Something very special happened last winter. well, for most residents of big sur, it was just a big pain. the pfeiffer creek bridge that borders the north of the big sur coast developed a crack that made it structurally unsound. to the south, a landslide blocked entrance to the coast from the los angeles side. so the big sur coast was cut off from the rest of california, save fergusen nacimeinto road, which is windy, one lane road that connects the central valley with the big sur coast. the road is so windy and slow, that it makes access to this part of the coast completely impractical. except by bicycle. for most folks, big sur was completely inaccessible.
if you've every been to big sur in the summer, you'll readily concede that California highway 1 is akin to a parking lot. tourists from all over the world line up on the road to gawk at the admittedly beautiful scenery.
the confluence of events described above have made for a once-in-a-lifetime chance to experience the big sur coastline in quiet and solitude. you'll notice that in these photos there are no cars. as cyclists, we had the entire road to ourselves. when we stopped to watch the whales or listen to the sea lions barking, all we heard was silence. (except for the sea lions)
we stayed at the big sur lodge, which is part of pfeiffer big sur state park. the lodge is usually reserved months in advance and, despite its modest accommodations, usually demands a higher price than you'd expect. however, with traffic to big sur so inconvenient, they were offering screaming deals with availability even at the last minute.
we didn't make it to esalen, as buzz and i had done in 2006; however, we hit just about all the other highlights. nepenthe's parking lot was empty, but the deck was bursting with bicycles, and the bar was fully occupied. we ended up finding a seat at the bar, because, despite no car traffic, the wait for a table was 45 minutes! out back, the views didn't disappoint, with grey whales breaching and the green flash of the pacific sunset (ok, we never saw the green flash).
olivia and i had one of our first dates on the big sur coast at deetjen's big sur inn. unfortunately, deetjen's was closed secondary to the dearth of traffic, but i was very grateful to re-visit this very special place with mama livvie.
