Big Sur Beauty

I woke up early in beautiful Cambria, CA so I could get on the road and see Big Sur. This is a famous section of Highway 1 that follows a spectacular and desolate section of the California coast.


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I could have stayed much longer in Cambria, it was a lovely little town and had a perfect hostel. It is tucked behind some hills, guarded from the ocean, and had some beautiful beaches around. Maybe I will get back there one day…

Cambria, California - Moonstone Beach

The drive was just as nice as it is said to be, and I am sure even more spectacular when the hills are green. You can drive very fast because you have a sheer rock wall inches from one side of your car and a cliff leading down into the ocean on the other side. I have a feeling it would be a better drive going south because you would be on the ocean side of the road. It was a beautiful day with some fog in the morning and low clouds hanging around the hills all day. I stopped to take pictures whenever I could but you can only stop so much and make any distance.

My destination was Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park. Most of the park is closed because of fires in recent years but McWay Waterfall is still there and absolutely beautiful. I was stopping to stay at a secret section of the park, two environmental hike-in campsites. I say secret because the park has no camping signs all over the place and so you have to have read about them before hand to know about them. The sites are just behind the waterfall under a grouping of trees. It was lovely weather to camp, just chilly enough to need a fire and sleeping bag. My only complaint was the stream of tourist that would meander down the trail and walk around my camp, especially the creepy photographers that stayed for hours!

Big Sur

Big Sur

Because of my short drive I got there rather early and setup camp, did some hiking, and read for a while perched on a rock above the ocean. It was a long evening alone out in the woods. At one point in the night I was dancing around the fire when I turned around to see a small fox sitting on the hill watching me, I returned the favor and watched him for a little while. I slept great and was able to pack up and get on the road fairly early. I ended up in San Francisco on this day!

Journey West Video - Big Sur

Big Sur

Big Sur

Big Sur