For our honeymoon, Andra and I flew out to San Jose, rented a cheap car and drove south to Big Sur and a cabin at Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park for a few nights. Neither of us had been to this part of California before, which is why we chose it. The first day we were there, we walked from the Visitor Center to Pfeiffer Falls, a distance of about 0.6 miles one-way, according to the handy free trail map you get when you check in. Despite its short length, the trail had plenty to offer, including huge trees, a nice creek and a great waterfall at the end. There’s not much else to say about it, really. It was nice, but no adventure trek. 

On our second sun-filled day, we visited Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, which offers a teasing view of a wonderful beach  next to McWay Falls that has no legal foot access. All you can do is look, and walk around the trails along the bluffs above. Later we ventured to Pfeiffer Beach, and spent most of the day enjoying the sea otters cracking open oysters on their bellies while floating in the surf, and the waves pounding through the Golden Doorway, a 10-foot hole in one of the offshore sea stacks. This beach was hard to find, and even knowing the directions, we had trouble finding it. I forgot the directions before we even left, so I can’t pass them along. Ask a local. 

The following day we checked out Point Lobos and Carmel by the Sea, which is illustrated in the next page.

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