When our friend Tom was visiting recently, he, John, and I finally took a trip to Pinnacles National Monument, which is essentially just down the street from us. It’s the remains of an ancient volcano so there are tremendous rock formations and views. Also, the Bear Gulch Caves were open (they are often closed either because of flooding during the rainy season or bat breeding) so we decided to take advantage of it, despite the fact that we didn’t have any flashlights with us. It was kind of cool and spooky feeling your way along a rock passage in the complete darkness, and also posed an interesting challenge for photography. “Hey, I think there’s a waterfall here!” and “Hold on, I’m going to use my camera flash” and “Ouch! Watch your head up here!” – *grin* I have twelve photos up in my California Gallery, but here are three sample shots (which I’ve made available as prints):