With my plans for a national parks tour dashed, and the situation looking unlikely to be resolved anytime soon, I had to make other plans. On the plus side I now had the opportunity to visit a number of other places on the West Coast, places I previously thought I wouldn’t have time for.

So, rather than heading inland a bit we made a beeline back West to the coast. I dropped my Irish hiking buddy off in San Francisco, and headed south to the old capital of Monterey.

Monterey

Monterey was a curious mix; a very touristy small town centre, and otherwise a very relaxed beach-town feel. One of the big attractions is its world-famous aquarium and associated research institute, on my radar from my previous life in another marine research centre. To be honest, I found the aquarium amazing and incredibly well done, but definitely aimed at children.

Big Sur

Just South of Monterey is Big Sur, a coastal area with steep mountains of redwood forest, rising straight up from the ocean. I was planning on moving there next, but having left it to the last minute (a recurring theme) and with no camping gear I decided to stay on in Monterey and just drive down to Big Sur for day trips.

The first day was actually somewhat of a let-down. I began by taking the much-hyped 17-mile drive; basically a gated-commune of golf courses and beaches just outside Monterey. You pay to drive around, and occasionally take photos through the bus-tour crowds while Kenny Rogers plays on some oblivious gentleman’s iPad. Avoid; if you drive just a little further you get much better views, for free. Then it was lunch-time, deep in Big Sur at the also over-hyped and even more over-priced Nepenthe (I was at least prepared for the cost). I did at least manage a short walk, up through redwoods to a pleasant but unremarkable view. The second day started much more promisingly at the iconic McWay Falls, the only coastal waterfall in California. After that I went on a steep hike up the mountains behind it, with a rewarding view at the summit dropping right down to the water.

As an aside¹: I’ve been a fan of the author Jack Kerouac, and it seemed appropriate to read more while road-tripping. Fittingly, there’s even one called Big Sur, so that was night-time reading for this part of the journey. It is, however… rather dark, I warn you! Gone is the carefree and foot-loose innocence, and all that’s left is a descent into alcoholism and depression as he struggles with fame and worries he’s losing his mind. It put a bit more of a sombre mood on this leg than I was planning on.

Highway 1

Then it was time to leave Monterey for good, one last time through Big Sur and keep going down that amazing coastline to LA again. It is a single-lane highway but obviously very popular, and steering the enormous truck I was driving around blind corners knowing how many cycle tourers were around got quite nerve-wracking.

Yet again though I realised how charmed I’d been with the weather: a heavy fog completely blanketed the ocean all morning, making for a great change in atmosphere as I drove down, but probably less appealing for anyone on their first trip. Even the McWay Falls were completely obscured as I drove past, thanking my luck for the perfect weather I’d had the previous 2 days as I did so!

Once the views have eased off a little, your next stop is likely to be Hearst Castle. This place is hard to describe: from the reception building you are escorted up to the castle itself by coach. It’s a bizarre mix of old and new; built within the last century, but with most of the interior coming from the antiques collection of (the late) William Hearst. He even had a private zoo at the time; I saw a herd of zebras, still roaming around, as I was leaving!

I stopped for a couple of nights in San Luis Obispo. It was a small town, pleasant to wander without making undue demands, and in my case a nice communal hostel to stay in.

I made another stop in Santa Barbara. Many people talk about how great it is, and I suspect it would be a fantastic place to live. As it was, I drove in through the opulent strip, stayed in a motel on the beach which turned out to be fairly unexciting, and left the next morning rather underwhelmed. The one saving grace was Dan linking me up with a good friend of his, who was kind enough to meet up and show me a few of the watering holes, giving me some inkling of life in the area. Perhaps next time!

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1. As another aside, I’ve started to use affiliate links. Please feel free to buy any of these books; I get a few cents to spend on more books, at no cost to you. And you get some classic books, in this case. ↩︎