Trona Pinnacles
I first learned of Trona Pinnacles on a post on Reddit about 5 years ago. When I saw the alien landscape and the weird rock formations, I really just wanted to see it in person. Well, although I wanted to see it earlier, I didn’t. Until this year.
I took the long way to Trona because I wanted to drive the Lake Isabella to Jawbone off-road trail that I spied on my Backcountry Adventures: Northern California book. Unfortunately, when I arrived at the trailhead near Lake Isabella, the gate was locked!
I pivoted and started driving to Bonanza Gulch, another off-road trail that I had thought about driving.
This road took me past Lake Isabella and this gorgeous mountain above, named Pinyon Peak. The drive was nice and relaxing, with lots of Joshua Trees to keep me company.
Bonanza Gulch, unlike the Lake Isabella to Jawbone trail, didn’t have a gate or a lock, so I was in luck. I air downed my tires and started driving east. The drive was easy and the dirt road led me to the Schmidt mine.
After the hike, I hurried to finish the trail, as I wanted to setup camp before sunset. I estimated that I had less than two hours, but I was almost at the end of the trail, so I just needed to keep on moving. Unfortunately, another hiccup occurred.
Although this Bonanza Gulch Trail was rated as easy on my off-roading books, my car could not climb up this dang hill. Four-low and low pressure tires were no match for the loose rocks that defeated me 1/2 way up this hill. I even spun my tires and lost traction for moment as I slid backwards (which is a terrifying feeling). I wasn’t sure that using the traction boards would do me any good given that 3/4 of the up the hill was even more slippery looking rocks.
So I gave up.
I drove all the way back on the Bonanza Gulch Trail, lost about an hour of time, and just drove the long way to Trona.
I arrived about an 90 minutes after sunset, when it was completely dark. I found one of the last private spots and set-up camp. After that, I took some pictures.
With the wind and the cold desert night freezing my fingers, I retreated to my tent and smiled myself to sleep. Why was I smiling? It was around this time it really sunk in that after 5 years or so, I had finally made it to Trona Pinnacles and would be sleeping here! I wondered what the morning would show me.
I woke up, and immediately climbed up the hill behind me to get a better view of the surroundings. I felt like a kid that’s excited about the first day of school!
Because I drove in when it was completely dark, I didn’t really get a sense of the place, but with the morning sun, I was no longer blind and I could see! With each pinnacle looking so different from each other, I gave them pet names. One was “elephant rock”, another was “shark fin”, and yet another was “the thinking man”.
I ate breakfast (a yummy vegan breakfast burrito), visited the surprisingly clean vault toilet near by, then drove out of Trona.
Before I could get back on the highway, I passed by an abandoned train that I had passed in the dark the night before. I stopped by and took some pictures.
Trona was a wondrous place and I plan on coming back. There’s this off-road trail that terminates at the southern entrance of Trona Pinnacles and it’d be a shame for me to not give that trail a shot.
What I Learned:
If I’m going to do any sort of night photography, I need to carry a tripod.
10mph winds aren’t that strong, but the elevated roof top tent makes far more noise than a ground tent. So much so that the only solid sleep I got was with my AirPod Pros plugged into my ears with noise cancelling turned on. I need to put ear plugs in the car.
I left the roof flap of the tent open for extra ventilation only for (silty) sand to be blown into the tent. I have to remember to close the tent tight in the desert.
Given the sands that were blowing around in the wind, I bet the sunset was fiery. I really need to get here earlier.
Although I’ve been off-roading for a year or so, this was the first time I aired down my tires. It made a world of difference (for the better).
There are so many beautiful stars in the sky that I had forgotten about.
Camp Review:
I found a site that was on the south-western part of the established campgrounds. It was a wonderful site and I’d totally love to stay at the same site again.
There was a neighbor that must have been about 100 yards away from me, but because there was a giant boulder between us, I barely heard them.
In the morning, when I woke, I saw that I had another neighbor that must have driven in after I had gone to sleep. They camped completely in the open, which probably means that there were no spaces left next to any of the pinnacles.
Again, the vault toilets were surprisingly clean!