Long awaited big sur adventure post. Sorry ladies and peoples.

Driving down route 1 into the forest, I felt like I had come to the land of the lumberjacks. Tall towering Redwoods, Lodges every mile down the street, and everything was lush and green. I almost expected some sort of elven fortress to be hidden deep down the trails in the side of one of the mountain peaks. 

Either way I got the crazy notion to climb the mountain. So I did. Straight up into the side of California…in heels.

The photos don’t really do the forest justice…

This was about halfway up.
 

The trail was maybe shoulder width apart going up the side of the mountain at such steep angles in some places I almost slipped. I found myself, again, between path….and fall to my death…

Met this guy on my way up. 

He was pretty sweet for a banana slug… watched him munch a leaf for a minute while I caught my breath. (look how big he is!!)

Made it all the way to the top (about a 2 mile hike up) and decided to relax with a giant and very delicious local deli sammich and a took a nap for 10 minutes to sleep off the fullness. (avoiding those cramping effects after eating) 
Then headed back down and continued to explore. Found this Gallery further down the road.
 

literally in the middle of the forest. Very ethereal…

It was a fantastic day and spent the remainder of it driving down towards Los Angeles all along the sea. Watched the sun explode after sunset in my rearview mirror but decided to save the actual sunset for my next years trip. Here is a before picture that I thought was amazing though.

Next post: THE GRAND CANYON AND ROUTE 66!!!

….love

LiiLii