Boondocking the Sur

T’was all about the ocean for a few days over the weekend. Kerri’s fixation on the Big Sur area brought us to the top of a coastal mountain the first night, where we planned to stay until morning and swoop in at the ocean-side campground down the road. Kerri navigated us few files down a rough dirt road, to camp cliff-side for a view of the Pacific – which did not show itself the first evening thanks to the fog. We had a great view, ocean air, and we thought some privacy as well. As it turned out, many more people traveled this road than I originally thought. By nightfall it was quiet, however, and all ours.

We departed early the following morning, drove down the mountain side to Kerri’s chosen campground, and found (as we suspected) that there really was no hope of getting a site. Almost all were reserved many months in advance, and the few that were “walk-in only” were going to be occupied for the remainder of the weekend. Oh the joy’s of being in a state with 40-million others. No worries, we don’t need no stickin’ campgrounds!

Instead, we took the time to drive the coastline as far as we could to the South. Eventually we ran into the slide that has blocked the road for a few years now. Here we turned back North for a few miles were we left the asphalt once again, climbing up the coastal mountain on a dirt road a few miles, and parked Big Blue cliff side for another afternoon and evening overlooking the Pacific. Kinda crazy to think there are some free-camping spots in such a place. Coastal California isn’t known for being so welcoming to free-camping, but there are some areas if you are willing to take the rougher dirt roads.

For Kerri, things don’t get much better than this. She loves the ocean. For me, I found myself facing East more than towards the waves. To the East were mountains, trees, streams… life! Those mountains, both visible and too far to be seen, were where my brain wanted to be. I’m fine with the ocean, but to me it signifies the end of the land – hence, the *end* of adventures. I will have to get over that if we plan to be sailing in a few years I suppose.