Living in California, I am near so many incredible places to visit including great National Parks like Yosemite, Sequoia and many others. However not all great places to visit have the designation of National Park. One of the most beautiful drives in the nation is the Pacific Coast Highway. Cut into the mountains right above the coastline from Los Angeles to San Francisco, this highway is a must do road trip. I have often been to the central coast to enjoy the coastal air and beautiful weather but rarely went North of San Simeon. I went camping in Plaskett with some friends and we got to experience just a part of the Pacific Coast Highway. After that experience, it quickly rose on my list as a drive I wanted to do. As I began to research this trip, California had an epic storm that caused severe damage to the highway. Following an incredible drought, 2016-17 was the second rainiest year on record. Everyone in California was thankful for the rain but having so much in one year caused some severe damage. With minimal vegetation and sitting above the ocean, Highway One is very susceptible to erosion. With all the rainfall a massive mudslide saw an entire mountain sliding out to sea. The highway was buried under 40 feet of mud and dirt and many bridges that span the creeks and canyons along the coastline were also damaged. Suddenly the future of the highway was in doubt as people questioned rebuilding the road at all. It took months for CalTrans to even come up with a plan to fix the highway. The bridges would need to be repaired and the road would need to be rebuilt on top of the landslide once the mountain had been stabilized. Any plans to drive the Pacific Coast Highway would have to be put off until the road could be fixed.
The road took a full 18 months to rebuild and on July 18th 2018, the repairs were completed and highway one was finally reopened. I began planning anew, researching the best places to camp, hikes to do, and sights to see. I finally had an opportunity to go and visit a place so close to my home and so prestigious around the world. With my research complete, a weather window open, and the time to get away for a few days, I set off to drive one of the most scenic drives in the USA.
From my hometown in the Central Valley, I reached the coast at the town of Cambria. I hadn’t planned to eat anywhere so I quickly searched Google maps and discovered this cafe that had high ratings, so I in stopped in for lunch. The Cafe on Bridge Street is actually just a house that has been turned into a little restaurant. It’s not so much a house that has been converted or repurposed to a cafe, but more like they just took all of the furniture out and replaced it with tables and chairs. Cambria is sort of a quirky town but this little cafe goes above and beyond. Perhaps it’s more kitschy or hipster, but I just found it very odd. You walk to the back room to order past rooms that have tables set up in them. I ordered a ‘burger and chips’ and I thought ‘chips’ was just the coastal way of saying french fries as it is with fish and chips. However, they meant chips, and not just potato chips, it was tortilla chips. I don’t think I have ever had a burger with tortilla chips. I wasn’t even mad or disappointed, it was just so absurd I thought it was pure comedy. Getting tortilla chips with a burger was not even on my radar as a possibility. I guess that was fitting for such an odd quirky cafe.
From there, I drove up to Hearst Castle and took a tour which I have wanted to do for a long time. I have drove by it many times and had always wanted to visit. It was a fascinating place, literally a museum in the middle of nowhere.
Next, I drove up the Pacific Coast Highway a little further to some spots I had hoped to stop and camp. Campsites along Highway 1 are at a premium and I hate to pay $30 for a campsite where I’m simply going to sleep for the night. I had marked a couple potential sites up a few service roads to disperse camp on Google maps. When I found the road and turned off, I discovered it was in terrible condition and ridiculously steep. I was thankful to have a four wheel drive jeep but I didn’t want to drive such a rugged road for long. Thankfully, I just drove up a short way and found a spot where I had room to park along the road. It was also near some trees and a great camping spot so I hung my hammock and slept soundly for the night.
The next day I went to Limekiln State Park to do some hiking. First, I hiked to the Limekilns which are these massive structures, that look like giant silos sitting in the middle of the forest. It’s almost eerie walking up to these structures which I’m sure had some historical explanation but to a hiker in the woods, they just seem alien and out of place.
There is another hike to a waterfall which I had decided to do. I learned from the ranger at the entrance that the trail crossed the creek multiple times but I hadn’t prepared with appropriate footwear. I decided to just take my shoes off and brave the sharp rocks and frigid water barefoot for the duration of the hike. This made for quite a painful experience since cold feet and sharp rocks do not go well together. When you’re also carrying a camera this makes the going a lot more precarious. Despite the sketchy, painful going, I made it through and got to enjoy the beautiful waterfall.
From there I drove to Big Sur and camped at the Pfeiffer Big Sur campground as there aren’t any options to do dispersed camping in that area. A significant oversight of the campground is the lack of bear boxes. Bear boxes are not just useful in keeping your food away from bears but also from other critters. I had to learn the hard way that keeping your food secure, even when not in bear country, is important.
At about 3 AM that night, I heard some scurrying and rustling near my picnic table. I instantly knew something was up and poked my head through the tent and shined my flashlight towards the area in question. I immediately recognized the form of 3 racoons rifling through my food and trash. The feelings of anger and irritation immediately flooded me in equal portions. I tried to scare the coons off by making noise while also trying to avoid waking the neighbors but the racoons were bold fellows. I then decided to start chucking pine cones at the vagrants which worked to some extent. Once I gained some progress I got all of my food and scraps and put them in my car.
I was thoroughly worked up and knew I wouldn’t be able to fall asleep for a bit. While I was at Mcway Falls earlier in the day, I tried to think of ways to photograph it in a unique way. I knew that the moon was full and decided that it would be neat to try to photograph the falls illuminated in moonlight. Once I was awake from the wildlife scoundrels, I decided to just go ahead and drive to Mcway Falls. I didn’t know if the trail would be closed and hiking to a good vantage point would even be possible. Nonetheless, I proceeded to drive the 45 minutes to the falls, all the while considering how ridiculous this decision was.
When I arrived, I walked down the trail with great trepidation worried that someone would get me in trouble for breaking some rule I was unaware of, but nothing impeded me so I proceeded to the falls. I got my camera out and started fidgeting with the controls to try to get a decent shot. Obviously, I wasn’t at peak focus so getting the settings right took some serious effort. I was finally able to get something of a picture but it was a far cry from what I had imagined in my mind’s eye. I finally decided that I had got as good a picture as I could and headed back to the car. I was still trying to walk as quietly and quickly as I could, half expecting someone to appear around the next corner. Thankfully, the return trip was uneventful and I made it back to my campsite unscathed. Maybe it was a crazy adventure but it was still an experience to remember.
