Hiking & Backpacking Big Sur: Your complete guide to the trails of Big Sur, Ventana Wilderness, and Silver Peak Wilderness

ISBN-13: 9780899977270

Media Type: Paperback

Publisher: Wilderness Press

Publication Date: 07-16-2013

Pages: 328

Product Dimensions: 6.18(w) x 8.82(h) x 0.68(d)

An avid hiker, backpacker, and naturalist, Analise Elliot Heid has pursued an outdoor lifestyle both professionally and recreationally. She currently works as an environmental educator, science teacher, and school garden program director along the California coast. Analise holds a B.S. in forestry from U.C. Berkeley, a M.A. in education from San Francisco State University, and works as a master teacher in the Cal State UniversityScience Teacher and Researcher Program.

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PICO BLANCO

• LENGTH AND TYPE: 14.8-mile out-and-back or 12.4-mile point-to-point
• RATING: Strenuous
• TRAIL CONDITION: Passable (with brush and poison oak encroachment and deadfalls), tread evident
• HIGHLIGHTS: Follow a magnificent, steep-sided canyon through redwood groves to a perfect swimming hole at Pico Blanco Camp.

TRIP SUMMARY: This route leads 7.4 miles to Pico Blanco Camp. You can approach it as a strenuous day hike, a one- to three-night out-and-back, or a point-to-point trip. On a two- to three-night trip, consider staying at Little Sur Camp (2.6 miles from Bottchers Gap) or Jackson Camp (5.2 miles from Bottchers Gap), then hiking on to Pico Blanco Camp (see TRIP 39 Little Sur & Jackson Camps, page 161). For a rewarding 12.4-mile point-to-point passage, leave a shuttle vehicle at the trailhead along Coast Road (see TRIP 40 Coast Road to Pico Blanco Camp, page 163).

The hike descends into the Little Sur drainage via Pico Blanco Road, promising panoramic views of Pico Blanco, the largest marble and limestone deposit in the Lower 48. The road follows the banks of the Little Sur into Pico Blanco Boy Scout Camp. Scouts descend en masse between mid-June and mid-August, thwarting any plans for a wilderness escape. Past the camp, you’ll join the Little Sur Trail, which leads east 1.2 miles to Jackson Camp and west 2.6 miles to Pico Blanco Camp. Pico Blanco is nestled along the edge of a redwood-lined gorge. Just upstream, a waterfall oasis harbors a deep emerald swimming hole.

TRIP DESCRIPTION
See TRIP 39 Little Sur & Jackson Camps (page 161) for the first 4 miles of this route to the Little Sur Trail junction. Assuming you’re not headed to Jackson Camp, you’ll turn right and head westbound on the Little Sur Trail, climbing through a dense forest dominated by tanoaks, madrones, and redwoods. Fondly referred to as “Cardiac Hill,” the following steep 1350-foot ascent to the top of Launtz Ridge over less than a mile ends at a minor 2194-foot crest. Pause to rest and take in impressive views of the Little Sur drainage.

From here the trail forks. The faint trail to the right leads to an unofficial campsite atop a grassy knoll. Branch left on the Little Sur Trail, which descends gradually from the crest into dense woodland. You’ll soon arrive at the signed Manuel Peak Trail junction (5.3 miles, 2090').

Branch right at this junction and continue west on the Little Sur Trail. The next 0.3 mile drops steeply into Duveneck’s Hole, a dilapidated group of hunting huts amid a shady redwood canyon. Skirt the north edge of the canyon beyond the shacks for your first foreboding glimpse of Pico Blanco’s marble-strewn south face. The cool redwood and tanoak canopy abruptly changes to dry scrubby oaks and chaparral, which is replaced in turn by arid, yucca-studded grassy slopes—a stark contrast brought on by the peak’s mineral composition. Pico Blanco’s marble and limestone slopes drain water quickly, leaving only plants adapted to such dry conditions.

The trail switchbacks three times across the lower slopes before turning southwest for a quarter-mile descent. Consider wearing long pants for this stretch, as the narrow trail is choked with poison oak, coyote brush, and yucca. Stop every few hundred feet and check for ticks, a factor in all but the driest months.

The trail forks again at the Pico Blanco Camp Trail junction (7.3 miles, 1385'). The right branch leads 5.9 miles west to Coast Road (see TRIP 40 Coast Road to Pico Blanco Camp, page 163). Head down the left branch 0.1 mile southeast to Pico Blanco Camp (7.4 miles, 1300'). Just upstream from camp is a scenic waterfall oasis and swimming hole, the perfect spot for a refreshing dip. (For details about the camp and swimming hole, see TRIP 40 Coast Road to Pico Blanco Camp, page 163.)

