We winterized and put the Casita away in late November. December brought some cold weather, very little rain and then it turned incredibly warm. Who could stay home with January days pushing north of 70 degrees. So we loaded up the Casita and headed for Pinnacles National Park, located in the Coast Range south of Monterey, California. Turns out Pinnacles is also the epicenter of some of the most extreme drought impacted parts of California.
The decomposing granite of Pinnacles' spires are remnants of a volcano that erupted 23 million years ago in what was then Los Angeles county. Pinnacles is on the western side of the San Andreas fault and has moved north over 200 miles since. In the background is the the escarpment of the San Andreas fault.
The high country was considered the perfect place to reintroduce the endangered California Condor, the largest bird in North America. It is definitely worth the climb to the high peaks to glimpse this magnificent bird.
We watched a pair of condors wheel and soar on the afternoon thermals. On another day we were thrilled to see ten of the huge birds riding high over the Pinnacles. A ranger told us that a total of 50 condors have been released between Big Sur and Pinnacles. They move freely between their two mountain aeries.
Everywhere you look the scenery cries out for water. Dry, scraggly leafless plants seem to claw at the air, pleading for a drink, in what is supposed to be the wet season.
Susan found little more than a pond in what is supposed to be a major source of Pinnacles' water supply. What water there is flows down the mountain into a tributary of the San Benito river, which runs through the campground in the center of the Park. In this dry year, that water source attracts every bird for miles around. Birding along the creek was excellent, we added several birds to our life list. A flock of about 200 California Quail showed up outside the Casita every morning, crowing and clucking their amusing song.
Just a trickle seeped through this fern grotto.
We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to Pinnacles and would recommend it to anyone interested in hiking or birding.
No comments:
Post a Comment