Hiking on Easter Sunday

I've been meaning to go hiking in Big Sur again for a while now - today turned out to be the day when I finally got out there and did something about it. I've been meaning to visit Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park for a while too - and it's in Big Sur - how fantastic.

There's a short hike to the waterfall on to the beach view and a longer hike called Ewoldsen Loop, which is about a 5 mile hike up into the hills. I decided to do this hike and it was a cool hike. It's described as strenuous, and now I know why - it's never flat and frequently steep.

I think running a 10k a week helps as I managed the hike comfortably, but it was definitely a workout. Up at the top of loop there are some great views back down on to the ocean, but most of the hike is in the woods. There are some massive Redwood trees here, a lot of them showing signs of a previous burn, but still massive and spectacular.

Some of the wildflowers were out too, one with a cool looking insect sitting on one of its petals.


After the loop hike, I did the waterfall overlook hike - all quarter of a mile of it - it's very spectacular, looking down on the waterfall and the beach and spotting whales swimming past too.


The only thing missing today were Condors, as this park is right in the middle of Condor country, but given everything else, I can't complain!

Spring Has Sprung

Well, it certainly seemed like it today. Our clocks sprung forwards, birds had nesting material in their mouths, poppies are flowering, Monarchs were fluttering and it was a lovely warm day.

I opened up a couple of windows and the back door to let some fresh air into the house, and a giant bee came buzzing in.

Not the most intelligent bee in the world, it flew in through the back door and then proceeded to spend half an hour trying to get out through the front window, which doesn't open. As I'm allergic to bee stings, I kept an eye on it, and when I realized it wasn't going to figure out for itself how to get back out again, I decided to help, so I got a pint glass and a beer mat (funnily enough, they were both handy!) and managed to escort the bee outside.

I shot the photo below before letting it go, as it was a large bee.