Tom's National Park Adventure

Sunday I got up and rode my bike up to the trailhead. I ended up hiking on four different trails. I started on the Bench trail, then the Blue Oak trail, then the Condor Gulch trail and finally the Sycamore Trail. This created a giant circle where I ended back where I started. At the end of the day I had walked close to nine miles and had clocked close to 22,000 steps! The elevation gain on the Blue Oak trail is over 1500 feet in only two miles! That hike almost got the better of me. I drank over two liters of water on this hike!

The Condor Gulch trail was just as steep, but I was headed downhill this way. While on the trail, I met some volunteers who were tracking Condors for the park with antenna like devices. They explained to me that the wingspan of the California Condors is about nine feet. That is only about two feet longer that your average Bald Eagle. Their wingspan is about seven feet! While I was talking to them, a condor happened to glide by close enough to get a picture of it! It was number 47 by the way!

It’s harder than you would think it should be to get a picture of a condor with your phone!

Pinnacles National Park is a smaller park by most National Park standards. However, I had just as good of a time there as I have had in parks much larger!