Hanging Solo in Big Sur

**BigSur** · 03-04-2013, 12:27

I go out every weekend to the wilderness, in Big Sur. It is my first love. Hammocks make it even more enjoyable but in my world, the primary objective is wilderness first. So I go out every weekend, including the weekend my nephew got married down in Julian, which is inland San Diego County.

This last weekend and the weekend before, I've gone to Turkey Spring Camp in Big Sur. I have added a DIY underquilt made from 1.1 ripstop and regular old 5 oz polyester batting. It's actually doing the job halfway decent until the sides droop. I have a fix for that which involves some more stitching. The next quilt will be made from Climashield Apex 6 oz which is a little heavier but 3 to 4 times as lofty and much warmer. This underquilt took me down to high 30's the weekend before last and just this last weekend it only got down to 40's but there were a few sprinkles which I didn't have a tarp for protection. So I got just a tiny bit damp as a result. Not a problem though! Soon I'll have the DIY tarp made.. soon as the fabric comes in and I have the time to practice up on full felled seams.

Turkey Springs is way off the beaten track. The forestry trail maps indicate the total mileage from the Salmon Creek Trailhead to be around 7 miles but I believe that is off by about a mile. I think it's at least 8 miles. Also, this particular place of the wilderness is definitely more wildernessy than other parts of Big Sur where you can see the mark of man off on some distant vista or whatnot, this part is very much removed from civilization but there are cows between late November and early April as there is much in the way of grassy knolls in the highlands of Big Sur. Turkey Springs is way on the other side and you have to criss-cross a lot of cow trails to get there. It is not easy to find this camp. The cow trails are more easily followed and the uninitiated tend to miss Turkey Springs thinking they are following the trail when they aren't.

I'm always looking for someone to go with me. Not too long ago about a month and a half ago, I went with Mountain Man Mike and a whole crew of Boyscouts and that was a lot of fun for me, sharing my woods with others.

I'm hoping to find more people to share the trail with. So, I'll be sharing some photos and making some posts to help my cause.

At the moment I am predisposed with this idea of fixing Turkey Springs Camp. The spring itself is about 3/4 mile upstream and it's a gusher variety, so I think this camp merits an effort to fix up. The water quality is fantastic and plentiful. The forestry folks, they don't care about these campgrounds anymore because they have no plans to refurbish them. The picnic table at Turkey is exploded. Certainly there's more at the camp site than at Estrella Camp which is quite popular, given that Estrella only has one bench remaining from the original picnic table. Turkey on the other hand needs some work in other ways. First order of business for me was bringing a can of spray paint to paint the pole holding the sign announcing the camp. RED instead of rust color

Definite improvement don't you think?

I am contemplating bringing up a picnic table in pieces, over time, hide the pieces until all of them are up there, then reassemble it. But that would take a lot of planning and preparation and someone would have to be awfully obsessed about it. Which I am starting to become

**JollyGreen** · 03-04-2013, 15:08

Nice trip, I used to travel to your area all the time to work at Diablo Canyon Nuclear Plant but the nuclear work is drying up for me. Love that area and especially the farmers market in town, I think on tuesday nights, lots of sights lol. If I get back that way I'll be sure to drop a line to you.