Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Pacific Coast Highway?

I get it that politically and culturally that the west coast of the US is a mess. I've never had the opportunity to drive the Pacific coast highway, but soon I'll likely be able to.

What are some of the "don't miss" things along the way? I'm certainly going to use the opportunity to do some whale watching, but beyond that and some spectacular scenery I'm clueless.

Would love to start when the blue whales can be seen, but my timing in the next few months is controlled by doctors at least through July. How late do they hang around?

There is a lot to see. California is a beautiful state ruined by bad politics.

A couple suggestions from our recent trip up the highway in February.

Hurst mansion, an incredible building with unique history, and the elephant seals, although they were really disgusting, they were worth the stop…

Those elephant seal males are large creatures...

There are some beautiful drives n California.
The cities, just like just about every big city in America are unbearable with traffic, liberals and congestion.
California is like that beautiful crazy chick you took home from the bar.
You can't live with her, but damn you had some fun with her...👍

Much of the WA coast is like driving through a tunnel of trees. You'll drive for miles within a couple hundred yards of the ocean but will seldom see it unless there's a beach access road.

You need to stand under the redwood trees.

^^^Yup^^^ If you make it that far north, Crescent City Calif...there is a narrow but well maintained dirt road that runs right through the heart of Jedediah Smith Park between Hiouchi Calif to Crescent City...it's a little, easy trip that will burn itself into your memory for the rest of your days. Nothing on Hwy 101 or Hwy 1 even comes close. I'm not religious, but if we need reminding how small our pathetic little lives are...this little trip is the wake up call.

Drove the family from Seattle to just north of San Francisco in 2018.

It seemed that every time we stopped on the coast from central to southern OR we saw whales. We saw them so often it was almost anti-climatic by the end of it, but very cool.

The Redwoods was our main goal, and loved that section of the trip.

We couldn't get out of Portland fast enough.

The homeless situation on the west coast has to be seen to be believed. Catastrophic levels of filth, apathy, and drug abuse.

I've lived in western Washington since 1987 and I've spent a little time on the coast. I'm not sure that I'd go north of Cannon Beach, OR, for scenery.

Napa and Sonoma Valleys would be an interesting side trip if you like wine.


Oie John

Help us out with some details. Where will you start and where will you end up?

How much time do you have and will you be staying in hotels along the way, camping, staying with friends??

PCH is a long and very diverse route so options abound.

I can give recommendations but need a little guidance on the route details first.

Is that the Howland Hill road?

In the urban areas.
California is the third largest state in the United States, measures 560 miles from west to east and 1040 miles from north to south at its widest and longest.
Lots of unpopulated scenic country in-between.

Why does California politics have to be insane?

Because of the large populations in the urban regions control the state.
City people...🤬

We drove from Malibu to Monterey in a day a few years back. It was a very interesting trip and I suggest doing it. I had envisioned being along the beach; for the most part its Going to the Sun meets Big Sur. High cliff driving.

We drove from Monterey then to I think Santa Cruz and then over the mountains to San Jose before we flew home. Shrapnel is right, the seals are disgusting. I thought a winter kill on a shallow lake smelled bad; these creatures smell worse. Fun to watch them tho. Very little cell service along there which leads to this story:

At one overlook, high above the ocean, I saw a young couple looking at me and gesturing. I was wearing a polo shirt and shorts and flip-flops, pretty standard Dad vacation wear. My wife and teenage daughters were looking at the surf etc. The girl in the couple looked pretty normal; the guy did not. 5-9, maybe 150 soaking wet. He had half his head shaved, long hair on the other side, piercings, those tight skateboarder pants and combat boots. Scary looking, no not really, but to some he would be. He approached me with caution and politely, and started to tell me that they came from Berkeley that morning, he'd borrowed the car, the battery was dead, there was no service and he was in some trouble. Yes I would say he was. Hard to believe how remote that road is.

Being the helpful type, I told him that my vehicle was a rental and I had no cables but that there were people on the road with RV's and they'd likely have some. At that moment a guy from Texas pulling an Airstream pulled in, and I made a brief introduction. Texas man agreed immediately to help, started right in to do what most of us know how to do, and then I left. I have wondered a few times if that kid learned anything about people that day. He was on the cusp of realization.

I know it’s just a shame with views like that.
My stepdad moved out to California I think in the early 60s for 10 or 15 years. I don’t remember the exact numbers but paid around 10k-15k for his house. A few years ago that house and the house his best friend lived in sold for somewhere around 1.5mil give or take and they were torn down.

Worked with JTF6, California State police, and Local Sherrifs back in Late Sept thru Oct 93 out of Ft Hunter Ligget.
Company of Light Infantry broken down into 4 man observation teams all thru the national forest.
4 day missions .
Be anywhere from 7 to 10 teams out at a Time.
Fed troops under posse comatus.
Find, Observe and report on pot fields to higher when the dumb fuuuks show to harvest their crop.
"Intricate" gravity water systems for their grows downstream.
Deep pools and whirlpools going into strainer/ funnel systems to buried garden hose watering for the grows.
Track the hose pulling it up or following dusturbed low ground trackfor 100,s of yards just short of grow.

