The Grange Presents:
BIG SUR: THE WAY IT WAS
Saturday August 23rd
Potluck 4pm, Film 6pm

Join us for a Potluck and viewing of the 1972 documentary Big Sur: The Way It Was. This film is the first documentary made of Big Sur, its natural beauty, artistic community, and counterculture ways. It includes interviews with writers, artists and intellectuals, such as Henry Miller, Eric Barker, Emil White, Harry Dick Ross, Emile Norman, as well as hippies, musicians, bikers, hitchhikers, tourists and your every-day rugged individualists who call Big Sur home. It was filmed and produced by Robert Blaisdell, a native filmmaker of the Monterey Peninsula, who shot the footage of Big Sur and its inhabitants throughout the 1960s.
https://www.bigsurstories.com/big-sur-the-way-it-was-1

The Way It Was was first released in 1995 on VHS and later on DVD before it disappeared from view. Now thirty years after its debut, the 55 year old film is available again thanks to the efforts of Bob Franco, a Pacific Grove filmmaker who assisted in the restoration of the 1972 documentary. Bob will join us to share the film, and will be available afterwards to discuss his current project. Bob’s is collecting stories from and about local artists and residents regarding their work and life experience in Big Sur as part of his Big Sur Stories project:
https://www.bigsurstories.com/

From the Archives:

I took this off my back deck during the Basin Fire (2008). Barbara Woyt and I had a front row seat to this sight. One rarely gets to see this point of view outside of from another flying machine.

Date:	Friday, August 15, 2025
District:	05 – Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, San Benito, and Santa Cruz Counties
Contact:	Celeste Morales or Kevin Drabinski
Phone:	(805) 549-3237 or (805) 549-3138

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

UPDATE #6

REPAIRS AT REGENT’S SLIDE ADVANCE AS

SLOPE STABILIZATION EFFORTS PROVE EFFECTIVE

MONTEREY COUNTY – Repairs at Regent’s Slide, which closed Highway 1 on February 9, 2024, continue to advance with slope stabilization efforts contributing to sustained excavation activity.

Full scale excavation work has continued at Regent’s Slide since mid-July with crews able to sustain production in part due to the effectiveness of the installation of thousands of shear dowels. Averaging 60 ft. in length, these steel bars are being drilled and grouted into the cut slope above the active work area. 

Data from an array of monitoring equipment has confirmed that the shear dowels are having the intended effect of mitigating further slide activity which has been a characteristic feature of repairs at Regent’s Slide. As the top-down excavation advances, crews will continue to install shear dowels in the cut slope behind them, providing immediate and long-term reinforcement of the slope. Since mid-July, crews have installed an additional 1,500 dowels, bringing the overall total number of installed shear dowels to 3,500.

Excavation work is advancing with the combined use of both conventional and remote-controlled equipment. The remote-controlled equipment, including two large bulldozers and one excavator, remain an integral component to the advancement of excavation and removal of slide material. Even as seasonal patchy coastal fog has intermittently cut into full production, crews continue to work seven days a week and extended hours on these repair efforts.

Caltrans remains in a position to announce a refreshed date for the full reopening of Highway 1 at Regent’s Slide in mid-September.

Big Sur Coast Remains Accessible and Open

Visitors can access more than 100 miles of Highway 1 between Cambria and Carmel, except for the 6.8-mile segment one mile south of the Esalen Institute to two miles north of Lucia.

Travelers from Northern California can still access historic bridges, waterfalls, restaurants, and lodging amenities along the Big Sur coast. Travelers from Southern California can reach the endearing communities of Lucia, Gorda, Treebones, Ragged Point, San Simeon, and Cambria via Highway 1.

Road information and updates can also be found on Caltrans District 5 Social Media platforms: X/Twitter at: @CaltransD5, Facebook at: Caltrans Central Coast (District 5) and Instagram at: Caltrans_D5.

For more information about transportation projects and funding, visit: Build.ca.gov.

Our crews deserve to get home safely too.

Drive slowly and carefully in work zones.

CHP Traffic Incident Information Page: http://cad.chp.ca.gov

Traveler information at: https://quickmap.dot.ca.gov/

| #BeWorkZoneAlert | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube |

Thousands of shear dowels have been grouted and drilled into the cut slope above the excavation work area providing immediate and long-term reinforcement of the slope.

###

Kevin Drabinski

Public Information Officer

Caltrans District 5

Just an FYI, if conditions are favorable, the plan is to start a 36 hour firing operation tonight. (See paragraph 4 below.)

From the archives:

July 25, 2008 by bigsurkate

Oct 23, 2024 #geology#pacificcoasthighway#highway1California’s Pacific Coast Highway is one of the world’s most iconic drives. But parts of it collapse into the ocean almost every year. Why does this road keep failing? And is there a solution? FEATURING: Gary Griggs, Distinguished Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences, UC Santa Cruz READ MORE:

• Should California give up on Highway 1? https://www.universityofcalifornia.ed…

CITATIONS:

• Mud Creek Landslide facts: https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/ima…
• Highway 1 history: https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructu…
• Highway 1 tourism: https://www.sfchronicle.com/travel/ar…
• 1500 landslides in this 77-mile stretch: https://www.conservation.ca.gov/cgs/D…
• What caused the Mud Creek Landslide?: https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/ima…

#pacificcoasthighway#highway1#geology @ucsantacruz CHAPTERS:00:00 Highway 1 keeps collapsing 00:32 Highway 1’s history 01:14 The section most prone to collapse 01:55 Why is Big Sur so unstable? 02:48 Why is the highway becoming more precarious? 03:50 What can we do to stop this?

Watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25Jb9yJ9lqY

For another 5 minute video on the future of Highway One from CBS Sunday Morning, you can find it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25Jb9yJ9lqY

From my friend, Mark Ruggiero:

It’s starting to burn into the Garcia wilderness where there is no [prior] documented fire.  So it’s going to be a long haul along with the new one in LA. 

Here are some photos for you taken on the northern end near avenales at the headwaters of the Salians river. La Panza mts. And a nite shot from Monday.  

All credit to Mark Ruggiero, except the last one which is credited to the Chumash Fire Department.

Both fires are being reported on by https://watchduty.org or using their app for free.

For Panoche this morning’s report:

Firefighters are actively battling a rapidly moving vegetation fire in the Penoche Valley region of southeastern San Benito County. The fire is burning in light, flashy fuels and mixed brush, contributing to fast-moving fire behavior.
 
Firefighters worked through the night and successfully held the Panoche Fire at 330 acres with 10% containment. Day shift crews are focused on keeping the fire within its current footprint and increasing containment.
Additional resources and updates can be found on our Linktree: https://linktr.ee/CAL_FIRE_BEU

On Gifford, it is much more complex and has many areas that have been ordered to evacuate so I suggest if interested in this fire you follow it on https://watchduty.org. It is currently almost 100, 000 acres and 15% contained. You can also get more information by following here: https://www.facebook.com/lospadresnationalforest/posts/giffordfire-evening-quick-facts-august-7-2025size-99-232acrescontainment-15perso/1191532246335338/

For a full listing of events starting Friday, 8/8/25 and going through 8/17/25, see: https://www.seemonterey.com/events/sporting/concours/