Last week my buddy David and I went camping in Big Sur. It was awesome!
Early in the trip, we discovered that our planned pace was a bit ambitious. About a third of the way into our first day, we realized that we weren't going to reach our destination before sunset. We backtracked a bit and headed downhill to Danish Creek, where our guide book said there was a good camp. In the end, it should be noted, this was the path less traveled.
It turns out that Danish Creek camp kicks ass. We set up camp under a huge live oak and cooked jambalaya. Once the fire burned down, we called it a night.
The next morning, we re-planned a bit. The most important decision was to dispose of the soy milk powder and move the jam for PB&J's into the bag. This, in turn, freed the jam jar to hold the Maker's Mark I had brought in a medium sized water bottle. We gained a water bottle and flavored our whiskey a bit like strawberries.
We hiked back up to the ridge and headed west towards the coast. Our trail led us through thickets of Chamise and Ceonothus (Wild Lilac). Almost all the Ceanothus was blooming -- the smell was amazing. At times, we would be surrounded by the dull roar of thousands of buzzing of bees all around us.
At one point, we reached a bizarre deposit of green serpentine stone. Devoid of vegetation on a ridge otherwise verdant, it was a jarring place. Only a couple poppies and the remains of a yucca (which I initially thought it was an agave) showed evidence of life.
In the full midday sun, we were able to see our trail laid out in front of us for miles.
At lunch, we discovered that our newly re-purposed water bottle had gone missing: a major bummer. At least we still had the whiskey.
Hours later, having left the ridge and entered a forest of Ponderosa Pine, we encountered an area that seemed to have suffered a fire some years earlier. Surrounded by the hulking masses of dead and fallen trunks, we briefly lost track of the trail and were forced again to backtrack.
We got our bearings and found a 'shortcut' to Pat Springs Camp. The shortcut proved plenty long, though, and the sun was getting low when we finally reached Pat Springs. Heading up a steep hill, we reached a summit with an available campsite -- and one of the most breathtaking views I have ever seen.
We dropped the bulk of our gear at the site and quickly hiked back to a creek to fill our water bottles. We got back in time to watch the sunset in style, snacking on hors d'oeuvres and sipping the aforementioned jam jar whiskey
Although the sunset was awesome, it was accompanied by a dramatic temperature drop. Paired with a strong, incessant wind, the night turned very cold.
We woke up early the next day -- we had our longest hike of the trip in front of us. Midday, we passed through an eerie forest of Madrones. It was, fortunately, a very cool microclimate.
Amazingly, we came across the missing water bottle in the middle of the path! It had apparently fallen out of David's bag the previous day when I made him hold up a leaf so I could take a picture of a caterpillar.
We passed lots of fascinating plants on our hike, many of which I still haven't been able to identify. One of the most interesting was a tiny red plant that grew about one inch tall in the middle of the sandy path. I think it may be an introduced species from Mars.
We finally reached camp after an arduous day. We had an amazing show at one point when we discovered that one of the logs we found for firewood was home to an ant colony. As the log started to ignite, we witnessed a jawdropping exodus as the ant colony evacuated to find a new home. Ew!
The next morning -- our last -- Big Sur treated us to one last round of amazing views as we found our way back to Los Padres Dam.
Hundreds of California Newts also came out to bid us farewell. They are really weird looking little animals.
As a bonus, the day after getting out of Big Sur I was flying down to San Diego and I was able to find the area of our hike from above. You can see the Los Padres Dam reservoir and even the serpentine deposit. I also marked what I think our route and campsites were.
All in all, an awesome week in California.
Early in the trip, we discovered that our planned pace was a bit ambitious. About a third of the way into our first day, we realized that we weren't going to reach our destination before sunset. We backtracked a bit and headed downhill to Danish Creek, where our guide book said there was a good camp. In the end, it should be noted, this was the path less traveled.
It turns out that Danish Creek camp kicks ass. We set up camp under a huge live oak and cooked jambalaya. Once the fire burned down, we called it a night.
The next morning, we re-planned a bit. The most important decision was to dispose of the soy milk powder and move the jam for PB&J's into the bag. This, in turn, freed the jam jar to hold the Maker's Mark I had brought in a medium sized water bottle. We gained a water bottle and flavored our whiskey a bit like strawberries.
We hiked back up to the ridge and headed west towards the coast. Our trail led us through thickets of Chamise and Ceonothus (Wild Lilac). Almost all the Ceanothus was blooming -- the smell was amazing. At times, we would be surrounded by the dull roar of thousands of buzzing of bees all around us.
At one point, we reached a bizarre deposit of green serpentine stone. Devoid of vegetation on a ridge otherwise verdant, it was a jarring place. Only a couple poppies and the remains of a yucca (which I initially thought it was an agave) showed evidence of life.
In the full midday sun, we were able to see our trail laid out in front of us for miles.
At lunch, we discovered that our newly re-purposed water bottle had gone missing: a major bummer. At least we still had the whiskey.
Hours later, having left the ridge and entered a forest of Ponderosa Pine, we encountered an area that seemed to have suffered a fire some years earlier. Surrounded by the hulking masses of dead and fallen trunks, we briefly lost track of the trail and were forced again to backtrack.
We got our bearings and found a 'shortcut' to Pat Springs Camp. The shortcut proved plenty long, though, and the sun was getting low when we finally reached Pat Springs. Heading up a steep hill, we reached a summit with an available campsite -- and one of the most breathtaking views I have ever seen.
We dropped the bulk of our gear at the site and quickly hiked back to a creek to fill our water bottles. We got back in time to watch the sunset in style, snacking on hors d'oeuvres and sipping the aforementioned jam jar whiskey
Although the sunset was awesome, it was accompanied by a dramatic temperature drop. Paired with a strong, incessant wind, the night turned very cold.
We woke up early the next day -- we had our longest hike of the trip in front of us. Midday, we passed through an eerie forest of Madrones. It was, fortunately, a very cool microclimate.
Amazingly, we came across the missing water bottle in the middle of the path! It had apparently fallen out of David's bag the previous day when I made him hold up a leaf so I could take a picture of a caterpillar.
We passed lots of fascinating plants on our hike, many of which I still haven't been able to identify. One of the most interesting was a tiny red plant that grew about one inch tall in the middle of the sandy path. I think it may be an introduced species from Mars.
We finally reached camp after an arduous day. We had an amazing show at one point when we discovered that one of the logs we found for firewood was home to an ant colony. As the log started to ignite, we witnessed a jawdropping exodus as the ant colony evacuated to find a new home. Ew!
The next morning -- our last -- Big Sur treated us to one last round of amazing views as we found our way back to Los Padres Dam.
Hundreds of California Newts also came out to bid us farewell. They are really weird looking little animals.
As a bonus, the day after getting out of Big Sur I was flying down to San Diego and I was able to find the area of our hike from above. You can see the Los Padres Dam reservoir and even the serpentine deposit. I also marked what I think our route and campsites were.
All in all, an awesome week in California.
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