Backpacking in Big Sur

Weekend of Oct. 18, 2009

Big Sur, California

(if you are blind, these are useless to you. Then again, so is this whole blog)
It was the middle of October, and we figured that if we wanted to enjoy any more mountains in north-central CA, our time was running out. So Hogan and I brought our backpacks to the base on Friday and then headed straight for the coast to go backpacking in Big Sur (a big, mountainy region south of San Francisco right next to the coast).
We made it to the Pacific Coast Highway just as the Sun was starting to set. Um, I'm not sure if you've ever seen the Sun set over the Pacific Ocean, but HOLY FUCKING SHIT.

The water is on the wrong side of the land on the west coast. This is one of the benefits.

We stayed the night at some campground right near the trailhead. It was... lackluster. As was the meal we "enjoyed" at the nearby "restaurant." The next morning we started the ten mile hike. Not a long hike, but there were quite a few ups and downs. The best part about it was seeing the mountains ahead of us and the Pacific Ocean behind us. Haven't really ever had THAT before.

We're professionals, I can assure you

It was a fun hike... until the trail kind of disappeared. It looked like it ended at a deep, fast-moving river, and were like "well what the hell? Are we supposed to ford this shit?" Meh. We gave it a shot. It was right about the time when I was waist-deep in freezing cold water, holding my hiking boots and praying I don't slip, that we decided this would be too ridiculous to actually be part of the trail, so we headed back. It turns out, the actual trail cuts up the side of a rocky ledge (requiring some rock-climbing/backpacking combo skillz), so we eventually continued on our way.
Blah blah blah and we finally made it to some campsite areas, so we set up camp and then took a dip in the nearby natural hot springs. It was... interesting. It was warm for sure, but the sulfur made it smell like our shower water back in Hanford: LIKE ROTTEN EGGS. Yum. Yeah, imagine getting out of the shower and feeling dirtier than when you went in. THAT WAS EVERY DAY LIVING IN CENTRAL CALIFORNIA. To wash off the... odors... from the hot springs, we took a dip in the freezing river.

I think Hogan's expression might be "oh hey I just remembered how to make the water warmer..."

Then we cooked whatever noms were brought that night and chatted with some peeps who were visiting from France and living in Oakland. Kind of uneventful, but whatever. We just backpacked in Big Sur. I'M FINE LEAVING IT AT THAT.
The next morning we got up, ate some apples or something, and then booked it back in some ridiculously short amount of time, like under four hours. The mountain was all "slow down guys" but we were all "No." and then we kicked it in the face.

"Oh we have to ford another river? LET ME JUST CAULK THE WAGON AND FLOAT."

Before we headed home, however, we opted to drive up some more of the Pacific Coast Highway, because that road is the shit. Our destination was Pebble Beach, the most prestigious golf course in the world. Let me paint this picture for you. Two kids who just spent the weekend backpacking in the forest, dirty as hell, smelling like pure sulfur, walk up to the nicest golf course in their hiking boots and scrub clothes, amongst the richest people EVER, and snap a few photos of the 18th green. We got some nasty looks.

Still waiting on that invite to come back...