Back to Big Sur for my third backpacking trip. It was a solid one.

We drove down from peninsula Friday evening, arriving at the Ventana Wilderness Ranger Station around 2230. The parking lot was already full (this was the beginning of the Memorial Day three-day weekend), so we parked on the street. After changing and grabbing our packs, we began the night hike. It was my first time hiking in the darkness, so it felt quite novel. My Black Diamond ReVolt was very bright; I had no difficulties spotting trail details. Hiking at night was far less eerie than I had thought (hoped) it would be. The night sky was beautiful. Far from light pollution, the stars seemed crowded, lacking any breathing room. A crescent orange-yellow moon hung low over far away ridges…

The first two miles were, as advised by my many online, a bit of a climb. We passed several slow-moving groups. I slowly realized I did not have enough energy to comfortably make it the full ten miles to Sykes. It was slow moving, with several technical crossings over streams and large fallen logs. Insects were out everywhere, and we even encountered a surprised skunk, that scurried away, to our fear, with its tail pinned straight upwards. We passed two campsites before finally arriving at Barlow Flats. We set up camp and passed out. We had hiked seven miles and laid down our heads sometime around 0300.

In the morning, we resumed our trek to Sykes. Kliulai insisted there would be some tough uphill stretches that, in fact, did not exist, so our descent into Sykes was met with much relief. The trail leads to Big Sur River. We walked along it, noting the numerous tents already set up. Luckily we found a more secluded outcropping across the stream that we claimed as our own. After setting down our packs and eating (we had foregone breakfast to get to Sykes earlier), we relaxed in the hot springs. They were 90-100 degrees. Each bath fit about six people. We soothed our aching bodies for a bit, then went back to our campsite to sun-bathe. Better rested, we set off to adventure some more. We continued along the Pine Ridge Trail towards China Camp, with just light day packs. The scenery changed dramatically. The trail cut through dense patches of bush and shrubbery, hugging steep cliffs. The land was much more arid, lizards were omnipresent. We even ran across a snake that hissed malevolently at us, before slitering away into the bushes. The trail seemed far less used on this portion than the part before Sykes. Indeed, when we ran into the handful of people also on the trail, we were surprised. Hiking across the tree-less mountain side, we were rewarded with grand unobstructed views of the Los Padres ranges. The arid trail eventually wound down into some redwoods. There, we found another campsite. We paused at that mark, and after noting we had only hiked three miles, we headed back. Back at our campground, we feasted and then passed out. We awoke when it was dark. We had originally wanted to go back to the hot springs, but the frigid stream we had to cross dissuaded us. We sat around a small fire before retiring to our tents.

The hike back the next day went quickly and smoothly (minus Kliulai forgetting her water bottle in the beginning). It was mostly downhill, which ended up stressing my knees towards the end, but made for good conversation pace. We returned to our car without much difficulty and rested our weary feet.