Endopolis

Last night I flew up the coast from LAX to SJC. On these flights I like to sit on the ocean-side of the plane so I can try to spot all my favorite landmarks on the way: Santa Barbara, SLO, Morro Bay, Big Sur, Monterey and Santa Cruz. I couldn't see much yesterday because the coast south of Pt. Conception was shrouded in fog, while north of the point was covered in smoke and haze.

When we started our descent, I could make out the Monterey Bay to the northwest, and then just out to the west was Big Sur. Once I was able to focus through the hazy sky, I could see the smoke bellowing up from the Santa Lucia Mountains below. It appeared the whole range was on fire -- smoke was coming up from seemingly everywhere. I was shocked by how expansive the fires were.

Here's what it looks like from space today: 

We normally visit Big Sur over the July 4th holiday. This year we opted to go in the Fall instead. That turned out to be a good choice, since the whole area was evacuated and shut down during the holiday. I just hope there's something to go back to in September. Cooler air is supposed to come back this weekend, so hopefully it'll help. I understand that burning is often good for nature, but seeing the all that smoke hurt. I can't imagine what life is like for those who've been evacuated from Big Sur, not to mention all the other fires burning in the state.

Last night, I threw together a collection of my favorite photos of Big Sur from flickr -- better and happier times from my favorite place on earth.