Mike and I were on our California Road Trip once again and we can to Big Sur. The last time we were here was February 2011 for my birthday and the weather was perfect. This time is was October 2022 and the fog rolled in and stayed for the day. We kept thinking it would burn off in the afternoon, but no chance. This was definitely a new was to see Big Sur with the eerie fog over the coastline and mountains. This stretch of highway traverses the steepest coastal slope in the contiguous United States and is world-renowned for its rugged beauty.
The name Big Sur was derived when the coastline was an unexplored and unmapped wilderness area, and it was simply called El Sur Grande, The Big South. Today, Big Sur refers to that 90-mile stretch of rugged and awesomely beautiful coastline between Carmel-By-The-Sea and San Simeon. Highway One winds along its length and is flanked on one side by the majestic Santa Lucia Mountains and on the other by the rocky Pacific Coast.
Bixby Bridge was completed in 1932 for just over $200,000, the concrete span, one of the highest bridges of its kind in the world, soars 260 feet above the bottom of a steep canyon over Bixby Creek. First, a massive wooden framework had to be built, with materials brought by truck on what was then a narrow, one-way road riddled with hairpin turns. A staggering 45,000 individual sacks of cement had to be hauled up the framework—and this is before advanced heavy machinery could help do the lifting. Each bag was transported via a system of platforms and slings suspended by cables 300 feet above the creek. This gorgeous bridge was completed before the road, and it would be five more years before the road, connecting Carmel-By-The-Sea to San Simeon, would even be opened.
In 1937, the present highway was completed after eighteen years of construction at a considerable expense even with the aid of convict labor. The highway has since been declared California's first Scenic Highway, and it provides a wonderful driving experience.
In 2000, a massive landslide below the highway at Pitkins Curve took out both lanes and closed Highway 1 for 30 days. Restoration required removal of 100,000 cubic yards of landslide debris in 7,000 truckloads. The Pitkins Curve bridge is the only rock-shed bridge of its kind in the United States that was not built because of snowy weather.
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