Chasing Waterfalls with Ms. G

Pfeiffer Falls is a gorgeous 60 foot waterfall on a well kept trail inside of Julia Pfeiffer State Park. To enter the park, pay the $10 visitor fee at the gate. Once inside the park, you have the option to visit the Big Sur Lodge complete with a gift store, nature center, and restaurant. My friend Christine and I choose to visit the falls on a rainy morning in March, and luckily were were able to wait out the rainfall inside the lodge with a cup of tea before the one mile hike to the waterfall. Unfortunately, the Pfeiffer Falls trail was closed, so we followed the Vista View Trail across several bridges, stairways, climbing a total of 300 feet in elevation until we ended up at the Pfeiffer Falls look-out spot. When you are exploring falls inside of State and National Parks, I highly recommend letting the park rangers know your intentions, so they can let you know conditions such was the case with our closed direct route. Although we managed to sit out the rain in the lodge, the water did make for a muddy hike and there were mini puddles flooding several of pathways. The plus side of hiking to this particular waterfall in rainy weather was the lack of crowds. Despite the rain, we passed dozens of hikers prepared with ponchos and rain gear. Additional highlights of the trek included the scenic drive, massive redwoods, and countless blue jays! What can I say? Waterfall season is wet. I will be investing in waterproof hiking shoes in the near future.