Then we started our hiking in the blazing sun.
We drove to the Bear Gulch Day Use Area and hiked up the Condor Gulch Trail. When as a backpack passenger Finn demanded "wa-wa" for the entire first 45 minutes, we quickly realized that 1) He was seriously spoiled by our moderate SF climate and 2) We didn't bring enough water for that kind of heat. The scenery and my joy at being in the mountains made it so I hardly noticed my parched mouth.
This place is awesome for rock-scrambling.
This is the view from the top of the hike, which is also a junction with another trail.
Finn did do some of his own hiking, and liked to take breaks for snacks and rock collecting.
The hike wore our little boy out (or heat stroke got to him) and he fell asleep driving back to the campsite. We met up with our friends, the Stanleys and hopped in the campground pool (what?!?). Afterwards we had a great dinner, went on a drive and topped the day off with S'mores.
Not sure if it was the sugar high, the late nap, or the odd setting that made it a huge battle to get Finn to fall asleep that night. It made for the puffiest eyes I've seen in a while the next morning. Jeremy was kind enough to entertain the boys with watermelon and squatting exercises while the rest of us slept a little longer.
Of course stick and rock-collecting were also a big hit.
Here is the jammy and cowboy boot-clad Finn showing off his "tummy trick."
After a far too short car nap for Finn, we all set out on the Moses Spring Rim trail loop, a short hike full of tunnels and caves--perfect for kids. Henry did awesome walking the whole way.
A hungry and tired Finn made for a bit of a whiney hike, but it wasn't anything that will overrule future camping trips.
There wasn't really a great place to stop for lunch along the way, but we did anyway since both kids were more than ready to eat and even a short hike takes a long time with young'ns.
We came back to the campground pool and had another refreshing, post-hike swim.
Other campground residents also needed cooling off, apparently.
Popsicles from the campground store topped off the trip nicely before we jumped in the car and headed home.
What do I think about the Pinnacles in general? I did a lot of camping and hiking in the rocky desert growing up, so this felt good to me. Great nearby option for camping with kids. Good hiking options for long and short hikes. This place would be a rock climber's heaven! The pool is an awesome touch to cool off and another reason this is a good camping spot for kids. I would totally go back, but as hot as it was in the fall, I would NEVER go in the summer. Yep, like Finn, SF weather has made me a tad delicate.
We drove to the Bear Gulch Day Use Area and hiked up the Condor Gulch Trail. When as a backpack passenger Finn demanded "wa-wa" for the entire first 45 minutes, we quickly realized that 1) He was seriously spoiled by our moderate SF climate and 2) We didn't bring enough water for that kind of heat. The scenery and my joy at being in the mountains made it so I hardly noticed my parched mouth.
This place is awesome for rock-scrambling.
This is the view from the top of the hike, which is also a junction with another trail.
Finn did do some of his own hiking, and liked to take breaks for snacks and rock collecting.
The hike wore our little boy out (or heat stroke got to him) and he fell asleep driving back to the campsite. We met up with our friends, the Stanleys and hopped in the campground pool (what?!?). Afterwards we had a great dinner, went on a drive and topped the day off with S'mores.
Not sure if it was the sugar high, the late nap, or the odd setting that made it a huge battle to get Finn to fall asleep that night. It made for the puffiest eyes I've seen in a while the next morning. Jeremy was kind enough to entertain the boys with watermelon and squatting exercises while the rest of us slept a little longer.
Of course stick and rock-collecting were also a big hit.
Here is the jammy and cowboy boot-clad Finn showing off his "tummy trick."
After a far too short car nap for Finn, we all set out on the Moses Spring Rim trail loop, a short hike full of tunnels and caves--perfect for kids. Henry did awesome walking the whole way.
A hungry and tired Finn made for a bit of a whiney hike, but it wasn't anything that will overrule future camping trips.
There wasn't really a great place to stop for lunch along the way, but we did anyway since both kids were more than ready to eat and even a short hike takes a long time with young'ns.
We came back to the campground pool and had another refreshing, post-hike swim.
Other campground residents also needed cooling off, apparently.
Popsicles from the campground store topped off the trip nicely before we jumped in the car and headed home.
This post makes me so jealous, I totally miss camping! We are going to have to go soon, we'll just have to get a camp site far away from anyone else
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