Pacific Coast Highway
Pacific Coast Highway (aka PCH), runs along the entire west coast of the USA. Starting at San Diego, almost at the Mexican border, it traverses the coastal towns of California, Oregon and Washington states and ends closer to the Canadian border. Featured in the National Geographic book,
"Drives of a Lifetime: 500 of the World's Most Spectacular Trips", PCH truly lived up to the expectation!
We spent a day driving on the PCH from
Cayucos to the north. This segment of the PCH offers an exhilarating drive through the narrow, 2-lane highway hugging the steep cliffs of the Santa Lucia mountains.
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| In many places, the PCH seems to slide in to the Pacific |
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| Big Creek Bridge - built in 1934. |
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| Big Creek Bridge |
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| At one of the many scenic view points with a Professional photographer :)) |
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| Looks like this bird likes to be photographed! |
Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park
In San Diego, one of the Torrey Pines hiking trails descends from a cliff to the beach. I used to think that is a very unique place. In the Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, the McWay waterfalls plunges right to the beach, mixing with the Pacific in a scenic cove! From the park parking lot, we did a short hike to view the McWay waterfalls.
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| McWay Falls |
As we continued further down the hiking trail away from the McWay falls, we ran in to a breathtaking and colorful view of the Pacific. There are 100s of view points like this all along the PCH.
Nepenthe Restaurant
In Greek, Nepenthe means "
something that induces forgetfulness of sorrow or eases pain" This is an apt name for the restaurant located right on PCH, just a couple of miles south of the town of Big Sur. Built in 1924 on a cliff overlooking the Pacific, this restaurant is a "must-stop" for anyone driving on the PCH. While there is a small indoor dining area, everyone waits for getting seated on the outside terrace, where the views are fantastic.
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| Dining from Nepenthe's open terrace, viewing the Pacific |
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| @Nepenthe |
Bixby Bridge
One of the most photographed features of the West Coast, the Bixby Bridge, opened in 1932, spans the The Bixby Creek. It was our last stop on the PCH.
PCH captures the true spirit of California
- wide open landscape, tall mountain cliffs, blue sky,
turquoise blue Pacific, crashing waves on the rocks - the stunning diversity of nature.
