Backpacking the Big Sur
Ventana Wilderness
Pine Ridge Trail
I guess you could say Julia and I have the travel bug, bad. As soon as we returned home from Australia, we just had to go backpacking in the Ventana Wilderness, Pine Ridge Trail to the Barlow Flats campsite in Big Sur. Well, let’s face it, life is very short, so you’d best make the most of it while you can.
We stopped in Monterey Bay on our way down to Big Sur and enjoyed the seals, seabirds, and sea otters here. This bay is a wonderful place and, before humans had arrived and polluted and fished it out, it must have been even more amazing. Once again, enjoy it while you can.
The next day we drove down the lovely Highway One to the Big Sur Station, where we began our two-day backpack into the redwood forest. This was supposed to be a practice hike for our mega backpacking trip on the Rye Lakes 40-mile loop in the Sierra Kings National Park in August. We wanted to test out our new two-pound tent, our water filtration systems, and discover if we could hike eight miles in a day with 40-pound packs on. We did indeed get to test all of these things and, at the same time, explore the Big Sur forest. Let’s say this was not one of the most beautiful hikes we’ve ever experienced, but it was enjoyable and all our tests were successful.
When we got home, we found our permit to backpack the Sierra Kings National Park in August had been revoked due to wildfires in the area. This was a great disappointment to us both. However, we’ve substituted a two-night, three-day backpacking trip in the Desolation Wilderness near Lake Tahoe instead. Let’s hope there are no wildfires up there.