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.
