January 21, 2007

We spent an early morning on a low bluff watching transfixed as hundreds and hundreds of elephant seals jostled and tusseled, snorted and bellowed, primped and preened on the Piedras Blancas Rookery.

The Rookery is near San Simeon, not far from the start of the long driveway into Hearst Castle.

According to the Friends of the Elephant Seal website, up to 15,000 of the seals occupy these tiny strips of beach twice each year, coming out of the water in the summer to molt and then again in the winter to give birth and rest.

We had cut out to the Pacific Coast Highway (Highway 1) at Monterey the day before our elephant seal encounter so that we could meander on the 17 Mile Drive through historic Pebble Beach and the Del Monte Forest.

The Pacific Coast Highway, which snakes high around central California's jagged coastline, is one of the most spectacular, but also exhausting, stretches of the road anywhere in North America.

As late afternoon turned to evening, it became clear that we would not be able to reach Los Osos, our destination, until after dark.

The decision to stop at the scenically located Mill Creek Campsite - just off the highway, about 100 miles south of Carmel and 80 miles north of Los Osis - turned out to be the right one if for no other reason than we had one of the most spectacular sunsets we were to witness in the entire trip.

Key Facts & Figures:

-17 Mile Drive: $9
-Mill Creek Campsite (including fire wood): $25/night