America is a bit big
Trip Start
Dec 06, 2006
1
93
188
Trip End
Ongoing
Santa Cruz,
California,
United States
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
We spent the whole day in the car but there was plenty nice scenery on the way, especially beyond Santa Barbara where the road hugs the ocean and there's a lot of good views of the hills heading down to the water and beaches. A bit further up it becomes part of a National Park before Big Sur. The only problem with it is that it's a long drive and so after a few hours, the incredibly pleasant scenery becomes a bit samey and the end of the road is more desirable than another vista point.
We stopped a few times but the main food stop was at Cambria where the GPS disappointed us once more by leading us to a place that was shut. No problem though as there was another place down the road and I had my first fill of USA burger and chips. Yes, the trouser dream may be difficult to achieve, but I've got to try. We headed on and ended up driving well in to the dark as sunset is about 5.30. After calling in to a supermarket to get some grub for the night and next day we eventually drove in to Big Basin State Park at about 8pm by which time everything was shut and very very dark. This meant finding how to register and more importantly finding a tent cabin to sleep in that bit trickier, but we got there in the end and signed ourselves in and picked the cabin nearest the toilet block. The cabins are basic, they contain a couple of small beds, they're meant to sleep two on each, but I struggled to fit diagonally on mine. There's a table and a wood burner and that's your lot. The main problem is lack of light, although after a long drive, we were both ready for a long sleep once we'd had some food. Luckily I had a torch so we managed to make some sarnies but it's fairly weak and so without any entertainment it was time for a good 11 hour kip!
The next day we made our packed lunch and attempted again to find the Camp Host (ooooh I say) and headed off on a trail. We choose to do the longest loop track as that was one that we saw had been recommended online. The park is really well maintained and unfortunately they were in the process of looking after it today. We had to make a detour which added a bit of distance on but also meant it wasn't a full loop. Still, I've not too many complaints. We were detoured for some controlled burning which made for some nice views with the suns rays showing up in the smoke. Big Basin State Park is a Redwood Forest and so there were plenty massive trees to gawp at and at the half way point a waterfall. After 5 miles it was nice to see it flowing as it could have been dry with all the dry weather the west coast has had. Several rivers we'd driven over on the way up had been dry as a bone. As daylight only lasts for a while and we'd had a lie in we had to walk at a fair old pace and so were tired with throbbing feet when we got back. We then headed for a big fat pizza (living the dream) and took our time as we knew the entertainment capital of an empty dark cabin was awaiting us.
