Stonewall Canyon Road and CA 146, Soledad, Monterey County, CA, 4/21/2011
After a day exploring Pinnacles National Monument in the Gabilan Mountain Range of California's Central Coast, I headed west along CA 146 toward the town of Soledad in Salinas Valley. Noticing a sky filled with intricate clouds but clear around the western horizon, I saw the potential for a grand sunset. I turned onto Stonewall Canyon Road, parked under an old oak tree, and walked out onto a ridge with a fine view to the west over the rolling grapevine covered hills of Chalone Vineyard. Soon the sun set behind the distant Sierra de Salinas Mountain Range and the clouds took on all shades of purple, lilac, lavender, mauve, rose, red, peach, and gold! The Gabilan Range trends in a northwest-southeast direction along the Monterey County and San Benito County line. It is bordered by the Diablo Range, the San Andreas Fault, and CA 25 to the east and by Salinas Valley and U.S. 101 to the west. The range has several peaks over 3,000 feet. In Spanish, "gavilan" ("gabilan" is an alternate rendering) means "hawk", and hawks are common to this mountain range. The Gabilan Range and other nearby places are mentioned in several John Steinbeck novels including "East of Eden" and "Of Mice and Men". In Steinbeck's "The Red Pony" the main character names his pony "Gabilan" after the mountain range. Chalone Vineyard is the oldest producing vineyard in Monterey County. Its namesake is nearby Chalone Peak, which is named after the indigenous Costanoan Native American tribe: the Chalone.
