Months back, we decided to take a family trip to McWay Falls in Big Sur. We needed to decompress and don’t have a huge budget to travel. I have been to Big Sur just few time for camping and hiking and it never disappointed me. We research and decided to head to McWay Falls at Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park , a place I hadn’t visited. It was a spur of the moment decision, now after six month since I broke my ankle break I don’t regret.
Our trip to McWay Falls in Big Sur just took few hours from home. So, we pack and hit the road. We made short stops to get snacks from the fruit kiosks. Fruits Tatar’s good and is always good to support local farmers.
The beautiful scene helps you forget about the time you spend on the car. When you get there The Mc Way Falls is a short hike. I’d seen many pictures before -and you may have, too- of the 80′ waterfall that pours onto the sand of the beach below, getting lapped up by the stunning aquamarine sea.
Unfortunately, they don’t actually let you go down and splash around under the McWay falls. It’s a steep climb down some almost vertical cliffs to get there, and they have yet to put in an elevator. It may be possible to access it via rubber dingy or something from the ocean, but as a tourist arriving by car, the best you’ll do is to gawk at it from a trail which runs along the northern side of the inlet, a few hundred yards away form the falls themselves.
But that’s OK. I can’t help but feel that if people were allowed to go tromping around the falls, it wouldn’t maintain its majestic beauty for long. Certainly the sand wouldn’t look so pristine for picture taking. Speaking of the sand, I learned something interesting when I was there – not long ago, there wasn’t any sand there whatsoever. A massive landslide in the 1980’s poured gazillions of tons of dirt, sand, and rock into the water, and a lot of it ended up washing up into the inlet and forming the beach. The beach we see there today is very new, and they say some other geologic event might cause it to be washed away again one day.
Getting to the view of the Mc Way Falls took about 5 minutes on the trail. The Tunel that connects the trail from across the street fascinated the kids. When they stop playing there they did enjoyed the beauty of the view that is Just breathtaking. So go check it out while the getting is good!
Looking back I’m so thankful I didn’t hesitate taking this trip, because just two month after that I broke my ankle. We had great fun as a family on the trip. I know that as a parents sometimes you try to plan ahead everything because little people depend on you. However, sometimes the best memories are made when you just follow your guts.
I’m so thankful for our planet and I’m glad Big Sur is so relatively close to us. When I see the recently Catastrophe that is happening in California. I can’t help to reflect on the world that my kids know now, and the world we are leaving to them. Therefore, I commit to show my kids more of the beauty of the world. As well to teach them more ways to help the planet: recycling, cleaning beaches, and in general consuming less plastic. I hope you too.
I hope you enjoy a selection of photos from our outing.
