dokodemo

I tried to camp at Oceano Dunes (near Pismo Beach), where you can drive and camp right on the sand. It was such a great time there this summer, I was looking forward to going back and having the solitude that Thanksgiving on the beach should offer. I figured I would have the place to myself, as everybody would be home with their families.

Well, Thanksgiving is apparantly a pretty popular day at Oceano, as it was "sold out". Despite the miles of open camping, I was turned away at the gate. I decided to just drive on up to Big Sur and find Larry's spot.

The drive up 1 is of course pure joy. Other than a seriously inebriated or possibly brain damaged driver in front of me for a bit, I was in total bliss just hugging the curves going up the coast and staring at the deep blue water.

I found the turnoff I was looking for, and preceded up the road. It suddenly started to become dark very quickly, and I was feeling a little hurried. I made a few wrong turns but backtracked and made progress up the mountain on the forest service roads.

Parts of the road were very sketchy, and I was concerned in my heavy 2wd van. I started to fear flat tires as I drove over piles of sharp rocks and stone steps. The road was after a while not even really a dirt road, it was just rocky areas where there were no plants. There was also a lot of mud, which was also a concern. I slowly kept pressing on though, and since there was no place to turn around, there wasn't much choice.

Eventually I made it to the top, and it was indeed stunning. A fantastic view out to the ocean, extending for miles and miles to the horizon. I felt like I could see the curve of the earth. I made camp, called my sister to say Happy Thanksgiving (yes there was somehow a great cell signal up there).

In the morning I jumped out of bed after seeing the sunrise. About a hundred yards below me was an opaque sheet of white clouds. They were moving fast, tumbling and flipping over the little peaks. They were so thick, 100% saturated. I couldn't see anything through them, and they were high enough that the little peaks which looked like islands the night before were now totally concealed.

Larry was right, this place he described as "nirvana" was pretty close. I'm not sure if I want to be become very discovered, but if you are in the area maybe I can help you find it (or you can ask Larry).