Do yourself a favor. If you ever plan on seeing the Trona Pinnacles and Valley of Fire, see the Pinnacles first. It will keep the disappointment at bay.
That’s not to say the Trona Pinnacles weren’t interesting, because they were, and we would have thought they were a lot more awesome if we hadn’t just come from Valley of Fire.
If you look at the pictures and think, “gee, that looks like another Star Trek set”, you’d be right. Star Trek V filmed scenes here. In fact, more than 30 films a year are shot here (including Planet of the Apes).
The Pinnacles were formed millions of years ago when carbonated briny lake water intermingled with calcium rich ground water, to form Calcium Carbonate. Over a period of many years, these hollow tubes (Tufa Pinnacles) were formed. Some of them are 40 feet wide and 140 feet tall.
We spent an hour or so wandering around checking it all out, before having lunch and getting the rest of our errands done.
Once we left Ridgecrest, we stopped in Bakersfield to wash the truck and trailer before heading into Fresno.
Since arriving here, we’ve been spending time with friends, catching up, and just in general having a fun time- it’s especially fun beating the guys at Rummikub!
We've never been to the Pinnacles but we certainly loved the Valley of Fire.
ReplyDeleteI never even heard of the Pinnacles, but it looks very interesting. And next time we see you we can play Rummycube!
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