If you haven’t traveled along the Pacific Coast Highway, you should definitely add it to your bucket list. It’s a beautiful scenic drive along the coast.

There are several overlooks along the highway that allow people to stop so that they can safely gaze out at the crashing waves as they strike against the rocky shore.

We stopped at a bunch of the overlooks throughout the drive. We tend to start our trips off moving extremely slowly, taking our time to admire the views. Then as the hours tick by, we realize that we have barely gotten anywhere because we spent so much time at each place.

We devoted 2 days to sightseeing and hiking along Big Sur. We wish we had more time to dedicate to this area as it is so beautiful, but unfortunately our time was limited before I had to start my first contract. We took advantage of the time we had and tried to experience as much as we could in that short period of time. I would recommend spending more than 2 days to sufficiently take in the sights of this area.

Our first big adventure was hiking the Creamery Meadow, Bluffs, Panorama, and Ridge Trail Loop in Andrew Molera State Park. It is an 8 mile hike with 1,440 feet in elevation with a moderate difficulty rating.

Coming from the south, we had to take a sharp left turn onto a side road that descends to the parking lot. A $10 fee is required for parking in this lot. I would also recommend getting there early as the lot can fill up quickly.

Once we parked the truck and got our packs all situated, we set out for our hike. This was the first hike along our trip that was longer than 5 miles. It also had a larger elevation than we had been used to so I was a bit skeptical of how I would feel hiking this long, hard trail.

The hike starts off by crossing through the Big Sur River. I was excited by this because it was my first water crossing!

I was also a bit weary about it because I wasn’t sure how I would feel hiking with wets socks and shoes. I intended to be prepared for the trek through the river by bringing an extra pair of sneakers and a towel to dry off just in case I didn’t like the sloshing feeling of my feet in the soaking wet shoes.

My intentions were good, but my execution was lacking because the second I stepped into the water, I realized that I had forgotten to bring an extra pair of socks. If I had realized that 2 seconds earlier, I would have just taken my socks off and walked across with only sneakers and no socks, but as I stood there with both feet in the water, socks completely soaked, I had come to the realization that I would have to make the best of it and enjoy the hike no matter what. I quickly came to terms with it and continued on through the water.

The river was approximately 30-40 feet across and only about 1-1½ feet deep. It went up to my knees in some parts and about mid-shin for Ryan. The water was a bit chilly, but surprisingly our feet weren’t cold afterward. It was a beautiful day with temperatures in the high 60’s, which was extremely gratifying as it was wintertime when we were there.

We were pleasantly surprised by how quickly our feet had dried as we continued down the trail following the water crossing. It wasn’t even necessary for me to change socks and shoes because of how fast everything dried.

We loved being here in the winter because we don’t like the cold or the snow so the 60 degree weather was much appreciated. As we followed the trail, we noticed the fallen leaves on the ground giving the appearance of Fall. It truly felt like a perfect Fall day, making for a perfect hike.

After doing some research, we found out that this area tends to have a low temperature of 60 degrees. We decided that we would keep this area in mind for future contracts so that we can enjoy warmer weather and continue avoiding the snow during the winter months.

Partway down the trail, we came to a fork in the road. We had to make the decision to veer right to go counterclockwise or left to go clockwise around the trail.

When doing our research for this outing, we saw that most reviews on AllTrails recommended going clockwise on the trail because it allows you to save the more scenic portion of the trail for the end. On past hikes, we have found that the remainder of the trail can feel much longer and more tiring once the stunning views of the scenic sections have passed.

Because of this, we had intended to follow the recommendations, however, when we set out on the trail, we were caught up in a large group of people. They were having a good time, enjoying themselves, but we decided that we didn’t want to follow them along the trail because we were moving at about the same speed and we wanted to enjoy the peaceful tranquility of the nature surrounding us rather than get caught up in a large crowd.

We decided to go counterclockwise on the trail despite all the reviews on AllTrails recommending clockwise.

We quite enjoyed the trail and didn’t feel regretful about going counterclockwise even though we had the scenic beach section in the beginning, leaving the less scenic forest section for last.

As we made our way right at the fork to begin the counterclockwise route, we quickly came to the bluff. We were on a cliff overlooking the ocean, gazing out at the surfers down below out in the distance. This was our first time seeing anyone surf so we were intrigued. We stayed here for a bit just watching them try to catch the waves. It was more mesmerizing than I thought it would have been.

After some time, we decided to continue on our way as we knew the trail would take several hours and we had barely gotten started.

The trail continues along the edge of the cliff overlooking the ocean. This was incredibly beautiful. It was my favorite hike because we had never hiked along the ocean before and I just love to gaze out at the vastness of the water, seeing how it continues for miles and miles, never being able to see the other side.

We stopped for lunch at a nice spot with a breathtaking view of the ocean. We stayed here for about an hour, making lunch, taking pictures, and just enjoying the view.

Then we continued along the trail.

At this point, the trail quickly became more difficult. There were a lot of hills involved in this hike. Instead of a gradual incline to a peak, it was a continuous up and downhill trail along the rolling hills that border the ocean.

We became fatigued as we continued, needing more rest breaks than usual. It definitely felt like a challenge, but we kept pushing ourselves along, determined to finish the challenging section with minimal breaks. It was also challenging because along there was no shade along this part of the trail, and the sun was shining bright that day, making us sweat.

After a couple of hours, we finally made it to the end of the rolling hills. This was the end of the scenic ocean view part of the trail.

We turned left and continued along the trail, entering into the darkening forest.

The forest section was vastly different from the ocean as we could no longer hear the crashing of the loud waves along the cliffs. It was impressive as to how suddenly the sound disappeared the second we walked into the wooded area. The trees do an amazing job at blocking the sound from traveling.

At this point it felt like an entirely different hike.

We were surrounded by trees that were covered in moss, giving off a jungle vibe. The majority of the reviews on AllTrails indicated the ocean is considered a scenic part of the trail and I would agree, but I wouldn’t discredit the forest area. We found this part of the hike to be relaxing as it was so quiet. All we could hear were the occasional chirps from the birds in the trees.

As we got through the jungle, we came back to the fork in which we had begun the loop. We continued down the remainder of the path, bringing us back to the river. At this point, we were thrilled to walk through the cold water as our feet were exhausted. It was refreshing to step into the chilly river to numb our aching feet.

We were excited that we had completed this hike in good spirits. As we made our way west, we had noticed our strength and endurance improving, which allowed us to seek out more challenging hikes. We were proud that we had accomplished this one and cannot wait to continue advancing our level of difficulty.

There is something to be said about completing a difficult hike. The harder the hike, the better the reward. Often times the views are better, but more so in terms of the feeling of accomplishment for finishing the challenge that you set out to pursue.
 

We enjoy pushing ourselves and testing our limits to see what we are capable of handling.