Thanks for reading Katelyn!

I would not recommend VDC as a day trip unless you are a highly accomplished ultra-endurance athlete. The distance, elevation gain, water scarcity and heat in the summer would make that unadvisable without having been before and without having really remarkable fitness levels.

I personally avoid basically anything inland in the Ventana Wilderness during the summer. It's really hot, exposed, hard to know if there's water, in addition to biting black flies, rattlesnakes and ticks. The Ventana shows it's best stuff in the winter & spring IMO and that's when I try to do the most of my exploration.

If you do want to do summer adventures in Big Sur generally, I would recommend areas where there are perennial water sources.

Safe travels!