There are special places in most of our lives. Returning is like going back to a source. It is that way for us in Big Sur.
It's been a couple of years since we've been able to hike into a redwood forest where the hook of California was set in our heart over 50 years ago.
Pacific storms, years of closure of the magical Highway 1, and fire damage kept us from a camp and hiking trail that has marked the turns of our life.
In our early years there were the camping trips, the great joy of friendship around the campfire and exploring the wilderness. Our first trips were to a private reserve before it became a state park. It was a cosmos away from the pressures of a newsroom and deadlines and urban life.
As our family grew, our daughters grew up hiking into the forest on our visits. Each visit would add a layer of memory of their growth, friends and California dreaming.
Once we became Californians, we were here, often. Our home is an enchanting hour away. But we've not been back for a while and we were more than eager to return.
The road and the hiking spot are open again and it was time for a "homecoming," to the place that launched the dream of "someday" living on the California Central Coast.
A stretch of Highway 1 is closed and there is heavy work underway, so we had the highway to ourself. Ditto our return to deep in the California Redwood forest.
The mystical trees carry burn scars, a couple including an old giant were felled by the fire. New trees propagated. New bridges built.
It was sweet to hear that soul refreshing mountain stream on its way to the Pacific.
I call the trees mystical not only for their age and rarity, but for their ability to sustain fire, and protect the core as seen above. The outer hairy bark is darkly charred, but the wood just beneath that was not.
The heat and flame engaged the taller canopy, killing its ability to feed on mist, rain and take in sun. It died from the intensity of the firestorm. The others in the grove survived as flames did not reach the height that killed the old sentry, now returning to the earth and to the mycelia.
One wonders how many storms and fires these kilns have survived since the 1870's. The Rockland Lime and Lumber company extracted limestone chunks from a quarry in the mountains, used redwood timber to fire the kilns to about 1,700 degrees to create quicklime.
After a couple of days to cool the product was loaded into barrels and transported down the mountain through a canyon on a pulley system or by wagon to the beach where it was loaded on ships and sent north where it was used to build in San Francisco.
It's troubling to ponder how many trees were destroyed in the process. The quotation from John Muir on the bench below refers to them as "kings...spires in the sky..towering serene through the long centuries, preaching God's forestry fresh from heaven." Amen!
The rugged Big Sur coast, mountains and forests are famed for their beauty and the legendary characters and unique life that emanated from here. Keeping the historic highway open is a constant challenge. It made the heart feel good to return. Lana and I are always grateful our pal Jim Cahill introduced us to the magic a half-century ago.
See you down the trail.
