Sausage festin' in hot springs

Checking Sykes Hot Springs off my bucket list for the year was an easy one since Big Sur is only 2.5 hours from the City. From the trailhead, we set off with our loaded packs on a 10.5 mile trek into the shrubbery. My first time using the new pack and while there definitely is a little adjustment to be done to make it fit in glove-like fashion, the heft of my stuff felt pretty good.

The hike had a a few fun obstacles, mostly involving crossing little streams. So cool to have these giant redwoods as bridges, though I cringe to imagine what a faceplant/sideplant would feel like. Little madrones and big adult ones everywhere, so splashes of silky orange on all the light greenery.

Cragginess

Once we arrived at the campsites, we threw down our stuff, pitched tents, and immediately set off for the hot springs. Darkness swept in pretty quick, but it was fun scrabbling around on rock faces, hillsides, and again across a giant redwood. Wearing flipflops for this obstacle course was not the best idea ever, but we did finally get hit by the cloud of sulfur. Frogs freaking out as well. We stripped down to join some wasted bros and their even more plastered ladies in the river-side hot spring. For straight boys, there was certainly a lot of references to our end being a "wall of dicks" and "sausage fests." And claiming to wake up with Vaseline on anuses. Truth and such.

Basically pitch black within an hour, but the frogs are still screaming and we get the hot spring to ourselves. A bottle of wine and hot soaking after a hike is...just as awesome as expected. We hustle back to camp, cook up some turkey chili and rice, wash it down with Back in Black IPA. Note to self: snag a six-pack of 21st's cardamom beer (Sneak Attack).

Group shot as we take a quick breather

So much eating before the hike back. PB&J and avocado/cheese sandwiches!

Mid-nom.

The pit bathroom. It was basically a throne on top of a steep hillside.

View on the drive back

 So glad we decided to stop at Kome for sushi buffet times on the way back! I must have eaten my weight in geoduck and imitation crab.