Penny, Heads Up

Carmel Valley and Big Sur, California

Guest of Honor

Adventure #6: Camping Carmel and exploring the Glorious Big Sur

Intentions: Groundedness, Presence, and Inspiration Flow.

This adventure took place on stolen Rumsen, Esselen and Ohlone land.

My bucket list over the years has had a reoccurring item gone unchecked…Big Sur. Having not seen this beauty yet I knew it was a must for January. Luckily my little group felt the same way, so the plans began. It’s pretty tough finding a campsite in Big Sur that’s open these days, so we decided on 3 nights in Carmel at Saddle Mountain Ranch. This was the only private campground that we could find open, since state parks and BLM land are shut down for both seasonal and Covid-19 Restrictions. The hard search for a camp/backpacking area ended up being extremely helpful in gauging what was open in Big Sur and Carmel for day trips. I was pleasantly surprised to find Saddle Mountain Ranch and felt like the staff was super helpful making and shifting reservations. After such a long search for a campsite, this was a relief.

We arrived the night before kayaking in Monterey, so we set up in the dark and quickly found sanctuary in our tents. Sadly, I neglected to look at my sleeping bag before the trip (always do a dry run at home! oops!). I thought it was broken, so the first evening I was very cold in my tent. But worry not, I easily figured out my problem when the sun came up. I will tell you, it makes all the difference to have a closed sleeping bag. We were greeted with a lovely view of Carmel Valley at dawn. There is nothing better than waking up in a tent, with light filtering though my blue 2 person tent. We thawed out with hot coffee and an egg and potato breakfast. The first morning we headed out to Kayak and explore Monterey (see last blog post!)

I was eager to get back that night and cook our dinner. We had a lovely sausage pasta on the menu. (Packing and Food list for camping found on Pre-Trip info page). One of my go to camping meals is: fully cooked chicken sausage from Trader Joe's with pasta and sauce. It’s simple, but It feels gourmet in the woods. We accompanied the meal with seltzers, and many laughs around the communal campfire. With serious fire regulations in the Central Coast the fire pits at specific campsites could not be used. However, the community area had a gas lit fireplace which came in handy on our cold nights after returning from adventures.

The second night, I sorted out my sleeping bag, and had Kiera in the tent with me, which helped keep up body heat and stay warm. We also had a ridiculous amount of layers on because we knew it was going to rain during the night and weren’t sure how cold it would get. Before we went to bed, we wrote in our journals and reflected on our days. We talked about how nice it was to have a group of people that we knew so well but also a dynamic in our group that was new. We really never stop getting to know each other. It's so refreshing to be with old friends, but still discovering new things.

I stayed warm in the night and in the morning, we woke up to rain. Another one of my sensations while camping. We planned to skip breakfast and get right on the road with some Cliff Bars so we could get an early start to Big Sur. We thought we would be facing a day of rain, so the earlier we could set out the better.

Because of the on and off weather, roads were absolutely empty. It felt like we had the whole 1 to ourselves. I couldn't believe it. This is one of the main beauties of winter travel. Knock some of these destinations off of your bucket lists when you can enjoy them without the crowds! The landscape becomes much more intimate when it isn’t crowded by too many other people taking in the same area.

The weather ended up being on our side most of the day. Our first stop was Garrapata Beach. The secluded beach caught the morning light and resulted in some gorgeous photographs and very cleansing breaths by the ocean. After grounding ourselves in the sand, we continued South to a recommended spot from a friend who lives in Monterey, the Big Sur Bakery. Unfortunately, but unsurprisingly, this spot was closed, along with many other shops and cafes through Big Sur. We finally found a spot for coffee, but I promise myself to go back to the bakery next time I’m down here. There are some really cool spots tucked back from the 1, like the General Store, where the Inn puts benches in the river for people to share a drink and dips their feet in the water. Another spot for future trips. After our much-needed coffee, we headed down to Bixby Bridge and further south to McWay Falls.

Seeing Big Sur in the winter is a completely different experience than what I was hearing from my friends, who visited in the summer. We saw rolling green hills and gorgeous untamed landscapes, unpolluted by and people and hot weather (and more realistically, smoke, if traveling in the fall). As we headed down south, we started to see the burn scars from this fall’s fires. As sad as it is to witness the overwhelming effects of climate change right in front of my eyes, I also was able to see the regrowth in the hills. Rising from the ashes, I saw green shrubs emerging and it gave me some hope. Although we were lucky to be in Big Sur on a relatively dry day, driving past the burn areas was scary, knowing that spring rains will bring many mudslides in the barren hills. This is a huge concern because the drastic cliffs no longer have vegetation to absorb the rains and the sediment will become loose and cause massive landslides. Seeing the resilience of the hills was equally inspiring and concerning.

