Broken Duck and Queen Condor Visit The Pinnacles

The Broken Duck and I visited the Pinnacles on Sunday. Was the Duck's first visit, and my second, to this National Monument.

In terms of how the land was set aside (hats off to Teddy Roosevelt) and the amount of funding it receives, it is a monument. But it feels more natural to call the Pinnacles a park because it covers so much more physical territory than, say, George Washington's birthplace. There are over thirty miles of trails that lead through canyons and sage-covered hillsides to caves, spires and expansive views from the high peaks.


Early on we searched the sky for that largest of North American land birds: the California Condor. The NPS in collaboration with the non-profit Ventana Wildlife Society initiated The Condor Recovery Program at Pinnacles in late 2003. For the casual visitor there are lots of signs of Condor life in and about the Monument now -- most of it contained within the purchasing boundaries of the Bear Gulch visitor station, although a new section of trail, leading to Condor Overlook, is named for this New World Vulture.

Look! It's a Condor!

No, it's a Turkey Vulture.


Look! Condor! (1/4 down and left of center)

No, Turkey Vulture.

Hey...

No.

Pinnacle Pete throws up his hands, ready to quit the Condor quest.

We drift off the trail to deal individually with our disappointment. Pete cried under a Blue Oak while I found this lone Venus Thistle among the rocks.

A Western Tiger Swallowtail (or Anise Swallowtail?) gets in the way.

More thistle appears in the rocky areas of the High Peaks.

In living, lichen, color

Gripping nature firmly by the neck.
It was mighty windy up there.
This is Mimulus, or Sticky Monkeyflower. It's a common flowering shrub along the trail.

A Condor!
We knew it when we saw it. Even though all Condors in the Pinnacle program are juveniles, this bird was still bigger and had a steadier flight than the wobbly Vultures we intially mistook for Condors. And we were close enough to see the mottled white-ish stripe across the front edge of the wings, which distinguishes it from the similar-at-a-glance Turkey Vulture. This NPS page provides other distinguishing features of the two birds.

Pinnacle Pete shot some great video of the Condor -- airborne and in this tree, where it came to perch. (See the dark mass on the big limb, 3/4 down and right of center.) We were quite a distance away but could still see it twisting its head about and fidgeting a bit. We waited for a good while, hoping we might get to watch it take off into flight but early evening was approaching and we were running out of water and getting very hungry because we stupidly did not bring along any snacks. Pinnacle Pete/Broken Duck will be posting video of this trip, soon. Keep watch over there.

Pinnacle Pete gets in one more false Condor I.D. for the day!

There's a blue shirt in there somewhere.

Thirty seconds after I snapped this photo I heard a scramble on the other side of the little canyon, followed by a call of "Oh Shit!" from Pete.
"What was that?"
"I'm not sure...some animal". Then me, louder and more concerned, "Was it a mountain lion?" Since Pete replied at all it probably wasn't. Also, the gray fox, it turns out, ran across the trail once more and fled up into the brush. I was too far away to catch a glimpse of him.

p.s. At my doctor's urging I recently had a carrot implanted in my neck.

I already miss the place. If I have to write the following down on paper and post it in my apartment somewhere, or maybe on the dashboard of my car, so I can remember something as valuable and important to my mental health as this, I will:

It is easier to live in the city if you leave it. Regularly.