Whitney's Big Sur Weekend, Part 2

The campground consists of 15 or so sites that are all first come, first serve and for a very reasonable price ($15/night, up to 8 people per site). The bathrooms aren't delightful, but they could be worse. There is a freezing cold stream behind some of the sites so we could get cleaned off when the dirt got the best of us. Our neighbors fished, but I'm not sure how much there is to catch out there. Also, there's some serious poison oak patches near the water, so we had to be careful.

As I sat back in my folding chair, unwillingly taking in the smoke from the fire with my watering eyes, I came to a new conclusion.  I so badly wanted to camp on the coast until I went on an AWESOME 10 mile hike across Highway 1 from Kirk Creek Campground and talked with some of the local campers. Not only were their sites stacked up on top of each other with minimal privacy but it seemed more like the site of an all-night frat party instead of catching up with some old friends. One friendly camper at Kirk Creek invited us to his party that evening as we passed, saying it "wouldn't end until 4:15 AM." That's just not my cup of tea anymore!

At that moment, I became grateful for the seclusion of the Ponderosa campground. We made noise when we wanted to and went to bed without trouble when we were ready. The sites were spacious and generously mapped out. We were able to set up a game of washers, three tents and an enclosed canopy (our safe zone from the bugs) without any interference from the picnic table or fire pit.

I stayed Thursday through Sunday morning and got quite a few bug bites. The bugs were pretty bad this year but hey, that's camping. Also, there was no cell reception all weekend which was such a blessing and breath of fresh air. There were lots of laughs shared and now that my clothes all smell like I've been living in a campfire for months, my freshly showered self can sit back at home, relax and think of all the fun I had this weekend.

-Whitney

P.S. You can see more hiking videos on the myCampmate YouTube channel!