Journeys›Photograph

A Day Hike Along the Big Sur Coastline

·Monterey County, California·#hiking#california#spring#coastal#big sur
Steep, tree-covered coastal mountains meet the ocean under a cloudy sky.

Drove out to the coast on March 22, 2014. The plan was just to hike for the day. The cliffs drop right into the ocean here, steep and covered in green scrub and brush.

The sky was partly cloudy when I started, which gave the water a darker, more muted color. As I followed the trail along the bluffs, the sun started to break through, and the whole scene brightened up considerably. The water turned a clearer blue-green near the shore.

I found a good spot on a grassy hill to just stop for a while and look out at the Pacific. It’s the kind of vast view that makes everything else feel pretty small. Just the wind and the horizon.

The path eventually led away from the immediate coastline and deeper into a canyon. Suddenly, the view wasn't of the ocean anymore, but of a mountain valley filled with tall pines. A completely different world just a short walk from the sea.

Steep, tree-covered hillsides descend to the blue ocean below a partly cloudy sky.A wide view of a blue ocean, a rocky coast, and a large, scrub-covered hill with a winding path.Vast blue ocean meeting a rugged, green-brown coastline with a winding dirt path up a hill.Green shrubs cover a steep hillside overlooking a rocky coastline and blue ocean under a cloudy sky.Foreground bushes overlook steep coastal hills leading to the ocean under a blue, cloudy sky.A person squats on a grassy hillside, overlooking a vast blue ocean and distant green hills under a cloudy sky.A person squats on a grassy hillside, looking out at the vast blue ocean and distant hills under a clear sky.Tall trees frame a green mountain range with a prominent rocky peak under a clear blue sky, with a leafy branch on the right.

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