The dramatic landscape was the most beautiful I’ve seen in California. We headed towards our southern-most destination, Salmon Creek Falls, also recommended by locals and friends. This is a short hike to some beautiful waterfalls. Right as we arrived to the falls, it started pouring, so we found an overhanging rock to huddle in and eat our PB&Js. It was so refreshing to be washed by the rain during our well deserved lunch.

As we departed, driving back up North, I saw something pop out of the water. I told Courtney to stop the car. As we stood on the shoulder we could see seven or eight dolphins playing in the waves. This was my first time seeing dolphins in the wild. They put on quite a show, and we took some wonderful pictures on a zoom lens. We followed this with a stop at Sand Dollar Beach in south Big Sur. I loved this spot! The beach has a bit of a hike in which makes it feel even more remote. We were greeted with stunning views (surprise surprise) and a shoreline of large, water-worn rocks. On a sunny day in the summer, I'm sure the beach is packed with local surfers. I would love to return to it in that setting, but was grateful that we had the whole beach to ourselves, (truly a theme of the day). We enjoyed many moments of solitude and quiet time as a group to reflect and laugh together. As we headed back North, we stoped at the Henry Miller library. An absolute dream of a library. Books scattered everywhere, taped to the building, planted in the ground… and there was even a small stage for live music. I would love to see it and its prime, on a warm summer night, listening to live music, after our world recovers from this pandemic. It is a necessary stop for anyone traveling in Big Sur, especially if you love local artist collectives and books.

Hang in there readers! I clearly loved this day so I have much to share :) We had seen much of Big Sur as the sun was going down, but we took a quick stop at Pfeiffer State Park for a little walk in the Redwoods. We soaked in the rain on our skin, under the massive Redwood trees before we headed back to civilization. Clearly the best way to end a long day of adventuring is with a hot curry. We headed to another recommended spot in Monterey, Ambrosia Indian Food. This spot was on Cannery Row, the famous fisherman's village Monterey was built around. The man at the Indian restaurant was so kind to us and so excited that it had been recommended. His graciousness was another example of the goodness that humans have in them and the joy that can be spread in small interactions. This is what I miss the most about isolation, quarantine and the lack of normalcy in our lives. However, I felt like we got to escape this a little bit during our trip, and really enjoy a life that felt more free.

After the Big Sur day, we went back to the campground, ate our food and got an early night. We were a bit nervous arriving to the campground, not knowing how much damage the rain had done that day. Luckily, we relocated our tents in the morning, to minimize the pooling around them. This did the trick and when we returned back to camp, we were greeted by dry tents and dry sleeping bags. I owe this all to our preparation and our willingness to work as a team to make sure that everything stayed dry. During the day we had put all of our bags in the back of the truck, in garbage bags or backpack covers, that prevented everything from getting wet. One of the reasons that this trip was so successful is because we were prepared with the correct gear, food, and mindset to work with any kind of conditions. We remained honest with each other as we navigated the trip and changing conditions. It's not often that a five-person, four day, camping trip goes off without a hitch. There will always be something to adjust to, however we stayed safe, dry and warm (mostly) which helped us let go and have so much fun along the way.

The last day we woke up and made pancakes to celebrate our successful journey thus far. We took time packing up our tents, washing our dishes and headed out for our last little adventures. A bit bittersweet to leave the campground, but we were excited for the day ahead. I myself would have gladly stayed out for a couple more weeks, but the rest were happy to sleep back in their beds soon. Our last day, we headed to Soberanes Point and Whale Peak to do a last little hike in North Big Sur/Carmel area. We did our flora challenge, which I will include below. On our hike, we had beautiful views of the ocean and might have spotted some whales! We said our goodbyes to Big Sur and headed north. On the way up we stoped at Farm Fresh food, a little farm market for some, delicious local honey and roasted pistachios for the ride. We followed this with a surf in Capitola (next blog post!), then headed home to the Bay Area.

This definitely won't be the last time that I camp in this area or camp with these wonderful women. We made such a strong team and had so much fun with priceless memories to look back on. I'm so impressed with the way that we prepared, banded together in the cold winter nights on the coast and made the most of what the Central Coast had to offer. Be back soon!