Day 3

30 miles
Vet's Memorial to Pfeiffer Big Sur Campground

I walked over to the elusive hiker/biker site in the morning. I met a couple groups of cyclists and 3 women traveling solo. All of them had started in Vancouver and had been on the road for a month or so. We all had the same plan of getting to Kirk Creek or Plaskett Creek that day. I was relieved that I would have other cyclists on the road thru Big Sur.

I set off, later than I wanted to since it took me forever to pack everything up. I finally left camp at 9:45am-it was already 85 degrees. I was already tired. I didn't sleep very well the night before. My legs kept cramping-most likely from the 80 mile day with 40 pounds of gear.

In any case, I climbed out of Monterey and on to Carmel where I stopped to fuel up on food and water for the next 50 miles or so. Right. Well, after the first couple of climbs I was wiped out. My bike computer told me it was 108 degrees at one point. It was still before noon.

Carmel Highlands

I pulled into Andrew Molera campground to find some shade and water that I had already ran out of. I sat there for 20 minutes and one by one, other cyclists I had met this morning trickled in. We sat together and lamented over the bizarre coastal heat and ultimately resigned ourselves to the fact that today would not be a 60 mile day.

The next closest campground was Pfeiffer Big Sur-only about 5 miles or so down the road. Off we headed.

I can't believe how hot is it. I knew my itinerary could be changed due to inclement weather- I just didn't expect it to be a heat wave.