Trip Date: January 14-16, 2022

Trail Overview

Trail: Pine Ridge Trail to Timber Top

Distance: 24.4 miles partial loop

Elevation Gain: 4,554 ft.

Location: Ventana Wilderness- Big Sur, CA.

Permits: Self-issued permits available at the trailhead.

The Story

As someone who’s not a big fan of snow, when winter rolls around you’ll most likely find me road-tripping rather than on the trail, but this year I decided to hit up a coastal trail in Big Sur! I’ve been to Big Sur a few times, so being familiar with the drive and the hike, I felt comfortable enough to venture out solo. I had my eyes set on the Big Sur Extended Loop, a 33-mile loop that was part of the trail I was already a bit familiar with, Pine Ridge.

I figured 3-days would be sufficient enough to complete the loop, but having started the hike late in the afternoon on my first day, I ended up bailing halfway through with absolutely no regrets at all.

As previously mentioned, I’ve hiked the Pine Ridge Trail a few times, but always in summer and never past Ventana Camp which is only 5-miles in. This specific weekend, I planned to complete the loop and actually visit the hot springs, but I didn’t make it and decided to turn around nearly 8 miles in and only 2 miles from camp. Starting the trail late in the afternoon wasn’t too bad of an idea, it was the short winter days that I had completely forgotten about. Knowing that I had 10-miles to camp on the first day, I took my time. I stopped for lunch at the 5-mile mark, where I’d usually break trail, but I was only halfway to my campsite for the night and starting to feel a little discouraged as the sun started to set.

Not prepared for the last river crossing, I spent more time taking off my socks and shoes and replacing them with my hiking sandals to forge the river in some knee-hi waters. The river was cold, and a lot wider than it looked as I took my time as to not fall in. Now on the other side of the river, wet and irritated because the lower portion from my waist down was soaked. It’s all part of the adventure, I had to remind myself. After all, it’s still winter.

Now I wasn’t really prepared for that river crossing, but I was aware of a river crossing. What I wasn’t prepared for was yet another crossing just a few steps away, and of course- after I had just dried up and put my dry socks and shoes back on. Luckily and gratefully, this crossing was merely ankle-deep and wasn’t that bad at all. The climb out was another story. Again, not prepared for what was to come I caught myself irritated at the climb knowing that I’m losing precious sunlight. Thoughts of bailing the loop and the hot springs started to occur and with every step forward, it only made sense to turn around if I wanted to enjoy this trip. I was really only doing the loop to see Timber Top, and bailing on the loop wouldn’t mean bailing on Timber Top, it just meant getting there sooner.

I backtracked on the old trail, as to not have to forge the river a third time and decided to camp at Barlow Flat campground. It was perfect in my opinion. I had the campground to myself for a nice 30-minutes before a group of 3 guys arrived. Tucked away in the dense forest with surrounding redwoods, the ground was wet and even though I was excited for the fire pit that came with the site, everything was just too wet to start a fire. I enjoyed ramen and broccoli for dinner and called it an early night.

Having arrived to camp early the first day, I was up early and broke camp pretty early too. Knowing that the mileage was a lot shorter, I believe only 6 miles to camp, I planned to take my time, soak in the scenery and not have to rush to camp. Even though I had no idea what to expect at Timber Top, I knew that arriving early probably wouldn’t be the best idea, being alone, I tend to get a little antsy.

The climb up Terrace Creek trail was a lot more brutal than I imagined. Not only is there a 1,400ft. climb in ~ 2 miles but there is no water at the top, which means having to carry all of your water, especially if planning to camp at Timber Top, which I had. Made a big mistake here not carrying an extra water bottle, but I filled up my water filter and used that as an extra water bladder. I hadn’t seen anyone on the trail since Outlaw Camp at the junction from Barlow Flat campground where there were actually way more campers than I had imagined, meaning that these groups hiked in later than I on Friday.

The climb from Outlaw Camp to the ridge was pretty boring and way overgrown. It appeared that no one had hiked this trail in a while or maybe it just wasn’t well maintained. Getting closer to reaching the ridge after the last climb and I kid you not, I saw a car passing by! Irritated and hella confused, I pulled out my app to see where I’d just hiked to. Apparently, a road. You could drive up here?! This is the second time in my entire 8 years of hiking that this has happened to me. Seeing a car at the “summit” or the top after miles upon miles hiked all day. It’s pretty annoying actually to think that anyone can reach these views by car.

I was worried that Timber Top was going to be a car campground, probably packed with cars and tents, radios, and coolers. I so badly wanted to backtrack down to Terrace Creek, but something told me to continue. If it’s not what I was expecting, then hey it’s all downhill back to Terrace Creek! The views started to open up once I further walked down the road. Gratefully and very happy that I only saw that one car the entire weekend. I reached a spot where I found some service, so I quickly Googled Timber Top to verify that this was a backcountry campsite. Sure enough, there is a gate on the road blocking cars from reaching Timber Top and I was most excited.

The road ended up being a big blessing, flat with amazing views. Why hadn’t I seen any other hikers on trail? Didn’t care at that moment. I came across a water hole and was surprised to see water still in it. Although, I had just enough it was nice knowing that there was water there, but it looked GROSS.

Not sure I remember what time it was when I reached Timber Top, but I was happy to have finally made it and even happier to see that no one else was camped! I did run into two day hikers, who hiked T.T from another trail. I was surprised at how small the camping area was, as it didn’t look like people camped there very often. It took me a while to decide where to pitch a tent, even though I had the place to myself, some of the better spots were extremely exposed.

Stoked for the views, I knew the sunset would be amazing. Unfortunately for me, it was not. There was some color in the sky, just not enough cloud coverage. It was pretty awesome being able to see down the coast from up above, but I’d almost prefer to see a sea of clouds. The moment I had been waiting hours for came and went. It was officially starting to get dark and fast. For whatever reason, I decided to check if I had service. I did. Bad idea. Turned it off and tried to go to sleep.

The next morning I was set for catching the sunrise, whatever that meant. After sunset being a dud, I almost didn’t care to wake up before the sun that morning, but SO so glad that I did. Apparently, some clouds rolled in overnight and made for a pretty epic sunrise. A sunrise so bright and colorful I hadn’t seen in a long time. Naturally, I set up my tripod and snapped away. It was a beautiful morning and I was so happy to still enjoy this to myself. I broke camp and got back on trail. Playing with my shadows, we had a great 9 miles back down to the trailhead. Being all downhill the return hike only took me 3-hours and having started the day at sunrise, it was actually a bit nice ending the trail early afternoon.