During a 2007 California conference trip, I spent the Saturday after the conference exploring Pinacles National Monument, south of San Jose. An ancient volcano that straddled a fault line was split in two as the plates along the fault slide in opposite directions. Half the remnants are here, and have eroded into a rugged landscape (the other half is several miles to the south now). Roads enter the east and west side of the monument, but do not connect because of the landscape. Hiking is the primary activity here.

I had been to the east side before, so I focused on the west side, hiking the Balconies Trail which loops through a "cave" created by falling rocks and climbs a balcony that features nice views of the park. Before heading back to my hotel, I swung around to the east side to revisit that area of the park with my digital camera.

Mark Wasson, http://www.markwasson.com > Trips has detailed summaries of my trips

http://www.markwasson.com/u2007c07acalifornia.htm