Hidden Gems of the Western United States by Daniel Gillaspia

Author:Daniel Gillaspia [Gillaspia, Daniel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Daniel Gillaspia
Published: 2015-03-21T22:00:00+00:00

The dark entranceway of Bear Gulch Cave.

Photo by Matthew Dillon

A number of other hikes in the park offer spectacular views as well. One hike, the Condor Gulch to High Peaks Loop (5.3 miles round-trip) is a strenuous hike that will take three to five hours, but it’s quite rewarding and takes you right through the heart of the Pinnacles volcano. That would be my recommendation if you’re confident in your fitness level. If you’re looking for something a little less strenuous but still want to see some stunning scenery, then consider the Condor Gulch Trail which is only 1.7 miles one way. Condor gives you great views of the high peaks at only one mile into the hike and also the option of continuing on with a more strenuous path if you feel inclined to do so.

Finally one of the other primary attractions of the park is the wildlife viewing. Because Pinnacles National Park lies at the interface of northern, southern, coastal, and inland California, a good variety of plants and animals inhabit the park and coexist unlike anything you’re likely to see otherwise. The NPS reports that there are 149 species of birds, 49 mammals, 22 reptiles, 69 butterflies, and nearly 400 bees, to name only a few. Of all the animals found here at Pinnacles, perhaps the most coveted is the California condor, the largest land bird in North America with a wingspan of up to 9.5 feet.

Unlike their fellow scavenger, the turkey vulture, California condors have a poor sense of smell and instead rely on their remarkable eyesight to find the carrion (dead animal carcasses) they consume. Their bald heads, while unsightly, are specially adapted so that they are easier to clean after diving into rotten animal corpses. This exposed skin on the condor’s head is also capable of changing color, depending on the emotional state of the bird—a valuable adaptation that helps condors communicate with each other.

California condors once inhabited the entire United States, but, after a combination of changing temperatures and human activities like poaching, their numbers dropped to a mere twenty-two birds worldwide in the twentieth century. As a result, the California Condor Recovery Program was initiated in 1987, and every wild condor known to exist was brought into captivity for breeding programs. It was a bold, controversial move and involved unusual techniques like using puppets to feed baby condors so that the adults would lay more eggs. However, the program has successfully repopulated these birds to about 435 worldwide, reintroducing these birds to the wild in different areas of Arizona, California, and Baja California, Mexico.

Pinnacles has been part of the California Condor Recovery Program, and since 2003 there are now twenty-seven condors that roam free in the park. You’ll come across mixed reviews by visitors of actual condor sightings, as it seems that some see handfuls of condors throughout their visit, while others see none at all. This is due in part to the small number of condors that actually inhabit the park,

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