8:30 pm – I have heard nothing new regarding the Alder Creek Slide, so one can only assume that the night-time closure is in effect, and that more news will be forthcoming from Cal-Trans in the morning. The current assumption (proceed with caution when one sees that word) is that the road will open again at 7 am, with up to 2 hours delay. This is, of course, subject to the whims and fancy of Mother Nature. And lest you wonder about the 7 am opening, let me share what I have experienced. It is out of the question for Cal-Trans to work these monster slides in the dark. They get up before the crack of dawn, and are out on the road when the dawn first breaks, and they can see the danger. Then, they have to clear up whatever came down overnight to clear one lane for the public by 7 am. That is not an easy task. I know, I have been on “dawn patrol.”
Cal-Trans called this morning to inform me that the slide at Alder Creek will be open, controlled by flagging during daylight hours, and closed this evening. This is the press release from this morning: “The closure just south of Gorda (Alder Creek Slide) reopened this morning with one-way traffic control with flaggers from 7 am to 6 pm with up to 2-hour delays. The road will close again overnight tonight from 6 pm to 7 am.” So, if you are going south, make sure to stop in Gorda, use the facilities, get a cup of coffee, and bring a good book to read!
Rock Knocker is climbing Mud Creek today, so I expect some photos tomorrow. Check back then, but in the mean time, if you haven’t seen all the photos of the various slides, scroll down. There are some good ones!
And for your viewing pleasure, here is a waterfall flowing into the Big Sur River that only flows during very wet winters! Photo by Debbie Reed.
These were taken yesterday.
Guest Commentary: The Best Way to KeepBig Sur Accessible? Limit Lodging DevelopmentBy Tim GreenAnyone who…
Linus Pauling Gets the Jitters At the edge of the abyss, the celebrated chemist delivered…
Note: This is ONLY Rocky Creek. There are still three other closures that prevent taking…
Up at the VA Hospital in Palo Alto, there is a spiral that is flanked…
As part of the public input process for the County of Monterey’s Housing Element Cycle,…
View Comments
Thanks, Kate, for the update. I guess Cal Trans has decided that sending the word your way is the best way to get the word out to the locals. The school has yet to receive any direct communication from Cal Trans, other than what the flaggers told me as I went through the slide this morning on my way to school. They didn't seem too sure about whether the road would be closing at 5:30 or 6. My guess is that they want anyone who wants to go through before it's closed for the night, to be in the line up before 5:30. They also indicated the possibility that the work on the slide today might stabilize things enough to actually leave it open during the night, but I'm sure not counting on that possibility.
Sorry I didn't report sooner. Had to do the week's grocery shopping on my way home. By the time I put it all away and fixed something to eat, it was time to watch 24. When I left the office at 5:15, I hightailed it to the north side of the Alder slide traffic control. For some reason, they were still flagging through one lane of traffic at a time, even though both lanes were wide open and there were no work vehicles or anyone anywhere near the site of the slide. As I went through, it looked like the flaggers were closing up shop, leaving the highway wide open, but with "road closed" signs in place. I glanced up the slide chute as I drove by. It looked like it had been swept clean from the top down. I'm still going to get a jump on it tomorrow morning, in case more stuff comes down tonight and the crew has to resume traffic control, but I think the worst is over - at least for that spot.