Category: Events

Big Sur International Marathon Sunday

I think the marathon started the first or second year I moved here. Not being into self-flaggellation, I have always avoided the crowds, the traffic, and the headaches. Three years ago, I could avoid it no more. My son was running.

I got exorbinately expensive rooms for he, his wife, and his dog at the finish line, and one for me too. It was the first time in all these years that I felt the excitement, and participated in the legend – from the sidelines.

My son had run several other marathons, but what surprised him (and me) is that he turned in his fastest Marathon time in the Big Sur International. It is grueling. No question. So, why did he do so well? He might tell you it was because he was home. He spent most of his teen-age years here — went to junior high and high school here. I might tell you it is because of all the encouragement the runners get along the way. Whatever the reason, he finished in just over 4 hours. (He could tell you to the second, I only know it was just barely over 4 hours.)

And this photograph I shot, will always epitomize the race for me – all the thousands of people who participate, only hoping to finish.

So, enjoy, and cheer on the runners – particularly those in the back.

Big Sur Multi-Agency Advisory Council Meeting

Just a reminder that the BSMAAC meeting is this Friday, March 26, 2010, at 10 am, at the Conference Room at the Big Sur Lodge. Remember to park down below and walk up.

*AGENDA ADDED BELOW *I don’t have the agenda for the meeting yet, but I do know there will be discussion on Bill Monning’s AB 2074, which creates a “Wilderness” designation for the east portion of Andrew Molera State Park. This bill was initiated and supported by the VWA. Local concerns have been expressed that this wilderness designation, which prevents the use of mechanized equipment, including chain saws, could easily prevent the maintenance of the firebreaks necessary to preserve the community of Big Sur.

Dovetailing with that discussion will be a presentation by Kelly O’Brien to address the Monterey County Community Wildfire Protection Plan.

Sam Farr will be discussing his bill, House Bill 4040 which was introduced into Congress before the last BSMAAC meeting without any community input. It will create a USFS Management Unit of the Monterey District of the LPNF. The purpose of such a Unit, as I understand from Sam’s discussion, and from reading the bill, is to make the Monterey District more autonomous fiscally.

Here is a link for a map of the proposed Wilderness Area for the Andrew Molera State Park:
http://www.ventanawild.org/images/stories/proposedmolerawilderness.jpg

A copy of AB 2074 can be found here:
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/pub/09-10/bill/asm/ab_2051-2100/ab_2074_bill_20100218_introduced.html

This bill says, in part, “The department may take measures to control fire, diseases, and insects as provided in subdivision (c) of Section
5093.36.”

Public Resources Code section 5093.36, subdivision (b) provides in part: ” … no permanent road within any wilderness area. There shall be no temporary road, no use of motor vehicles, motorized equipment[] ….” Subdivision (c) provides in part: “The following special provisions are hereby made:
(1) Within a wilderness area, measures may be taken as may be necessary for the control of fire, insects, and diseases, subject to conditions that the state agency with jurisdiction over the wilderness area may deem desirable.”

Tom Hopkins, President of the VWA states that this bill has considered the wildfire firefighting concerns, as evidenced by the 200 ft. set back from the center of Jeep Trail Rd, a traditional fire break. He offers the professional opinion of CDF Fire Captain Steve Benoit who says in part:

VWA will be offering a power point presentation to illustrate the proposal.

The Revised Agenda just received does include House Bill 4040, but here it is:

BIG SUR MULTI-AGENCY
ADVISORY COUNCIL

Congressman Sam Farr and Supervisor Dave Potter, Co-Chairs

FRIDAY, March 26, 2010 10:00 A.M.
Pfeiffer Big Sur Lodge Conference Center
Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park, Big Sur

