Pinnacles National Park

Pongo Breaks In His New Gear

March 30, 2014

Soundtrack:

• Mono -- Hymn to the Immortal Wind
• Heatmiser -- Mic City Son
• The Decemberists -- The King Is Dead

Pongo got some new hiking gear, so I thought we'd break it in with a trip to one of his favorite places: Pinnacles National Park.

Pongo Busts Out His New Backpack

Stylish, ain't he?  If you can't tell, that's a big cheesy grin he's wearing on his face.  He loves spending the day at Pinnacles.

Acorn Woodpecker -- Pinnacles National Park, CA

Nuttall's Woodpecker

We don't get to see a whole lot of the park, unfortunately.  Dog are only allowed on the roads and campground.  Pongo doesn't seem to mind.  We walk around the campground and down the road a ways and he's happy as a clam.

We're used to having the place pretty much to ourselves, but Spring is Pinnacles busy season.  About half of the camping spots were occupied.  That's not too bad, but we didn't see a single rabbit or deer, and I'm sure it had to do with the extra human activity of the tourist season.

We saw a number of acorn woodpeckers and a single nuttall's woodpecker.  He was pecking a hole into a tree big enough for him to climb into.  He was building a home, I guess.

He.  She.  It could have been a lady woodpecker for all I know.

The Road We Walk On -- Pinnacles National Park, CA

California Thrasher

Pongo's taste for adventure has increased dramatically over the last year.  He doesn't seem ready to leave at any given point.  That's a big change from when I first started taking him out.  He used to get freaked out after an hour or two and I'd have to take him home.  I don't know if it was too much stimulus or he was worried about never getting back home or what.  That's not a problem anymore.

I saw a couple of condors flying high above the hills behind the visitor's center.  They were mixed in with a bunch of turkey vultures.  It's impossible for me to pick them out from that distance with the naked eye.  I could tell once I'd zoomed in on them with my camera, though.  The markings on the underside of the wings are very different for vultures and condors.  The pictures I got were pretty bad, but you can at least tell it's a condor in the photos.  I'm just glad I don't have to make my living doing this kind of thing.

California Condor -- Pinnacles National Park, CA