Pinnacles National Monument in The Salinas Valley

This is an interesting place. What you see at the top of the mountain on the far side of the Salinas Valley is The Pinnacles National Monument. It is 1/2 of an ancient volcano. The other half is in the Los Angeles area 350 miles away on the other side of the San Andreas fault. That gives you an idea of the movement of the fault.

I shot this from the other side of the valley in a vineyard in the Santa Lucia (Coastal Range). It is about 12 miles to the Pinnacles from where I shot. The lens gave an interesting "flattening" effect making the mountains seem much closer.

This image in it's 11x17 print is quite dramatic and will be on sale at the West End Celebration arts festival in Sand City on Monterey Bay Saturday August 22nd along with many more of my images.

In the Salinas Valley

My trip up valley last week was it's usual pleasant visit. At Paraiso I stopped in a vinyard on the west side of the valley. The grapes are grown on tableland, a rise above the valley floor where row crops are grown. I looked to the east, and about ten miles away the Gabilan Mountains rise on the other side of the valley. The jagged looking feature to the left is The Pinnacles National Monument.