Part 18: Ocean, Sky, Freedom: West Coast Bicycle Adventure—Canada to Mexico—Hearst Castle

By Frosty Wooldridge

“Dreamers!  They built the Wall of China.  They erected the Taj Mahal.  Dreamers imagined the steam locomotive.  They built the stupendous castles in Europe.  Down through time, creative people conceived amazing paintings, sculptures, books and songs.  They also created the bicycle. Creative people built monuments to history like the Roman Coliseum to Frank Lloyd Wright’s architectural genius.  But for all of America, William Randolph Hearst built America’s answer to Versailles in France.  The Hearst Castle took 15 years to build.  In it, he entertained Mary Pickford, Clark Gable, Carol Lombard, Alfred Hitchcock, presidents, athletes, artists and other movers and shakers from around the world.  When I pedaled up to his castle on a hill, I wasn’t prepared for the sheer elegance and regal opulence enjoyed by one man with a dream.”

After I rode past Gorda, the Big Sur slid downward like a snake slithering toward the ocean.  On my left, hills leading to mountains. On my right, the wide Pacific crashed upon the sandy beaches.  I passed a huge seal elephant seal colony of 5,000 or more.  They swim out to sea hunting for food eight months of the year.  Once full and fat, they lounge on the beaches for four months to birth their pups and bark at each other for no apparent reason.  Additionally, they toss sand on their bodies while snuggling up against each other for some kind of brotherly love.

(Standing in the garden in front of the Hearst Castle with statues from Roman and Greek times decorating the grounds.)  Photography by Frosty Wooldridge

After taking a dozen pictures, I continued southward on Route 1 until I reached San Simeon with a road marker pointing to “Hearst Castle.”

I camped out that night along the beach to hear the ocean roar as the waves crashed onto the rocks.  Next morning, I pedaled up to the parking lot, bought a ticket and boarded a bus to the castle.  The road wound five miles up a torturous mountain toward the Hearst Castle. 

At the top around 1,000 feet, the bus let us off at the base of 85 steps to the main portion of the castle.  Around us, elegant marble statues, flowerbeds and white globe lights sat atop stylish poles.  At the top of the stairs, where some of the most famous Hollywood stars of all time once walked, the front of the castle featured flowered pools filled with fish, walkways to the edge where you could look out to the ocean and more sheik statues from Roman and Greek history.

A guide named Gary Lundquist picked us up for a walk into the “Great Rooms” of the castle.  We passed through elegant doors to find ourselves standing in a massive drawing room with paintings, weaved wall hangings and accented furniture.

Lundquist said, “You are standing in one of 165 rooms meant to spellbind each visitor.  You walked through the same door as Clark Gable, Mary Pickford, Henry Fonda, Carol Lombard and other screen stars.  Heart built an airport to fly people into his castle for grand parties featuring his large indoor and outdoor pools.  His dining room featured a 100-foot long table.  He ordered 100 different ceilings for the rooms in his castle.”

(Facade over the front door to the Hearst Castle.)  Photography by Frosty Wooldridge

From what I understood, Hearst’s castle would cost $100 million or more in today’s money. He owned the largest zoo in America at the time of his financial power.   He let no whim or fantasy pass him by.  With money, he created anything and everything he wanted.

He constructed tennis courts, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, hot tubs, steam rooms, pool rooms, skeet ranges, a large zoo, horse stables, croquet lawns, bathrooms to serve every bedroom, library and lounges.  He constructed a movie theater still in operation today.

When you stride into the indoor pool, you walk on gold inlayed tiles.

Two towers soar over the entire castle and can be seen for miles along the California coast.

Hearst, 1863-1951, a publisher and journalist, owned 18 newspapers and 9 magazines including Good Housekeeping and Harper’s Bazaar.  He lived a flamboyant life filled with love affairs and sensational journalism. He’s credited with helping sway public opinion toward the Spanish-American War.

His father won riches as a silver miner in the 1850s.  When William reached the age of ten, his mother took him on a journey through Europe. He became enthralled with castles of the Old Country.  He vowed as a child to one-day build a castle greater than any in Europe.  By 1915, he inherited his father’s wealth in gold and turned it into diamonds with his publishing and movie making empire.  He fathered five children, but lived at the castle while his wife ran her own life in New York City.

(This 100 foot long dining table sat such Hollywood stars as Carol Lombard, Clark Gable, Alfred Hitchcock, athletes, presidents, authors and other famous people from around the world.)  Photography by Frosty Wooldridge

Today, the castle stands as a monument of opulence, history, art and ideas.  He loved the arts, which may be seen all over the castle, including Roman art from 2,000 years ago.  He loved a good party and dancing.  He loved horses.  He loved sports.  All in all, he lived a wild and satisfying life to die with a smile on his face at 88 years of age.

As I walked around the castle, I couldn’t help but think that the money he spent on such a monument heralded back to the egos and power of King Louis the 14^th of France at Versailles.   Today, we see Bill Gates in his mega-mansion replete with lake, tennis courts and servant staff.  Donald Trump builds entire hotels in his own name: Trump Tower.   One look along the California coastline near Los Angeles offers $10 million mansions by the boatload.  One look at the yachts in San Diego harbor makes you wonder how anyone could amass such money. 

But if you look back in time, every king built something like the pyramids, Ming Dynasty Tombs and Machu Pichu in honor of his ego.  In the end, the great leveler: old age and death.

At the end of a fascinating stay at the castle, I boarded the bus for a ride back to the parking lot.  Hundreds of people milled around the visitor center.  Some of Hearst’s kids still thrive as they own huge entertainment industries.  His famous daughter, Patty Hearst, once kidnapped and forced into becoming a terrorist, spent time in jail, but today runs some of the Hearst Empire.

(Endless steps lead to statues, gardens, fountains and views of the Pacific Ocean at the Hearst Castle.)  Photography by Frosty Wooldridge

In the end, I felt happy to be healthy and free enough to live my life in a good home with food to eat and friends for fellowship.  I especially enjoy my passion for bicycle travel all over the planet.  All in all, William Randolph Hearst lived a great life and I am still living a great life. 

I jumped on Condor for a ride to the San Simeon State Park and a hot meal with several other cyclists riding down the West Coast.  We sat by the campfire that night swapping stories. 

As I sat back looking at the dying embers of the fire, I said with a grin, “You know something…it doesn’t get any better than this.”

(Indoor pool with gold inlay everywhere you walk. Spas, steam rooms, bubbling hot tubs and statues.)  Photography by Frosty Wooldridge

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