California condors make their home within Pinnacles National Park / NPS-Gavin Emmons

In case you were unaware, the Traveler has a page about exploring various units of the National Park System. For each unit, there are subpages ranging from getting there, to lodging, to geology, to a bunch of other things dealing with that specific park. This is a work in progress, with plenty more parks to publish as well as to revise (pricing, tour availability, lodging, etc). This month’s quiz and trivia piece focuses on one of those parks: Pinnacles National Park in California. How many of you have visited this place? Test your knowledge and see just how much you know about this particular park unit. You might know more than you realize, and you will definitely learn something new.

1. Pinnacles National Park is home to ___ species of birds, including the California condor.

                a) 160

                b) 185

                c) 210

                d) 225

2. While not a cave-centric park like Carlsbad Caverns, Pinnacles does have some interesting caves to explore, known as ___.

                a) Solutional caves

                b) Talus caves

                c) Eolian caves

                d) Littoral caves

The High Peaks at sunset, Pinnacles National Park / NPS file

3. Pinnacles’ landforms were created by a combination of plate tectonics, volcanism, and erosion. True or false: Regarding plate tectonics, divergent and transform boundaries were the working mechanisms in Pinnacles’ creation.

                a) True

                b) False

4. True or False: There are two entrances to Pinnacles: east and west, and both are only connected by a single main park road.

                a) True

                b) False

5. True or False: Of the four species of fish found at Pinnacles, only ___ species is native.

                a) 1

                b) 2

                c) 3

                d) 4

The High Peaks at sunset, Pinnacles National Park / NPS file

6. Now, let’s talk about endemic species, which are different from native species. At Pinnacles, there are ___ endemic species.

                a) 2

                b) 3

                c) 4

                d) 5

The Townsend's big-eared bat lives at Pinnacles National Park / ODFW-Don Albright

7. Pinnacles is home to ___ species of bats.

                a) 10

                b) 11

                c) 12

                d) 13

Pipestems are just one variety of wildflowers you may see during a certain time of the year at Pinnacles National Park / NPS-Keir Morse

8. The peak blooming season to view all the gorgeous of wildflowers at Pinnacles is March through May, when over ___ percent of the park’s plants are in bloom.

                a) 60

                b) 70

                c) 80

                d) 90

9. There are two categories of hydrologic (water-related) activity within Pinnacles National Park: surface water and ground water. Of the surface water, ___ Creek is the major drainage of the park.

                a) Bear Gulch

                b) Chalone

                c) Sandy

                d) McCabe Canyon

Blue oak, Pinnacles National Park / NPS file

10. There are several tree species living within Pinnacles: oak, pine, buckeye, cottonwood, sycamore, manzanita (which can be a tree or small shrub). Of those trees in the park, there are ___ oak species.

                a) 2

                b) 3

                c) 4

                d) 5

Trivia

Well, hello there, ladiessssssss. San Joaquin coachwhip snake, Pinnacles National Park / NPS-Symons via Facebook

How many of you have visited Pinnacles National Park around May? Have you ever encountered the San Joaquin coachwhip during a hike? Normally, these snakes are brown, but during late May, they turn to a bright pink color to attract the ladies – coachwhip ladies, that is. According to the park’s Facebook post, This subspecies of coachwhip is found only between the Salinas Valley and Central Valley areas of California, and are a somewhat uncommon sight in Pinnacles (so it’s a pretty special event to see one).

They are known for being exceptionally fast, slender, and one of the longest snakes in California. Common menu items include lizards, birds, rodents, and even roadkill. They are not venomous but will strike out if they feel threatened.

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) workers building and maintaining the Chalone Peak Trail, Pinnacles National Park / National Archives and Records Administration via NPS

The young men of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) had a hand in constructing and maintaining trails and buildings at Pinnacles during the 1930s and 1940s. In 1933, work began at Pinnacles which included working on the buildings in Bear Gulch, hiking trails in the park, the fire lookout on Chalone Peak and the bathroom on top of Scout Peak. The famous "Steep and Narrow" trail located in the high peaks with its distinctive steps carved into stone was also constructed by the CCC. Work on the park continued through 1942.

