LNT: Leave No Trace!
Big Sur Station is the information HQ for all things Big Sur backcountry. Here you can learn the ins and outs of hiking and backpacking in the 240,000-acre Ventana Wilderness—including suggestions for alternative destinations to the overcrowded Sykes Hot Springs. (Yes, I said hot springs, and yes, it's popular. It's also a ten-mile hike, so not for the faint-hearted.) If you are interested in a real wilderness experience, talk to Tim Bills, manager of the Big Sur Station, or his assistants, and find out about some of the equally beautiful and much less visited places our wild lands have to offer.
I volunteer in the Ventana as a wilderness ranger, doing trail work, cleaning out fire rings, picking up toilet paper (unfortunately), and talking with visitors about Leave No Trace principles. They are so important! If people actually followed LNT, I wouldn't have to pick up TP!
Here are the LNT guidelines, in seven remarkably sensible bullet points:
1. Plan Ahead and Prepare: This involves knowing the rules and regulations (such as the need for a fire permit, and whether fire restrictions are in effect), checking the weather forecast, repackaging food to minimize waste, visiting in a small group.
2. Travel and Camp on Durable Surfaces: Good campsites are found, not made. Camp at least 200 feet from any water source (though in Sykes Camp, this is not even possible). In well-visited areas, it will be obvious where camps are, and should not be.
3. Dispose of Waste Properly: Pack it in, pack it out. That means everything, including toilet paper. Along the Pine Ridge Trail, nine "wilderness toilets" (a box over a hole) have been installed—by us rangers. Please use them. It's very difficult to find soft enough dirt to dig a "cathole" in the Ventana, but if you can dig one, dig it 6-8 inches deep, again at least 200 feet from water, camps, or trails. Wash yourself and dishes 200 feet from water as well, and scatter strained dishwater.
4. Leave What You Find. And do not build new structures. That includes fire rings.
5. Minimize Campfire Impacts: Use a lightweight stove for cooking and use a candle lantern for light. Where fires are permitted (see #1 above), use an established fire ring, and keep your fire small--only sticks from the ground that can be broken by hand. Put your fire out with water: make sure no embers are still burning.
6. Respect Wildlife: Never feed animals. Store your food securely. Control your pets at all times, or leave them at home.
7. Be Considerate of Other Visitors. Let nature's sounds prevail. (When encountering pack stock, step to the downside of the trail.)
This cache is inside Big Sur Station, and accessible only during business hours, which generally speaking are 9 to 4 (but this being Big Sur, things are loose, so if you're a little earlier or a little later, it's worth checking to see if they're open). You will need to talk to the people at the desk. They are very friendly! Ask them for the cache. Then ask them questions! That's what they're there for! They love to talk about Big Sur and all it has to offer.
The Ventana Wilderness Alliance (www.ventanawild.org), Los Padres Forest Association (lpforest.org), and U.S. Forest Service (www.fs.fed.us) are unofficial partners to this cache. Please support them by visiting their web pages and learning about their missions and all the amazing work they do.
[Entry revised 2/22/22.]