Distance: 8.4 miles round trip on trail
Summit Elevation: 3308'
Elevation Gain: 2285'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 1.8
Round trip time: 4 hours 50 minutes
Recommended water: 72 oz.
Parking/Fees: $35 National Parks Fee (or annual pass)
Difficulty: Moderate
North Chalone is the highest peak in Pinnacles National Park. Leisa and I started at the Moses Spring parking lot. There were only about ten parking spots so it's worth starting early if you want to park there. Otherwise, it adds an additional 0.3 miles each way to start from the Bear Gulch parking lot. We took the rim trail to the reservoir, then crossed it to continue on the trail. A small section of trail was underwater around the reservoir, but several climber trails were available as a bypass. After that, it was steady climb with long switchbacks through forest and giant rocks. Half way up, we could make out the fire lookout atop North Chalone. At about 3.5 miles, the trail met a fence at the intersection of a dirt road to the summit. We had to climb a stile to get over the fence. The road adds a final 300' of gain along with a locked gate that required a second stile climb. The tower on the summit was locked and unmanned. I found the benchmark and a reference mark, but no register. Just below the summit were some toilets with their doors bolted open. I guessed they forced them open for ventilation. We rested on top for a while and ate a leisurely lunch. We had nice views of the pinnacle formations, but also the farmland between Chalone and the coastal mountains. There was a maintained trail to lower South Chalone (3264') that left near the gate, but we didn't have enough interest to muster the effort for the three extra miles to tag it. We met a few other parties on the way up or down, but traffic was light compared to the rest of the park.
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