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

Pinnacles National Park

Walking the Dog

December 22, 2013

I was planning on going to Yosemite today.  That place is magical in winter.  I checked the weather conditions and it would have been perfect.  Too perfect.  It's been a mild winter so far with not much snow.  I like the snow.  So, I decided to put that trip off and go to Pinnacles instead.  I like going to Pinnacles because there's so much wildlife and there's always a chance of seeing a condor.  It's probably Pongo's favorite destination too, also because of the wildlife, although I don't think he'd care all that much about seeing a condor.

Bobcat -- Pinnacles National Park, CA

I'll spoil the plot right away and tell you I saw a condor, but it was from very far away and I suspected it was actually a turkey vulture until I got home and took a look at the pictures.  I saw a bobcat, though, which is definitely cooler than seeing a condor from so far away you're not even sure it's a condor.  The cat was under a tree near the East entrance to the park.  I don't know if I'd have even seen the cat if I hadn't had bobcats on the brain.  See, I saw one on a previous trip here but it got away before I could get a picture off.  When I saw the shadow moving beneath that tree I immediately said to Pongo "Bobcat!"  Sure enough.  The cat was too far away and in poor light for decent pictures, but not-so-great pictures beats no pictures in my book.

Colombian Black-Tailed Deer -- Pinnacles National Park, CA

California Condor

There never seems to be a lack of deer to be seen at Pinnacles.  Vultures, too, but after today I think seeing a deer at the park may be the safest bet of any animal sighting at Pinnacles.  I saw more deer than vultures today (probably a first for me).  I don't know where all the vultures were.  I usually see at least a dozen.  No turkeys, either.  Turkeys are usually abundant.

Colombian Black-Tailed Deer -- Pinnacles National Park, CA

I was talking to a ranger about the deer.  She said that they're getting a bit muley.  She was saying that black-tailed deer are indigenous to the area, but when William Randolph Hearst built his castle in San Simeon he had mule deer shipped in for his wildlife park.  Descendants of those deer have proliferated and made their way North.  I've heard zebra are still seen occasionally around San Simeon, but I'm not sure that's anything but a myth.  The ranger said that there are pronghorn and tule elk living in a remote valley of Pinnacles.

Pongo and I had our usual walk around the campground.  It's better in the winter because there are so few campers.  The animals take over.  There aren't any rabbits in winter, though, so that's the one let down.  I've never noticed how many granary trees there are in the campground.  Some of the acorns were low enough on one of the trees that i was able to try to pry one out.  No chance, not by hand, anyway.  Those woodpeckers really know how to wedge 'em in there.

Colombian Black-Tailed Deer -- Pinnacles National Park, CA

We saw a lot of birds on the walk, but quite honestly I didn't get any good pictures.  Pongo was chasing most of them off before I had a chance.  That's OK, I brought him because I know how much he likes chasing the birds.  Don't worry, he can't catch anything.  He's always on a leash.

Tired Dog