It was time for a weekend getaway and Tapan, Heeral, Liya and I decided to go camping in San Simeon located just south of the Hearst Castle:
San Simeon Creek Campground.
Friday, June 28, 2013
We drove up the 5 freeway and took California 46 through Paso Robles to get to San Simeon.
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| Oil wells along the road. It looked like a scene from War of the Worlds. |
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| We stopped on the way to see the last rays of the sun setting over the Pacific |
We got to our campground well after dark. While I thought I had reserved the luxurious San Simeon Creek Campground with its flush toilets and showers, we realized the site I had reserved was in the sister campground, the more primitive Washburn, with no such luxurious elements. Well that wasn't the first surprise of the day. I had thought the campground was by the ocean. Only a little while earlier Heeral had enlightened me that we were going to be roughly two miles inland which meant that a stroll on the beach in the early morning would be a little more effort than what I had hoped for. Oh well. We were nevertheless excited about our trip and such minor inconveniences did not dampen our spirits.
Now was the challenging part. Cooking dinner and setting up our tents in the dark. These were two activities at which we had failed pretty miserably in our previous camping trip together at Yosemite. At least there was no snow to shovel in San Simeon or bears to look out for, and Tapan and Heeral had ensured there was no technical fault with the gas stove by checking it at REI before renting. And so in no time, we were able to set up our tents and cook hot Maggi for dinner! We were becoming seasoned campers.
The rest of the evening was spent watching the star studded sky and listening to the ocean waves (though Heeral might still argue the sound we heard was from the vehicles on Highway 1 but I like to disagree).
Saturday, June 29, 2013
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| Our campsite. It was in a wide open location with tons of space between campsites giving us our privacy |
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| It was great to wake up in the morning with a view of the surrounding hills |
After a breakfast of oatmeal and preparing bagels sandwiches for lunch, we decided to hike the San Simeon Creek trail which passed through our campground. It was an easy trail of about 3.5 miles.
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| Horses grazing along the trail |
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| San Simeon Creek Trail started in the barren hills near our campsite |
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| It then passed through a dense green jungle |
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| The trail passed through changing scenery finally leading to the ocean |
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| The final stretch before hitting the San Simeon beach was through marsh land |
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| San Simeon Beach where we had our bagel sandwich lunch and a siesta |
The hike back to the campsite was hot. We were ready to relax in the shade by our campsite. And no sitting in the shade is complete without playing a game of cards.
We then headed to the town of Cambria to check out the little down, get some coffee and do some hiking/strolling along the beach.
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| Cambria seemed a happy little beach town |
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| The Fiscalini Ranch Preserve trailhead overlooked expensive-looking mansions along the Pacific Coast. |
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| A bench with a view and a pretty view too |
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| The California coastline |
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| Elephant seals basking in the sun |
On the evening schedule, was a game of Settlers of Catan. A game I had heard Tapan talk so much about, but hadn't had the chance to play. It kept up to the expectations.
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| Settlers of Catan: We began playing when it was bright and dandy. |
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| And ended beyond nightfall |
After a delicious dinner of pasta, we had the last challenge to complete before convincing ourselves that we were seasoned campers: Lighting a campfire (and without the use of lighter fluid).
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| The proof is in the pudding and a picture speaks a thousand words |
Sunday, June 30, 2013
It was time to pack our tents and head back south. But before that we had one last hike on our agenda. We decided to visit the San Simeon Pier and hike from
San Simeon Bay to San Simeon Point .
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| San Simeon Pier |
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| Hike through a eucalyptus forest that creaked in the wind |
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| The haunted forest. |
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| No hike is complete around San Simeon if it does not end with pretty views of the ocean. |
