Month: September 2018

Arthritis Foundation Bicycle Ride comes to Big Sur

The days and dates of the Big Sur portion of the ride are next Monday and Tuesday.

ARTHRITIS FOUNDATION BICYCLE RIDE MOVES THROUGH CENTRAL COAST
CENTRAL COAST – The Arthritis Foundation’s California Coast Classic Bicycle Tour will move through Santa Cruz, Monterey, San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara Counties beginning Saturday, Sept. 22 through Friday, Sept. 28 in the following locations:
 
Saturday, Sept. 22:  The cyclists will use State Route 1 from San Mateo County to the City of Santa Cruz.
 
Sunday, Sept. 23:  The cyclists will use State Route 1 from the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk in to Carmel in Monterey County.
 
Monday, Sept. 24:  The cyclists will use State Route 1 from Carmel to Big Sur in Monterey County.
 
Tuesday, Sept. 25: The cyclists will use State Route 1 from Big Sur to Cambria in San Luis Obispo County
 
Wednesday, Sept. 26:  The cyclists will use Highway 1 south from Cambria to Oceano in San Luis Obispo County.
 
Thursday, Sept. 27:  The cyclists will use State Route 1 from Oceano, State Route 166  from Guadalupe and State Route 1 towards Orcutt before crossing State Route 154 west of Los Olivos before arriving in Buellton in Santa Barbara County.                                                                                
 
Friday, Sept. 28: The cyclists will use State Route 246 from Buellton and US 101 through Santa Barbara to Ventura County.
 
In addition, the southbound #2 (right) lane of US Highway 101 at the Arroyo Quemada Bridge in Santa Barbara County will be closed on Friday, Sept. 28 between the hours of 8 am and 12 noon to allow the cyclists to safely proceed where the shoulder width is narrow.
 
Law enforcement and ride officials will be located along the route to ensure the safety of motorists, participants and pedestrians.  Motorists are advised to be aware of the riders as they move through the area and to ‘Share the Road’.
 
For traffic updates on other state highways on the Central Coast, motorists can call Caltrans District 5 Public Affairs at 805-549-3318 or can visit the District 5 website at: http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist05/maint/road/upslo.htm

URGENT NOTICE RE SYCAMORE CANYON ROAD REPAIR
An Urgent Notice Regarding Sycamore Canyon Road ! 

The Federal Highway Administration has moved up the start date for planned Road maintenance, repair and minor improvements affecting access and use of Sycamore Canyon Road.  The project begins this Monday September 24 and will take 8 weeks to complete.  During the first 2 weeks, a hard closure will be in effect, with hours of closure described below.

Sycamore Canyon Road work will commence Monday September 24, 2018.  Road to close to all traffic from 8 am until 12 noon, open from 12 to 12:30 pm then close again from 12:30 pm until 5 pm in the afternoon when the road will be opened again until 8 am the following morning.  The above closure schedule will be utilized Monday through Thursday and on Friday the road will close at 8 am, but then open at 1 pm for the weekend.

The schedule described above is for the benefit of residents, their contractors and other support staff.  Pfeiffer Beach will be closed Monday through Thursday and open Friday at noon at which point the public will be allowed access through sunset, Sunday evening.

If the project stays on schedule, beginning on Monday October 8th, Sycamore Canyon Road will be open during the work week, subject to delays for the final 6 weeks.  Exceptions to that provision will be days on which paving and chip sealing activities are planned.

The following link will take you to the project website where the Contractor’s schedule calendar will be posted in the next few days.  Please check this often as the schedule is subject to change. https://flh.fhwa.dot.gov/projects/ca/sycamore-canyon/

Please share this information with your neighbors who may not have received this email.

You may download a copy of the above HERE. (PDF, 1 Page, 172KB)
Copyright 2018 © 2018 Coast Property Owners Association, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you are a resident or friend of Big Sur.
Our mailing address is:

Coast Property Owners Association

PO Box 59

Big Sur, California 93920

Add us to your address book

http://www.cpoabigsur.org

One little Big Sur Hummingbird…

Remember this from Monday?

Look at it by Tuesday –

Thank you, hummingbird! (Aka Marcus Foster) Show the love! Share the love! BE the love!

The Story of the Hummingbird

A reader sent me this story once, forgive me, but I’ve forgotten who. I think it was during the Soberanes Fire, and she told me I was the hummingbird. I felt honored. We are all the hummingbird, or can be. Here it is:

The Story of the Hummingbird

One day a terrible fire broke out in a forest – a huge woodlands was suddenly engulfed by a raging wild fire. Frightened, all the animals fled their homes and ran out of the forest. As they came to the edge of a stream they stopped to watch the fire and they were feeling very discouraged and powerless. They were all bemoaning the destruction of their homes. Every one of them thought there was nothing they could do about the fire, except for one little hummingbird.

