Carmel Journal Entries

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• Getting Close, Pyrotechnics, Smoke, & Night Fires
  by Barbara Sparhawk

  Amazing night. You can now see flames leaping hundreds of feet into the air on the first visible range in Cachagua, from the hill in fron…

  Amazing night. You can now see flames leaping hundreds of feet into the air on the first visible range in Cachagua, from the hill in front of the post office. That’s about 25 miles from town. Worry about the skillful jump ability of flame. / The sun was setting, a massive cloud of smoke over the valley lit bright pink, totally astounding. It’s getting closer. / We now have a full tent camp for the firefighters set up in the old Carmel Valley airstrip, 500 tents, men, equipment, kitchens, engines. Awesome. They’re great guys. Signs are appearing on fences “Thank you Fire Fighters!” / I went up at sunset. As it grew dark, lights on the camp grounds popped on illuminating the field. Neighbors drove and walked up with their dogs and kids. We looked at maps and got updates. People pointed, talked old stories, asked over and over if the guys needed anything. The community response universally so far is WE ARE SO GLAD YOU’RE HERE!! Zero sense of invasion or imposition. We may be getting national guard or army here too. It’s pretty intense. / So much of Big Sur burned, you just want to cry and cry. And so much saved too, very few houses went considering the size and ferocity of the fires. It sounds like all the resorts and beautiful places in Big Sur got saved, like Ventana, Nepenthe, Esalen, Deetjens, H Miller. Mostly from people refusing to leave and stamping out cinders falling from the sky with their feet! I know it’s going to be hard to look at again. They’ve let people go back to their homes and land, lifted the evacuations from there and Palo Colorado, which did not get burnt after all from what I understand. It’s a bit like hearing gossip and fiction with a bit of truth. All of it drama, some of it actually happening. / Regina and Pat on Tassajara Road have not evacuated yet. They watch the flames shooting off the ridges from their bed at night. Ty is holding firm in Trampa Canyon. Mike’s posting wonderful blogs on his Cachagua Store site with pretty much daily updates, news of crews coming in, feeding the fire guys, songs and beer and attaboys. We’re apparently getting about fifty volunteers from Australia and New Zealand. THANK YOU!! Guys here from Minnesota and New York and Oregon. It’s a thoroughly remarkable experience on every level. / Zero sense so far we’ll get evacuated from the Village, it’s still far from us. Depending on wind direction, you’re scared one day and calm the next. / Late afternoon and into the evening yesterday a huge wet fog moved in from the coast, and by nightfall had covered Carmel Valley. Good news, we were all glad to see it. The weathermen are all fucked up. Predicting heat waves and cooling spells simultaneously, reigning hysteria. Middays out here are hot, in the 100’s. / There’s a kind of stimulated kinship when you meet folks, everybody on a high of adrenalin and emotion, nobody knowing where this damn thing is going to move. Some said the shooting ridge flames last night were from the backfires being lit. They talk about our mountains as the place to hold the line, that ridge is where we make our stand, this canyon may go, that point is in danger, using names unfamiliar to locals….it’s like being in a general’s tent with warfare plotted out on maps. As Mike Jones said in one of his blogs, you get an intimacy and new respect for the land with the google terrain maps you haven’t had from living here. / We’re all in pretty good spirits it seems to me. While it’s frightening to think of the damn thing raging out of control and sweeping the whole central coast, it seems unlikely. I think they’re getting a handle on it, figuring out how to fight it. It’s rough terrain. But we’re strong. And, of course, you knew that. / Best to you all, and heartfelt thanks for your good wishes. / Barbara

• MT. CARMEL & MR. TOAD'S WILD RIDE
  by kotybear

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