Year: 2012

FiresScape Monterey’s Workshop #5

You’re Invited!
What: FireScape Monterey’s Workshop #5: Action Planning
Where: Big Sur Lodge at Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park 47225 Highway One. Big Sur, CA
When: March 13-14, 2012
•Tuesday, March 13, meet at 8:30 AM in the Big Sur Lodge parking lot.
•Wednesday, March 14, meet at 9:00 AM in the Big Sur Lodge.
RSVP: Please RSVP by Friday, March 9th. Register online: http://firescape.ning.com or contact Mary Huffman: mhuffman@tnc.org

This is the fifth workshop in FireScape Monterey’s six-part series using the Open Standards for the Practice of Conservation. This two-day event will start with a field trip to recently completed fuel reduction treatments in the Big Sur area. Indoor work will include exploring strategies and case studies related to potential actions that FireScape Monterey could work toward implementing in the future. Please join us!

Save the dates for Workshop #6!
April 24-25, 2012. Details coming soon.
What is FireScape Monterey? FireScape Monterey is a collaborative group that promotes protection of both life and property affected by wildfire and healthy resilient ecosystems through collaborative stewardship of the Northern Santa Lucia Mountains and the Monterey Coast. For more information, please join our website at http://firescape.ning.com. FireScape Monterey is one of 56 landscape collaborations in the US Fire Learning Network.

Long House Fire Photo

Sent to me by Tom Deyerle. He lives directly across the canyon and above the Long House, so he got an incredible view of the entire fire from start to finish. Thanks, Tom for sharing!

Long House Fire by Tom Deyerle

Here is a second one Tom took, one of the last.

Long House Fire #2 by Tom Deyerle

Netting Project tomorrow, 3/8/12

From Cal-Trans:

“Today’s Date: Tuesday, March 6, 2012
District:5 – Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Benito Counties
Contact: Susana Z Cruz (Bilingual) or Colin Jones
Phone: (805) 549-3138 or (805) 549-3189
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

HIGHWAY 1 CARMEL TO CAMBRIA ROADWAY UPDATE

HIGHWAY 1 HELICOPTER NETTING OPERATIONS THURSDAY

MONTEREY COUNTY: Crews will be placing cable netting on the slope above Hwy 1, just north of Limekiln Creek, about 25 miles south of Big Sur, with the help of assistance from Aris Helicopter Services this Thursday, March 8, Caltrans officials have announced.

Work hours are from 8 am to 2 pm. Motorists can expect up to 30-minute traffic breaks/delays as part of the Rain Rocks Slope Drapery repair due to January’s slide.

Caltrans reminds motorists to move over and slow down when driving through highway construction zones.

For more information on Monterey County projects, call the toll-free hotline at (888) 836-0866 or visit
http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist05/projects/. The public may also call the statewide CHIN at (800) 427-7623 for updates on current traffic conditions

Garrapatos Vegetation Fire

11:00 pm – this report just in around an hour ago from Bette Nelson. The house that burned was the Long House. It was occupied by the homeowner, Susie Barnett, and her renter Jeff and his 3 dogs at the time of the fire. Bette is reporting that the latest she heard was that it was probably started by a downed power line, not a transformer.

Also see the comment posted at 11 pm by Scott Bogen below, who is a volunteer Mid-Coast Fire Brigade member, who has first-hand knowledge of this fire and tells what he knows. Thanks Bette and Scott for bringing us all up-to-date.

Our prayers go out to Susie and Jeff and hope they can find interim housing and that Susie can rebuild.

4:30 pm – report is that the fire is out. One hour and 15 minutes – great job Mid-Coast Fire Brigade and Cal Fire!! Congratulations on a good save. I am very sorry for the family that lost their home, however. It was reported to me that it was from a transformer that landed on their porch. I certainly hope PG&E will be helping them rebuild!

4:00 – reports that a propane tank exploded, and that Mid-Coast and/or Cal-Fire are asking the CHP to assist in road closures. Unclear which roads at this time. Vegetation is reported at approximately 1/2 acre.

3:40: UPDATE: IT IS GARRAPATOS. See this comment:
Kate, The fire is in a house above us at the end of Garrapatos Rd off of Palo Colorado. They think it was from a downed transformer. Midcoast fire & Cal fire are on site. We can see the flames & smoke from our house which down in the canyon near the creek.
Bette Nelson.

Also reported structure fully engulfed and a second structure threatened.

3:18 pm – Structure involved. No further details. This is a call-out on the CB, so I have not confirmed information, yet.

If this is the real McCoy, winds will play a major role, as it is howling in Big Sur proper, as well as up here.

