Big Sur [‘bɪg ˈsɝ]
Big Sur [‘bɪg ˈsɝ] is a rugged and mountainous section of the Central Coast of California between Carmel and San Simeon, where the Santa Lucia Mountains rise abruptly from the Pacific Ocean. It is frequently praised for its dramatic scenery. Big Sur has been called the “longest and most scenic stretch of undeveloped coastline in the contiguous United States” a sublime “national treasure that demands extraordinary procedures to protect it from development” and “one of the most beautiful coastlines anywhere in the world, an isolated stretch of road, mythic in reputation”
The views, redwood forests, hiking, beaches, and other recreational opportunities have made Big Sur a popular destination for about 7 million people who live within a day’s drive and visitors from across the world. It is among the top 35 tourist destinations world-wide. The region receives about the same number of visitors as Yosemite National Park, but offers only limited bus service, few restrooms, and a narrow two-lane highway that for most of its length clings to the steep coastal cliffs. North-bound traffic during the peak summer season and holiday weekends is often backed up for about 20 miles (32 km) from Big Sur Village to Carmel Highlands. Due to the large number of visitors, congestion and slow traffic between Carmel and Posts is becoming the norm.
Highway 101, Big Sur, USA
This is part of one of the most scenic roads in the united states and I must agree the drive was epic and compared to southern California it wasn’t as densely populated. There wasn’t too much traffic in the mornings and there were plenty of viewpoints and places to stop.
Looking back at all the kilometres I had driven in the last months and thinking about the way ahead the journey finally started to feel less intimidating.
The pressure of having to drive the car back to Canada had always been on my back and the weight finally became less and less with every mile I drove north. Just up the coast and then inland to Yosemite and Sequoia for a bit, sadly but intentionally skipping San Francisco, the breaks were just not sufficient to drive in this, how I imagined, extremely hilly city. After exploring the Californian National Parks I switched back to the coast and went through Oregon and Seattle to finish my giant loop in Vancouver. My 90 day tourist visa was about to run out within the next couple of weeks, it had already been a good two months in the United States. I had to keep going, I didn’t want trouble at the boarder as I pretty much had to enter Canada because of the car.
The Big Sur bridge, Big Sur, USA
Iconic bridge at the north end of the state park. The place was Insta-famous as there were quite a few other people around for sunrise.
After a couple of days it was time to leave San Clemente and drive further up the coast and make the move from southern to northern California. I really enjoyed my days in the surf hostel in this small beach town.
I skipped the area above San Clemente and below LA as it was just to dense and the towns seemed similar to San Clemente but not as nice. I just drove up the Highway 101, not stopping for any urban adventures, overwhelmed by the amount of people and cars and exhausted of driving in the dense LA area traffic. I hadn’t driven much in San Clemente, I was happy that there was no need for once so this was the first time after a good few days I sat behind the wheel again, coming from deserts and canyons to twelve lane highways.
I drove all the way past Los Angeles and Santa Monica that day and found a secret sleeping spot just by the train tracks. I got lucky and the police didn’t raid the spot that night.I had a quick stopover in LA, mainly to find internet and a bathroom and I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw another white-gold ‘96 Ford Explorer Eddie Bauer edition in the McDonald’s parking lot. Obviously I had been on the lookout for another Edward, but it took me roughly 22.000 km to find one. It was hilarious, the model is quite common in the US, and out of ‘96 it is one of the most common ones, in fact in the American “cash for clunkers” program the Explorer ‘96 was one of the most traded in cars. Even more funny was that it was a sleeper vehicle as well and the driver was visiting McDonald’s for the same reason. This was the first Eddie I saw. Three years later and after visiting Mexico for six months I can confirm five more sightings of the exact same model, most of them well documented. Too bad regulations, insurance restrictions and a lack of balls hindered me in letting Edward retire in Mexico with all his twin-homies.
The next destination was the Big Sur, an especially rough part of coastal Northern California and for many tourists one of the main reasons to drive up and down the 101. The coast was great, very steep cliffs, massive waves and lots of ocean spray and all seen from a road, the proper American way, don’t even need to get out of the car.
Big Sur was another state park and as it was still in California so finding a place to sleep was still difficult. The park was pretty much just a road leading through the wilderness with mostly steep cliffs on either side. There were a few spots of interest, a cove with a waterfall, a few rocky beaches with big waves and an epic bridge. I had to drive all the way to the town at the northern end and find a spot to sleep somewhere in a residential street. The location was good for the bridge in the morning, as it was pretty much the first thing that came up after driving into Big Sur. I stayed around the park for the whole day, drove back to the southern end and tried to get a good shot of the cove with the waterfall but failed mostly due to not having a wide enough lens. I went back to the same sleeping spot for the night. Lots of driving up and down the 101 those days. Stopped in a Restaurant/Cafe to do some quick work emailing and started the Location section in the spreadsheet that I count my work hours in, sadly just at the end of the trip.
Bridge, Big Sur, USA
I love how the bridge looks tiny in comparison to the wave, the scale of the two objects in relation to each other doesn’t seem right for someone who isn’t used to big surf.
