The infamous sidewinding two-lane cliffside roadway. Backdrop [but secret show stopper] in car-commercials, coming-of-age romps, romantic comedies, and [in my case] soul-searching solo sojourns.
Everyone has to do it once. Unofficial California Driver's License requirement.
Everyone has to do it once. Unofficial California Driver's License requirement.
I travel alone a decent amount [for business and pleasure], but despite criss-crossing the country with cats and LPs in tow, I've never done a real multi-day roadtrip [with bonus glamping] all by myself. And with a shiny new clutch, a fancy gadgety camera [all photos are unprocessed Fujifilm X-T2 except for one selfie] and the last pages of the California chapter approaching, it seemed like now or never.
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| Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park |
Most travel blogs were biased toward taking a North to South route, convenient for frequent stops with the ocean on your right the entire time, and recommend 5-7 days to do the entire coast including big cities. I had two and a half days to get from Los Angeles to Oakland [for a decadent girls weekend], and one day to get back so I focused on the area around Big Sur as a sort of post-election, post-job, post-birthday, post-ghost, get-back-to-nature media cleanse.
Day 1
Los Angeles --> Big Sur
Stop 1: San Luis Obispo
+ 189 miles
+ 3 hours from Los Angeles
To get out of the city and into new territory north of Santa Barbara quickly, I avoided the coastal route through Malibu [where I-10 West dumps out on the PCH and the blue just hits you] and left ridiculously early in the morning. Leaving the 101 after Santa Barbara, I cut through a cloud forest on CA 154 [between the foggy "mountain" pass, the early morning supermoon, and a wild ram 4 feet away from the road I was white-knuckling the steering wheel] before stopping in San Luis Obispo.
Bypassed Solvang [the cutesy Danish wine village featured in Sideways] for coffee at the highly advertised Madonna Inn, and found myself in a German Holiday Market explosion. I would never have guessed from the pink lanterns and painted cows outside that the cafe would feel like the inside of a Christmas tree. Waitresses in dirndls. Locals speaking German. Had a fancy cappuccino and eyed the pies. Bitte.
Bypassed Solvang [the cutesy Danish wine village featured in Sideways] for coffee at the highly advertised Madonna Inn, and found myself in a German Holiday Market explosion. I would never have guessed from the pink lanterns and painted cows outside that the cafe would feel like the inside of a Christmas tree. Waitresses in dirndls. Locals speaking German. Had a fancy cappuccino and eyed the pies. Bitte.
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| Quick stop at the Madonna Inn |
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| Gum Alley in San Luis Obispo |
+ 13 miles
+ 17 minutes from San Luis Obispo
Finally on the PCH driving North, I briefly stopped at Morro Bay State Park to see the giant rock [apparently called the "Gibraltar of the Pacific"] and marvel at some old twisty pines.
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| Morro Rock in the distance |
Stop 3: San Simeon
+ 30 miles
+ 37 minutes from Morro Bay
Though it is a highly rated stopping point, I did not have enough daylight to invest my time/money into visiting unattainable opulence of the Hearst castle [with an hour tour and additional hour in bus-rides it easily becomes a half day affair, and there are no costumed nighttime tours mid-week in November]. Instead I grabbed snacks at Sebastian’s General Store, wandered outside to view the castle looming large above a slick Gatsby/Downton-esque MG, and noticed significant fluttery activity coming from above. Yet another unreproducible and therefore magical moment: stumbling upon a hundred Monarchs either migrating or settling in for the winter.
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Monarch Butterflies evading photography
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Absolutely mesmerizing. Butterflies flittering, condors circling, ocean sparkling in the sun. Merely the beginning of California's runaway landslide victory over my sodden heart.
Stop 4: Elephant Seal Vista Point
+ 5 miles
+ 7 minutes north of San Simeon
Total misnomer. Not one seal, but hundreds of seals sunbathed at this beach looking goofy, snuggling up to each other, occasionally belching, flapping flippers, or yawping vocalizations to break up the inanimacy.
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| BFFs |
Despite high winds and enormous waves slamming against rocks offshore, disintegrating into sea breezes mid-crest, the seals were completely nonplussed. Loved every minute.