This particular hummingbird decided it would do something. It swooped into the stream and picked up a few drops of water and went into the forest and put them on the fire. Then it went back to the stream and did it again, and it kept going back, again and again and again. All the other animals watched in disbelief; some tried to discourage the hummingbird with comments like, “Don’t bother, it is too much, you are too little, your wings will burn, your beak is too tiny, it’s only a drop, you can’t put out this fire.”

And as the animals stood around disparaging the little bird’s efforts, the bird noticed how hopeless and forlorn they looked. Then one of the animals shouted out and challenged the hummingbird in a mocking voice, “What do you think you are doing?” And the hummingbird, without wasting time or losing a beat, looked back and said, “I am doing what I can.”

Kauai Strategic Tourism Plan

Tourist Tuesdays seem to a be a semi-permanent feature, as many of the blog’s followers send me articles each week. This one was sent on Sunday. The tourism industry in Kauai is now partnering with residents to limit the amount of visitors. Here are some excellent points that are equally as applicable to Big Sur.

“On Kauai, as in many world-class visitor destinations, times have changed,” it concludes. “We are at a tipping point and the risk of overtourism threatens the environment, quality of life and the visitor experience.

“For the visitor industry to continue to thrive and be a positive contributor to our economy, it must also be a vital partner in contributing to the quality of life for Kauai residents and protecting our island’s precious resources. This requires a ‘refocus’ within the visitor industry.”

Ann Walton of Community Coalition Kauai, who also helped develop the plan, summed up the apparent feelings of many.

“No one said this would be simple. It’s going to take a major effort to diversify our mono-economy: re-thinking how humans interact with the natural environment, our greatest asset and most prominent marketing tool; changing the visitor experience from one of overcrowded attractions and time spent sitting in traffic; and, returning to the rural lifestyle our residents deserve,” Walton said. “As the document recognizes, what constituted a success in the past, when viewed through a different lens, we now see as a crisis.”

For the rest of this article see: http://www.thegardenisland.com/2018/09/16/hawaii-news/overtourism-on-kauai/

 

Kincannon Canyon Wildfire – Cachagua way

3:00 – Things are looking okay — report is a 20X20 debris pile and they’re mopping up now. (Sorry, I panicked as I got home to messages re a fire out that way.)

If you have heard sirens, etc. in the last hour out in Carmel Valley, it is this: I had no further info, yet. I was at a birthday lunch for a friend, mercilessly, with no wifi. Hugs, Nadine!

09/17/2018 12:24 LPF-2662
 KINCANNON Wildfire Kin cannon Canyon . . . . . 36 21.210, -121 35.274

Graffiti comes to Big Sur, 9/17/18

These were sent to me yesterday. They were taken along Highway One, in Big Sur proper, so-to-speak. Big Sur is being desecrated. What kind of mentality are we getting with our visitors? This is heartbreaking.

Photo Sunday, 9/16/18

I had to have a bit of Hawaii on my garden deck this summer. I will try to move it indoors for the winter, but in the past, I’ve had to grow these hibiscus as an annual.

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Sycamore Canyon Closure & Meeting re Same

There will be a public meeting for those interested and affected by this work on September 18th at the Big Sur Station (MAF) at 5:00PM.

Information about the project will be presented and you will be able to ask questions should you have any at the end of the meeting.  If you have neighbors who use this road and may not receive this notice, please let them know about the meeting.

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Sycamore Canyon Road to close for storm damage repairs
GOLETA, Calif. – Los Padres National Forest officials announced that Sycamore Canyon Road between Highway 1 and Pfeiffer Beach in Big Sur will be closed while repairs are completed in several locations damaged during a January 2017 winter storm.
Repair work will begin September 24 at 6:00 AM, and is estimated to be completed in two months. During the construction period, Sycamore Canyon Road will be closed to public traffic from Monday at 6:00 AM to Friday at 12:00 PM. The repair work will consist of asphalt patch construction, chip seal placement, gabion wall construction, culvert replacement, and sign placement.
The damaged areas were determined to be eligible for funding through the Emergency Relief of Federally Owned (ERFO) roads program due in part to the high demand for recreational access by the public. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) selected and will oversee a contractor to perform the repairs.
Road repair crews will provide access to local residents and emergency services as needed while the repair work is being done.  The recreating public will have access to the Pfeiffer Beach Day Use Area Friday afternoon, Saturday and Sunday during the two month project.
‘We worked diligently to secure the funding needed to fix the storm damage,” said Monterey District Ranger Tim Short. “I recognize the inconvenience that a hard closure entails, but this will allow the repair crews to complete their work as quickly as possible while reducing public safety concerns.”
For additional information, please contact the Monterey Ranger District at (831) 385-5434or visit Los Padres National Forest’s website at http://www.usda.fs.gov/lpnf.