Pine Ridge Trail near Bad Gulch
The high winds at the end of November brought down an immense number of trees in the Santa Lucia mountains, leaving many trails looking more or less like this. Hundreds of trees, in fact, have fallen on the Pine Ridge Trail between Big Sur Station and Sykes (the most heavily traveled section of trail in the Ventana Wilderness). Read the rest of this entry »
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Big Sur, On Foot, Santa Lucias | Tagged: Big Sur, November 2011 wind, Pine Ridge Trail, Sykes, Trail Maintenance | 
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Posted by xasauan
Trail under coast live oaks (Quercus agrifolia) on Big Sur’s East Molera Ridge. Quercus is derived from the Celtic quer cuez, meaning “fine tree.” Read the rest of this entry »
6 Comments | Big Sur, Fungus, History, Plants, Santa Lucias | Tagged: acorn, black oak, blue oak, coast live oak, lithocarpus, phytophthora ramorum, quercus, Sargenta-ruc, SOD, sudden oak death, tanbark oak, tanoak, valley oak, whispering oaks | Permalink
Posted by xasauan
We’ve remarked before on the glacial pace at which newly acquired public lands are opened to the public in these parts, so we’re glad the Forest Service has taken the first step toward genuinely opening the Brazil Ranch, purchased almost a decade ago. That step has been to open a trail from the entrance road to the top of Serra Hill, and a trail poison oak infested bush whack from the road to a point overlooking Bixby Bridge. In our tradition of checking out newly opened areas and trails, we went and took a look. Read the rest of this entry »
6 Comments | Big Sur, On Foot, Plants, Santa Lucias, Wildflowers | Tagged: Bixby Bridge, Bixby Mountain, Brazil Ranch, Pico Blanco, Post Summit, Prominence Point, Serra Hill, Uncle Sam Mountain | Permalink
Posted by xasauan
Leaving the Highway. View to the south. Read the rest of this entry »
8 Comments | Big Sur, On Foot, Santa Lucias | Tagged: Boronda, Coast Highway, Coast Ridge, Cone Peak, Mt. Manuel, Pacific Gopher Snake, Timber Top | Permalink
Posted by xasauan
Last year we posted some photos from the set of Zandy’s Bride – filmed at Andrew Molera State Park in 1974. The picture, starring Gene Hackman and Liv Ullman, was based on the book The Stranger in Big Sur, by Lillian Bos Ross. The set was constructed on the coastal terrace near the mouth of the Big Sur River.
As there’s been quite a bit of interest in the first batch of photos, we’ve now ventured deeper into the archives and uncovered some additional images …
View down Main St. Read the rest of this entry »
6 Comments | Big Sur, Coastal Development/Erosion, History, Santa Lucias | Tagged: Andrew Molera State Park, Big Sur, Gene Hackman, Lillian Bos Ross, Liv Ullman, The Stranger, Zandy's Bride | Permalink
Posted by xasauan
A sky full of condors … Read the rest of this entry »
1 Comment | Big Sur, Fire, Flood & Apocalypse, History, Plants, Santa Lucias, Wildflowers | Permalink
Posted by xasauan
There’s no sign, but the Little Sur Trail begins at this easily recognized gate on the Old Coast Rd. Just take the Old Coast Rd. north, a little under 4 miles, from its south end at Andrew Molera State Park. Read the rest of this entry »
4 Comments | Big Sur, Fungus, Insects, On Foot, Plants, Santa Lucias, Wildflowers | Permalink
Posted by xasauan
Soberanes Point as drawn by Rosa Laura Soberanes about 1888. Rosa was one of the twelve Soberanes children who grew up on the ranch that now comprises much of Garrapata State Park.
With Garrapata State Park on the closure list, we thought we’d post some photos of the wildflowers in the popular Soberanes Creek/Rocky Ridge portion of the park. We didn’t take these today (most of them were taken last Spring), but a lot of the same things – and a lot of things not pictured here – are currently in bloom. Read the rest of this entry »
1 Comment | Big Sur, History, On Foot, Plants, Santa Lucias, Wildflowers | Permalink
Posted by xasauan
Soberanes Point – Garrapata State Park
Threatening to close parks has become something of a standard tool for getting the public engaged in the budget process in California and this year is obviously no exception. Read the rest of this entry »
1 Comment | Big Sur, Diablo Range, Politics, Santa Lucias | Permalink
Posted by xasauan
Here’s a little of what we saw today …
Chinese Houses (Collinsia heterophylla) Read the rest of this entry »
4 Comments | Insects, On Foot, Plants, Santa Lucias, Wildflowers | Tagged: Carmel Valley, Garland Regional Park | Permalink
Posted by xasauan
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