This past weekend we ventured 2 hours south of San Francisco to Pinnacles National Park for an outdoor adventure. We love staying active outdoors and this hike was nothing short of a GREAT workout and such a fun experience.
When Skedaddle reached out to me to see if I wanted to join them for a day trip, I was really looking forward to getting out of the city and trying something new.
Skedaddle is an on demand bus pooling app which makes it easy to get out and explore. They travel to beaches, parks, or any events in your area. Its super simple to book your ride, you just head on over to their app and once 10 people agree on the same ride, the route goes live and Skedaddle sends a vehicle to transport the group- kind of like uber for buses/ group adventures. Also, skedaddle is donating $1 to the National Park Foundation for every rider traveling to a national park this summer. So that kind of sealed the deal.
We met at 8:30am in the Sunset District and hopped in the van to head on down towards Central California. We went with 8 others who were up for the same adventure, so once everyone joined we were off. The van was super comfortable for the long(ish) ride and before we knew it we were at the park.
Trails at Pinnacles National Park have a very distinctive look, they are surrounded by a very unique rock that combines volcanic and sedimentary rock. The giant boulders you can see from these photos were formed as a result of volcanic activity that occurred over 23 million years ago!
Jeff and I honestly had NO IDEA what we were in for. A little hike/walk/jaunt? Ummm not so much. We were in for a huge hike, and it happened to be 95+ degrees that day! Jeff would kill me for posting any photos of him dripping in sweat so that’s why you dont see him here, but a big shout out to him for taking all my pics! (I was dripping in sweat also, the hat covers my red face thank goodness!)
Although the hike was crazy hard (even for us being an active crew) it was GORGEOUS. Mother nature is such a beautiful thing and I am so thankful we had the opportunity to explore this beautiful place. If you do visit, I suggest you start on the west side of the park as we did and head Juniper Canyon Trail. It a pretty steep incline, but the views are worth the trek! Once we got to the top we stopped for lunch then continued onto High Peaks Trail then Bear Gulch Cave Trail. Here we hiked through beautiful caves. This was a pretty cool part of the hike, where we needed flash lights and really had to get through small passages to get to the other side of the cave. We didn’t have enough time to check out the reservoir, but heard its a site to see. We were fortunate enough to have the Skedaddle driver pick us up on the other side of the park, so we wouldn’t have to hike 5 miles back where we came from. Super convenient and just the right distance.
A few tips if you are planning your trip: bring lots and lots of water and pack a lunch! There are so many beautiful places to stop and enjoy the view. Plan to spend the whole day there, and really take in all it has to offer.
We are looking forward to getting outdoors for another hike and using Skedaddle to take us there! What are your favorite hiking trails?
Thanks to Skedaddle for sponsoring this post.
