Becky and I did a long weekend backpacking trip to Pico Blanco Camp in May; I'm happy that we got to see it before the fires. It's a pretty easy 6 mile hike in to the camp at the foot of Pico Blanco. Aptly named, it has one of the largest granite deposits on the west coast, and it's owned by Granite Construction. Their efforts to mine here have been unsuccessful (they've been trying for decades), so we're lucky to have it in a relatively pristine state. The peak is bright white in the sunlight, and is easily distinguishable above Molera, just north of the Big Sur river valley. We came in via the trailhead of the Old Coast Ridge Road
, which cuts through a large swath of private property, namely the Sur Ranch. I'd heard bad things about the owner of this ranch, supported by the extreme proliferation of No Trespassing/No Fires/No This/Hikers Will Be Shot type signs. (I made that last one up).Finding the trailhead was tricky (think '200 paces after the stand of oaks, before a gentle upward grade'), but we made it and skeedaddled off the private property ASAP. It felt good to get into the forest lands.
Ticks were bad, especially along the flanks of Pico Blanco. We made it to the site in the afternoon, and it was empty. There's a nice field with campsites all around, then a trail down to a gem of a swimming hole in the redwoods. Click on the picture and you'll be able to see our tent at our site. The hole is just below us.
Sorry, I couldn't resist another pic. It's a pretty place. Cold water, so summer only. Even then it's one of the colder holes since it's shaded most of the day and the canyon's pretty deep.
The place filled up that weekend, but there was plenty of space for everyone. We met a Ventana Wild Association trail crew who was working nearby. They invited us for drinks and appetizers, and man, do they live it up! We had crab w/ cream cheese & figs, salmon, wine, scotch, steak, and who knows what else. The crew was led by Jim Preston, with his wife Katya as chief gourmand. They did good hard work, and were a pleasure to hang out with. We invited them over to our site later for some campfire quesadillas which, while slightly less sumptuous, were enjoyed.On the hike out we came across a forest ranger type fellow with an embroidered outfit for the Ranch. He was a friendly guy, doing his rounds to make sure there aren't illegal campers with fires. They take the fires very seriously, and I understand why after seeing what happened a couple of months after this trip.
We popped out at the trailhead in front of the ranger guy's truck- a tricked out F250 with loaded gun racks, at least 4 types of radios, Sur Ranch stenciling, big a&& tires. Pretty impressive rig. Apparently the owner inherited the ranch and an ungodly amount of money, and likes to play with his toys there.
Another nice easy trip, more people about than other areas to the south, but worth it.