AGENDA

10:00 a.m. I. CALL TO ORDER Congressman Sam Farr

II. ROLL CALL AND INTRODUCTIONS

III. APPROVE MINUTES OF November 13, 2009

10:15 IV. PUBLIC COMMENT ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS

10:25 V. OLD BUSINESS

VI. NEW BUSINESS
1. Presentation AB 2074 / Andrew Molera State Park Assembly member Bill Monning
as Wilderness Land With Gordon Johnson, California Wilderness Project and Tom Hopkins, Ventana Wilderness Alliance
2. CPOA Power Point on AB 2074 Butch Kronlund, CPOA
3. Presentation FireScape Monterey Presentation Sherry Tune, USFS
4. Presentation on HR 4040 – Congressman Sam Farr
Big Sur Management Unit Act
5. Report on Listing of USS Macon on National Register Paul Michel, MBNMS Of Historic Places
11:00 VII. REPORTS FROM MEMBER AGENCIES

(please bring written report)

Big Sur Resident Member
Big Sur Chamber of Commerce
Coast Property Owners’ Association
Monterey County Planning Department
Monterey County Board of Supervisors
Monterey Peninsula Regional Park District
California Coastal Commission
Caltrans
State Parks and Recreation
Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary
United States Forest Service
27th District, State Assembly
15th District, State Senate
United States Congress

12:30 p.m. VIII. REPORTS FROM OTHER AGENCIES

1:00 IX. NEXT MEETING ON April 30, 2010

Remaining Dates in 2010:

July 30, 2010
October 29, 2010

(10:00 a.m. Pfeiffer Conference Room, Big Sur Lodge)

1:05 X. ADJOURNMENT

(Ed. note: these times are very optimistic. Rarely does a meeting of this size end before 2 pm.)

This promises to be an important and lively meeting, so if possible, please plan on attending.

Legends of Big Sur, 2010

Thursday night, TreeBones Resort, owned by John & Corinne Handy held their second in the annual Big Sur Legends Series to raise money for Pacific Valley School.

TreeBones Resort

One entered the lobby, and there was the guest of honor, Don McQueen.

Further in, the items for the silent auction. This is just a few of the many items available to bid on.

The resort lobby and dining room was decked out for the occasion with lovely table settings, and tables that would eventually fill completely as dinner was served by the students of Pacific Valley School, all of whom were dressed in black. They looked so classy and did an incredible job of serving the 70 of us in attendance!

There were appetizers, Heller Estate donated wines that were poured by Mary Roos; a salad from the gardens of TreeBones; but the piéce de resistancé was the filet mignon with pomegranate demi glaze served over garlic mashed potatoes with steamed asparagus. I have never seen a filet that thick, 2 to 3 inches, or one that literally melted in one’s mouth like that one did. I am only sorry I did not think to take photos of the food. I see food — and I just want to eat!

Chef Chris Watts

And I am informed that Chris won the People’s Choice award at the recent Chanterelle Cook-Off. Congratulations, Chris, and eating food you have prepared is such an honor!

Oh, and the dessert? It was created and donated by Margaret Graham Doyle. It was a wonderful date pudding with hot caramel sauce. Yum … when my student waitperson tried to take it away before I finished that last bite, she realized she would risk my wrath.

Throughout the evening we were treated to live music, some performed by the students themselves.

But the “fireside chat” between John Handy and Don McQueen was what most of us came to see and hear. Don McQueen, a Big Sur Legend, and one of our elders.

Don McQueen

John Handy

Don McQueen came to Big Sur in 1931 at the age of 11. His father was in charge of the highway. [Ed. note – Highway One was finished and opened in 1932.] When he got here, he thought the Pacific Ocean was ” … the biggest lake I’d ever seen.”

Don McQueen telling stories

Don started the Big Sur Campground in 1953 with Walter Trotter. Now, reservations for this icon are 18 years out. But the project in Big Sur that Don built that he is most proud of is Fernwood, and that project he did for free.
Don on Firefighting

Don started fighting fires in 1947. He said of that time, “The most amazing thing was that people went out and put the fire out.”

