Day 6: Pinnacle Peak Park
kurt on Jan 27 2008 at 12:48 pm | Filed under: Sites
Day 6 Pinnacle Peak
Our morning begins again in the dark. I had not been to the northern part of the city in over 7 years and the small country roads I remember seem to have turned into 4 or 6 lane byways. Crazy. The only light you see is the cars that pass going the opposite way and the entrances to communities that are made to feel safe behind a crossable four foot concrete fence. I will say that you do feel like you are in the desert. When we arrive at the street that our map (Google) tells us we need to turn on, we are greeted with a security gate. I’m not sure what they (3 security guards) thought of a white van pulling up at six in the morning asking for directions.
We arrive at Pinnacle Peak as the morning light begins to rise over the horizon. There is a rocky hill just to the east of us that has these boulders that look to be comparable in size to the houses that sit below them. When I squint my eyes they resemble a city skyline whose straight lines have been softened by design, in this case mother nature. In between is a valley that is scattered with houses and condos. Its really quiet here and very beautiful.
We begin to inflate the ball in a shelter that is near the entrance of the hiking trail. Next to the shelter is a park ranger station and several picnic tables that bask at the foot of the peak. In the center is a twenty foot cactus that has a metal hoop (held by cables) that looks to be floating about two thirds of the way up… think the rings of Saturn. For the first time since my arrival there are clouds in the sky and they seem to be playing havoc with the blue background I have become accustom to seeing.
Mid morning I take a short jaunt up the side of the peak to see what vantage points I might discover. I’m not sure how many people come to this location on weekends but I could see cars parked for at least a quarter of a mile on both sides of the street past the entrance. I over heard a couple of times from hikers that all the people on the trail looked like ants following each other, thats how many people where there. When you looked up the side of the peak it did look like multicolored ants making a two way haste for a tidbit of something and then returning to where they had started.
The ball being at this location was a happy surprise for many of the hikers and many photos where taken before and after their long hike. Some of the hikers where not impressed due to the ball taking up their stretching area and seemed to be upset that they had to do what they do off to the side. Many of the people coming to the site where there not to hike but to snap a couple of images of the ball and maybe a couple of shots with family and the peak in the background and then go. With this also came the people that are following the ball and the introduction of the project to their family and friends. I think its cool when you hear the viewer who has seen the ball on several occasions explain to the first time viewer what the project is all about. Its great to hear others thoughts on the ball and how they see the new migrating home it has for the day , and now that we are on last week the interaction with the ball has become more animated as people become comfortable with the idea, the idea that is shaped with every new site.
This was quite a magnificent site. An amazingly busy day at the Pinnacle Peak Park trailhead. Scotty’s post on the way, for now some images from the site. We were their at dawn with the early hikers.
