
Foto Friday, 13 – Happy Valentine’s Day!



Okay, I admit, I didn’t take this. Either Debbie or Rose did on our trip to Hawaii a few years ago. It is one of the few portraits of myself I like!
Got a phone call last night, and the phone rang! Let it go to voicemail and I got that right away. FB, twitter, email, and browsers all working well. I spent the day gathering up pre-cut firewood from my property and filling up both my inside and outside boxes. I was going to take a photo of my boxes to post here, but my friend, Rose, sent me one she took at sunrise this morning on the Petaluma River, and decided y’all would enjoy that more, even if it isn’t Big Sur.

Super Bowl Sunday, around noon, my systems went wacky. They are still not up to normal … even for up here in the wilderness, so I am writing from Cambria. While I have and had 4-5 bars, everything was connected, up and “running” – the phone didn’t ring, and people who tried to call were directed straight to voicemail, which then did not show up for 18 hours. I couldn’t get email, twitter, FB, OR TV. Wonderfully isolated from the world with my critters, a fire, and a book.
I have had a fire going constantly since Sunday morning – or was it Saturday? Time has not mattered. It stood still for me. I stayed warm and comfortable. This morning, heavy frost covered everything, causing the dogs to slip and slide as they escaped thru the front door. I had to go out in it to keep an eye on my blind dog as his now-absent scents could not guide him, but I stoked up the fire when we came back inside.
The photo below was taken Monday morning when SOME the clouds cleared for a few moments. Yes, snow at the higher elevations although I heard from a north-facing neighbor at 3000′ that they had snow. Not me.

If I don’t post tomorrow, know I am preparing for the next rounds of showers (varying reports on those) and keeping warm, puzzled by my systems.
Gerald A. Doyle (front) and James B. Pauley at the Los Burros mine in southern Monterey County in the Los Padres National Forest. James B. Pauley and Gerald A. Doyle were prospecting the mine for gold. Photo: Peter Breinig, 3/4/58 (From The Herald Archives) While this is labeled as being The Los Burros Mine, it might be mislabeled and might actually be the Kinder Mine, which Doyle owned about this time. I know the current owner, so will try to verify. The Kinder Mine is in the Los Burros Mining District.
Per the current owner of the Kinder:
“Hi Kate…. No.. that is over on the Ancona on ______… Those two had a great thing going… Too bad they had to give it up…. Some of their ore was fantastic… ” Mining is no longer allowed in the Silver Peak Wilderness, EXCEPT for valid claims that existed BEFORE the creation of the wilderness and which have been kept up.







Calchortus venustus




The light …
January 2013:

February 2013 brought me Missy, the Mystery dog

March 2013 this is what the Rock Shed and bridge looked like. I hear it in good authority that it will be open in January, but, of course, a new project has already begun that will put us back to one lane for an undisclosed length of time at Big Creek.

April brought the fracking issue.
May brought quite a few fires, fortunately small. 5/20 there was a fire East of Cayucous; 5/24, the White Fire in the Los Padres, down near SB; 5/30, a fire near the shooting range on Highway One as well as a fire on FHL.
June brought the Super Moon.
In July, this blog celebrated five years! And blogged about 7 fires. 
In August, this photo got the most comments: The Color of August.

In September, the first rain of the season brought hope of an early end to the fire season – a hope which was dashed and thrashed, and we are STILL hoping the fire season will end soonest!
October brought the 22nd Annual Jade Festival, a controlled burn at Ft Ord that got away, and a mud slide near Gorda that closed the Highway.
November, I saved a life.
December will forever be remembered for the Pfeiffer Fire.
