All Photos by Greg J. Shalhoob:
Paul’s Slide from the north, looking south
Cow Cliff’s at Big Creek
Closer look at Cow Cliffs.
Paul’s Slide, South End
Chimney, just south of Limekiln.
Tag: Highway One
Highway One closure update
Photos: 1-3 of Mud Creek (PM 8.9) from Wednesday, Jan. 4 and Thursday, Jan. 5; photos 4-5 of Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge (PM 45.52) of AC grinding from Wednesday, Jan. 4 .
Everything about Mud Creek, Paul’s Slide, and the Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge remains unchanged, but additional work is:
ADDITIONAL WORK—CALPORTLAND PAVING BETWEEN LUCIA (PM 23) AND JUST SOUTH OF PCB (45.52)
Wednesday (1-10) – Grind Deli/Post office parking lot in two sections (1/2 at a time) to keep some parking spaces available.
Thursday (1-11) – Pave the Deli/Post office parking lot.
Friday (1-12) – Pave mainline Hwy 1 from PM 44.8-45.3, which is through the Deli/post office area.
Highway One closure update, 7/24/17
Photos of: 1) Paul’s Slide (PM 21.6) still showing some activity this morning; 2) Pedestrian Detour Signs at South Turn Around (PM 45–just south of Pfeiffer Canyon; 3) Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge (PM 45.52) Abutment 1 Work, Platform and Falsework and 4) Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge (PM 45.52) Launch Falsework at Abutment 2. ( reordered this so number 2 is last for a comparison)
HIGHWAY 1 UPDATE – Monday, July 24—NO CHANGES
Here is the pedestrian detour and a comparison of what it looked like a week ago last Friday, when Paul’s Slide was still closed. Glad to see the change, as it was a real challenge to figure out how to get into and out of the handicapped parking spot between the deli and the post office.
Traffic Issues are back, 7/3/17
5 pm update – from a follower: “today was ugly, be aware and on the lookout, sobranes, garrapatta, rocky creek & bixby all way overcrowded and people parking in the highway”
Due, at least in part, to an aggressive campaign by the Monterey Visitors and Convention Bureau, the traffic issues we have been without are back with a vengeance. And this is just since the trail opened to the public on Saturday. Imagine what is coming when Paul’s Slide opens this month. Fire danger, anyone? What is the plan? Or *IS* there a plan?
At Point Lobos: 11:26 AM 1 [1] 20 VEHS PARKED ILLEGALLY
At Soberanes Point: 12:00 PM 1 [1] 3 VEHS PART 1125 [blocking roadway]
And at Hurricane Point and Bixby Bridge:
11:08 AM 4 [21] Incident Re-opened: STATE PARKS HAD RPT OF NAILS BEING DELIBERATLY DROPPED ON BIXBY BRIDGE
8:22 AM 3 [18] A27-022 22 1097 THE AREA [10-97 arrived at scene]
7:46 AM 2 [3] RP DOES NOT NEED ASSIST FOR HIS VEH ( 12 GRY NISS PATHFINDER)
7:46 AM 1 [2] RP ADV ON THE SHOULDER AND ON THE EDGE OF THE ROAD
And a friend in town stated that at noon, there was an 8-mile backup of cars on Highway One.
And this was Garapatta yesterday. (Photo by Martha Diehl)
Big Sur State Park Opening & Highway Closure Map
Highway One Closure update, 6/12/17 & Thursday Convoy
Mud Creek remains completely closed. Paul’s Slide continues as it has been, opening times above in the “sticky” permanent post above. Aerial of Mud Creek by Madonna Construction:
Convoy times for 6/15/17:
*Update #6*
CALTRANS ANNOUNCES NEXT CONVOY TO PFEIFFER CANYON BRIDGE—LONG DELAYS EXPECTED
MONTEREY COUNTY – Caltrans will continue the process of delivering construction equipment and materials to the site of the demolished Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge on State Route 1 via Nacimiento-Fergusson Road from US Highway 101 on Thursday, June 15. Some equipment will begin moving out one piece at a time, throughout the week.
These convoys will be escorted by the California Highway Patrol (CHP) and will include intermittent closures of Nacimiento-Fergusson Road on Thursday, June 15 from 8 am until 7 pm. Motorists wishing to travel east/west in the morning must do so before the first convoy begins. On Thursday, motorists will encounter delays during the movement of these four convoys westbound from 8 am to 10 am and 2 pm to 4 pm and eastbound from 11 am to 1 pm and from 5 pm to 7 pm. All vehicles must not exceed 30 feet in length and a weight of 15 tons.
The Thursday convoy again will include rock, sand, cement and reinforcing steel. Future convoys will include more of the same, in general, materials and equipment to construct the abutment support and overall construction of the new Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge (PM 45.52).
Highway Closure Update, 3/29/17
Photos from Top to bottom: 1) Aerial of Paul’s Slide (PM 21.6); 2) Beautiful flowers and coastal view—courtesy of Hermitage (PM 22.12); 3) Continues debris removal of old Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge (PM 45.52)
*Same information as last Monday* – which was the same information as last Friday, so not repeating it, yet again. Will add photos.
One can see the road to the Hermitage above the slide removal work in this photo.
From the Hermitage Road, above the slide area.
Debris clean up – a big job.
Kyle Evans created a compilation video of the demolition of this bridge which can be found here:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7uKrimYMwHA
Mud Creek Photos, 3/13/17
Experiencing Mud Creek
Experiencing Mud Creek …
I live not on Big Sur Island, but on Big Sur Peninsula. I can get out east, and have 4 times in the last two months – once going east to go south, once going east to go north, and twice just to go east. Friday, I decided to go south, across Mud Creek. Photographs just do not tell the story. I took none. I was too busy dodging people, big trucks, small trucks, cement trucks, loaders, and watching rocks come down off the mountain, and of course, driving, to take any photographs. It is not a story that can be told in photographs. I am not sure words can do it either. As another South Coaster said, “Mud Creek is a war zone.”
I have driven across that area hundreds, maybe even a thousand times. This was an eye-opener. CalTrans and contractors everywhere working. Drains going in, dirt being hauled away… and water coming down off the mountain in rivers. So much water. Three different slides happening simultaneously. There are many places where the road is only one dirt lane, dropping off into the ocean. There is one place where the road has dropped at least 2-3 feet and one drives off into an abyss in the making. There is impermanence here. Mother Nature is making herself heard. She was too subtle for us to hear, before, so now she roars.
On the way down, I stopped at one location and the flagger did not look at me, but kept his eyes up the mountain, watching for movement. I watched, too. On the way home I was following a truck through the same area, to have him stop on the northern end to turn around and head down to his “spot” to receive all the excess dirt he was to haul away. Of course, I had to stop and stay out of the way. I looked to my right, and saw pebbles coming down the mountain right there – right where I was. First pebbles, then rocks, then boulders, is the way it happens, Rock Knocker taught me. I did not want to stick around for the boulders. I got out of there, as soon as I could scrape by the truck.
All my life I have been an optimist. I am not optimistic about this spot, right now. Maybe after a couple months of no rain, things can stabilize, but for now, I don’t see it opening to the inexperienced and sometimes unconscious travelers that want to come up Highway One, not to mention that a high clearance vehicle is now a requirement to get through the drop-offs. I would like to have better news, but I do not.
I was going to see what Paul’s Slide was like, but I just didn’t have it in me. Maybe next week. Mud Creek was enough.
Cal Trans photograph
Photo of Slide at Salmon Creek
From Cal Trans:
