A good friend of ours was gracious enough to let us test out and borrow his Expedition built Mercedes Sprinter for a few months. What other place would you want to run around in a diesel and get 20mpg the whole time than the coast? That combined with every luxury you'd want and a huge front window to view it all, it made for an easy decision.We've always wanted to get into a campground,(yes, i know i said campground) for quite some time. Not just any campground, but Kirk Creek. Kirk Creek is a tiny campground located 2 miles south of Lucia near Big Sur on PCH and overlooks the Pacific Ocean on a 100 foot bluff. It's truly a breath taking campground and it's extremely hard to get into. On any given day, you could roll up to this campground and get turned away. It's hit or miss. This is why we were fortunate enough to have a friend that could come up a few days early from SoCal and check in on some sites and see if it was possible to get not only one, but two side by side. Oh yeah, and this was on a holiday weekend, so that meant we'd probably have more luck winning the lottery. So a day before our arrival we received the call that it was going to be a roll of a dice, but it was looking good. With that in mind we headed out anyway, realizing if we didn't get a spot it wouldn't be the end of the world. As on the coast, there's no such thing as a "bad spot".The heat on the way to the coast was pretty warm as it was still summer when we headed out. We heard reports from camp that it was cloudy and rainy but it was so hard to believe since what we were seeing on the way was so very much different. We cut over from Bakersfield to Paso Robles, then through Ft. Hunter Ligget Army base. We were met with not one checkpoint or inspection. As we popped over the Prewitt Ridge road and started cresting the ridge we found the ocean side cloudy. Then we watched as the temperatures dropped like mad. 2 degrees per 1,000 feet. It was crazy. The rear view mirror on the Sprinter looked like a slot machine. I couldn't believe my eyes. This is what we pulled into. Foggy coast. I was in heaven because after all summer and triple digits for months it seemed i was getting my winter back.
The dude abides.
First on the agenda was to give our friend Linda her Birthday gift so we could open up some space on the camper. This bear was huge!
After opening up the Sprinter and setting up what little camp we needed too, it was time to get dinner started. A couple new york steaks were right up our alley.Getting my seasoning on with the NOMU "Steak Out", this stuff is excellent!Found here(http://shop.overlandgourmet.com/nomu-steak-out-meat-spice-grinder.html)
There was nothing funny about these grill marks.
We took a meander down to the beach via a trail that connects to the campground.
The surfers were out in full force. I captured some great action with my long lens.
One of the nights we decided to give Linda another birthday present. A cake Yosh baked. It was actually her first attempt and it came out great.
We decided to hop in the rigs and head north. As with the coast no plan is the best plan. Driving up PCH is epic all by itself.
A little comparison photo of the Provan Tiger GT and the Mercedes Sprinter, length.
Our first stop was Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park. It was breath taking.
This is the only waterfall in California to drop into the ocean. I wanted to see this waterfall in person for quite some time. I had seen photos of it online, and i was happy to say It lived up to its name in person for sure.
The coolest part of the park is that there used to be an old house built on the bluff just across from the waterfall by Lathrop and Helen Hooper Brown. The residence was built in 1940 and had a railway to get down to the home.
The bedroom had a view of the waterfall that was just spectacular.
The terrace is all that remains of Waterfall House, the residence of Lathrop and Helen Hooper Brown. When the Browns began to acquire their Big Sur acreage in 1924, Mrs. Brown became acquainted with Julia Pfeiffer Burns, the daughter of a Big Sur pioneer family. In 1962, Mrs. Brown gave the ranch to the state for use as a state park dedicated to the memory of Julia Pfeiffer Burns.
Shot of the Terrace area.
The views were nothing short of breath-taking from this location. This shot is facing northwest.
Looking west and you can see the flowers in bloom. Pretty much postcard perfect.
There's a ton of stuff to hike around and see at this park, but a cool spot near the parking area was the pelton wheel room.
The Pelton Wheel Power system was installed in 1940 and utilized the creek flow of 500 gpm and available head of 160 ft to provide 6.1 kW of electrical energy to the main house. The wheel was invented by Lester Allan Pelton in the 1870s. The Pelton wheel extracts energy from the impulse (momentum) of moving water, as opposed to its weight like traditional overshot water wheel yielding a more efficient design. Pelton's paddle geometry was designed so that when the rim runs at ½ the speed of the water jet, the water leaves the wheel with very little speed, extracting almost all of its energy, and allowing for a very efficient turbine.
Photo by DHLAKE ©
Crossing the bridge back to the parking area. This is the water flow creek/stream that supplies the waterfall.
We stopped for a bite to eat in Big Sur and then we figured we'd keep heading north for supplies and whatever else we may see along the way. We stopped off at the Big Sur Lighthouse on Point Big Sur.
From 1899 until 1974, families lived and worked in the buildings atop Pt. Sur. Today Point Sur is a ghost town. The unique stone lighthouse still guides ships with its light, though it is now totally automated.
Shot of all the locks on the gate for the lighthouse area.
They actually offer up tours of the Point as well. For more info visit http://pointsur.org/
We kept heading north into Carmel and fueled up and grabbed ice and water. The homes were just spectacular.
The sun finally started to come out as well.
We figured that was enough for the day and we'd have the rest of the trip to check out more sites, so we headed back south to camp. The old bridges were awesome. Although a little nerve racking with a heavy rig, i had to remind myself they've stood for fifty plus years, they'll do fine with us.
The Tiger GT crossing the World Famous Bixbie Bridge
Dixie didn't seem to mind as long as there were good smells along the way.
We had to stop for pictures around every corner it seemed. The Pacific coast just never gets old.
Once back at camp Dixie crashed like a ton of bricks. Way too much excitement for one day i guess.
While relaxing on the bluff of our campsite overlooking the ocean we noticed these guys playing on the rocks. Pretty awesome if you ask me.
The next day we headed south to check out some stuff and grab lunch. Our first stop was Sand Dollar Beach and Jade Cove.
Heading down the hundreds of stairs to get to the bottom.
Dixie was extremely excited as this was only her second time being on a beach.
She had no idea that she was going to get to run around off leash either.
This dog really lives quite the life. Let me tell you.
After hanging at the beach for a bit, we headed South past Hearst Castle and into Cambria for lunch and firewood.
We noticed these guys on the way back to camp. Zebras anyone? They're on the Hearst land but you have to catch them when you can. They have full range so sometimes you won't see them at all. We were lucky to spot a few this trip.
Arriving back at camp for our last night at Kirk Creek we ramped up for the only sunset of the trip as the clouds finally moved out. It had been cold for a few days prior and now the sun was feeling great again.
I took a walk around the campground and noticed some interesting things.
(Yes, that's a portable camp discoball. Might have to get one of those)
There was Poison Oak everywhere you looked. Thankfully none of us got any, but it helps to be aware of the situation so they put these signs up to help people recognize what exactly it looks like.
Beings that this was Labor Day Weekend, it was only right to fly our Stars and Stripes.
A shot of camp from PCH. And this my friends is why people die to get into this campground. There's nothing like camping 100 feet off the water.
As the day started to come to an end, the sun started to set and everyone started breaking out their cameras, pulled out their chairs and passionately watched it go down as if it was the last.
This was the view from the Sprinter. It was nice to have huge windows. Would be nice if my home kitchen had a view like this.
Cold beer in one hand, camera in the other. Pretty epic way to end the day.
The night became just as spectacular as the day. The clouds started to roll in slowly and made for some dramatic views over the ocean. The Moon seemed brighter than ever.
Our camp with the Sprinter, almost spaceship like.
We don't really dig developed campgrounds because there's always so many people and it seems like you're stacked on each other. But this made for an interesting photo. Don't think i've ever shot a campfire picture with another campfire behind it.
The next morning came all to quick and it was once again time to head home. So we figured we'd make a couple stops along the way. One of those was beautiful Morro Bay.
Fisherman returning after a long days work.
We took advantage of the fresh fish the fisherman bring in.
The bay was full of life no matter where you looked.
Sea Otters in the distance.
The State Park system had a great display setup with binoculars, scopes and a stuffed otter. Dixie trying figure out what the "Dog" was laying on its back. We bought some postcards that the proceeds go straight to the Park Service. It was great to see.
He was just a Squirrel trying to get a nut.
The beach there at Morro Bay was nice. Not nearly as crowded as those you see down here in SoCal. Lot less concrete too!
After making one more stop in San Luis Obispo at "House of Bread", to pick up some amazing cheese and garlic loafs we headed for home. Instead of taking the coast we headed across easterly on the 58, for something a little different.
Once we got close enough we then cut through Carrizo Plains National Monument. It was blazing hot, but still beautiful.
Soda Dry Lake with some amazing cloud cover.
Just slightly warmer out. Yosh was now in shorts and a t-shirt.
The Sprinter did fine off highway. Little rattles here and there, but all in all it did awesome and in fact, handled quite well for a 8,500lbs monster.
After we cleared Carrizo Plains we headed east and back to the interstate to take us home and therefore putting an end to another great adventure.
I want to thank Mike Hiscox for loaning us his Sprinter Expedition camper and i want to thank Linda Jones for scouting and grabbing a camp site for us before we arrived. For the rest of you readers, i want to thank you for reading our trip reports as we really do appreciate it! Until next time, safe travels!