Tag: Big Sur

Pitkin’s Bridge

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Photo by Andrew Borrelli, CalTrans inspector.

Yesterday, Rock Knocker was able to drive across the bridge and called me very excited. He won’t get his photos to me until Saturday, at which time I will post them, if possible.

Today, CalTrans released this:

“District: 05 – Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, San Benito and Santa
Cruz Counties
Contact: Susana Z Cruz (bilingual) or Colin Jones
Phone: (805) 549-3138 or 549-3189
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

HIGHWAY 1/PITKINS CURVE BRIDGE AND ROCKSHED PROJECT CONTINUES

MONTEREY COUNTY—A permanent slide repair project which began in December 2009 to construct a bridge, rockshed and a retaining wall at Hwy. 1/Pitkins Curve will now allow one lane of traffic to drive on the new bridge as of yesterday, March 19, Caltrans officials have announced.

The ¼ mile project limits are from just north of Limekiln Creek Bridge to south of Lucia. Roadwork is currently being done with one-way traffic control and a signal in operation 24/7. The project includes a rockshed, a bridge, and a retaining wall.

“We are excited to provide limited traffic on the new bridge as project completion nears,” said District 5 Director Tim Gubbins. The entire project is scheduled to be done this fall.”

My sources say a ribbon-cutting ceremony is planned for early August.

Storm Coming in.

8:00 pm – I LOVE the sound of the rain! We are so thirsty!,,

7:00 pm – I didn’t think much of this storm, so haven’t followed it closely, but the tell-tale winds tonight let me know it was coming, and then, letting the cats out at 7:00, the drizzle let me the front was just beginning to arrive. I’ll check my usual sources, and let you know what I find out. I know SLO, was predicting this morning that it wouldn’t go much south of Paso.

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Coastal Trail Meeting

IMPORTANT MEETING – SAVE THE DATE – MARCH 16TH

California Coastal Trail meeting for those who reside and/or own land near the coast, from the Carmel River in Monterey County to San Carpóforo Creek in San Luis Obispo County.

WILL BIG SUR HAVE A VOICE IN DETERMINING THE TRAIL CREATION PROCESS?

A diverse group of coastal residents have worked since 2007 to develop a local, community-based process as a way to enable our community to participate in the planning of the Big Sur segment of the government mandated California Coastal Trail. It is this process that community members would like to share for consideration as the preferred planning process. Download and read the process document here – Coastal Trail Process

CPOA will host a discussion on this Community-based Trail Planning Process with State Senator Bill Monning, participants of the working group and all our neighbors.

Saturday, March 16th, 10 AM to noon
Big Sur Lodge Conference Room in Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park.

This meeting marks the beginning of our community approval process. Come and share your thoughts on March 16th.

If you would like to receive updates by email – send a request to info@CPOABigSur.org

Snow on Cone Peak

There IS snow on Cone Peak this morning, but it doesn’t go down very far, I’m guessing 4-4500′. None here, although it is very cold. I’m busy trying to stay warm. Have a great one, everyone, we are in for warmer weather next week.

Continuing Storm Report & Rocky Creek Closures

Noon – from the 9 am forecaster a winter weather advisory for the Santa Lucia Mts and the Los Padres National Forest.

THE BEST CHANCE FOR SNOW WILL BE OVER THE SANTA LUCIAS AS BOTH THE
ECMWF AND GFS CONTINUE TO KEEP A BULK OF THE PRECIPITATION OFF
SHORE. A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR THE SANTA LUCIA
MOUNTAINS AND LOS PADRES NATIONAL FOREST AS WELL AS THE MOUNTAINS
OF SAN BENITO COUNTY AND INTERIOR MONTEREY. THIS AREA WILL SEE THE
BEST INSTABILITY COMBINED WITH MOISTURE AND LIFT. THE LIMITING
FACTOR IS THAT WHEN THE BEST MOISTURE IS PRESENT THE WINDS WILL
ACTUALLY BE COMING FROM THE EAST…LIMITING THE OROGRAPHIC EFFECTS
SEEN WHEN MOIST WEST WINDS ARE PUSHING OVER THE MOUNTAINS. NON THE
LESS THESE CONDITIONS WILL SUPPORT THE WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY
WITH 5 TO 10 INCHES OF SNOW POSSIBLE ABOVE 3000 FEET AND 1 TO 4
INCHES AT ELEVATION OF 2500 TO 3000 FEET. THE WINTER WEATHER
ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FROM 1000 AM THURSDAY TO 1000 AM FRIDAY.

8:00 am, From NOAA’s 3:30 am forecast discussion –

RAIN WILL RETURN TONIGHT INTO THURSDAY MORNING AS THE UPPER AIR LOW DIVES TO THE SOUTH TOWARD OUR AREA. SHOWERS WILL SPREAD ACROSS THE ENTIRE CWA WITH THE MAIN FOCUS ALONG THE COAST…IN PARTICULAR MOUNTAINS IN MONTEREY AND SAN BENITO COUNTIES. SNOW LEVELS WILL DROP DOWN TO AS LOW AS 2500 FEET WITH A GOOD POSSIBILITY OF SUBSTANTIAL SNOWFALL OVER 3000 FEET. A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR THOSE AREAS.

They also mention the possibility of hail and lightning. Stay warm, everyone!

