Here is the website: Mobilize.us and a screen shot of the details of the demonstration planned for here in MoCo. 4/5/25 11-1 at Window on the Bay, 717 Del Monte Blvd Monterey. The sign up is to join the movement, if you want. You need not sign up, RSVP, or send in ANY personal information. Just show up!!!

Experimental helicopter water drops at Regents Slide were scheduled but ended up being during recent rains, which appears to have done something. The upper, dirt portion of the slide is moving on its own every day. I think some tens of thousands of yards came off over the weekend. 

Here’s a recent summary I sent to my institution a month ago.

Caltrans geotech has heavily-instrumented the upper portion of the slide due to its continuous movement. The movement has made it very hazardous to remove so equipment has been put on and pulled off the working bench repeatedly over the past few months. The attached photo shows the upper slide as of February 3rd, circumscribed in orange dashed lines. The original slide is on the back (south) side of a rocky, resistant ridge and well below this upper area. Debris from that rockslide can be seen 500 feet down on the highway on the right side of the photo. 

The plan has been to start above the rockslide section and cut it out using a working bench. The cut material gets pushed over the edge, gradually working downhill back to the highway. The upper slide section was destabilized by that process and started “rotating”, slipping downhill and outward, pushing over the resistant rocky ridge below. The arrows in the photo are my attempt to depict that rotation. The weight of the upper area to the left is causing the material to slide downhill but it is encountering the resistant material below. That is causing it to actually move horizontally and outwards to the right and to push out into the air, calving off like a glacier reaching the ocean or a lake. You can see there are two new slide sections at the horizontal arrows where the dirt is flaking off and falling down to the highway. 

Excavation is on hold while it rains. There is a presumption that as the soil gets heavier with water, the material will accelerate (not catastrophically fail) and reveal exactly where the slip plane is behind the slide. That will allow them to have a better defined plan moving forward. You can see their graded slope in the upper left of the photo. They need to keep that slope behind the slip plane as they work their way down to the right. 

Changes over the last month involve more dirt being pushed off the bench onto the slide (head) and the lower right (toe) calving off down to the highway. Also see attached two photos I took during the rain last week. Beneath the remaining vegetation there are fissures criss-crossing the moving section. It acts like a glacier, slipping off the top of the lower part of the larger slope, calving off the mountainside about 400′ above the highway. Impossible to put equipment on it when it’s wet.  They monitor it daily and pull off when it accelerates and jump back on when it slows down. 

That’s the latest from ground zero,
Mark

Here are the photos Mark references:

March 12, 2025 by Mark Readdie

March 14, 2025 by Mark Readdie

And from yesterday, March 18, which shows the recent drop:

Something I forgot to mention probably because I recycled a month old update. In addition to the two excavators and two other dozers, there are an additional two D8 dozers that have been retrofitted to wireless operation because Caltrans is pushing Papich to keep pushing dirt over the slip-plane crack but having an operator in the machines is too dangerous. The scale and complexity of this slide has pushed Caltrans into new technological territory in order to keep making progress. Perhaps a photo of all the equipment working on the slide would provide some scale. I’ll have to see if I can get that this week.

Date: Thursday March 27th, 2025 Time: 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM Location: Big Sur Grange Hall, 47090 Highway One, Big Sur, CA Join Us on March 27th at the Grange for a Community Town Hall and Q&A Session   Join Big Sur Fire for a community meeting and listening session to learn more about who we are, what we do and are planning to do, discuss fire safety and preparedness, and address community questions or concerns. This is a great opportunity to meet your local firefighters, provide feedback, ask questions, and to hear all about Big Sur Fire’s current and future projects. Agenda Includes: Opening remarks by Fire Chief Matt Harris Brief visual presentation showcasing: Big Sur Fire’s emergency response plan The new Volunteer Firefighter Class of 2025 The new Ground Division – Hand Crew Collaboration with FABS – Chipping Program Interactive Q&A session Information about how you can be more involved and informed We value our community’s input and look forward to seeing you all there! Donate Today  Copyright (C) 2025 BIG SUR FIRE. All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website. Our mailing address is: BIG SUR FIRE PO Box 520 Big Sur, CA 93920-0520 USA Want to change how you receive these emails?You can update your preferences or unsubscribe

Photo by Matthew Janson

Hi All,

Thank you for joining us for the Big Sur Byways Organization (BSBO) on Wednesday, March 5^th. During the meeting, California Coastal Commission (CCC) staff expressed that public comment is due today (March 7^th) by 5:00pm for the March 12^th CCC hearing. The projects going before the commission include Item No. 15b Caltrans Highway 1 signage project and Item No. 15c the Caltrans Mud Creek Landslide Highway 1 Stabilization. Please use this link to submit public comment by scrolling to items 15b and 15c and select ‘submit comment’ : https://www.coastal.ca.gov/meetings/agenda/#/2025/3 . You can also contact Eric Stevens directly at eric.stevens@coastal.ca.gov or 562-395-9462 for questions about the projects or the CCC hearing process.

Thank you again, and the Jubata Grass Story Book presentation will be sent to you all once we receive it. As a reminder, the next BSBO meeting is June 18^th, 2025.

From one South Coast resident: “So it appears that Coastal Commish wanted Mud Creek to also become a recreational/access site, but Caltrans explains that due to Mud Creek being an active slide, it is not practical to host a recreational site on the bench below? Instead, Caltrans recommends converting the point between Alder and Villa creeks as a recreational site, correct? Additionally, Caltrans is asking for finishing work to be performed on Mud Creek to replace sea-side k-rails with a guardrail, re-seed the slope, etc., if I read this correctly?

I will use the comment button, to point out that Caltrans and Coastal Commish are proposing a recreation site at the “Shale Point” location between Alder and Villa creeks, but they aren’t providing restroom facilities. Caltrans repeatedly has stated they “are not in the bathroom business,” when we’ve asked them to make some pull-outs akin to a Rest Stop like at Gaviota. So, I won’t be persuasive, but it’d be good to mention that restrooms at a public “recreation site,” seem like a no brainer.”

Best,

Katie

Katie Scariot, (she/her) or (they/them)Assistant Planner | Advanced Planning TeamHousing and Community Development Department1441 Schilling Place, 2nd Floor South, Salinas, CA 93901Direct: (831) 796-6093ScariotK1@CountyofMonterey.gov