Lot of huge trees cut down laying on slopes from long ago they couldn't get out for some reason.
They made for easy walking on them going uphill or downhill at times versus the varied ground.



The LE,s types didn't wanta spend time or had the man power or resources/ equipment to do infil, find, and stay on site stuff.
Or just didn't wanna be out in the "icky" Forrest which was probably part of it also

Teams getting dropped off on the PCH in daylight which I thought was a total goat fuuuk.
Could have done it 2 to 3 hrs before light and then started infil from a point 3 to 400 yds off the PCH.
Fed and state wanted it that way, almost like a warning to be spread by word of mouth...

4 guys with A2,s, rucks, sat burst radio, wearing bdu bottoms and tee-shirt of choice.

All " unsupioucously" bailing out of a vehicle on the PCH
scrambling out of a vehicle drop off heading east into the huge valleys into the NF..

Cars going by honking horns and waving at us...
JFC.....

nothing the least suspicious about that...


General area of one of the sectors to infil east into the NF from best memory I can think of from a Sat image.
We would infil 5 to 10 miles in.
Sometimes less if something was found.
Move up to higher ground, set up Parabolic antenna send a precoded burst transmission and wait and observe, then when growers show up.
Send another precoded transmission.

The 30 or so days we was out their, the company found around 20 or 25 grows and had maybe 15 reports on growers on site.
Pretty funny watching the schit go down when JTF6 and the State types show up and arrest everyone.
The Hills have eyes dumbazz,s..

We would have 3 days off after a 4 day infill.
Go do what ever...

Between 3 NTC rotations.
This mission in 93
And attending a Military funeral in the LA/ Burbank area.
I aint seen
much of California.

Did get to see Physcho multi colored fuzzy wig clown guy at Santa Monica pier.

Met the guy who does the voice of squidward on sponge Bob Square pants thru some nit wit Cali NG casualty affairs officer...

Seen a big azz fuuking mountain lion one morning on a ledge 20ish feet above us doing a movement to another PB chin on its front paws laying down just watching us go past...
No we ain't gonna shoot the fuuking thing just keep moving....
Fuuker makes a move do a Mag dump on it....

Got CS,d by Opfor on the whales back having to take a massive diherrea schit at NTC as a PV2 11B 113 dismount in the middle of a miles battle.
Fuuking vismod BMP hosed down my azz while I was schitting my brains out .
Pretty sure they got a good laugh out of that...
🤦‍♂️🥴🤣🥴🤦‍♂️
I "died" that day for 8 hrs....
Burning azzhole, massive tearing eyes, snot running outta my nose.
Trying to wipe my azz and get back to my fighting position pulling my mopp suit bottoms up...
All fuuked up....🤷‍♂️😔🤣🥴🤣😔🤷‍♂️

One of my Joe's tried to pet a big Ole male sea Lion in Monterrey.
Not a good idea....🤦‍♂️😬🤦‍♂️
We did go to that aquarium in Monterrey which was pretty cool.

Seen the smog and experienced LA traffic for 5 days.
Total goat fuuk.
Earth quake hit that area bad.
Best thing to do would be to drop a couple of H bombs to end it all in that place after.

Spent a couple of hours in LAX on a layover to one of my Korea tours.
Pretty lame airport and no fuuuking smoking area...
Even though smoking was allowed on Int flights still...

Drove up onto the hill where all the celebs live overlooking Hollywood.
Gravel compressed sand ground they cut into to build homes...
Switchback road all the way..
Dumb... in a earth quake zone if ya ask me.
Just to have a veiw I geuss..
Did the sunset strip cruise..
Freak show after dark....

Seen a "hawt" chick in a nice floral dress at a ATM machine in downtown LA, it turned around and was a trannie with a 5 o'clock shadow and a Adam's apple.
Cpt S and SSG H laffin like crazy across the street in the van.
🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🥴🤣🤣🥴🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️


Bout the extent of my Cali experience.
Probably other things I have forgot too.

[quote=shrapnel]There is a lot to see. California is a beautiful state ruined by bad politics.

A couple suggestions from our recent trip up the highway in February.

Hurst mansion, an incredible building with unique history, and the elephant seals, although they were really disgusting, they were worth the stop…




I was going to make that my first recommendation.

Start around Thousand Oaks and go north Do the 17 mile drive in Monterey. Drive over the Golden Gate Bridge while skipping San Francisco. North of Anchor Bay and Guala there is much less development and beautiful scenery. Most people don't realize that the Bay area is just 1/2 up the state. It's a crime at how California has morphed in the past 60 years.

Driving Hwy 1 won't likely give you any opportunities to see blue whales. But you will surely want to take 17-Mile Drive in Carmel. If you have time for sightseeing, visit Yosemite or King's Canyon. Much better than just driving the coast route.

Photos off Hwy 1.