According to park staff:

The area where the young men lived was called Camp Pinnacles and was located where the NPS maintenance yard and residential area now exist next to Chalone Creek. The residents had a strict schedule of rising early at 6:30 to a bugle call, alerting them it was time to eat breakfast. They worked from 7:45 to 4 pm then returned to camp for dinner and other evening activities. The meals were reported to be excellent with French toast and bacon for breakfast and roast beef and doughnuts for lunch. Originally the camp was occupied year-round, but by 1936 it was deemed too hot to work during the summer so the work crews instead went to General Grant National Park or Sequoia-Kings Canyon as it is known today. They would return to work at Pinnacles again when it became too snowy to work in the Sierras. Nearly 100 years later, people still come to the park to recreate using the trails, roads and buildings constructed by these young men.

Mistletoe berries, Pinnacles National Park / NPS via Facebook

Merry Christmas from Pinnacles! Well, ok, not exactly Christmas right now, but if you happen to hike the west side of this national park, you will commonly be walking directly under mistletoe, as it is a parasite growing on many of the park’s oak trees. Yes, the word “parasite” sounds scifi-scary, but you shouldn’t be afraid. According to a Pinnacles Facebook post:

While totally capable of photosynthesizing for their own food, mistletoe likes to take the easy avenue, deriving its water and nutrients from the host trees they grow on. The berries are a common food source for many birds such as robins and phainopepla; When the seeds are discharged with the excrement onto other branches and perches, the seeds stick to the bark and take root in their new host, thus spreading their seeds.

Quiz Answers

1a

Pinnacles National Park is home to more than 160 species, but since the park’s website lists 160 (although it could very well be 185 or 210 reported species since it’s “more than”), then 160 is the answer to this question. So, remember to bring your binoculars or telephoto lens with you for viewing the park’s birds including turkey vultures, Steller’s jays, California condors, California quail, peregrine falcons, and woodpeckers.

2b

The talus caves found at Pinnacles are the result of fault action and earthquakes knocking loose massive boulders into narrow gorges or shear fractures and becoming wedged before hitting the ground. These boulders now form the ceilings of the caves, attracting both visitors and several species of bats. Pinnacles has two primary talus cave areas: Bear Gulch Caves and Balconies Caves.

3b False

Plate tectonic convergent and transform boundaries had a hand in creating Pinnacles National Park and the surrounding California landscape. Convergent boundaries occur when plates collide with each other, and transform boundaries occur when two plates slide past each other. Click here to read more about Pinnacles geology.

4b False

There is no road across the park to connect the east and west entrances to Pinnacles. You will need to drive around to get from one side to the other. Even though drive time will take about an hour, it’s not a complete park visit until you’ve explored both sides.

5a

Pinnacles has one native fish species: the three-spined stickleback. The other three species (catfish, green sunfish, and mosquitofish) are all non-native invasive species. Of those three non-native fish, the catfish and green sunfish were removed from the park.

6b

There are three endemic species living within Pinnacles National Park: Pinnacles shield-back katydid, Pinnacles riffle beetle, and Gabilan slender salamander. Note, endemic is not the same as native. Wikipedia describes the difference as: Endemic species are exclusively found in a particular place. A native species may occur in areas other than the one under consideration.

7d

Pinnacles is home to 13 bat species, including the pallid bat, which is the new state bat of California. Pallid bats like to eat mosquitos, wasps, and flies, as well as wood-borers and bark beetles.

8c

While rainfall and temperature play a large part in bloom times, in general, during March through May, over 80 percent of the park’s plants are in bloom.

9b

Chalone Creek is the major drainage of the park. Most of the 25 square miles drains into this tributary which eventually empties into the Salinas River and Monterey Bay.

10b

There are three species of oak trees in Pinnacles: valley oak, blue oak, and coast live oak.