Stop 5: Ragged Point
+ 10 miles
+ 16 minutes north of Elephant Seal Vista Point
The highway got twistier and steeper as it approached Ragged Point, and the winds were particularly high, adding to the adventure factor. This spot had insane panoramics, hot drinks, gasoline, firewood, and a daring-do path down the side of the crevasse in such crumbley shape that [after slipping un-delicately more than once] I decided was better left untravelled.
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| Ragged Point: high winds, long drops |
The next stretch of road was particularly sinuous, remote and slow-going, so warnings about lack of gas stations and cell phone service are prudent. It traverses the Los Padres National Forest where there are multiple hiking trails, campgrounds [most of which were closed east of the highway due to previous wildfires], beaches $$, holistic hot spring institutes [public night bathing from 1 am to 3 am by reservation only], and the premier "coastal yurt resort", all of which I had to forgo [and backtrack later] to race the winter setting sun to my next premeditated pause.
Stop 6: Nepenthe
+ 45 miles
+ 75 minutes from Ragged Point
A sunset spot that is hard to rival. If cocktail hour is at all important to you, then drinks at the cliffside patio above rolling green hills while the ocean melts into the sky are a must. If not, there's always the overpriced Ambrosia burger.
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| practicing my low light settings at Nepenthe |
Night One: Big Sur Campground
+ 4.5 miles
+ 9 minutes from Nepenthe
Nighttime activities in the heart of Big Sur are all campy - fires, s'mores, and stargazing, since you are truly unplugged/unreachable. My Airbnb glamping experience was somewhere in between actual camping and the fancy boutique spa resorts [which get booked very far in advance]. Midweek, shoulder-season, booked this less than a month in advance. The Airbnb host set up a spacious retro canvas tent, complete with bed and lanterns for me [crucial since it was dark when I arrived].
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glamp lights
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Day Two
Big Sur North to South
+ 26.2 miles North
+ 40 minutes from Big Sur to Carmel-by-the-Sea
The next morning I woke before dawn, did a daybreak drive through rolling dunes toward Carmel-by-the-Sea [with one stop for monster waves at Garrapata Beach] in desperate search of coffee to warm my bones [and cell service to remind people I was alive]. I spent the rest of the day meandering southwardly, stopping at marked and unmarked pull-outs for things like cows on hills, helicopters dangling firemen, and hidden vistas. Some major attractions are described below.
Stop 1: Point Lobos State Nature Reserve
+ 4.1 miles South
+ 9 minutes from Carmel-by-the-Sea
An easy roundabout bluff side stroll takes you past iconic knotty cypress [native only here and few miles North at Pebble Beach], crystals clear coves, and an old whaler’s cabin. Exterior scenes of the Hitchcock film Rebecca were filmed here. Required stop and required prerequisite movie for all those named Rebecca.
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| Point Lobos thrashing waves |
Stop 2: Rocky Creek Bridge and Bixby Bridge
+ 10.3 miles / + 11 miles South
+ 15 minutes / + 17 minutes from Point Lobos
There are several iconic arched bridges straddling huge gaps along the PCH, each with an unmarked pull-out on the right when approaching the bridge from the north. Very steep cliffs however tempt you to wander down for that perfect selfie - don’t be that Darwin award!
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| Rocky Creek Bridge, 1932 |
Stop 3: Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park
+ 23.6 miles South
+ 38 minutes from Bixby Bridge
I skipped the Andrew Molera State Park and the Pfeiffer Big Sur Park [which boasts a hike to a giant rock on the beach akin to El Matador in Malibu or Haystack Rock in Cannon Beach] because the forests are still closed due to wildfire aftermath, but this eponymous former-backyard-turned-state-park had more than enough natural beauty to squander the remainder of my precious daylight hours. The paved walkway to the overlook of McWay Falls had insane #nofilter colors.
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| McWay Falls Overlook view of an untouched beach |
And the Eswolden Trail is a 4.5-mile roundabout through redwoods and canyons for anyone craving a workout or a true lost-in-the-forest feeling. Ultimate payoff is a wide open cliffside view of the Pacific Ocean, and that it's mostly downhill on the way back.
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| Big trees |
Definitely got lost finding the trailhead on the way up and a minor detour to glimpse a waterfall had me scrambling my way back down in the dirt in a less-than-ladylike fashion.
