Location: Southern Big Sur area off Highway 1, right across the street from Kirk Creek Campground.
Accessibility/Parking (Volkswagon Golf or Jeep Cherokee): Parking area was right off the highway, and with Kirk Creek Camp across the street we felt more at ease about leaving our car overnight.
Challenge Level (1: A female in her late 20’s in decent shape thought it was easy as pie to 5: Gonna need a forklift to help me finish this): 5, The conditions that made it challenging were the backpacks (duh), the afternoon direct sunlight and heat, and the 1800 feet elevation gain. We had also already hiked two miles out of Spruce Camp with our packs earlier that morning, and this trail was 5 miles one way.
Overall Rating (1: Wouldn’t recommend 2: Bleh 3: Fun but wouldn’t do it again 4: Loved it 5: A favorite, must plan return trip immediately): 5, a great way to take in all aspects of what Big Sur has to offer in terms of scenery.