First adventure of the new year (Big Sur)

I came back home for the holidays and will be staying here for a while until my summer season starts again, but after only a week of being here, I started feeling restless and had to get out of the house. Luckily I get my spontaneity from my parents, so it wasn't too hard to talk them into going for an outing. We decided to head out towards the coast to go for a hike on the Ewoldsen Trail at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park in Big Sur.

Because this was the first weekend after New Years and the weather was perfect, Highway 1 and all of the beaches and parks along the route were completely packed with people. It's wonderful to see so many people outdoors with their families and friends enjoying the accessibility of these beautiful places, but after being in the desert for the last couple of months and living up in the mountains before that, it was quite different for me to be surrounded by crowds and actually share the trail with other people. But everyone was in good spirits, the trail was gorgeous, and I was more than happy to be there with my parents, so it wasn't hard to feel content with the surroundings.

We took our time on the 4.5 mile hike, walking under the shade of the lush redwood forest and then climbing up and up through groves of oak trees toward the crest of a ridge-line overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Admittedly, the hike was quite a bit more strenuous than I was anticipating, but my mom and dad met the challenge with the same willingness and endurance that always surprises me and makes me proud. After enjoying the scenery and exercise, we drove out to San Simeon to eat dinner and stay for the night instead of driving home in the dark.

The next day instead of heading straight home, we stopped at Moonstone Beach in Cambria to go for a walk and stretch our legs. We rock-hopped for a while watching the sea lions sunbath and investigating the lively tidepools and walked along the sand for a while before walking back to the car along the boardwalk just above the beach. Once we got a decent amount of sun (and my feet were soaked from a couple of missteps) we grabbed a bite at our favorite restaurant in Cambria and hopped in the car to get back home.

My parents used to bring me to visit this area quite often when I was a bit younger, and especially after studying at the Bodega Marine Laboratory (further north) and later working at Muir Woods National Monument (near San Francisco), the rocky shores and redwood forests of  the northern central California coast hold an incredibly special place in my heart and in some ways feel a lot like home. Being there to explore with two of the most important people in my life was a really nice welcome back to my home state and a great way to start off the new year.