Peak, too, our next stop. The sign said 1.6 miles. The way that Rob wanted to go had us skipping Middle Chalone Peak, but I didn't lose too much sleep over that.
We hiked down the fire road, and then cut up a steep brushy hillside to the true summit of South Chalone, where an assortment of unidentifiable garbage was strewn. Among it all, there was actually a small summit register. Nice view back to North Chalone now, and the fog was dissipating over Salinas valley. Just beyond South Chalone Peak was our entry point to the pig fence. It was now 10:30AM. We had discussed the pig fence, and were prepared. The leather gloves came on. There seemed to be a better trail on the other (south) side of the fence, so climbed over and followed it, almost straight due east. The fence is not the boundary of the park. We could see the fence plummeting east over the undulating hills, and we just followed along it. There was usually a trail alongside it, from people coming to work on the fence, presumably, but in some places that "trail" was so steep we had to cling to the fence for dear life. It was nearly 1:30PM by the time we got to the bottom of the thing, and it was hot, dry. We didn't have much water. We had been deposited in a dead zone at the eastern border of the national park, at dry Chalone Creek, there was supposedly a trail there, according to some maps, but it was hard to find or follow, and there was some blundering about. I had been hoping for the relief of a return to a real trail, but that did not come until almost 4PM, when we officially emerged onto to the South Wilderness Trail's dead end.
It was now wide open to start trucking back ASAP, but it was hotter, we were out of water, and we still had several miles between us and the vehicles. Luckily, a water spigot was soon found when we got close to the road, and from there, refreshed, we continued west on the Bench Trail. Through the valley we went, then up through the Bear Gulch Trail, through a rocky ravine area that was dry now, but I imagined could be quite charming in the rainy season. Not long after that, we were back at the parking lot, it must have been 5 or 6PM, and we went back to snack and drink with the remaining stragglers back at the campground. Amber had already gone home, in disgust apparently: when I caught up with her later that night, I found myself in trouble, because I had basically been absent the whole camping trip by showing up late the night before, and then being gone on the hike all day that day.
FURTHER READING
• North Chalone Peak on SUMMITPOST and PEAKBAGGER
• South Chalone Peak on SUMMITPOST and PEAKBAGGER
• Stav is Lost takes on Chalone Peaks
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