Ahh! I totally dropped the ball and missed getting this post out to you last week. Deepest apologies, friends. But! Now is the time – the second part of our Big Sur adventure. It’s a good one.

The second day of tooting around Big Sur (our actual anniversary… !!) was the day we planned to do the most hiking and see as much coast as we could. And that, friends, is exactly what we did. I’d found a group of trails in my handy book, Day Hikes Around Big Sur: 99 Great Hikes (thanks again, Paco!). It totaled around 6 or 7 miles through part of Andrew Molera State Park, and promised a variety of scenery. In!

And so, off we headed down HWY 1. Stopping along the way, of course, at more of the lookouts. You really can’t help it.

Once we arrived at the state park and… well… parked, it was off to Molera Point & part of Molera Beach, via headlands trail. One of the coolest parts about this trek is passing by Cooper’s Cabin. It’s the oldest ranch structure still standing on Big Sur’s coastline, constructed in 1861/62, and it does not disappoint.

It’s set on a little bluff in the middle of a eucalyptus grove, and has some insane views around it.

Not too shabby for your front and back yards, huh? I’d take that any day! From there, we meandered down the trail and just happened upon a group of these fellas:

About 15-20 quail were feeding down one of the ranch roads that intersect with the trail. Naturally, I took way too many pictures of them. I just couldn’t help myself. Male California quail don’t quite look like our brown and white version – they’re extra round and chubby, with a pretty grey-blue chest and that adorable plume on top of their heads. I’ll take two, please.

I digress. Back to the trail, shall we?

Headlands Trail follows the Big Sur river, which empties into the Pacific just after it forms a big tidal pool at Molera Beach. With surfers catching waves (brah) and ducks diving in the clear pool water, it was a great place to end up!

From there, we headed up Creamery Meadow on the Beach Trail, then headed southeast down the River Trails. That sounds like we were heading downhill, but it was quite the opposite. Of course, portions of the trail are incredibly flat, like you’re walking through a [rather large] back yard. Then, Hidden Trail arrives on your right, and you start heading up. For the next mile or so, we hiked to the top of the ridge, and it was really hot outside and we’re out of shape well worth the little bit of extra effort. You want to talk about some amazing scenery?

Whew! It really was incredible up there. Then, as sharply as we came up, the trail pointed downward and we trekked on, ending up farther down Molera Beach and its rocky shoreline. We headed back past Creamery Meadow, and a mile or so later were back at the car. I give these hikes two thumbs way up.

We needed to properly celebrate our anniversary at some point – wedding cake, champagne, the whole thing – so that’s what we dedicated the afternoon to doing. I’m sure you’re starting to wonder… Wedding cake? In California? Yep, John carried that frozen thing all the way across the country in his backpack, and damn if it didn’t arrive in one (not melted) piece. Impressive, right?

We’d had tons of fun with Anne and Douglas touring 17 Mile Drive last year, so we decided to spend the afternoon doing the same thing. A crazy (but apparently normal for the area) fog was rolling in, so the sun was in hiding the rest of the day. That didn’t damper the scenery, though!

We made the obligatory stop by the Lone Cypress at Pebble Beach, and I took way too many photos of the sea otters and their whiskered faces. No way, right? It’s like with the quail, but 5x as many. I’ll take 3, thanks.

I MEAN COME ON. How can you not love these little things?

I know, I know. I keep getting side-tracked. Sorry – last time I’ll do it! Let’s get back to the trip and the celebrations. We surprisingly found an empty lookout spot north of Pebble Beach (most had buses full of people out taking photos), and it was the perfect place to sit on a boulder, eat some cake, and toast with champagne…

And sea otters.

Okay that was for real the last time. Promise.

[I rarely get sappy here at Bright Side Outdoors, but forgive me as I do so for just a minute.]

We toasted to an incredible first year of marriage, and an amazing trip to celebrate it… I love you to the moon, Mr! It’s hard to believe an entire year has gone by – it only makes me more excited for the next 70 or so!

Yes – I have high hopes for us making it into our late 90’s. Red wine can help with that, right? That’s what I heard, at least…

xo