Hike 5 of 47 - Peshastin Pinnacles

Hike 5 of 47 - Peshastin Pinnacles State Park

On our way back from Washington State Nurses Association Leadership Conference in Lake Chelan where we stayed at Campbell's Resort, we decided to stop at Peshastin Pinnacles State Park 10 miles west of Wenatchee right off Highway 2, thinking it would be a good place to use the potty and stretch our legs. I had planned this stop for our trip over to cross one of the hikes off of my list, but it worked out that it was dusk when we passed the area, so I just figured we'd stop on the way back. While I knew this desert-y state park was little at just over 34 acres, I was really interested in seeing the unique sandstone formations that are frequently used by climbers.

From the Washington State Parks website:

"The park is named for its "pinnacles," or unique sandstone formations, and for the town of Peshastin, located three miles away. The area has been popular for rock climbing since the 1960s. In 1986, land owners closed the pinnacles to climbers for liability reasons. Later, The Trust for Public Land, a non-profit group, purchased and developed the site, then sold it to State Parks."

From the Washington State Parks website.

The four of us arrived at Peshastin Pinnacles State Park in the heat of the day, around 3 p.m.....naturally! The park is located off Highway 2, about 10 miles west of Wenatchee, it is well signed so just follow the signs from Highway 2. It's less than 1 mile off of the highway, a great place to stop for a break. The morning before we left Lake Chelan, I had read some trip reports for this hike and found that some hikers suggested that this wasn't a good hike for little kids, or those not steady on their feet; I would wholeheartedly agree. There are so many great hikes in our state, if you are looking for something fun to do outside, check out the Washington Trail Association website. It's very interactive and has something for everyone.

We figured it would be a good potty stop as well as a place to stretch our legs on our ride home. It was HOT and therefore the privy was LESS THAN PLEASANT! In fact, being anywhere near it was less than pleasant. I'd guess it was about 85 degrees out. I knew from reading a hiking book that there was a 1.5 mile loop that was recommended and looked interesting. While it only had 400' of elevation gain, those 400' were gained quickly!  Once parked, we left Jeannie in the car with the keys in case she wanted to turn the air conditioning back on. Since she recently had knee surgery, she wasn't up for this hike. Our intention was to stop at the privy and then head up the trail. One whiff in the mid day heat and I went directly to the trail. After crossing the parking lot, with a quick glance at the trail map on the bulletin board we headed up a service road (for the stinky privy, I'm sure), we passed through this gate and onto the trails.

From the parking lot, you must pass through this gate to get to the trails.

Linda and I had our cameras, so we stopped frequently to both catch our breath and snap a few photos while Julie motored on ahead of us. Since this was a sort of spontaneous stop, we weren't really dressed for the occasion. I had regular tennis shoes since my suitcase containing my hiking shoes was packed deeply in the back of my car. Poor Linda was in jeans, a long sleeve T-shirt and also her regular tennies, having just changed out of her sandals at the last minute. Thankfully she did!  Julie had on her trail runners, so she was best equipped on the sandy trails.

You can see the trail switchback up next to this crazy sandstone rock.

Apparently people DO climb these things. Is it wrong to say I'm glad they weren't there when we were there? I would have been worried to death about them! Our co-worker Doug, who was also attended the conference we had just come from, told us that he climbs here, too. 

What a view! This is from about 100' above the trail head.

On just about each switchback, Linda and I stopped for two reasons; to catch our breath and take some pictures. While you can't see the Wenatchee River in this shot, it was beautiful, as were the orchards.

About 1/2 way up we came across these plants. The pods reminded me of a mustache. Linda touched one and said they were soft and squishy. I certainly don't know what kind of plant they are, but I wonder if the flowers are amazing?

Does anyone know what this plant is? These seed pods were soft and squishy.

When we reached the top, the views were amazing. We could see the river as it snaked its' way east.  We could hear people talking, but I think it was the field workers in the orchards off to our right from the picture above. We could also see Jeannie who had gotten out of the car and was waving her arms. I had seen a car come in to the parking lot and then leave again, and being the "worrier" of the group, I hollered down to her a few times "Are you okay?"  She kept waving her arms and finally replied that she was and we headed to the north side of the summit to find the trail down and back around the the south side. Our intent was to make a loop.  This park is small, and I think that no matter what trails you explored, it would not be difficult to find your way back to the trail head and parking lot.

From the back (north) side of the summit, we could see a Tee Pee

Apparently a lot of rock climbers enjoy
climbing here in this state park.

From the top, when we looked north the views were also amazing; more sandstone, more orchards, more hills and a tee pee. I'm not sure why it was there....but it was cool sitting up there. I'm usually a fan of hiking amongst the big trees, enjoying the coolness of their canopy's, but this was a very interesting and beautiful hike, too. We headed down the back/south side on what looked like a trail that may or may not take us where we wanted to go. My only concern was getting down to the bottom only to find that we had to climb all the way back up again to find the right trail. But, we got about half way down, climbed back up the side of a hill and around the the front/north side where we could see Jeannie and the car again. 

I couldn't get over the view; AMAZING! The Wenatchee River, pear orchards, the
Enchantment Mountain Range....beautiful! Can you see my car down there?

Only I could be outside for less than an hour
 and get a sunburn. Check out the amazing sandstone.

The trails were quite narrow at times, and walking in the slippery sand made for some unstable footing for must of the time. Often we had to straddle the center of the narrow trail to avoid the ankle-twisting gullies obviously made by water coursing its way down the trail. I was so proud of Linda, who hadn't been hiking in quite a while. At times, usually in spots where the trail was narrow or when she turned the corners of the switchbacks or when she stopped to take a photo, she felt a little vertigo, especially when the trail got more narrow. I would hold on to her belt loop or her hip to stabilize her while she captured her photo. In the photo below, where the trail was a bit wider on our way down the back side, I asked Linda & Julie to just look back at me. Take note of how firmly planted Linda's feet are! ;) Linda hikes at my speed and I think I've found another hiking buddy and we've all talked of getting together for hikes in the near future.

Linda & Julie on the way down, via a traverse on the west side of the hill.
 I love how firmly planted Linda's feet are!

Me, Linda, Julie & Jeannie. I set the camera on a picnic table, set the
timer to 10 seconds and......Voila, we had a group photo.

The three of us were almost to the bottom and we noticed that Jeannie had gotten out of the car and was stopped on the trail. She went about 50' and decided it was too steep. She recalled that I said the trail was "flat"; if I did say that, I was WRONG!  It was quite the steep trail; short but mighty! It would NOT be fun in the rainy weather. I do know that this park closes for the winter on October 15th and reopens in March, which makes sense. Don't let the short distance and small size of this state park fool you; some of these trails are narrow and steep! A fall off the side would not be fun. So, if you venture out to this little park off Highway 2 near the town of Cashmere, hang on to your kids, your dogs and your friends belt loops!  And above all else, watch out for rattle snakes. It was a fun hike, we were the only ones there except for the car that came into the parking lot and left again. Perhaps that was due to it being a weekday, or hot; who knows the reason. I'd like to spend more time here and explore all the trails. I LOVED knowing that I wouldn't get lost. Next year on the way to the same conference, I'll be sure and stop here again.  Enjoy!

My Rating:  ***/5

Distance:  1.5 miles

Elevation Gain:  400'

Time:  55 minutes