November 2009 Archives

Camping on the Big Sur coast

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Hobie went on another camping trip, this time to Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park. It's a gorgeous park filled with towering redwoods. But like most California state parks, dogs are not allowed on any trails. So we made our way down to Pfeiffer Beach, and since it is owned by the National Forest Service, it's dog friendly!

On our way down to the coast, we realized we had forgotten to bring a toy for Hobie. Luckily, we spotted a pet store along the freeway and made a quick dash inside and chose a Chuckit! Flying Squirrel
. The crazy miniature schnauzer was clearly delighted with his new toy.

floppy schanzer ears-pola.jpg

Hobie was definitely a much happier camper at Big Sur vs. Big Basin. It was much warmer at Big Sur and running off leash at Pfeiffer Beach was pure heaven. We wrapped up the weekend by spending the afternoon on the Carmel River Valley State Beach

carmel beach dog-pola.jpg

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Camping in Big Basin

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Earlier in the fall we took Hobie on his first camping trip, to Big Basin Redwoods State Park. Dogs are allowed in the campgrounds (leashed) and on a fire road.

We got there after dark, but that didn't stop Hobie from barking like a crazy dog when I left the car to check in. Fortunately, he calmed down as soon as his little pack got back together.

We stayed in the Wastahi Campground (PDF map of park). We stayed in site 85, which was fairly secluded (site 86 was even more secluded). Stay away from the sites just down the road from 85 - they are right next to each other. There were a few other dogs nearby, and it looked like most of them were off leash while inside the camp site.

The campsite itself was pretty nice, although Hobie found it a little cold for his liking. We could just bundle up and sit near the campfire, but Hobie wasn't quite happy sleeping on his pad. However, when I put him (and his pad) on my lap he quickly curled up and fell asleep.

hobie_kris_chair_camping.jpg

Hiking with Hobie
Since Hobie is not allowed on any of the trails, we had to walk along the main road to the fire road, near the check-in point.

It's about a 20-minute walk away from the check-in point and the main day-use parking lot.

The fire road is a couple of miles long, and it's a pretty nice walk. It starts out as a two-lane paved road (closed to traffic), but turns into a more conventional fire road about a mile up. On the way there are a lot of day-use areas there were closed off (not sure of it was because it was late in the season or because of budget cuts).

We bring water when we go hiking with Hobie, and a few sips of water tends to get him (and us) re-energized.

Hobie staying warm

We stayed there for two nights, and the next day Hobie figured out that in addition to my lap, the sleeping bags also made a comfortable sleeping surface.

hobie_tent.jpg

On overall, this was a good campsite to bring Hobie to, although the hiking options were pretty much limited to one fire road.

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About this Archive

This page is an archive of entries from November 2009 listed from newest to oldest.

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