During the Basin Complex Fire of 2008, Don called Caterpillar Company and order a $200,000 cat on credit. They delivered it to him in 16 hours and 15 minutes. I asked him about this, and he replied, “If I didn’t do that, I would have lost everything.” And from what I hear from his friends and neighbors, they also would have lost everything, but for Don and his cat.

Don on Traffic

“We have too much traffic already.” I’m with you there, Don. Even the wagon trail that passes for a road up to my place gets crowded during the summer. Fortunately, every so often, Mother Nature, when she’s had enough, closes the highway.

Thank you, Don, for the stories, the sharing, and for being an elder in our community, and a Big Sur Legend!

Oh, what a night!

What a great event John and Corrine Handy put on at TreeBones tonight! I wasn’t able to make the first one, but after attending the second in the Big Sur Legends Series, I will never miss another! The Handy’s are going to need to build a bigger room for all of us, in the next few years!

I cannot wait to tell you all about the unbelievable food, the Living Legend, Don McQueen, and the great community support for our sweet local public school, Pacific Valley! But it is 10 pm, I just got home, have groceries and sundries to put away, and I just ran out of gas for the gennie for the evening.

Join me late tomorrow for my report, it will take me a while to sort through the 100 photos I took just of Don. I took lots of other photos, too! It was so wonderful to see so much support from our North Coast neighbors!

Legends of Big Sur, II

I was unable to attend last year’s event, but I heard wonderful things about the evening. This one, I hope to attend. It is for a good cause, our local, tiny, K-12 school district. The phone number is hard to read, but it is 877-424-4787, Donna, M-F, 9-5.

Here was the one from 2009:

Storm Watch, 2/20/10 & Chanterelle Cook-Off

Only .25 inches. Looks like a quiet day! Back later.

The upcoming forecast is confusing as heck. I don’t know what to make of it, so I’m going back to looking at the skies.

Here’s the best forecast from my friend Charles Bell’s (NOAA NWS Monterey) tweets: ‘Correction…best chance for rain Sunday, Tuesday Night/Wed, and Thu night/Fri. Hydro issues may start popping up by the end of next week.”

One possible storm is progged to hit next Friday through Saturday, well, now Charles has modified that to Thu. nite/Fri. Hopefully, that will not affect the Big Sur Annual Chanterelle Cook-off to be held Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday morning. Rain brings out the chanterelles, don’t you know! See here for details:

Road Closure at County Line Update

Charlie Hench, Cal-Trans engineer, called this morning and informed me that the drilling one mile north of Ragged Point is going slower than anticipated. Closure will continue from 8 pm – 5 am tonight and Thursday. No drilling will occur Friday and Saturday night, then closures will be reinstated for Sunday, December 13 at 8:00 pm through 5;00 am, and continue on that schedule until Friday, December 18th at 5:00 am.

The Big Sur Chamber of Commerce has asked me to make sure that readers understand ALL businesses in Big Sur continue to remain open, if traveling from the north during closure hours, with the exception of Ragged Point, which will only be accessible from the south. And remember, closures do not happen on Friday or Saturday night.

I send out important information like this via a Big Sur email list I created just for that purpose. If you would like to be included on that list, please send an email to me at kwnovoa@mac.com Another way to receive it directly is to simply sign up for an email subscription to my blog posts. The link to do that is at the bottom of the side panel to the right.

Reminders & Weather Report, 12/9/09

First, a reminder that tonight is the fund raiser for the Gries family at TreeBones Resort. The silent auction and entertainment begin at 6:30 pm, with dinner at 7:00. Dinner alone is $50. An overnight stay for two, with dinner and breakfast is $200. Full information is available at my original post.

Also, don’t forget the reception/dinner at Big Sur State Park Lodge for author Dr. Mark Stromberg tomorrow, Thursday. The details are in my original post.

Lastly, don’t forget that the closure of Highway One, one mile north of Ragged Point continues from 8 pm until 5 pm. This is a HARD closure, and no one will be allowed through. This closure continues through Friday.

