I’ve got another early morning start to undertake a short hike from Cambria, which is on the southern end of the Big Sur coast in California. We have one night here near the end of our south-west USA road trip. Thorndyke Top in the Silver Peak Wilderness seems to be a easy and short hike offering a nice view over the coast – although it turns out to be a slightly harder than I expected.
I’m on the trail before dawn, with the signposted trail ascending from the Salmon Creek trailhead.
I make good time as I continue up the trail… until I check the map and realise I’ve walked almost half a mile past the track that goes up to Thorndyke Top. I’m still on the trail that head deeps into the Silver Peak Wilderness. Although it’s still dark, I don’t remember seeing another track, but I figure it must be a less-obvious junction. Until I walk past it, again… There is no junction, and there is no track up to Thorndyke Top. So, I head off the well-formed track and push through the light scrub, following the route that is on my topo map.
I eventually find a very rough trail, which climbs up the timbered slope through the forest, before suddenly entering a large, open area.
This open area is the delighfully named Kozy Kove Meadow, which stretches for miles in almost every direction. The meadow seems to roll like a carpet all the way to the top of Mount Mars, and to the north-east beyond the meadow is the rockier Salmon Peak.
There’s no view of the coast or the ocean, which is still covered by clouds… just a vast sea of white, and glimpses of Highway 1 (Cabrillo Highway) which closely follows the snaking coastline.
Thorndyke Top doesn’t have an obvious peak – but I wander around the meadow taking photos of the cloud-covered Pacific Ocean to the west.
With the sun now above the the thick layer of clouds, I make my way back down the slope – it’s much quicker on the way back, partly because it’s downhill – and partly because I can re-trace my route along the non-existent track. I’m soon back on the main track, which is mostly gravel and a bit steep and slippery in a few sections, but it’s generally easy walking back down to the highway.
It’s taken me a lot longer than I thought to do what I expected would be a very straightforward hike, but despite the cloud cover it’s been enjoyably challenging! Just before reaching the end of the trail, I turn onto the signposted Salmon Creek Trail for the very short walk to the Salmon Creek Falls. It’s not the most spectacular waterfall, but it’s worth doing the fairly short detour.
Getting to the Thorndyke Top trailhead
The Thorndyke Top hike starts from the Salmon Creek trailhead on California State Route 1 (Cabrillo Highway), which is 27 miles (35min north of Cabrio). The same trailhead is used for Salmon Creek Falls, the longer Mount Mars loop and a long day-walk / 2-day loop around Silver Peak.
More information
The Silver Peak Wilderness was established fairly recently, in 1992, and forms part of the Los Padres National Forest. It features dramatic scenery, steep terrain and coastal redwood groves with most hiking trails being moderate to strenuous, with wildlife present in the more remote areas. As well as an out-and-back hike, Thorndyke Top can be seen on a longer 7-mile loop that traverses Mount Mars, and there are opportunities for multi-day hikes.
0 Comments