Big Sur Day 2

I woke up to find myself emersed in full fog, not being able to see more than 20 feet.  That meant time to read and relax over a leisurely breakfast in the car.  Nice to get that holiday feeling with nothing major planned and no time frame for many hours.  I'm reading "The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out The Window And Disappeared" by Jonas Jonasson.  Such a good, fun read, I highly recommend it, and there is also a film version out in theatres right now.

After a couple hours relaxing, I realized the fog was not going away, at least in the area I was in, so I set off north, cruising through the fog, with glimpses of the coast popping through.  I stopped for a coffee at a lodge, sitting outdoors on their deck with a great view of fog.  The prices weren't all that bad inside the store there, often just $.25 to $.50 more than in Santa Cruz, which compared to the price of gas increase in Big Sur isn't so bad.

The next stop was at Julia Burns Pfeiffer State Park, where the waterfalls fall into the ocean.  I started on a short hike to a waterfall up the canyon, and then just kept walking up to see if I could beat the fog.  I ended up on the 4.5 mile Ewoldsen Trail loop that was perfect for the occasion.  The smells and sights reminded me of Southern California (wild sage, oaks, vultures above) mixed in with Northern California (redwoods and fog).  Rising above the fog I could look down over towering redwoods, watch hawks fly in search of prey, and most importantly, feel the sun beating down.  Just like in an airplane, the day was much warmer and sunnier up above everything.  This was a great hike and I powered through in solid time, soaking it all up and getting the sweat going.

The start of the hike, through the trees and fog

Canyon Waterfall through a burned out log

Looking up through the redwoods into the fog

 After the hike, it was back to the car, stopping at a couple of viewpoints and then the Henry Miller Library, full of works from the famous author, beat authors and others.  Quite a sweet layout, very quirky and laidback.  In the evenings they often show films and act as a cultural center for the area.  After that I was able to find that the fog ended in the northern section of the park, and drove through sunshine north, enjoying the view from the opposite side of the road as day 1.

I parked at a Hwy 1 turnoff and hiked down to Andrew Molera, through the creek trail to the beach.  More cool rock formations and some beach time after the hike, to clean up and relax.  This was the view to the south:

Finally the time caught up with me and I had to head north to civilization and cell service to meet up with the brother of a good Irish friend of mine.  Had a feast of Thai food, talked of world travels and biking (he's currently biking the west coast of North America).  Then it was back to Santa Cruz to watch the second half of the Golden State Warriors game 4 victory.  As much as I love being out in nature, with no timeframe, the NBA is always a surefire way to get me to come back.

California Poppy on the Ewoldsen Trail