Sara and I have wanted to explore hwy 1 from SLO to Monerrey for the last 3 or 4 years. With hwy 1 finally cleared of slides we took our chance to drive up the coast and hike and camp along the way.
Cambria
On Friday we started by driving from LN to Cambria. We arrived there pretty late so we drove to a boardwalk on the coast near sunset. After sunset we got the bed ready in the back of the Pruis and found a good place to park and sleep for the night. The wind was really howling when we went to bed.
Elephant Seal Beach
Huge seals on the beach which according to the sign move a lot faster than you would think.
Ragged Point
Our first stop after stopping at the gas station to freshen up was Ragged Point at the Ragged Point Inn.
The grounds are beautiful we walked the path next to the entrance to the cliffs edge
At the cliffs edge is a very rugged path that leads down to the water.
After we down down for aways the trail became slippery and loose so we took out look and hiked back to the car.
Salmon Creek Falls
Here we encountered a beautiful waterfall amongst the wooded trail. There was a big group of sturdents that came on the trail behind us and we worked hard to stay ahead of them.
Edwoldsen Trail at Julia Pfieffer Burns State Park
A few miles up the winding road we arrived at the trailhead for the 5+ mile Ewoldson Trail at Julia Pfieffer Burns State Park. We paid the $10 day use pass and were lucky to find a place to park. The trail was stunning with Ocean views through Redwoods and over bridges. Everything was so green. We met up with some people who said that they could see whales from one of the view points. We pretended to see them too but did not have binoculars. All these parks have similar names: mostly Pfeiffer, Big Sur and varius combinations of these names. Research reviels that most of this land has been donated by the ranchers who owned the land before it was donated to the state with the condition that they would never be developed. It works, There is very little devevelopment except for camping and even where we did find a place to camp, we had to hike a quarter mile with all of our things to camp. Very rustic indeed.
McWay Falls View Point
This favorite viewpoint is right across from our last hike. It was socked in when we first arrived but after our hike, the skys opened up to this amazing view. The .3 mile trail for a closer view of the falls was closed but the view from the road was pretty amazing. Lots of people and pics here.
Partington Cove Trail
This trail was like a fire road but includes a tunnel that opens up into a beautiful cove.
Andrew Molera State Park
This is our campsite for the night. People brought wagons to cart all their gear into the campground including propane gas canisters. By comparison, we only brought enough for dinner. Super windy but good food!
Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park
We had to back track a bit to this campground to get a shower! The place was HUGE and for $1 we had one of the best showers of our lives. Wonderful, “Amerian”, forseful hot water and plenty of it. We took turns waiting in the car because we were out of the “day use” area of the campground but manageaged to get away with it. They also had camgound sites for people who were biking the coast in a shared cammunity setting. A lot of people bike the coast but with it’s narrow roads and steeeeeep drop offs, I was glad to be in a car. Bikers usually ride North to South down which brings them closer to the edge. We were going south to north so we didn’t run into many of them going our direction.
Then back to our campground where we hiked to the beach. That may sound relaxing, but when we arrived at the beach it was rugged, windy and cold. It made us grateful to be living in Southern California. We slept in our modified Pruis V and woke well rested for the last day of our adventure.
Bixbys Bridge
Coming from the south in the morning, it was easy to miss this bridge. The bright sun caused a glare, but the bridge is magnificent all the same.
Garrapata Bluff Trail
We parked on the side of the road and hiked along this beautiful beach through tall grasses and flowers. The recent rains brought out many flowers.
Point Lobos Loop
We paid $10 to park at this state park right on the ocean. Trails are flat and pleantiful. It is easy to see how Bird Rock got its name. This is such a popular park, I think it reached capasity within 2 hours of opening at 8:00. We arrived at 9:00 and headed back home again around 11:00.
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