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We came to the Pinnacles to look for this tiny Monkeyflower, and found 12+ growing next to a stream in a flower-filled meadow on the North Wilderness Trail. Mouth of flower looks like tiny orchid.

Purple Mouse Ears (Diplacus douglasii) Native, annual, hairy, small (less than 4 cm tall) Monkeyflower, that grows in serpentine or granitic soils, generally along the upper banks of small creeks. A.k.a. Chinless Mouse-ears. Leaves are ovate to obovate, abaxially shiny green. Flowers are magenta to purple, with gold -streaked throats. It has a long flower tube on a short pedicel. Peak bloom time February-April.

Jepson eFlora https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=99051

Plants of Monterey County: an Illustrated Field Key, 2nd edition, Matthews and Mitchell, 2015, pp. 232-233.

Monterey County Wildflowers: a Field Guide, Yeager and Mitchell, 2016, p. 113.

Monterey County Wildflowers– a photographic guide https://montereywildflowers.com/phrymaceae/

Oregon Flora https://oregonflora.org/taxa/index.php?taxon=4581

A pair of coyotes in the distant green meadow.

Coyote (Canis latrans) is a canine native to North America. Primarily carnivorous, its diet consists mainly of deer, rabbits, hares, rodents, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, and invertebrates, though it may also eat fruits and vegetables on occasion. Humans are the coyote's greatest threat, for example, if Coyote eats a rodent that was poisoned by human. Coyote tracks can be distinguished from those of dogs by their more elongated, less rounded shape.

LIFE SPAN: 10-18 yrs. TOP SPEED: 64 km/h. WEIGHT: 7-20 kg. HEIGHT: 53-61 cm. LENGTH: 1-1.4 m

Coyotes are medium-sized dog-like animals with small feet, slender legs, a narrow pointed muzzle, and erect pointed ears. There are four toes on each foot, with claws, and a smaller fifth toe with a dewclaw, which does not come into contact with the ground. Its color is reddish, grayish, or yellowish-brown streaked with black, with paler underparts. There is a black patch at the tip and base of the tail, and on the front of the ankles. The upper parts of the feet, nape, muzzle, backs of the ears, and outer surfaces of the legs are reddish-brown or tan.
https://animalia.bio/coyote

Looks like a patch of small “cups with tiny discs inside” clustered on an old fire road, amongst woody debris.

Field Bird's Nest Fungus (Cyathus olla) A.k.a. Gray-egg Bird's Nest. "Eggs" 1-10, generally fewer than 5.

Mushrooms of the Redwood Coast: Comprehensive Guide to the Fungi of Coastal Northern California, Siegel and Schwarz, 2016, p. 535.

California Mushrooms: The Comprehensive Identification Guide, D. Desjardin, M. Wood, and F. Stevens, 2nd printing 2019, 466-467.

Fungi of California: Home page https://www.mykoweb.com/index.html and https://www.mykoweb.com/CAF/ and https://mykoweb.com/CAF/skey.html and https://www.mykoweb.com/CAF/keys/index.html and https://www.mykoweb.com/CAF/species/Cyathus_olla.html

Large, brown, hairy, 8-legged Tarantula walking across the trail. It's the time of year when males are on the move searching for females. They are gentle creatures and do not bite unless provoked.

Desert Tarantula (Aphonopelma iodius) Native species of spider in the Tarantula (Theraphosidae) family. This species is found in a wide variety of dry habitats, not only in deserts. It lives in silk-lined burrows under the surface. Females obstruct the entrance to their burrows with a silk and dirt plug to protect against heat and predators. Males are often seen in the fall when they travel in search of females who are waiting in their underground dens. They are gentle creatures and do not bite unless provoked.

Historically, every year, there has been the Tarantula Fest at Henry Coe to celebrate and educate the public about local tarantulas. This year (2022) it was on the 1st of October. Here is a video about the event from November 2005 on Huell Howser's California Golden Parks: https://blogs.chapman.edu/huell-howser-archives/2005/11/08/tarantulas-californias-golden-parks-128/

Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America, Eaton and Kaufman, 2006, p. 22.

https://bugguide.net/index.php?q=search&keys=Aphonopelma+iodius