Also, Rocky Creek Road Closures:

Night closures next week are as follows:
· Sunday, March 10 through Thursday, March 14—9 pm to 11 pm with up to 10-minute delays;
· Sunday, March 10 through Thursday, March 14—11 pm to 7 am (Friday am) with up to 30-minute delays;
(Roadway will remain OPEN each night next week—no overnight hard closures)

Upcoming storm

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8:00 pm – From a friend, and former Big Surian, in very Northern California, near Arcata: “Heads up- The light storm they predicted up here has turned out to be pretty fiesty- Big winds and about 1/2 inch rain so far. Winds blew so hard that smoke came back down the chimney into the house.”

Per an earlier NOAA, this is heading our way, but quite peaceful at the moment. I’ll send out an alert to a friend in Petaluma, and maybe she can let us know when it hits there. Petaluma: “Wind has come up within the last half hour and light rain starting, very cold!”

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I put another log on the fire.

And there is the satellite photo from NOAA and Capt Lingcod.

Part of the forecast discussion from NOAA:

…BUT IF THE NAM AND EURO KEEP SHOWING HIGH QPF A WINTER
WEATHER ADV WILL BE NEED FOR THE HILLS OF MONTEREY/SAN BENITO
WEDNESDAY NIGHT INTO THURSDAY. IN ADDITION TO SNOW POTENTIAL…THE A
COLD CORE UPPER LOW WILL INCREASE CHANCES FOR SCATTERED
THUNDERSTORMS AND SMALL HAIL. DAY 3 OUTLOOK FROM SPC HAS ENTIRE
CWA IN GEN RISK FOR THUNDERSTORMS.

March Wildflowers

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Indian Paintbrush

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Indian Paintbrush patch

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Hound’s Tongue

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Vetch

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Milk Maid

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Chocolate or Mission Bells.

All these flowers were found on my way down Plaskett this morning. What a gift!

Missy, the mystery dog, part 4

Finally had the first dog fight. The first time I left Missy home alone, I put her in the bedroom, the two alphas in the living room, and the other two outside, which is the usual. That worked well. The second time I left them home, I let Missy and the alphas, have the run of the house together. That worked, too. The third time I left them at home, I did the same. This time, it didn’t work, so I’ll be separating them, again.

Nothing seemed to have happened while I was gone, but when I got home, to be greeted by three excited dogs, Dakota, the alpha female attacked Missy. It looked and sounded quite serious. I was frantic, trying to break it off, for what seemed like ages, but was only a few seconds. Missy got away, and was running away, with Dakota following. I called Missy back, yelled at Dakota, and Missy came to me to stay by my side. I got her inside separate from Dakota, and checked her all over for blood, bite marks, anything. She was good. Not a mark on her, so Dakota never tried to hurt her, just teach her a lesson. It looked and sounded so very real, I was surprised!

Later, after thoroughly chastising Dakota, I spent time and attention on her, and then time and attention on Missy. Then time and attention on both of them together, as they cautiously eyed each other. But separating them, if I can’t take Missy, will be the way to go. I can meet and greet Gideon and Dakota together – no problems with them – let them out, then meet and greet Missy, and then let her out.

That evening, Missy could not go out to relieve herself, so I resigned myself to having an accident or two to clean up in the morning. Couldn’t be helped, and she is NOT making a habit of it. No “accidents” if she has enough outside time!

That night, all my fur kids settled into their beds or places, and it was peaceful … That was after one of the cats thought it would be fun to tease them. I put the two cats outside, and mixed myself a drink.

Condor Photos by Dave Fauset

Dave Fauset has been working for Winsor on the highway at Partington Ridge. The other day, while working the Highway, he had the wonderful opportunity to see and photograph our Condors.

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Thanks for sharing your photographs, and enjoy your home away from home while you are here!

Guard Dogs and Trespassers

So, President’s Day weekend was busy up here, for both my dogs and I. The road is dismal, so it takes a lot to get up here.

I hadn’t locked the gate, just closed it. It had a BIG no trespassing sign on it. Doesn’t stop some people from opening it, and trying to come on through. Not gunna happen. I’ve got guard dogs. Boy, do I have guard dogs. They don’t usually bite people, but tires, mud flaps, and the like are fair game. If a car gets within sight of the house, they are off, barking, and letting the trespassers know what is what. This is not a place one wants to mess with. And that doesn’t include my Smith and Wesson .357. I don’t need it, with these dogs. Missy is not really part of guard dog duty, yet. She doesn’t bark, but she responds to the others. My blind Alpha Male would take whoever it is on, but I call him back, as well as the new kid on the block, and let my Alpha female and her two pups (now 7) deal with the intruders. They are good at their job.

Dakota is 1/2 healer. The other half appears to be Doberman. She is a good guard dog, and has well trained the one male and one female pups that I kept of her litter. They are a great team.

I just don’t understand what some people think when they come upon a closed gate, with a brand-new No Trespassing sign on it, and decide to open the gate and drive in. What are they thinking? Dumb, really dumb. These idiots tried to drive through twice! What, they thought the guard dogs weren’t real? Even if these idiots COULD get past my dogs, my Jeep Commander blocks the road. Can’t get through … For almost 19 years now.

There was also a large drunken party at Turkey Flats that Saturday night. I didn’t engage – large, drunken party, they tried to challenge me for just driving by … as if THEY owned the road? Not happening. When they left Sunday, they left their campfire burning and tons of trash, which Rock Knocker had to deal with. Really, people? Is it any wonder “The more I get to know some people, the more I like dogs!”?

It is a little early for my summer cynicism to start – my calendar says February. By June, I may be a crotchety ol’ woman on a mountain in Big Sur. my neighbor tries to see them as butterflies, all different, and all fragile and transient. I tend to see them all as puppies, eager, undisciplined, and helpless. I LOVE dogs. Help me love idiots and keep my sense of humor and perspective, my friends!