One of my favorite places on earth that I have visited is Big Sur, California.
Mason and I are taking a trip tomorrow to camp in two amazing spots up there and to kick off this trip I wanted to post a photo or two from my trip up there last September. This shot is one of my favorite photographs of all time. It’s a view from Esalen :: right outside of the room where I attended an amazing week long workshop. The tin roofs that you see are the natural hot springs AND where you can have one of the best massages in the world – all right on the edge of a cliff above that massive ocean.
Esalen is located on a pretty large piece of property and in the center is an entrance to a canyon hike through the redwood trees. Here is the fall canyon floor and Highway 1 goes straight through.
This camping trip is to KICK OFF a pretty exciting trip we are planning that starts June 1. We are leaving in the very early morning with our two dogs and heading to Maine. Along the way we plan on camping, hiking and seeing friends in Sedona, AZ, Grand Canyon, Moab, UT, Boulder, CO — cruising through the mid-west unless someone has suggestions of what you do there — heading north to Niagara Falls, Western Massachusetts, Dennistown, Maine, PA, NJ, NYC. We have tickets to see Thievery Corporation in Central Park on June 26 and then we’re heading back. We’re planning on going pretty fast on the way back because I have weddings on the books but we are SO STOKED!! It’s a photography video adventure and the awesomest thing is that I can pull into my parents driveway in my car with my little family! I haven’t been able to do that in almost a decade!!
If you have time, from CO, head north up into Montana to Devil’s Tower. Yes, where they filmed Close Encounters. Damn, did I just date myself?
From there, head east into the Dakotas. Stop in Custer and spend the night. I’ve camped there before but it’s been a very long time. Take a drive through Custer State Park. Try not to get trampled by a herd of tatankas. 😉 But do make sure to stop and get out for prairie dog town. Crazy Horse and Rushmore are interesting sites and amazing in their scale. You might want to read up a bit on Rushmore before you go.
From Custer, head out to the Badlands. There’s something about that place for me. It’s special.
From there, you can head east into MN, down to Chicago then onto Maine. It should be a much more interesting trip then blazing through the endless corn/soybean fields of Kansas and Nebraska. 😉