Massive landslide covers Highway 1 in southern Big Sur

[TexasTowelie]

BIG SUR – Caltrans said Monday its unclear how long Highway 1 in southern Big Sur will remain closed after a landslide covering between a quarter and a half mile brought millions of cubic yards of dirt and rock down the hillside at Mud Creek on Saturday.

According to Caltrans spokeswoman Susana Cruz, there are five active landslides in the area, which is about 9 miles north of the southern Monterey County border. It’s believed four of the slides came down together at about 9:30 p.m. Saturday. Springs in the area keep the soil muddy, she said.

“There was so much saturation and so much weight,” Cruz said.

Kirk Gafill, president of the Big Sur Chamber of Commerce and Nepenthe Restaurant’s owner and general manager, grew up in Big Sur. Gafill, 55, said the only landslide in the area he can remember that was as big as the one at Mud Creek was in 1983 just north of Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park.

Read more: http://www.eastbaytimes.com/2017/05/23/massive-landslide-covers-highway-1-in-southern-big-sur/

[Adsos Letter]

1. Wonder if anyone is underneath all of that dirt.

[petronius]

2. If it wouldn't screw over so many people, I'd say we should abandon that stretch of

highway in favor of a hiking/biking/equestrian trail. Put a trailhead at Piedras Blancas, and another near Bixby Bridge, and you'd have a great ~70 mile crowd-free excursion!