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| preceding a downward scramble |
Stop 4: another PCH sunset
+ 15 miles North
+ 28 minutes from Julia Pfeiffer Burns
Had just enough time to squeeze in one last sunset just south of Point Sur Naval Facility, because there really is no excuse to not stand still for a moment to watch the sun drop into the ocean. Turned it into a picnic on the hood of my car.
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| the sun goes down again |
I was very glad for that snackstop later [“eat when you can” is part of the surgeon’s handbook] when I decided to pay forward some good car karma by offering to help some stranded students get back to their blown out rental car to await their tow truck and “4 miles” turned into an hour and a half mini-adventure on the dark and windy road. Later dined at a roadhouse with the sophisticated pairing of beer cheese dip and Chardonnay. Slept like a baby.
Day Three
Big Sur --> Oakland
Stop 1: Carmel-by-the-Sea
+ 26.2 miles North
+ 40 minutes from Big Sur to Carmel-by-the-Sea
The final day was as unscheduled as the rest. I stopped in Carmel-by-the-Sea mostly to grab a coffee, then found myself sucked into it’s unbelievable adorableness. Words like “artist’s enclave” and “hamlet” meant nothing until I traipsed through this fucking place. A cartoon village out of a fable. Twiggery floral art. Thatched roof cottages with cutesy names. A cocoa spa.
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| Carmel-by-the-Sea, just stop with your hyphenated adorbs |
And even though I’ve lived within an hour of the seashore for the last 10+ years of my life [yes, Galveston counts], and had spent 3 days with nothing but Pacific in my eyes, I found myself again lured to the beach. The soft cool sand, the unfathomable blue, the surfers changing into wetsuits in the backs of their cars, the cadillac with a surfboard on top; all classic California tormenting me.
Stop 2: 17 mile Drive/ Pebble Beach
4.8 miles
14 minutes from Carmel-by-the-Sea
at least an hour for even the most heartless grinch
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| obligatory lone Cypress photo |
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| sea lion vs seal? |
Seriously, I spent like 2 and a half hours here. The age old seals vs sea lion debate, pelicans, the lone cypress, and of course, golf greens. If the sport did not boast an elitist dress code and was not so environmentally unfriendly, I would almost consider liking it.
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| you're never getting that ball back |
The 17-mile drive practically deposits you at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, which is not the worst way for fish fans to spend the afternoon. I had to skip it. My initial impression of Monterey as a child was cold and grey [we all had to buy sweatshirts and sweatpants in our classic unprepared packing] but I'm sure it can be quite lovely in the right light.
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| unpredictable Norcal weather: t-shirts in November |
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| sweatshirts in June |
Stop 3: Oakland
117 miles
2 hours 20 minutes from Pebble Beach
I cut inland on the 101 and reversed the seclusion with a decadent weekend exploring the East Bay with two amazing friends for one last California hurrah including but not limited to: a fully-immersive 1920s theatrical experience, an indulgent 12 course dinner at Commis, serious half-marathon training with not one but two cold-weather rainy-day runs, outlet shopping, s'mores, and unabashed girl time. The warm fuzzies more than made up for the inclement Northern California weather.
The Return Trip To Los Angeles
374 miles
5 hours 25 minutes from Oakland [less if you miss traffic]
The drive back was perfunctory and unscenic, a straight shot on Interstate 5 [after taking the 980 and 880 loops out of Oakland] through flailing farm land [with multiple pro- and anti-farming water propaganda signs, all of which blame Congress for their ills] and a terrifying heavy-rain-to-the-point-of-low-visibility storm at the Tejon Pass.
Do I think it would be easier to fly into Monterey and drive south? Of course! But it can be done from Los Angeles - and as fancifully or as frugally, as superficially or in depth as you like. Would I do it again? In a heartbeat! [I might have made some hot-toddy-induced promises to myself along those same lines.]
But first: another obligatory un-fun cats-in-tow long distance move awaits.
Do I think it would be easier to fly into Monterey and drive south? Of course! But it can be done from Los Angeles - and as fancifully or as frugally, as superficially or in depth as you like. Would I do it again? In a heartbeat! [I might have made some hot-toddy-induced promises to myself along those same lines.]
But first: another obligatory un-fun cats-in-tow long distance move awaits.
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