Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park - Big Sur, CA

February 16, 2013

The past few days in Monterey have been incredible as far as weather goes. Sunny and warm with only a light breeze. Strange for Monterey, right? Well, it's winter, and in between those rainy days and cold spells, this is usually when we get our summer. I feel like it's our reward for putting up with the deep fog in the actual summer.  According to the forecast it's supposed to start cooling down again, and hopefully even rain on Tuesday. So this was of course the best day to get out of the house for a little adventure.

I took the cousins along, and since the only waterfalls they had seen were when we visited Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park in September, I chose another waterfall hike. Everything I had read said this was an easy to moderate hike, about 3 miles round trip, including a small side trip to a vista point along the valley view trail. What I did not read about was the 400ft+ elevation gain. The entire trail is uphill with the exception of the last 0.2 mile. It's not terribly steep and completely doable. However, for those of us with asthma who forgot their inhaler (me) and those of us with bad backs (my cousin), it was a bit challenging. Plus, it's been a while since we've been on a good hike like that. So we just took it slow and took breaks when we needed it and we all made it to the top. 

The day was great and the views at the vista point and along the way were spectacular. I always love hiking in the redwoods, with the huge trees and the sorrel growing underneath. The Pfeiffer Falls, however, was a little lackluster for me. Don't get me wrong, I love me some waterfalls in all shapes and sizes, but I was expecting something a little bit bigger. Granted, there hasn't been much rain since the end of December, so it's not surprising it wasn't so full.  Also since so many others had also decided to get out an enjoy the day, the viewing platform was a bit cramped. There's not really much opportunity for people to spread out to see the falls, since it's somewhat recessed behind some rocks and there's trees framing it. So the only place to see the falls or get any good pictures is from the center, which places you directly in front of others trying to see and photograph them. 

Being the courteous people we are, we snapped a few shots and moved on to the valley vista point to eat our lunches. There is pretty much the same situation going on there too. You come out of the trees to a small open area that looks out over the valley and highway far below and can see all the way to the Point Sur Lighthouse. But there's just room for a small bench and some other standing room. When we arrived no one else was up there, but as we ate our lunch many people came and went. Which was slightly awkward while you're shoving food in your face.

The trip back down the trail was great though. To quote my favorite line from the movie Medicine Man "Downhill. Yeah!" (if you haven't seen it, the way she says it is hilarious).  Once at the bottom, we stopped in at the nature center and the store at the lodge, then decided to take a stroll along the river via the Buzzard's Roost Trail. We only did the flat part of this trail though, since it takes about a 700ft climb over a mile and we weren't up for it. But the river was wide and beautiful and it was a nice little cool down. I will definitely be coming back someday to finish this trail though, since there is a 360 view from the top of both the valley and the ocean!

Oh! And before I share some pictures, I must tell you of our fantastic experience with one of the park rangers. My cousin's husband is in the military, so we asked if they gave a military discount like so many places around Monterey. He said they didn't, but he would instead give us the senior's discount and then even threw in the trail guide for free. He was extremely friendly and just made our experience that much better!

Pfeiffer Falls:

  Valley View vista point:

Point Sur Lighthouse!

Early bloomers:

Big Sur River: