Our two days in San Simeon went by much too quickly and we set out for Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park.  It is hard to imagine a more beautiful drive than the one up the coast north from San Simeon to Big Sur.  The only downside were the narrow, curvy and mountainous roads (sound familiar?) but the view was well worth the nails I chewed off.  I think it would have been much worse on my nerves if I hadn’t already been broken in by those treacherous Mexican roads.

Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park has been named one of the top 100 state parks in the country and it is easy is see why.  It is a beautiful park with towering redwoods, some are more than a thousand years old,  and many hiking trails of varying difficulty.  This was a dry camping experience for us but Bill was able to reserve a sunny spot among the redwoods for the solar panels and satellite dish.  Our neighbors were German and we encountered several German speaking people during our stay.

The first day we drove around the Big Sur area on the Pacific Coast Highway and stopped at several overlooks where we saw sea lions on rocks and dolphins swimming.  We went to Pfeiffer Beach where we had to drive two miles on a one way road to get to the beach area.  There were turnouts along the two miles where vehicles going in different directions could pass.  Pfeiffer Beach is one of the most picturesque beaches we have ever visited.  The waves have worn away the rocks in places creating interesting arches, and in places the sand has a purple color from the minerals in the nearby rocks.  

One day we took a “moderate” hike to the top of an eight hundred foot vista where we could look out to the Pacific Ocean.  The view was somewhat obscured by sea mist, but it was still lovely.  We then continued hiking down to a beautiful falls, very peaceful and tranquil.  

The next day it felt like every muscle in my body hurt from the hike, but Bill felt no soreness or pain at all.  It took me a day to recover but the soreness went away surprisingly quickly.  The experience was worth every ache and pain!

Big Sur is definitely a place we would love to come back to again.  There were many trails left undiscovered.  As we drove away from Big Sur we could see fog and sea mist hovering over the mountains and we encountered another amazing bridge that opened in 1932.