Wednesday, March 11, 2015

Pinnacles National Park

Camping with Pongo

March 7 & 8, 2015




Photography tends to take a back seat when I take Pongo camping.  I tend to focus more on taking care of Pongo, making sure he's not getting into trouble but can still explore his environment as much as is allowed.

Pongo -- Pinnacles National Park, CA
Trips to Pinnacles aren't about photography whether or not we're camping.  Pongo loves this park, but he's able to see very little of it.  The only places dogs are allowed is the paved road (there's basically one) and the campground.  So, even when we're not camping there we spend the bulk of our time as the campground.

Pinnacles National Park, CA
Pongo loves that campground.  Wildlife is abundant, even when it's fairly crowded.  Rabbits, raccoons, deer, lizards and a wide variety of birds can be seen and heard.  We've also seen bobcats and coyotes nearby.  On this trip we were serenaded by frogs all night.  That might seem like it would be annoying but it was actually pleasant.  Pongo is fascinated by the sights and sounds of the animals that live in the park, it's the reason we keep going back.  I certainly don't need another picture of an acorn woodpecker.

Turkey Vulture -- Pinnacles National Park, CA
The turkey vultures were putting on a big show on Sunday morning.  There were about twenty of them circling and congregating on the dead tree near the visitor's center.  I was hoping to find a condor in their midst but no such luck.

Turkey Vulture -- Pinnacles National Park, CA
Turkey Vulture -- Pinnacles National Park, CA
We spotted a coyote in the meadow near the entrance to the park as we were leaving.  We've heard coyotes at the park before, but this was the first one we've actually seen.

Coyote -- Pinnacles National Park, CA




2 comments:

  1. This is a park I've never checked out for some reason. Too bad Pongo can't go on a few trails at least, but as a Ranger I do understand.

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    1. Pinnacles is kind of a nice, quiet little park. It's a bummer Pongo can't go on the trails but he doesn't seem to mind. The campground is the best place to see wildlife that I've found in the park and that's what he's really into. I took him to the South Rim last year and he loved it. There's a long paved trail there (as I'm sure you know) so we hiked a lot along the rim, but even there I think his favorite place was at the campground. An elk walked through the next camp site and he was enthralled.

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