Elephant Seals and State Parks

Elephant seals
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As we continued north, one of the neatest things we saw were the elephant seals at the beaches of Piedras Blancas.  There were a large amount of elephant seals laying together on the beaches, throwing sand on themselves with their flippers.  We met a volunteer guide who told us lots of interesting information about the seals - apparently they are molting and are currently spending months just lying there, growing new fur.  The guide says they don't get up to eat or even use the bathroom - they just all lie there together! We were glad to be there at the right time of year to see this!

McWay Falls
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The coastline along this Bur Sur area was just gorgeous, very dramatic.  We were constantly hopping out of the car to take pictures!  We stopped at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park to do the short walk out to McWay Falls.  The hike takes you a short way out to a view above the beach, where McWay Falls plunge 80 feet down directly on to the beach.  It was a beautiful view and a quick walk anyone passing by should have time for - just make sure to have cash for parking!

Next we went to Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park, to do a one mile walk to Pfeiffer Falls.  The walk was through the redwoods was very pretty and the foliage was unbelievably bright green!  The actual waterfall was pretty thin but nice in its own way; most of all we just liked walking through the trees.

Big Sur scenery
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We ended our night in Monterey, where we shopped at Cannery Row and got yummy food from the deli at Whole Foods Market, one of the best grocery stores I have ever been to!