Feeling antsy from being shutins during the week before New Year’s (we came down with cold / flu symptoms), and wanting to put some easy break-in miles on our new BFT, Carol and I headed down Highway 1 along the Big Sur coastline.
We pulled into the Kirk Creek campground ($22 / night; this seemed higher than I remembered but certainly worth it) in mid afternoon, and after a tour around the campground, converged on a site that had a pretty good profusion of daffodils blooming. Blooming daffodils, views of the Pacific, what’s not to like? After setting up, we headed down to the beach for some recreation, staying until almost sunset.
Next morning, we headed down the coast, stopping at Salmon Creek to hike in and see the falls (from the top and from the bottom). The falls had a good flow going and were pretty spectacular. Further down the road, we stopped to see the Elephant seals near Piedras Blancas; there was a lot of activity (“Gargles, grunts, snorts, belches, bleats, whimpers, squeaks, squeals, and the male trumpeting combine to create the elephant seal symphony of sound.” – indeed.) with seal pups and a pair of bulls having a bloody fight. The bloody fight was compelling, but at the same time pretty scary looking. Let’s just say I wouldn’t want to be anywhere near the fight.
Next stop – Cambria, a lovely little tourist trap with great restaurants, bookstores, little shops and man was it beautiful and warm. We started thinking about sunburn – seriously. After consulting with a a couple locals, we went looking for The Sea Chest (“best seafood on the coast”), wound up wandering down Moonstone Beac
h and then deciding we were going to be disappointed with The Sea Chest. We thought we were going to camp at San Simeon, but we pulled in and found that campsites ran $36 / night – wow, that’s almost crummy hotel territory there. Guess we now know what the big plan is to save California’s state parks – charge the hell out of anyone that wants to stay overnight. We left, stopping for an overwhelming sunset, then headed back into Cambria for dinner at The Sow’s Ear. Highly recommended.
On down the road, we camped at Montaña de Oro State Park near Morro Bay. One of our favorite stomping grounds on the Central Coast, Montaña de Oro has tide pooling, beaches, high bluffs along the coast, mountains, wildlife, chaparral, it’s nice and quiet – lots of attractions.
Next day, after a leisurely breakfast and a chat with our neighbors from Victoria, British Columbia, we headed off for some tide pooling and exploring along the bluffs. After lunch and a nap, we headed up Valencia peak. Pleasant climb along ancient marine terraces (Monterey Shale) and good views from the top. Back at camp, a beer, some dinner and – it’s dark by 6:30 PM.
In the morning, the day’s agenda is to go south as far as we like then make our way home. We wound our way south, keeping mostly to the coast and happened to drive past the Monarch Butterfly Grove at Pismo Beach. Wow, was that cool – never seen so many monarch butterflies. We spent quite some time wandering and looking at all the butterflies – they were mostly fairly high in the eucalyptus trees, so we didn’t get pictures that give a real feel for how many there were.
Heading home, we stopped and did some wine tasting (and buying) and north of Morro Bay spotted The Taco Temple along a frontage road. The best chicken tacos I can ever remember. On up the road we stopped in Harmony and visited the glass works. We got to watch a vessel being made all the way from the first dip in the molten glass until the finished product went into the annealing oven. They give glass blowing lessons there – I’m going to sign up – looks like a real blast.
Short but sweet, but now the BFT drive train is supposedly ready for prime time, which to us means high passes and mountain roads – as soon as the weather is acceptable somewhere nearby!
~Rick
P.S. – in case you missed seeing the pictures, click here…