Alyssa and Robyn were in town a few weeks ago for a conference, and they came a few days early so we could go hiking around Big Sur. We spent a night in Carmel on the way, an adorable little town which unfortunately I don't have any pictures of. The houses in it looked like doll houses and the town was filled with art galleries, shopping boutiques, and pastry shops. We drove down to Big Sur on the 1, it was a beautiful drive.
We stopped by Julia Pfeiffer Burns State park do to some hiking. Our first hike was to see McWavy Falls.
This tree was right next to that view, and it reminded me of the tree from The Bird and the Squirrel.
After that was went on a longer hike, the Ewoldsen Trail. It was just under 5 miles and had a gain of 1600 feet, so our quads were complaining by the end. If offered some great views of the valley and ocean.
After that hike we made one more stop along the PCH before the day was over - Jade Cove. Jade Cove is a small beach right off the 1 where there are large chunks of jade lying on the beach. Technically you're not allowed to take anything with you, but many people do anyway, so long as it's small. The beach is off the side of a small cliff, so to get down to it you have to repel down the side. There is a rope to help you along the way.
It was tricky to tell what was jade and what wasn't but some of the locals helped us out and showed us what to look for.
Here's Robyn with a huge chunk of what we think was raw jade.
The place we stayed at that night was called Treebones, and it was a "glamping" resort. We stayed in large tents called Yurts - modeled after the Yurts the Mongolians used to live in. They had beds, running water, and lots of natural light. And they had great views of the mountains.
Treebones had a good restaurant on site and a delicious sushi bar. When we went it was too dark for us to see the view, but when it's lighter out you have an expansive view of the mountains while eating your sushi and drinking wine. A perfect way to end a day of hiking.
