May 24, 2012 - Tunnel Monument

Trail head: Pacheco State Park Parking Lot

Hike Info:

Trail: Pig Pond to Tunnel Monument back to Parking Lot

Destination: Tunnel Monument

Distance: 4.0 miles

Travel Time: 1:38

Moving Time: 1:21

Speed: 2.9 mph

Elevation Rise: 771'

Maximum Elevation: 1,1918'

Description:
Sometimes when you go past a place all your life, you realize that you do not know the area. For me, this is true of Pacheco Pass. Even before moving to Fresno, I had gone over this pass as a little boy, being driven by my parents from the Bay Area to the Sierra's. And when we moved to Fresno, we would drive this 152 at least once a month, and a lot of times more often. So last year when we were looking for hikes which we could do for Capture California, We noticed this little state park right on Pacheco Pass, Pacheco State Park. Unfortunately, we had not stopped here until today. This is definitely will change. While not a place to hike during a summer afternoon, it can be picturesque with oak trees, rolling hills, wind turbines and San Luis Reservoir filling the views.



Today, I was coming back from my parents in the Bay Area and hit the pass in the early afternoon. The day was warm, but not hot. So I decided, today is the day to see this area. Turned off of 152 close to the top of the pass and headed down Dinosaur Point Road. Yes there really was a dinosaur remains found in the area, well maybe. I was looking for a trail head off this road, but I did not pay enough attention to my map which said to take a right on Whisky Flat Road—that is the correct spelling of Whisky. So I went all the way down to the boat launch at Dinosaur Point. This was where I was in for a treat.



I was greeted by the boat inspector—for tag-along mussels. After receiving confirmation that I should have turned a ways back, we chatted for awhile, that would be over an hour. Evidently Manny is visited by a number of people who think this area is a great for partying and getting drunk. But he is out there because he enjoys viewing the wildlife-Tule Elk, mountain lion, mule deer, fox, and coyotes. We talked about the trails and the heat. He gave me some park brochures, which looking at them later, I realized I had most of it already. A woman and her mother stopped to ask some questions—looked like a husband in the car as well. They had traveled from Spain to see California. So after talking for a little while, they left. Manny and I talked a bit longer. He has written some books on poetry—The Bridge is Gone and The Elder, not famous yet. Yet it is exciting who you meet in places like this and then find out who they are. By this time, I was on my way to find the trail head—a few minutes before three.



Found the trail head, right next to a pen full of cattle. The Pacheco Family, through Paula Fatijo's bequeath in 1992, gave the State of California the property around Pacheco Pass for a state park. This was to preserve the area for its natural and human history. Consequently, they still do ranching operations, renting out part of the park. Also various wind farm operators also rent out part of the land.

Onward to the actual hike. The trail leaves the parking lot/corral area. Going toward the south. It is a gradually rising semi-jeep track—hardly used by jeeps, but used by hikers. Tall, dry, grasses abound, along with little critters. After a half of a mile, you come to a hundred foot ridge, cross it and find an intersection. I aim to come back to the intersection via the trail to the west, but for now, it is the easier trail to the south. We go up another small ridge and then drop down into a dried creek bed, which feeds into Pig Pond. And then the start of a more steep climb to the Tunnel Monument Trail Jct.

I take the Tunnel Monument Trail as that will give me a 3.5+ mile loop back to the car. My little talk with Manny cut short the hiking. But both the talking and the hiking are wonderful. This trail climbs up steeply over the next ¾ of a mile to the top of the ridge. As I reach the top, the wind whip's through rather fiercely, causing me to chase my hat. But the view is good. You see both sides of the coastal range. Westward there is the greener hills, which get the moisture from ocean breezes. Towards the east is San Luis Reservoir. And the windmills, furiously turning, trying to keep up with the wind. Such a far reaching sight.

When Manny and I were talking, we guessed what the Valley was like before modern man came along. The wildlife, the plants we would have seen. John Muir in Yosemite indicated the first time he came over Pacheco Pass he saw a carpet of bright orange flowers stretching from his feet to the feet of the Sierra's. Today, I cannot see Los Banos, let alone Yosemite. Things have changed.

But now it is time to find this Tunnel Monument. I go 50 steps back towards the car and there is a sign saying Tunnel Monument. But where is this monument? Where is this tunnel? Silly. I am standing on top of the tunnel—it is sunk several hundred feet below my toes. And the monument? Well it is a benchmark. This tunnel is the tunnel bore through the coastal range to drive more electric generators from the water coming from San Luis Reservoir. Nothing to see; just things to think about. How we can bore holes through mountains to move water, but not clean up the air we breath?




I start down the trail back to the car. The downward trail is steeper than I came up on. I come to a junction—but a different one than I saw before. But I take it anyway. It goes through part of the Pacheco Ranch and meets a private road. I go another quarter of a mile down the road and find my car. A most satisfying afternoon spent.