we went to pinnacles national park yesterday and had an amazing time! it's a big day trip, but it's doable from the bay area
we had a lot of trouble parking and had to hike to our trailhead from an overflow lot, but it all worked out in the end
i had been really looking forward to visiting the other cave (we went to the western cave last year), and i went through solo! i find caves a bit scary, but i wasn't gonna drive all that way and not go in :9
there was even a rushing waterfall inside the cave! i tried really hard to take a long exposure (i dragged my tripod all the way into the cave lol), but the camera couldn't focus on anything, and i wasn't sure how to get manual focus to work in almost total darkness
the headlamp i got for christmas came in handy too. i just put it on my hat and could see where i was going
there was such a pretty view on the other side of the cave too! i was a little wiped out from the technicality and scrambling at the end of the cave, but it was totally worth it
i didn't get to go in the upper section of the cave (maybe because of the bat colony), but i think the lower section is still the bigger part
oh yeah, and despite the warm weather elsewhere, it was so cold in the cave i could see my breath!
we made it home before dark (no nighttime freeway driving for me, phew) and were lucky enough to see the hills lit up with golden hour sunlight, followed by a pretty sunset with fluffy clouds limned with peach
it was such a fun trip! highly recommended if you're in norcal (it's 2-3 hours away from the bay area depending on where you're coming from). just be aware that parking is in short supply at the east end of the park (we could barely park anywhere at 1 pm but had better luck at 3 after an interim hike)