The Big Sur

On Thursday last week we headed to Santa Monica, north of LA, to spend the night before driving north along the coast in the morning. The sunset was very pretty on the way. We still haven't managed the sunset over the sea.

Palm trees

Sunset view

Our hotel was ok but the whole area smelt really bad so we got a scented candle for the room as well as BBQ ribs and the trimmings to microwave for our dinner. 

We set off in the morning up the Big Sur. This is a drive I have been wanting to do for years. I have read loads of books set in this area and they have always described it as amazingly beautiful. As with the rest of our time in CA, the weather was not great. I think people have been lying about Californian weather personally. But it was still pretty. It got even better the farther north we went.

Beginning the Big Sur drive

 Our first stop was by accident when we saw a sign for Elephant seals. But as soon as we got out of the car, these little guys came to say hi.

Californian ground squirrel

Looking for food

There were loads of people down the path so we followed them (and the noises) and found the Elephant seals. It was mating season so some of the guys were duking it out in the water, fighting for their mating rights I guess. There were some trying it on land, but they are big creatures and the land fights usually lasted about 10 secs before they needed a rest.

Serious fighting

And serious napping!

So lazy!

He's a alive. Honest. I saw a flipper move. Once.

They were so lazy! They mostly slept and made some questionable noises! The most activity most did was occasionally trowing some and over themselves.

There were masses of them lying near the waters edge. Apparently getting up the beach after a swim was just too much effort. Which was fine until someone of the beach wanted to get in the water. Then they had to climb over the others. Which took about 20mins with naps on top of other seals at regular intervals.

Blockade

There was also a cute little baby (who hadn't grown his nose yet). He was shuffling up the beach, a lot more active than the others. But he had no one to play with so eventually just lay watching the water and running from other seals coming out, trying to get them to chase him. He did not succeed in getting any of them to play but he kept trying.

Baby

We watched one trying to move up the beach. It took some time. They were so cute to watch, we stayed a while taking photos and laughing at them.

On the move

Our second stop was at Salmon creek Falls.

On the way along the Big Sur

 We parked on the road and hiked to the falls. It was more climbing than hiking though in parts. There were lots of boulders we had to clambered over.

Easy part of the hike

 Finally we found the waterfall. The path was not exactly marked or obvious and I think most of the time we just headed in the right direction and hoped. When we found the falls, they weren't as described. We had to climb to get to it. The first meter or so was sheer and required some interesting maneuvering. Which was fine for Rachel as she climbs a lot. It was a bit trickier for me as I had no idea how to climb like that and she had to help me. But it was worth it.

Before the climb

On the there side

The pool under the waterfall looked really inviting so we changed and went for a swim. It looked inviting. It was actually really cold! But once I got halfway in (I am not very elegant so that bit was kind of quick), there didn't seem any point in not going in completely. Rachel took more convincing and a lot more time, getting in slowly. 

Still not convinced

The waterfall wasn't as big as described but California is in a draught so it wasn't a surprise.

Under the waterfall 

View of the rocks and valley from the waterfall

The rocks around the waterfall weren't as slippery as we expected. Still Rachel was more brave than me and went up to the top. I knew my balance and grace. And I can't afford to get air lifted out!

Exploring the waterfall

Rachel being braver than me.

I did managed to jump from the ledge. Which was probably not a great idea as parts weren't very deep. I did check it out before. Still I was very relieved when I didn't die!

Survived the jump

After our swim we had to spend some time warming up on the rocks. And fending off the advances from the surfer guys who were cool but seemed more than a little stoned!

The only bad part was I bashed my foot (once again showing my usual grace and elegant). My toe is now black and the bruise spreading up my foot. :-(

The second stop was at McWay falls. We had intended on going there on the way back but got the Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park mixed up with the one we were looking for, the Pfeiffer big Sur State Park. But it was only a short walk to the view the falls so decided to see it then as we were already there.

MvWay Falls

You can't get down to the falls. The beach is protected. But the view from the path was still pretty. There was also a huge rock I thought looked like a frog. :-)

Beach waterfall

Frog!!!

Finally we found the Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park. They had a short trail trail there through a redwood grove!  I was expecting big trees but they were amazing. So much taller and wider than I had expected.

Redwoods

Looking up.

 They don't often grow from seeds but spilt and grow in close groves.

Twin trees

They often had little scrubs around the base. They were filled with spider webs. There was no way I was going near these!

Lots of spider webs! Eeck!

 They were so big, in the photos the size doesn't come across. So Rachel helpfully stood in to show scale.

Wide trees

And really tall trees.

As we were there, we decided to do the valley and falls trail as well. There were more redwoods along the way.

Pfeiffer falls

 And it was all going well. Until I realized the distance quoted was as the crow flies and did not take into account the vertical. And there was a lot more vertical than I like. Still the views were good. And I stopped to take photos (and catch my breath) an a regular basis.

View part way up

Colors

View at the top of Pfeiffer Big Sur Valley

It was a good walk. And we were very mucky when we got back. But they didn't kick us out of the gift shop so maybe we weren't that bad. We were staying that night just outside San Francisco (in San Francisco was way too expensive) so we still had a few more hours driving.

Big sur at dusk

We did managed to find a decent radio station, called Bob FM. THE best name for a radio station. Ever!

Bob FM!!!!!

We stayed in a Motel 6. It was basic and cheap. Unfortunately the first night the couple in the next room there arguing until 5am. And smoking outside and the smoke was wafting into our room. Neither of slept a lot that night. (The second night was better. The new couple were enjoying themselves more. And that has a time limit!)