9 pm – Sorry, I have to bow out of my promised telling of the day. Must take myself to bed. Here are two photos of the flame and run put the canyon – of the fire on Mt. Manuel’s west side. (IPhone photos, sorry)

5:00 pm – I am finally home, completely done in. I will be back to bring photos and observations from my trip to the Big Sur Valley – but know that there are visible flames in places on the west side of peaks from Apple Pie to Mt. Manuel. It is moving slowly downhill with no wind. There are some runs going up canyon with very large flames. If wind were to become a factor, the story would be quite different. Some businesses are closed (Ventana, Fernwood, for example) and others are open (River Inn and The Taproom/Deli, for example.) The new tourist attraction in Big Sur is the fire. The large turn outs in the Valley were filled with with tourists taking photos. The majority of the business seem to center on finding bathrooms. I really am not thinking clearly, as evidenced by taking my “old” camera, for which I did not have spare battery or charger in camera bag, and thus was relegated to using my iPhone. I did take some photos, though. I will bring as much information as I can, after 7 pm, or so. Also note the new announcement about closure again tonight from 10 pm to 6 am tomorrow morning, and finally, of import, is the fact that they are moving the fire camp from the State Park on the west side, to Andrew Molera on the east side. I asked about it, but was told some resources were moving, but unclear as to how much was actually moving, so I went into the State Park and made my own observations. When one sees the food vendors packing up and moving, one knows it must be pretty much the whole camp.

2:45 PM – Reporting from the TapHouse, after watching the helicopters fly over River Inn heading toward Juan Higuera, then watching them dump up…(to be continued)

12:45 pm – helicopters flying the valley, headed north of here – short runs…having a bite, then back on the road to find out what is happening,

11:25 AM – River Inn. Dozer’s replaced on the ridge up above the horseshoe are on a existing dozer line. Local’s asked about a ‘hot spot’ between Apple Pie and the highway. Nothing is visible from the highway, so I think it may have been an anomaly. The MODIS maps for this morning were late, so much was based on last night’s information, local observations, etc.

Highway is not much more crazy than usual, with the tourists, but there is a lot fire traffic, naturally. Andrew Molera Park is a refilling station, and the field to the north is a helicopter landing area. Businesses are open and business is booming.

The feeling in the Valley among the locals I spoke with are that the next 24 hours are critical, and much depends on the fog, temps, and wind conditions. We will all be watching closely.

7:20 am – 67,000+ acres, 50% contained.

6:25 am – I am waiting for breakfast and coffee, then will be getting  ready to leave latter this am for my ride south. A quick look at the maps, and given what I saw from residents re the fire last night, I was surprised to read that the road would open at 6, but per the CHP website, it did. That’s crazy IMHO, but I’ll be able to take photos, if it is not too smoky and post from road. Take a look at these maps provided by Adam Clark and Lucas Ryan in the post below.

[16] ^ROADWAY OPEN
6:08 AM 8 [14] ***PER N115 – ROADWAY IS OPEN ********
4:46 AM 7 [13] 1039 S7 PER A11338
4:46 AM 6 [12] REF LOG MY44 , PER CAL FIRE LAST UPDATE THEY SAY SR1 SHOULD BE RE-OPENED AT 0600 HRS
9:22 PM 5 [9] N115 / CLOSURE IN PLACE
3:49 PM 4 [7] CLOSURE BTWN PALO COLORADO AT MM 61.7 AND VENTANA AT MM 44.9
1:51 PM 3 [6] ANY PUBLIC CALLS/COMPLAINTS REGARDING THE CLOSURE CAN BE REFERRED TO CAL FIRE INFORMATION LINE 831-204-0446
12:36 PM 2 [2] CLOSURE WILL BE MANNED BY CHP OFFICERS, ONLY EMERGENCY VEHICLES WILL BE ALLOWED THROUGH
12:35 PM 1

Those of you in the valley, be safe, please, we need you.