What better way to welcome the new year than to pick some chanterelles (Cantharellus californicus) … Read the rest of this entry »
Chanterelles & Cider
January 4, 2010
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Posted by xasauan
Chanterelles in the Rain
December 26, 2009Boletus edulis and the hearty cooking it inspires are just the thing for crisp fall evenings, but by the time we’ve finished our Yule feast we’re ready for something lighter and more delicately flavored. We’re ready, in other words, to eat some chanterelles. How good that the chanterelles oblige us by fruiting so heavily at just this time. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted by xasauan
Groups Trying to Force Forest Service to Allow Public Participation in Land Use Decisions
December 15, 2009Los Padres ForestWatch and the California Chaparral Institute today filed a lawsuit seeking to force the Forest Service to comply with federal law and allow meaningful public input into Forest land use decisions. Far from inviting public participation, the Forest Service, as we have often pointed out, usually attempts to conduct planning in total secrecy. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted by xasauan
Cloud Seeding Program Hopes to Intensify Big Sur Rainfall
December 4, 2009
Keeping the highway open is a challenge even in good weather
While Big Sur residents and Cal-Trans pray for mild rains, the Monterey County Water Resource Agency is preparing to intensify this winter’s rains by seeding clouds off the Big Sur coast with silver iodide. The goal is to fill the San Antonio and Nacimiento reservoirs by producing heavier rain. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted by xasauan
More Alta Vista Memories
December 2, 2009
Last week’s post, Remembering Alta Vista, has generated so much interest, as well as some wonderful photos from Judith Goodman and Mark P., that we’ve been inspired to dig even deeper into our own dusty boxes of photos.
So here they are – a whole new batch of Alta Vista memories … Read the rest of this entry »
4 Comments | Big Sur, Fire, Flood & Apocalypse, History, Santa Lucias | Permalink
Posted by xasauan
Remembering Alta Vista: An Historic Big Sur Homestead Lost in the Basin Complex Fire
November 24, 2009
Alta Vista in 2005
While we realize that nothing is forever and that acceptance of impermanence and change is the first step on the road to happiness and enlightenment, we still haven’t been able to shake a strong sense of loss over the enormous amount of Big Sur history wiped out by the Basin Complex Fire. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted by xasauan
Bicycle Ride: Carmel to Morro Bay
October 15, 2009We use our point & shoot camera to take a fuzzy video of an October 10, 2009 bike ride from Carmel to Morro Bay, add some irritating copyright-free music, and post it on the Internet:
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Posted by xasauan
Rivers Rise as Deluge gets Rainy Season Underway
October 14, 2009Well, the remnants of Typhoon Melor proved to be every bit as wet as advertised. As it so often does, Mining Ridge (above Big Creek) took the prize with a whopping 21.34 inches of rain. Accumulations of over 10 inches were common at higher elevations in the Santa Lucia’s and, while we haven’t heard of any serious debris flow problems, the rivers and creeks went from trickle to torrent in only a few hours. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted by xasauan
Time to Throw a Tarp over the Woodpile
October 12, 2009And weight it down with a few extra rocks, while you’re at it. Not only are they still calling for heavy rain tonight and tomorrow, they’re also calling for wind up to 60mph on the coast, stronger at higher elevations. Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted by xasauan
Stormy Tuesday?
October 11, 2009
The calm before the storm?
Following last year’s fires, Big Sur sweated through the rainy season knowing that a single heavy rain could unleash destructive debris flows. And, amazingly, although the total rainfall for the year was close to normal, the rain spread itself out so evenly throughout the season that, with a few minor exceptions, all trouble was avoided. Can anyone remember another year, other than major drought years, when Big Sur didn’t get even one serious rain? Read the rest of this entry »
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Posted by xasauan
Xasáuan Today 