Читать книгу 101 Hikes in Northern California. Exploring Mountains, Valleys, and Seashore онлайн

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From the overlook, you leave the gulch behind and wrap around the ridge above you. Where the trail winds through open chaparral dominated by chamise, good views east of deeply furrowed San Benito Valley open up.

Views to the north appear as you intersect High Peaks Trail (1.7/2,290')—go left. This is a good place to start looking for California condors. Since 2003, the park has taken part in the California Condor Recovery Program. Several dozen juvenile condors have been released here in recent years and more than 60 currently live in the region. Look for these majestic—and enormous—endangered birds early in the morning and just after sunset. Also keep an eye out for prairie falcons. Every year from January through June, roughly a dozen pairs of these raptors nest in the cliffs of the Pinnacles and can often be seen swooping between the peaks. They are readily identified by their pointed wings, narrow tails, quick wingbeats, and distinctive cries.

Curving through massive boulders and outcrops, the trail then offers up views of the Balconies, a large, deeply sliced outcrop visible northwest. Reaching a junction with Tunnel Trail (2.3/2,480'), continue straight on High Peaks Trail to begin an exciting section where bolted iron railings provide handholds for steep stairways whose steps are mere scoops in the rock. Passage is tight beneath Condor Crags, and descending those scoops is challenging; you soon reach a junction on the opposite side (3.0/2,470') where an outhouse is conveniently situated.