Highway 1

We had been following the Pacific Coast Highway off and on the whole trip. The most spectacular parts by far, though, are the sections from San Simeon through Big Sur to Monterey. The highway narrows and snakes up and down the steep coastal hills, often in tight hairpin curves, as it makes its way along the ocean. Every few hundred yards there is another scenic overlook with spectacular view of the Pacific.

The traffic was fairly light and the scenery is mostly deserted. It's occasionally punctuated with a private residence or small settlement. There are many hiking trail heads along the road, although most of them lead to steep ascents up the hills. Although we had a blue sky the air was quite chilly (as it is all the time along the cost) and whenever we drove under or through some fog it was down right cold.

I think we spied some elephant seals on one of the beaches, but they were too far away for us to be sure. We did see plenty of birds and some more ground squirrels. These were much skinnier than the monsters in Cambria, although they too appreciated the strawberry we gave them.

I was a bit wistful when we reached the traffic in Carmel, knowing it was the end of our solitude.