Abstract Our Capstone features the mystery and beauty of Big Sur while we take a nine-day trip along its coastline to discover the true essence of the area. Big Sur has been a tourist destination for people all over the world for many years and we went to understand the effects this tourism has on the environment and economy. This travel documentary will help shape the way us as individuals picture Big Sur and how history and today’s research of the people who inhabit the area. We have addition questions and research which we will be adding in our capstone and writing a magazine article, which will show our travel account.

Project Context and Contributions Why Big Sur? Big Sur is a well known and still untapped site for many people in the world. These few remaining preserved headlands of the west coast provide unique beauty for tourism and local community to see the unknown, and to experience a world they have only read about in magazines and novels. In our project we will be backpacking from Point Lobos to Hearst castle on a 38 mile journey through the Big Sur country. Along the way we will be keeping a running written and digital journal, while taking photos of the vast and diverse landscape. This documentary will be shown through the eyes of two young college student as they figure out life and explore the history and social aspects of todays new world in the new setting of the undiscovered region. We hope our project will intrigue other student in the future to continue our research so that they can give the outside world a real understanding of the Big Sur Coast. The Big Sur headlands manage to still be to this day a large draw to adventurers and outdoors men alike and we as student are hoping to capture the essence and love for this area they share.

Project Format The format of our capstone project will be done in a unique way which will example our Journalism concentration in the HCOM department of CSU Monterey Bay. The capstone project will entitle a 25-30 page capstone thesis about "Big Sur" and a 9 page magazine article, which we will be sending to Backpacking and Travel Magazine. We will have a slideshow with about 300 pictures that we will have taken during our trip through the area. Our backboard will show our destination and trail map in which we took. Potential market: 1. Travel Channel Mag 2. Student Traveler 3. Backpacking Mag

REPLACE THIS IMAGE Photos by: Chad Ghiron

Research Questions 1. How does travel journalism and creative writing effect the local environment, social and economic aspects of the area? 2. Which writers have used Travel Journalism and creative writing to help influence their work? 3. How does backpacking effect the human body and what role does it play in writing? 4. Does the geography effect the style of writing and type of people visiting the sites? 5. What, if any, are the negative effects of travel writing on the local political, social and economical views.

Bibliography Backpacking Lightweight Ltd. http://www.backpacking.net/beginner.html#equipment. 2005. Big Sur. http://www.bigsurcalifornia.org/camping.html. 2006. Big Sur Chamber Of Commerce. 5 Oct 2006 <http://www.bigsurcalifornia.org/camping.html>. Camping .http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761564352/Camping.html#p15. Microsoft 2006 Douglas, Ann. Telepathic Shock In Meaning Excitement: Kerouac's Poetics of Intimacy. College Literature 27(2000): 14, 18. Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc. http://concise.britannica.com. 2007 Fallows, James. Big Sur. National Geographic Traveler 1999: 176. Fife, Greg. Taylor, Susan. Fliegelman, Larry. Schulz, Mark. Hiking/ Backpacking Committee http://world.std.com/~bostonhb/docs/healthandsafety.html. 2000. Goldsmith, Edward Ecologist; Dec2006, Vol. 36 Issue 10, p44-45, 2p Harvey, Mark. National Outdoor Leadership School’s Wilderness Guide. National Outdoor Leadership School 1999 Henry Miller Library. 5 Oct 2006 <http://www.henrymiller.org>. Jones, Finn-Olaf, New

Key Findings There are many elements that make Big Sur, California different than any other on the west coast of the United States. The geography and location play the most important role due to central coast scene and neighboring rural counties of Monterey and San Louis Obispo. Its vast coastal rocky cliffs and tide pools and the Ventana Mountain wilderness with hidden hot springs and overflowing waterfalls that touch purple sand beaches. While backpacking the ninety-nine miles stretch on Highway One, from Point Lobos to San Simeon, we were able to discover the essence of this protected land through our own eyes. Walking gave us the opportunity to see sites and hear new sounds we hadn’t been able to tune our ears into before as well as the many different tastes of the outdoors and open sea air that engulfed us as we set out on the open road. Not only did the physical characteristics of the trip influence us but our own mental characteristics. These characteristics opened our eyes and gave us our creativity to write our capstone. Through our encounters with locals and tourists we have become able to understand how the people play an important role with Big Sur’s economy. Communication and body language were the main characteristics that we looked for in individuals. We noticed that every person we came in contact with throughout our journey was never the same as the last person. Every local was different from the next and they all shared their views, ideas, and philosophy about life. Talking to tourists traveling through Big Sur was unique due to the fact that we meet people from all over the world. Big Sur is a diamond in the rough trapped on the Central Coast that makes the area well known for. If Big Sur were to be developed and changed into a city with shopping malls, parking lots, housing, then this area would be like all other urban areas in California. But due to Big Sur’s preserved coast, this beauty will be untouched by conglomerate America to be left for our children’s future to enjoy and discover. This hidden oasis of the central coast has made its mark with travelers and secured its place on the map.

Evidence On our nine-day backpacking trip we used journalistic interviewing to better understand Big Sur, its economy, its environment and the locals themselves. Also because we were not able to talk to everyone in Big Sur we also used participant observation to further our learning of the area and the people. We used these methods as well as research to future our understanding of the project at hand. We also examined newspaper articles in the Monterey Library and looked at findings on travel writings and interviews with locals in Big Sur over the past 30 years to help relate to our project. We got primary and secondary sources of historical literature about Big Sur that will help us discuss the events that took place, which affected the culture. In addition, we looked through Discovery and Travel Magazine and looked at examples of writing from their magazines to help us create our own style of writing and developing our own travel writing. Tour guide brochures and maps of the coast helped us with our journey through the rugged terrain of Big Sur. By using the library database like: LexisNexis, and EBSCO Host; we will found information on articles and primary sources that we were able to use.