r/BigSur

I know that it just re opened, and now I’m seeing it is closed due to a timber fire. I am coming from LA, planning to take my girlfriend to Monterey and drive back down on Big Sur on Friday . will we be able to at least experience part of it ?

Hi all,

Hope you’re staying safe with the fires. I think the answer is none but thought I’d ask y’all after spending awhile checking elevation gains on hikes on the south side of Big Sur. Taking someone out backpacking soon for their first time and am trying to avoid large elevation gain, especially in the beginning of the hike. I know they’d be instantly turned off from it hiking Salmon Creek for example. Goal is to hike about 4 miles out, but between that and the attempt at avoiding elevation I’m struggling to find any good ideas. Appreciate any advice!

I've heard some Esalen old timers mention in years past (in the before times) fire fighters got access to the hot springs at Esalen. Can anyone confirm or deny whether this is currently happening? Thank you!

This is a place to allow for low effort, easy-to-research questions that may not be posted as main posts (Rule 2). They can only be posted as comments below.

This includes, but is not limited to, posts about: itinerary, wedding venue/photographer/caterer, and road conditions. "Low effort" is subjective and will be determined by the r/BigSur mod team.

This post will also serve as an FAQ (currently in progress), to be edited/added to over time.

“The Day the Walls Went Up”
By David “Zackary” Ericksen CEO and Editor (some times author)

We keep blaming the pandemic for all of our social fractures, but we’re looking at the wrong fracture point.

The real shift goes back a generation to the late 1990s—the tail end of the 1900s, for the younger crowd. We had a freedom back then unlike anything today. There were no smartphones, but there was an unwritten trust that people would look out for each other. I remember riding my bike down to the park and disappearing all afternoon; the only rule was to be home by sundown.

My mom could step out back and whistle if she needed us. Was there crime? Yes. Were there bad actors? Of course, probably more than today. But people looked out for kids they didn’t even know because it was the standard, and everyone expected their neighbors to do the same.

It wasn’t just a feeling; it was community trust. With twenty pairs of parents' eyes on the street, accountability was built into daily life. Kids haven't fundamentally changed over the decades. They still absorb everything around them, pushing boundaries and modeling the behavior of the adults in their orbit.

Then came the morning that changed everything.

I had taken the week off to house hunt after relocating from Hawaii to Washington, D.C. I was staying in an apartment building in the southwest quadrant of the city, waiting in the lobby for the moving truck, when breaking news appeared on the TV: a plane had struck the World Trade Center. It seemed like a tragic, inexplicable accident.
Then the second flash of fire engulfed the screen, and fight-or-flight kicked in. We were under attack on our own soil.

I ran upstairs, sent a quick message to my family online, threw on my Navy uniform, and reported back down to assist. I was directed to head out back and monitor the perimeter along the Potomac River waterline.

Standing there with military-trained focus, I saw an aircraft coming in low, looping hard. Being near the airport, low approaches were normal, but this line was completely wrong. It banked steeply, darted between the tree line, and slammed directly into the side of the Pentagon.

The fireball was immense. Like lighter fluid soaked into charcoal, the heat radiated instantly across the water. I don't even remember the sound.

Shortly after, news broke of Flight 93 in Pennsylvania. What we knew of America fundamentally shifted. It wasn't a temporary disruption like the pandemic; it was the original bullet wound.

Almost overnight, the twenty pairs of watchful eyes on every neighborhood block vanished. We retreated inward. As smartphones and personal tech expanded, we began using them to wall ourselves off rather than connect. We raised the next generation to be master masons of their own protective barriers—teaching them to brace for sudden disruption, stand their ground, and never take crap from anyone.

We cannot expect the world to function the way it did when we were kids, or even when we first started raising our own. But retreating entirely behind our perimeters hasn't solved the problem. If we want resilient communities again, we have to widen our aperture beyond our own front doors.

https://preview.redd.it/so4dakcjpejh1.jpg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0f99bc8df0d4cb493d8473880cc48938456774c2

This post will serve as a location for info and discussion on the ongoing Timber Fire. I will update this post as I have time. For now, here are a few resources:

• CalFire Incident Page: map and other info
• Watch Duty: mobile app with map and other info, can turn on notifications for updates
• Big Sur Trailmap: excellent site with maps, trail and road conditions, and info on fire impacts

A good story (not always bad news here) we hope them well on their next adventures.

Hi, I'm supposed to get married at Garrapata State Park in exactly a week. Obviously, with the fire situation I'm not really sure how things are going to go. We have a permit and we were supposed to take photos up and down the coast. Trying to think of alternatives - we mostly wanted photos of the coastal bluffs and water, so if there any backups I should be aware of would appreciate it!

Let’s hope that this keeps the lanes clear for travelers. Once 1 is fully opened again

Hey everyone,

Praying everyone stays safe in the newly developed fire on Big Sur. 12 days until I planned to drive through there - Monterey to Morro Bay on our west coast road-trip.

What’s peoples thoughts who know the area.

Just thinking if I need to plan alternatives now… is there anything we can sub in on the de-tour. Feels like one of the most scenic drives has probably been lost 😞

Hope everyone who lives up there manages to get some luck.

Satellite Passes (with hit timing):

GISsurfer

[Legend: Dark red: < 6 hrs - Red: 6-12 hrs ago - Orange: 12-24 hrs ago - Yellow: 1-7 days ago]

Daily Perimeter with aircraft attacks:

CalFire

[3D map also there, with satellite hits but no timing]

Daily Perimeter with trails:

Big Sur Trailmap

There are others ...