Hiking by Moonlight

Pinnacles National Monument, December 30:  At around 4:20 I had a decision to make--either go back the way I had come and go through the wet cave to get back to my car, or continue back to my car through the mountains at the park. I chose the mountain path, and for the next 45 minutes or so I climbed further up the mountain as the sun got lower and lower and the light diminished. By the time I took this picture, the sun was mostly gone, leaving the landscape in a ghostly half-light. In all it was quite beautiful, but being on the side of a mountain in unfamiliar territory at night is not wise. I didn't reach my car until 5:40, which was almost closing time for the park. In my time at Pinnacles, I hiked over 8 miles through caves and over a mountain--and would have done more if there was still light!