Saturday7th October
Today we drove up to the coast and along Highway 1 as far as the northern closure at Big Sur. The bridge opens next Friday but we parked up at Pfeiffer Sate Park and walked along the only two trails open which involved a one mile climb up to Valley View which was very hot!
We saw some magnificent redwoods towering high above us and along the river trail we saw lots of blue Stellar Jays and a woodpecker. We then stopped for an iced tea and had an interesting conversation with the barman who came from the Teton area which we visited last year and he kindly gave us the tea for free. We then drove back towards Carmel and stopped off at Point Lobos State Reserve where we had a gentle stroll through the pine forest, returning along a coastal path.
The sun was less fierce and the temperature much more pleasant! Once back at Carmel Valley, we had a dip in the pool but the sun went down faster than yesterday so we didn't have long to linger before we went indoors. The French restuarant where we intended to have dinner was fully booked so we went to the Trailhead Cafe which was unpretentious but had very food food! With a bottle of local wine I enjoyed salad, calamari followed by mac and cheese with bacon and spinach, whilst Iain manfully picked away at charred artichoke followed by linguine with tomatoes and lots of prawns! An excellent choice of dinner venue!

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