Big Sur after the fires?

by Cliff
(VB VA)

My wife & I visited Big Sur in January 2007, and fell in love.

We are planning on returning to the area in January 2010, but have learned about the horrible forest fires there recently.

What is the latest situation, and have you seen first-hand what it looks like to drive the coastline in that area?

Have a great day--Cliff

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Thank You, Nicole !
by: Suzi

Greetings Nicole,

Thanks so much for responding to Cliff and the rest of us about the current state of the Big Sur area - your Monterey website has tons of wonderful information and the pictures you've provided are stunning. I encourage everyone to take a look!

Cheers,
Suzi

P.S. For more about Big Sur and Big Sur attractions

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Big Sur has fully recovered from the fires!
by: Nicole Gustas

Full disclosure: I run the website for the Monterey County Convention and Visitors Bureau: http://www.seemonterey.com/big-sur-california - so naturally, I'm biased!

But I can say with all honesty that Big Sur has fully recovered from last year's fires.

I live about an hour's drive from Big Sur. It has fully recovered from the fires. Here's some recent photos:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/glowingz/3594065795/in/pool-seemonterey

http://www.flickr.com/photos/yourdon/3462736634/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dd-photography/3482039388/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mescon/3485878713/

Last year's fires have actually made it more green and verdant down there. The ash essentially added nutrients to the soil. It's absolutely breathtaking down there.

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This is a Great Question!
by: Suzi

Greetings Cliff,

What a great question - I'm sure lots of other folks are wondering too. The Big Sur fires were, indeed, devastating and many structures and homes were lost. However, the major Big Sur tourist destinations survived relatively unscathed because the fire didn't jump Highway 1. And, as is so often the way with fires, most of the burn was beyond the mountain ridge and out of sight from the highway.

But that's not to say there weren't some very tense moments for such Big Sur icons as Coast Gallery, Deetjen's Inn and Ventana Inn & Spa - fierce battles were waged for their survival!

Unfortunately, I haven't had the opportunity to visit Big Sur since the fires, but I've spoken to people who live and work there. The verdict is: Big Sur is as worthy of our visits today as it was before the fires! Here's a picture of the coastline that was taken on October 3, 2009:

Big Sur, Oct 3, 2009; (CC) bittermelon

I hope this information will help you and others to decide it's time to visit and re-visit Big Sur - you won't be disappointed, I promise!

Cheers,
Suzi

P.S. For more about Big Sur and Big Sur attractions

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