And as to weather, well, there was ice on the INSIDE of my bedroom window yesterday morning, the water in the dog dish stayed frozen all day, the water in the hose was completely frozen and could not be turned on. Let’s see what today brings. My total rainfall for this past storm was .6 inches, bringing the season total to 16.6 inches. This equates to 1/2 inch in September, 15.5 inches on October 13th, and this past 6/10 of an inch. The storm coming on Thursday does not appear to be significant, and only a few tenths of an inch are expected. The bigger storm seems poised to hit us on Saturday through Sunday, so stay tuned.

Rock Shed & Bridge at Pitkins near Limekiln

Cal-Trans just issued the news release quoted below. Also, while I haven’t received a release on them, there are two other on-going projects I have witnessed. One is just south of Packard/3 Palms beach. It involves a one-way stop light. Another project is north of Ragged Point. Last I saw, it did not have a signal light, but news reports in SLO papers indicate one will be installed.

Date: Monday, November 30, 2009
District: 5 – Santa Barbara, SLO, Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Benito Counties
Contact: Janet Newland or Colin Jones
Phone: (805) 549-3461 or (805) 549-3189
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MAJOR BRIDGE AND ROCKSHED PROJECT BEGINS ON HIGHWAY 1 SOUTH OF LUCIA

MONTEREY COUNTY – Roadwork will begin this week on the Highway 1 Pitkin’s Curve Bridge and Rainrocks Rockshed. The project will install a 620-foot long bridge and protective cover on Highway 1 just south of the town of Lucia.

During the first stage of the project the roadway will be relocated closer to the hillside and one-way flagging operations may be in effect from 8 am to 4 pm Monday though Friday. By spring, a temporary traffic signal will be in place so one-way traffic control will be in effect 24/7.

The project will protect motorists and the highway from falling rock and slides. The contractor for this $29 million project is Golden State Bridge of Martinez, California. The project requires four years of construction time; however, it will go through several winter seasons so completion may be extended depending upon severity of the weather.

“We are thrilled to break ground on a project that will significantly enhance the long-term stability of the coast highway,” said District 5 Director Rich Krumholz.

Caltrans reminds motorists that “we’re here to get you there.”

For more information on you can call the toll-free project hotline at (888) 836-0866 or visit http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist05/projects/pitkins/index.htm.

# # #

Natural California, Reception & Dinner

Big Sur Lodge Invites you to a special event:
Restoring California

With the Big Sur Lodge at Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park, WildBigSur and PelicanNetwork present a reception and dinner about the California we love and [are] learning to restore. In this series of talks, receptions and dinners we will offer the exciting artistic and scientific work of learning about the real California. What is so great about natural California and how and why we can bring it back is the theme of this series.

Our first event features the wonderfully knowledgeable and affable director of the University of California ecological reserve in Carmel Valley. Dr. Mark Stromberg has created a significant book, California Grasslands.

Thursday, December 10, 2009
Fireside lounge, Big Sur Lodge
Reception 5:30 pm
Special Musical and Culinary Treats
Wine by Heller Estates in Carmel Valley
Dinner in the Redwoods Room 7 pm

Dr. Mark Stromberg
Resident Reserve Director, Hastings Natural History Reserve,
University of California, Berkeley

Reception and Dinner:
There is no cost to attend this reception. Contributions are welcome. Proceeds will benefit the Community Garden at the Big Sur Captain Cooper School.
The wine paired dinner with the author will feature local native foods truthfully and exquisitely prepared by the Big Sur Lodge Head Chef Joel Manriquez. He is preparing special recipes for smoked wild boar, abalone, quail and of the incredible bounty of edible plants of the Santa Lucia Mountains. Award winning organic wines are by Heller Estates of Carmel Valley.
Cost for the dinner is $65 a person.
For more information and to make a dinner reservation:
WildBigSur@PelicanNetwork.net
or, call Jack at 831 667 2025