i don’t remember when I first met Blanco, but I remember one time when he came to the Jade Festival. He looked just like in the Herald photo below. He was 90 something, and in a wheelchair. He grabbed me by my arm and pulled me down to him. I thought he was going to pull me into his lap. He was surprisingly strong. He did love the ladies.
Many moons ago, there was a stand off between the USFS and the local community on Blanco’s front porch. The USFS wanted to tear down his cabin. They didn’t. Blanco was still there into his 90’s. I’ve seen the photos and heard the stories of that time. The South Coast was a wild coast. We are a bit tamer today, but we are also older today.
There is a great photo of him in today’s Herald from their archives.
He LOOKS like he Deserves a Chapter in a up-date of ‘The Legends of The Sur.’
Yes, Michael. He certainly does! KC can tell the story well. He was there for the show down.
bigsurkate
That’s right around when I met him. I helped Wally and Charlotte graft his fruit trees. Forrest Service had a territorial axe to grind with private properties on Williow Creek around that time, if I remember right.
Their axe was private mining claims on USFS property…valid claims, so a private property interest. They got rid of many mining cabins back then. Often burned them to the ground, then tried to charge the owner, as they did us, for the cost of a clean-up that never happened! Oh, the stories!
I could barely hear him way up Los Burros on the CB but he talked to Mike Pena a lot and we heard Mike saying “10-4 Blanco” every few minutes.
Now that is Willow Creek defined ! Rugged, defiant and right …and still no electric lines or cell phone reception.
Well, rugged, defiant, and no electrical lines, true … But cell phone reception in places.