Big Sur weekend

My friend Mike and I took a quick weekend trip up the coast to Big Sur for a quick camping and spearfishing trip. We were blessed with some awesome weather, for great camping and hiking, but spearfishing did not go as well.  Poor water conditions and some gear failure(Mike's weight-belt broke) made our dive pretty short, so sadly no fish. But on the upside, we hit the lowest tide of the month and were able to scour the rocks at low tide, and still gather some really tasty eats.

Low tide rocks, Ripe for the Picking

Mussels were plentiful and I brought a big sack home to enjoy with the wife. If you gather wild mussels you should know that there is a Quarantine period from May 1 to October 31, call the shellfish information line before you gather clams or mussels, 1-800-553-4133 for any safety alerts. They are great simply grilled until they open, but even better steamed for 5 min with some white wine garlic chopped celery leaves, and a pad of butter, when they open toss with salad tongs and dig in. 

First round of mussels ready to eat

 Something I had never eaten are Limpets.  Limpets are a small mollusk that lives on the rocks they are usually seen at low tide and look like small oval bumps on the rocks. I'm used to seeing them smaller than a dime, but found many around 2 inches in diameter, I couldn't resist popping a few of them off the rocks. They looked so much like tiny abalone, I tried to cook them the same way, popped out of the shell, cut out the viscera, lightly flour and saute in garlic butter for 30 seconds and eat while still hot. 

Some very large limpets sauteed in garlic butter and served in their shells

All around great weekend, but next time we'll bring more parts to repair broken gear, and some fishing rods in case the visibility refuses to cooperate.