MONDAY 9-13-10 PFEIFFER BIG SUR STATE PARK

I promised Fred I’d fry bacon and make gravy for breakfast so he sets up a camp stove outside (no bacon mess indoors).  It is not my best gravy attempt – and I pride myself on my gravy makin’ abilities - but on a scale from 1 to 10 I’d say it’s at best a 5.  I look over at Fred and he is eagerly lapping it up.

We take the VW into town, Ferndale, to check out the local café and store.  A nice lady behind the counter tells us of an interesting sounding trail to “Buzzard’s Roost” that begins in a grove of redwoods.  But first we have lunch at Big Sur River Inn and order the ham and cheese panini with tomatoes on wheat bread to share.  We regret the choice.  They have used that nut berry bread that feels like it is loaded with shotgun pellets.

After lunch we search out the trailhead to “Buzzard’s Roost”.  The trail begins alongside the Big Sur River and winds through a grove of huge redwoods.  The trail is well worn but we run into only 3 people along the way.  It is dark and shady in the woods and the trail steadily climbs upward.  After about 30 minutes the trail splits in two directions and a sign reads, “Buzzard’s Roost Loop”.  Ok, so which side of the loop is the shorter?  Fred recollects the map showing a shorter loop to the right – I recall the left loop being shorter, but go with his recollection as he generally has a good instinct for such things and I can get lost in Wal Mart.

The trail climbs and climbs as we zig and zag with each switchback.  We finally reach the “roost” that turns out to be a radio tower on top of the mountain.  The sparkling Pacific is in the distance as the sun lowers itself into the ocean.  We are pleased when we see an actual buzzard circle overhead.

We take some photos and head down the other side of the loop.  I stop to take a photo of bright green ferns poking through the dark mossy bank on the side of the trail.  When we return to “camp” we check the map and find our trek was a 5-mile loop. 

We walk to the showers to freshen up and I am relieved my two quarters buy me a hot, soothing burst of water.  We return to the RV and Fred tells me he thought of me shivering in the shower with no hot water!  He is then surprised to find my shower was hot and luxurious and his was a chilly one-quarter hop-in-and-out.

We make veggie tacos for dinner with Fred’s signature margaritas.    He builds a roaring fire and we relax with the last sips of margarita.  Worn and weary from the day (or is it the margaritas?) we turn in around 9:30. 

Around 3:30 am I am awakened to the sound of Fred heading out the door to use the park’s “facilities”.  He’s gone only a few minutes when I hear something making noises outside.  Is it a prowler?  An animal?  I hear a loud clunk! Clang! Crash!  I get a flashlight and shine it at the windows hoping to scare the intruder away.  Who would be messing with our stuff?  Suddenly I see the glow of Fred’s flashlight as he approaches the RV.  But then it stops, then flashes, then stops again, then another flash.  What is he doing?  Is he trying to warn me?  I look out the front door window and see Fred bent over picking up trash that is strewn around the ground.  “Was it a raccoon?”  I ask him.  “No,” he says, “It was a skunk and I kept flashing my light to scare him off.  He had his tail straight up ready for trouble and the last thing I wanted was to get sprayed by an angry skunk!”  A lesson learned – from now on we remember to empty the trash before turning in.  It takes us a while to settle back to sleep.