| We carried on south
through Big Sur. This is an attractive part of the coastline but the sign
which warns of sharp bends and hills for the next 63 miles says it all. And
that is only to the county boundary! |  |
 |
The road is often perched on the cliff edge and 20mph is a good speed. |
| Some work has gone into
this road and improvements like the bridge in the distance have been made.
It is still difficult to drive and in poor condition in places. |  |
 |
The seaward side is as bad with razor sharp rocks just above and below the
surface. Sailors give this area a wide berth. |
| There are spectacular
views though which make it one of the more famous drives in the US. |  |
 |
The sun is quite low at this time of year so you get quite a lot of glare
and distance visibility is still not good. But last time we drove this way
it was in fog! |
| There are plenty of
places to pull off to let others past and to view the coast and see where
we've been. |  |
 |
The glare is ever present and the horizon indistinct. |
| At times it just seems
endless. We drove for five hours between two campsites with virtually
nothing in between. It was only about 120 miles. |  |
 |
Just building the bridges in some of these locations is a feat. There are no
roads inland through the mountains throughout the whole trip. |
| Coming to the end of the
mountains although the coast is still rocky. The last few miles are a
bit quicker. |  |
 |
But not without a batch of curves as a finale, some of which are very sharp. |
| There may be coves but
the sand here is black. We are still on the edge of 2 continental plates and
there has been volcanic activity in the past.. |  |
 |
The last tortuous climb full of hairpins where the RV grounded with the
gradients. |
| The waves tell you that
the coastline is beginning to shelve and become more gentle. |  |
 |
We even get the odd sandy bay. Only about 30 miles to go now. |
| This is Point Piedras
Blancas, a very famous elephant seal colony. The young and the females just
lie in the sun pretending to be rocks. |  |
 |
The males have the odd argument, probably over females. They are enormous. |
| But it rarely stirs any
interest amongst the rest of the colony. |  |
 |
Daylight goes very quickly here. This doesn't do justice to the colours we
saw. But we did make it to the campground as the sun set. We are almost on
the beach. |
|