Big Sur Vacation - Day 1

I have driven several times through Big Sur, but I have never stopped and explored the area. I think we stopped once and had a meal, but I have very little memory of it. My wife has camped in Big Sur before we met, but that was a number of years ago. So we were not quite sure what to expect, but we were looking forward to spending some time in Big Sur.

We were a bit concerned about damage from the fires earlier in the year. We had been told that the damage was not too bad in the areas that we might visit. One friend told us that they had been a few months ago and there was a faint “campfire” smell to the air, but it was not too bad. So we looked at some web sites and we bought a guide book. We identified a few areas or hikes that we wanted to see or do. Nothing cast in concrete, just some ideas of things to do.

We started down the coast late Monday morning. Since this was meant to be a relaxing vacation, I started the drive at a leisurely pace. I kept between 55 and 60 MPH the whole way. It meant staying mostly in the right lane and watching cars whiz past me. But it was kind of nice and set the tone for the rest of the trip. We were not in a rush to get anywhere and wanted to enjoy the adventure. Plus, it probably saved some gas dollars.

Once we entered the Big Sur area, we stopped at several overlooks and admired the views. Some pictures can be seen in the sidebar to the right. After a few stops, we drove on to the Nepenthe restaurant and had a very pleasant meal. Of course, as a tourist destination, it was on the expensive side. As a side note, it was kind of strange, almost every meal was around $40 for the two of us. From an outrageously overpriced so-so breakfast to some reasonably priced excellent dinners. Later we saw a review of the breakfast place – one star food, two star service and three star prices. I would not disagree with that review. But that was only one meal, everywhere else the food was pretty good.

We got back into the car and drove to Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park (note this is a different park than the Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park). Christopher and Rachel McWay originally settled on the land. In 1924, Lathrop and Helen Brown acquired the land and built a home on the site. They believed that the land was too beautiful to be kept to one family and upon their deaths, they willed the land to the State of California. They dedicated the property in a friend's name (Julia Pfeiffer Burns).

We got out of the car and started towards the ocean. After a short walk, we entered a tunnel under Highway 1. It was kind of strange, you are walking through a dark tunnel with a light at the end, not quite sure what to expect. After exiting the tunnel, you are treated to a spectacular view of an ocean cove with a waterfall dropping to the beach. I took some pictures, but I don't think I really captured the beauty of the scene. I just don't know how to describe how gorgeous it was. As you walk around the rim of the cove, you come to the home-site. The Browns asked that the home be destroyed after their deaths, however the foundation is still there. Just an incredible location for a home.

We wandered back to the car. There are some nice trails inland, but they were all closed due to fire damage. With a few exceptions, everywhere we went, trails were closed on the inland side of Highway 1, but open on the ocean side. Of course our next stop was the exception to this rule.

We drove on to Limekiln State Park. It has a few short hikes through the woods. We began with the trail to the waterfalls. It was kind of fun, the trail criss-crossed the creek and there were several times we had to hop, skip and jump across the rocks in the creek. Nothing too challenging and the creek was never more than a foot deep. The waterfalls were pretty impressive. Then we took the trail to the lime-kilns. It seems strange to be walking through the woods and come across these huge man-made ovens. Clearly they have not been in use for decades, however they had not been too badly damaged either. There was another trail through a redwood grove, but we decided to skip it, we have seen plenty of redwood groves around Santa Cruz.

We traveled on to the resort and our Yurt, which I have described in an earlier post.