Catching up is hard to do, and I have announcements, reports, photos, up the whazzo to post.

River Inn Birdhouse Benefit and Jaci Pappas

Mark your calendars, and make your reservations now.

Chantrelle Cook-off

Fast approaching is the Big Sur Chantrelle Cook-off, to be held in two locations – Ventana Inn & Spa, and the Big Sur Lodge at the State Park.

Ventana Inn and Spa will host the kickoff party 6:30 to 10:30 p.m. Feb. 24 with local wines, mushroom-slanted food and Songs That Hot Box Harry Taught Us coaxing guests from the table to dance. The following day Ventana will host Art and Syrah from 3 to 6 p.m. at the resort gallery, with art, a trunk and runway show and sips of Parsonage Syrah from Carmel Valley.

Following the show is a five-course rewards dinner that Ventana chef Truman Jones is calling “The Fungus Among Us.” Jones has earned a reputation as a creative chef who creates memories among diners. Look for a salad using chanterelles three ways (raw, pickled and cooked), a cream of chanterelle soup with a grilled truffle and brie sandwich, a chanterelle-crusted Alaskan halibut, Angus beef with chanterelle pudding, and a sweet finale featuring chanterelle bombe with maple anglaise, caramel mousse and praline ice cream.

The Lodge at Pfeiffer State Park also hosts two events; A Wild Mushroom Walk and Talk will delight those who want to know more about the botanical aspects of the Chanterelle. This educational event will be followed by The Grand Tasting with Big Sur chefs showcasing their ingenuity with creative Chanterelle concoctions. Guests will taste the offerings while casting “People’s Choice” votes and talking with the official Grand Tasting judges. This year’s illustrious judging panel includes: Margo True, editor of Sunset Magazine and author of The Sunset Cookbook; Marlene Sorosky Gray, freelance contributor at San Francisco Chronicle and cookbook author; Jim Dodge, Director of the Specialty Culinary Programs at Bon Appetit Management Company; and Tami Yu, founder of feteafete.com and San Francisco writer who tracks the latest lifestyle trends, new restaurants, fashion designers, beauty treatments and travel destinations.

Kara Stout of Big Sur’s illustrious Ventana Inn is the host (or one of them?), and has done an incredible job of making sure this event actually happens.

The award dinner at Ventana costs $150. The cook-off at The Lodge is $50. Tickets and information about all the events for the two days, including the costs of other events can be found at bigsurchanterelle.eventbrite.com.

All monies raised will benefit the Big Sur Health Center.

Rain Rocks Netting Project Photos

On Thursday, February 16, 2012, Cal-Trans flew in a helicopter to assist in laying out the metal “drapery” or netting used in more and more locations along Highway One to keep rocks from “raining” down on the highway. This particular location is notorious for that problem. Thanks to reader Nicole LaRoche, you, too can see this endeavor. On behalf of all my readers, thanks! (BTW you made my life so easy by just sending your best two!)

Helicopter at Rain Rocks by Nicole LaRoche
Climbers at Rain Rocks by Nicole LaRoche

Sorry I have been absent much of February, so far. As many of you are aware, I have been wrestling with a grunge that is going around, and doing much of anything, other than sleep, was a challenge there for a while.

It’s Snowing!

5:30 pm update – It snowed several times today, but none of it stuck, so no photos. I’ll bet Cone Peak is beautiful, if I could see it. I also had slush up here, and last I checked, only about 1/2 an inch in the rain gauge. The wind has been gusting into the 30 mph plus range most of the day, and continues tonight.

Now, under the covers with four dogs to watch a DVD. No TV reception. I was lucky yesterday to have reception all evening, and that the Grammy’s were on the only station I get! S

And all I’m doing today is trying to stay warm! My heating systems are not functioning well, but I’m working on it!

Rain

Well, this caught me by surprise Friday afternoon, even though the AT&T Pro Am was in town. I, too, was in town Friday. I was surprised by the glorious lack of expected traffic when the golf pros and celebrities are in town, but around two o’clock, as I am getting ready to head south, the drizzle started, and it never let up! Saturday is when I was expecting it, not Friday.

There is another, similar one coming. Not a lot of rain, but a couple of tenths, at most, is expected. This is what NOAA has to say about it:

“THE NEXT POTENTIAL RAIN/DRIZZLE EVENT IS SLATED FOR SUNDAY NIGHT
INTO MONDAY AS ANOTHER UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE MOVES SOUTHWARD
ALONG THE CALIFORNIA COAST. RIGHT NOW SIMILAR QPF NUMBERS TO THE
LAST SYSTEM ARE EXPECTED WITH THIS NEXT EVENT.”