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 Introducing Big Sur 1

Chapter 2 Natural History 5

Chapter 3 Big Sur Cultural History & Lore 22

Chapter 4 Driving & Destinations Along Highway 1 29

Chapter 5 Driving & Destinations Along Back Roads 39

Chapter 6 Safety & Conservation 42

Part I State & Federal Lands of the Big Sur Coast

Chapter 7 Carmel River State Beach & Point Lobos State Reserve 52

1 Carmel River State Beach 54

2 Carmelo Meadow, Granite Point, & Moss Cove Trails 59

3 Cypress Grove Trail 61

4 South Shore, Bird Island, South Plateau, & Pine Ridge Trails 63

Chapter 8 Garrapata State Park & Point Sur State Historic Park 67

5 Coastal Access Trails 70

6 Rocky Ridge Trail 72

7 Soberanes Canyon Trail 74

8 Soberanes Point Trails 75

9 Point Sur State Historic Park 78

Chapter 9 Andrew Molera State Park 80

10 Trail Camp & Headlands Trails 83

11 Beach & Creamery Meadow Trails Loop 85

12 East Molera Trail 87

13 River Trail Loop 89

14 Creamery Meadow, River, Hidden, & Ridge Trails Loop 91

15 Bluffs, Spring, Panorama, & Ridge Trails 93

Chapter 10 Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park 96

16 Valley View Trail 98

17 Pfeiffer Falls Trail 99

18 Nature Trail 102

19 Buzzards Roost Trail 103

20 Manuel Peak Trail 105

21 Gorge Trail 107

22 Pfeiffer Beach 108

Chapter 11 Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park 111

23 Partington Cove Trail 114

24 Tan Bark Trail & Fire Road Loop 115

25 Ewoldsen Trail 117

26 McWay Falls 120

Chapter 12 Limekiln State Park 122

27 Limekiln Trail 123

28 Limekiln Falls Trail 125

29 Hare Creek Trail 126

Chapter 13 Pacific Valley to San Simeon State Park 128

30 Pacific Valley Trail 131

31 Sand Dollar Beach & Jade Cove 132

32 Ragged Point Nature Trail 134

33 Piedras Blancas 136

34 Hearst Memorial State Beach 140

35 San Simeon State Beach 143

36 San Simeon Nature Trail 144

Part II Ventana & Silver Peak Wildernesses

Chapter 14 Bottchers Gap 148

37 Devils Peak & Mt. Carmel 152

38 Ventana Double Cone via Ventana Trail 155

39 Little Sur & Jackson Camps 161

40 Coast Road to Pico Blanco Camp 163

41 Pico Blanco 167

42 Manuel Peak & Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park 169

Chapter 15 Los Padres Dam 173

43 Danish Creek Camp 176

44 Bluff & Carmel River Camps 179

45 Hiding Canyon & Round Rock Camps 181

46 Ventana Double Cone via Carmel River Trail 185

47 Ventana Double Cone via Big Pines Trail 187

Chapter 16 China Camp 192

48 Miller Canyon & Pine Valley Loop 195

49 Pine Valley 199

50 Hiding Canyon & Round Rock Camps 202

51 Ventana Double Cone via Pine Valley 205

52 Pine Ridge, Sykes Hot Springs, & Big Sur 207

53 Black Cone Trail to Arroyo Seco 215

54 Church Creek to Pine Valley Camp 221

Chapter 17 Arroyo Seco 226

55 Tassajara Hot Springs 229

56 Willow Springs & Strawberry Camps 234

57 Junipero Serra Peak 236

Chapter 18 Big Sur 241

58 Ventana Camp 244

59 Sykes & Redwood Camps 246

60 Highway 1 to Terrace Creek Camp 251

61 Highway 1 to Coast Ridge Road 253

Chapter 19 Cone Peak 257

62 Cone Peak Trail 260

63 Fresno Camp 263

64 Vicente Flat Trail 264

65 Cone Peak Loop 266

66 Highway 1 to Vicente Flat 271

Chapter 20 Silver Peak Wilderness 275

67 Prewitt Loop Trail 277

68 Alder Creek Camp to Villa Creek Camp 281

69 Highway 1 to Villa Creek Camp 283

70 Cruikshank & Silver Camps 285

71 Highway 1 to Buckeye Camp 286

72 Salmon Creek Station to Buckeye Camp 288

73 Salmon Creek Trail to Spruce Creek & Estrella Camps 291

74 Dutra Flat & San Carpoforo Camps 297

Appendix 301

Trips by Theme 301

Recommended Reading 305

index 307

Map Index 317

About the Author 318