Basin Complex Fire

Highway 1 through Big Sur has been open for a couple of weeks after being closed for about that long due to a massive plague of lightning caused wildfires called the Basin Complex. Last Friday I went down to the area for the first time since the fires; had an alfresco breakfast at the River Inn, which had been one of the firefighters' bases, then went another ten miles south and checked out the scene. Here's a view of the Santa Lucia mountains from near the Ventana Inn. Before the fires, these hills were brown, covered with chaparral. Now, gray; virtually everything burned. Most trails inland from highway 1 are closed due to debris, and I reckon simply because it would be rather unpleasant hiking through miles of ashes.

The fire burned right down to highway 1 in many places from Andrew Molera SP down to Julia Pfeiffer Burns SP. The crews used the road as a firebreak, and I didn't see any burned areas on the ocean (makai) side of the highway. The fire crews saved all the major buildings in the area; the Ventana, Post Ranch, and River Inns are all OK. However, about two dozen other buildings burned, mostly private homes in the woods.