today's hike.. pinnacles national monument CA..

[Trent Rock]

So
I decide to go to camping at the The Pinnacles
I ask my older brother what the lowdown was cause' he had been there several times
My brother grinned and said one word===>
RACCOONS
He kept telling me over and over
"Dude...the raccoons are aggressive there...they are out of control in the campground"
"Yeah... whatever...I got some heat just in case...Thanks for the tip though"
As I'm driving away I can hear him yelling at me "Watch out for the raccoons you chump!!!"

I arrive at The Pinnacles and meet up with my friends
I tell them "Man..My brother says the raccoons here are BRUTAL"
"Hmmm..I haven't seen any yet"
We set up our tents and start bbqing
All goes goes well
No raccoons!!
It gets dark
I go to take a leak about 40 yds from the campsite===>
I shine my flashlight and I see about 30 PAIRS OF EYES staring at me!!
They had the camp encircled!!!
The rest of the night we spent "fending off" the raccoons!!
I guess they wait until nighttime and grub on all the campers left out food!!

So
If you go to The Pinnacles===>
Watch out for the raccoons!!

On the other hand it is a very beautiful place as you can tell by Mr. MtFolk's pics....:thumbup:

 

[HighDesertWalker]

Very enjoyable set of pics as usual Mike. My favorite is the one of the two little munchkins in front of the cave. Is the little girl on the right your's too? Thanks for taking us along bro. :thumbup:

 

[mtnfolk mike]

thanks for all of the great comments folks.... much appreciated....

Mike,

How are the wildflowers at Pinnacles, right now? How are the butterflies, right now? How are the fungi, right now? Did you see the condors? If yes, where, and how close? Thanks for any info you can provide.

Here are a few Pinnacles shots:

The Pinnacles...

A Western Tiger Swallowtail nectaring on wallflower...

Silvery Blues mating on fiddleneck...

mike--those pics are amazing, as usual... the wildlowers were going off while we were there... it was a bit on the cold and gloomy side yesterday, so there weren't too many butterflies...

So
I decide to go to camping at the The Pinnacles
I ask my older brother what the lowdown was cause' he had been there several times
My brother grinned and said one word===>
RACCOONS
He kept telling me over and over
"Dude...the raccoons are aggressive there...they are out of control in the campground"
"Yeah... whatever...I got some heat just in case...Thanks for the tip though"
As I'm driving away I can hear him yelling at me "Watch out for the raccoons you chump!!!"

I arrive at The Pinnacles and meet up with my friends
I tell them "Man..My brother says the raccoons here are BRUTAL"
"Hmmm..I haven't seen any yet"
We set up our tents and start bbqing
All goes goes well
No raccoons!!
It gets dark
I go to take a leak about 40 yds from the campsite===>
I shine my flashlight and I see about 30 PAIRS OF EYES staring at me!!
They had the camp encircled!!!
The rest of the night we spent "fending off" the raccoons!!
I guess they wait until nighttime and grub on all the campers left out food!!

So
If you go to The Pinnacles===>
Watch out for the raccoons!!

On the other hand it is a very beautiful place as you can tell by Mr. MtFolk's pics....:thumbup:

i have camped there in the past and the raccoons are pretty out of control... the spot where we went last weekend, montana de orro, had a rediculous raccoon problem.. every night i had to grab a pocket full of rocks...

HDW-- thanks for the comments man... those 2 are pretty darn cute together... that is our friend julie's daughter.... don't be fooled by her cuteness, she is the devil in disguise...

 

[Mad_Maxx]

great pics thanks!
makes me want to go outside too,
here in italy it's getting better from yesterday, may re-start going out and camping soon!

happy spring from Italy guys!
Maxx

 

[lotoblades]

Awesome pics Mike, looks like yall had a great time!

 

[hollowdweller]

Hey Mike! What was that sandwich? Pesto?

On the subject of coons once about 15 years ago we were car camping and I was the last person up around the fire ring and all the sudden I hear all this growling around me in the dark.

The damn coons were trying to run me off so they could raid the trash can!

Then the next morning my friend says "We'll get off this morning!! I brought some "special brownies" to have with our morning coffee":thumbup:

Well he went to his truck and I heard him yell "Aw sh*t!" A coon had got in his truck window only open about 6" and had eaten all the brownies and there was an empty glass baking dish and tons of chocolatey coon prints on the other window because it had apparently become stoned and it took it a while to figure out only the OTHER window was open.

Still despite our misfortune we spend all day laughing about the stoned coon and kept saying we were gonna put our boom box with Hendrix on it up in the woods above camp and when the music drew him in we were gonna do him in

We laughed NEARLY as hard as we MIGHT have

 

[mtnfolk mike]

Hey Mike! What was that sandwich? Pesto?

On the subject of coons once about 15 years ago we were car camping and I was the last person up around the fire ring and all the sudden I hear all this growling around me in the dark.

The damn coons were trying to run me off so they could raid the trash can!

Then the next morning my friend says "We'll get off this morning!! I brought some "special brownies" to have with our morning coffee":thumbup:

Well he went to his truck and I heard him yell "Aw sh*t!" A coon had got in his truck window only open about 6" and had eaten all the brownies and there was an empty glass baking dish and tons of chocolatey coon prints on the other window because it had apparently become stoned and it took it a while to figure out only the OTHER window was open.

Still despite our misfortune we spend all day laughing about the stoned coon and kept saying we were gonna put our boom box with Hendrix on it up in the woods above camp and when the music drew him in we were gonna do him in

We laughed NEARLY as hard as we MIGHT have

that is great HD.... i wonder what happen to that coon... he probably went on a eating binge after that one.... poor guy had no idea what he got himself into...

the sandwiches were: pesto and stoneground mustard, spread on whole wheat english muffins, topped with havarti cheese, avocados and tomatoes.. sprinkled with a touch of lemon pepper.... what do you think...

i'll make you one, when you come out to cali....:thumbup:

 

[billym]

Cool Pics Mike. The shot with you on top of a formation; Tiburco's X by the reservior?
Pinnacles is cool; it is half of the center of a volcano right on the San Adreas fault.
One half is outside of Holister moving north and the other half is down San Diego way and going south. Pretty cool geology.
I find the rock a bit chossy so I no longer go climbing down there much. I have contemplated scrambling some of the formations on the high peaks trail; may you can climb up and rappel off.
Bill

 

[stingray4540]

the sandwiches were: pesto and stoneground mustard, spread on whole wheat english muffins, topped with havarti cheese, avocados and tomatoes.. sprinkled with a touch of lemon pepper.... what do you think...

Ok Mike, if we ever get together you're gonna have to make me one of those!

 

[mtnfolk mike]

Cool Pics Mike. The shot with you on top of a formation; Tiburco's X by the reservior?
Pinnacles is cool; it is half of the center of a volcano right on the San Adreas fault.
One half is outside of Holister moving north and the other half is down San Diego way and going south. Pretty cool geology.
I find the rock a bit chossy so I no longer go climbing down there much. I have contemplated scrambling some of the formations on the high peaks trail; may you can climb up and rappel off.
Bill

BILL-- i couldn't agree with you more... the geology of this place is amazing... i never really cared too much for the climbing here as well... it is a bit on the scetchy side... i've seen some nice chunks break off...

Ok Mike, if we ever get together you're gonna have to make me one of those!

anytime bud... i am the cook of the house... i do tend to go a little on the gourmet side, when camping and/or backpacking...:thumbup: