Soledad, Calif. — The Salinas Valley farm town of Soledad is just five miles from the new Pinnacles National Park. Incorporated in 1921, Soledad is named for the 18th century Mission Nuestra Señora de la Soledad.
PHOTOGRAPH BY: Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times
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Soledad, Calif. — Residents of Soledad, where life has been largely driven by agriculture, line up for a food giveaway.
PHOTOGRAPH BY: Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times
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Soledad, Calif. — A woman and her children walk through a Soledad neighborhood. The town has 17,000 residents, not including inmates from the state prison there.
PHOTOGRAPH BY: Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times
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Soledad, Calif. — Jerry and Claudia Smith walk across Main Street in Soledad. Most retailers near downtown, a stretch of Front Street that parallels Highway 101, cater to farmworkers and their families.
PHOTOGRAPH BY: Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times
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Pinnacles National Park, Calif. — Visitors attend a ceremony celebrating Pinnacles' new status as a national park. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, who attended the event, said Pinnacles was on par with the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone as being among the “iconic places of the United States of America.”
PHOTOGRAPH BY: Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times
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Pinnacles National Park, Calif. — Soledad Mayor Fred Ledesma shakes hands with Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar at the Pinnacles National Park ceremony.
PHOTOGRAPH BY: Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times
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Pinnacles National Park, Calif. — Abigaile Keller, 8, of Bonny Doon, takes a photograph at a ceremony marking Pinnacles' new status as a national park.
PHOTOGRAPH BY: Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times
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Pinnacles National Park, Calif. — Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, left, points to a nearby ridge at the newly named Pinnacles National Park.
PHOTOGRAPH BY: Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times
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Pinnacles National Park, Calif. — The Pinnacles is a haven for rock climbers.
PHOTOGRAPH BY: Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times
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Pinnacles National Park, Calif. — Pinnacles National Park, which covers about 26,000 acres, provides habitat for a number of animal species.
PHOTOGRAPH BY: Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times
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Pinnacles National Park, Calif. — Pinnacles hosts a stunning wildflower season, 400 species of bees and more than a dozen types of bats.
PHOTOGRAPH BY: Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times
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Pinnacles National Park, Calif. — A woodpecker works on a tree inside Pinnacles National Park.
PHOTOGRAPH BY: Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times
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Pinnacles National Park, Calif. — A rock climber makes her descent at Pinnacles National Park.
PHOTOGRAPH BY: Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times
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Pinnacles National Park, Calif. — Bernadette Carter, 49, of Hollister, Calif., walks through a man-made tunnel at Pinnacles National Park.
PHOTOGRAPH BY: Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times
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Pinnacles National Park, Calif. — Carlie Domingues, in foreground, and others try to spot California condors at Pinnacles National Park, which is a release site for the endangered North American birds.
PHOTOGRAPH BY: Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times
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Pinnacles National Park, Calif. — California condors circle the High Peaks area on a recent morning in Pinnacles National Park.
PHOTOGRAPH BY: Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times
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Pinnacles National Park, Calif. — A national monument since 1908, Pinnacles last month was elevated to national park status thanks to lobbying by federal, state, county and local officials throughout the region.
PHOTOGRAPH BY: Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times
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Pinnacles National Park, Calif. — A contrail can be seen above the rocks at Pinnacles National Park.
PHOTOGRAPH BY: Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times
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Pinnacles National Park, Calif. — Officials of Soledad in the Salinas Valley hope tourists traveling to the new Pinnacles National Park nearby will visit their farm town as well, and provide a needed economic boost.
PHOTOGRAPH BY: Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times
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