Tent Camping in Big Sur

Big Sur is a pretty special place. 

When we first went to Big Sur for a wedding in 2012, I was in awe the entire time. Dramatic cliff sides, giant redwoods, turquoise waters, dappled light, and purple sand. Every vista was breathtaking, every moment was special. And ever since then I've been wanting to go back. 

Not willing to let another year go by, I added a tent camping trip to my 30 Before 30 list, hoping that would help me make a trip back to Big Sur a priority. And it did. A few months after I made that list I suggested to Ryan that we celebrate our four year dating anniversary up there with the dogs and a couple of weeks ago we bought a tent, packed the car, and headed out on the 8 hour drive from San Diego to Big Sur. 

Motivation Monday: Hiking Big Sur

No less than two days after I proudly declared that I was going to start logging legit running miles each week...

I took a vacation.

Last Wednesday, Ryan and I drove up the coast for five days of camping in beautiful Big Sur to celebrate four years together. And while I had the best intentions of going on some trail runs while I was there, there is a motto in Big Sur that I had no choice but to respect: "Do nothing."

But seriously, yeah I did pretty close to nothing the whole time I was there. Nothing active that is.

Not that I didn't want to! There were plenty of cool, challenging hikes that we really wanted to take, but unfortunately, Big Sur trails are pretty much closed off to dog-faced wonders. Two of which we happened to have with us.

We did find one hike that was dog-friendly, so we threw the dogs in the car and drove up to the trailhead inside the parking lot at the Big Sur Ranger Station. The trail, Pine Ridge Trail, is a 10 mile hike full of redwoods and waterfalls that ends at Sykes Natural Hot Springs.

10. Freaking. Miles. And we hiked every last inch of it.