We started at Pebble Beach, where we explored the famed 17 mile drive. This self-guided tour was pretty cool, and allows you to take as much time as you want at each of the clearly marked stops along the way.
Our plan was to travel from Pebble Beach all the way down Highway 1, maybe even find a place along the coast to do some off-grid camping. Unfortunately, the Mud Creek Slide was not cooperating. The slide occurred in May of 2017, dumping over 30 feet of dirt, rocks, and debris on the road. Over a year later, it was still being cleaned up.
The views along the Highway were more amazing than we remembered. Although it was more than somewhat concerning to see so many spots with significant erosion, which was causing the highway surface to show cracks and slope towards the ocean, not to mention the bits and pieces that were falling off the edge. This was more nerve-racking when traveling south and driving along the edge in our house.
There are quite a few privately owned campgrounds to the North of the slide, but they were all fully booked, as were the many State campgrounds. We would’ve barely fit into many of the privately owned locations, which were nestled into hillsides, had 20 ft length limits, and would’ve required us to remove the bikes and rack to be small enough to make it in and out. We ended up stayed at Lucia Lodge, a lovely little hotel with amazing views and a yummy restaurant on site.
To finish our southbound drive of Highway 1, we were going to have to turn around and loop back on 1, go to 101, and finally take 46 back to the coast. That would take several hours, and require many rest breaks. Some guests were talking about a shortcut to get back over to Highway 101 faster than this loop. We were interested until they shared it was a gravel road that was allegedly two lanes, but not much bigger than a one lane road. Along the way, it cut through a military base, and there was no guarantee they’d let anyone pass.
We opted for the safer paved roads of the longer route, and just enjoyed the views, stopping at many vista points and just enjoyed the beautiful day.
Traveling Team Fischer 