Just 27 miles south of Hollister is Pinnacles National Monument. Yesterday Nathan and I drove out there again to see them. It is amazing. You are traveling along in the beautiful rolling hills and all of a sudden these jagged peaks are in view. Rising out of the chaparral-covered Gabilan Mountains, east of central California’s Salinas Valley, are the spectacular remains of an ancient volcano. Massive monoliths, spires, sheer-walled canyons and talus passages define millions of years of erosion, faulting and tectonic plate movement. It is quite an awesome sight to see. It also never ceases to amaze me the micro-climates there are in California. When we left Hollister it was only 76 degrees and just 27 miles south it was 94 degrees. When we left the Pinnacles we drove south a little way and then cut back across the hills toward Salinas. By the time we got to Salinas the temperature was 58. Then by the time we got back to Hollister it was 72 degrees. I can’t figure that all out but it’s really interesting to me.
Pinnacles National Monument began as a volcano that first erupted about 195 miles south of its present location. It has traveled northward along the San Andreas Fault, and currently moves at a rate of about 2 – 3 centimeters per year.
