Isolated and alone, how Big Sur is functioning in a time of crisis

Right now, Big Sur is an island.

It started with a blast of consecutive atmospheric rivers slamming into the community at the edge of the continent in January 2023. The violent storms resulted in a landslide where some 500,000 cubic yards of debris were deposited on a stretch of Highway 1 called Paul’s Slide near the southern end of the 71-mile swath of coastline that defines the region. 

Work on the slide that took out the road started after the historic stormy season ebbed, and it continued through last summer and fall as a reopening date kept getting pushed back.

The one way in and out diminished summer and fall crowds and cut into local business. But it didn’t seem to dampen locals’ spirits, as they coined the region “America’s most beautiful cul-de-sac.” While many businesses in town used the extra time off to regroup, make repairs and figure out just what the future held, the decidedly optimistic and upbeat attitude of Big Sur locals has its limits.

“For the businesses and employees, now it’s about taking a very hard look at the economic impacts,” Kirk Gafill, owner of the famed restaurant Nepenthe, told SFGATE via phone Tuesday. “When the highway reopens, we’re looking at a pretty robust rebound, [but] it’s very much in our interest to do the best we can to really support our employees through this challenging period.”

Just as Big Sur residents were getting indicators that the road would be open in spring, a series of February storms reminiscent of the year prior hit the area’s coastline with both barrels.  

By mid-February, storm-related landslides closed another 10-mile stretch of Highway 1. A rockslide lopped off a section of highway just south of the Rocky Creek Bridge in the heart of Big Sur and sent it down a cliff. As soon as that happened, the region shut down completely to visitors, and only residents and essential workers could enter via convoys that started near a roadblock at the intersection of Highway 1 and Palo Colorado Road. 

Last weekend, after nearly two months of the convoys, Caltrans temporarily paused even that limited traffic, forcing locals to stay put. On Friday, Caltrans released a statement that said the road would be operational in one lane with a signal by May 27 — the Monday of Memorial Day weekend, effectively continuing the convoys and the locals-only isolation for another six weeks. 

It has been, in the words of several residents, “a lot.” 

“We’re certainly in triage mode now when you have as many experiences as we’ve had in short order,” Nepenthe’s Gafill said. “It’s not novel or new to the community of Big Sur … but we’ve never had this many events in such a short time frame.” 

Gafill, whose historic restaurant was started by his grandparents, temporarily shut down the restaurant in March after the latest landslide and road closure. 

He said the decision was made in part to complete seasonal repairs and in part because there just isn’t enough visitor traffic for the restaurant to remain open. The announcement that the area would be cordoned off to members of the general public through Memorial Day weekend had a “big psychological impact,” he said. 

“The big change for businesses, because the public is not allowed to come down in convoys, is there’s virtually no business. It’s all residents,” Gafill said. “As a result, a handful of properties have stayed open to serve the community in a limited way.”

“Everyone assumed it was going to be something significantly shorter in duration,” he added, noting he hopes Caltrans’ timeline is a conservative one that would possibly “allow for an earlier opening.”

Caltrans spokesperson Kevin Drabinski told SFGATE Monday he understands the urgency residents and businesses in Big Sur feel. The main priorities of the agency, he said, are twofold: to complete projects in a safe and timely manner and to give out current and realistic timelines.  

“It’s very rare that any construction or maintenance work takes place at night,” he explained. “It’s not entirely unheard of, but it’s clearly the exception. Once we get a crane on-site and can drill a horizontal shaft in the vertical face of the slope, we’ll be working night shifts, because it’s a lifeline for Big Sur business.”

“When you’re going to night shifts,” he said, “it’s emblematic of our intention to reopen this highway.”  

While Caltrans gears up for round-the-clock work, a handful of the essential businesses in Big Sur have their signs turned to open for locals while they try to find little community comforts in this time of forced isolation. 

“For us, we do have a consistent stream of people coming in due to Nepenthe being closed, Fernwood being closed, and Deetjen’s not doing dinner right now. We’re kind of one of the only options left,” Steve Mayer, the manager of the Big Sur Taphouse, told SFGATE over the phone Tuesday.  

The taphouse shares space with the Big Sur Deli. Right now, both businesses combine to be a place for locals to get essential supplies, share news of the day, and maybe take a seat on the back patio and enjoy the solitude. “I mean, for us we have to stay open and rely on who’s down here to stay afloat,” Mayer said. “They rely on us, too.” 

On cue, Mayer excused himself: A customer had come in to settle up a tab from the previous evening. Mayer and the customer briefly caught up and shared a quick laugh before he bid her farewell. When the taproom manager returned to the phone, he mentioned that it’s important to have spots like the deli and bar as gathering places for the community to feel “normal together.”  

“You have to be ready to roll with the punches and adjust with what nature provides,” he said. “You definitely have to have the mentality for being ready for anything.” 

Monterey County spokesperson Nicholas Pasculli told SFGATE via phone Monday that the county is “very involved in facilitating conversations with businesses and residences, including the hospitality industry,” about the near- and long-term future.  

“The Big Sur community has been tremendous. They’ve been resilient and helpful and adaptable,” Pasculli continued. “They’ve been wonderful, and they’re helping each other from the early stages of this emergency. They’ve done a tremendous amount helping individuals through the challenge of these closures.” 

And while Nepenthe’s Gafill agrees that the most recent challenges have resulted, thus far, in the tight-knit community growing even closer, he admits that some broader — and perhaps more existential — questions about staying in this area remain.  

“There’s a lot of ongoing conversation,” he explained. “All the agencies are looking at impacts from climate change, if that’s the issue here or at least a contributing factor. There’s probably a lot of room for dialogue and improvement and funding to see what can be done that’s more preventative and about whether this is a historic anomaly or an indicator of the future.” 

But those conversations about what happens next are overshadowed by the extreme day-to-day difficulties, Gafill said.

“There are a lot of competing needs: our older population that might need medical help, parents with school-age children, vendors, employees,” he said. “It's a tough situation to remain as functional a community as possible and try to get as close as we can to normal.” 

In the meantime, residents who are now landlocked instead of on a cul-de-sac are making the most of the time together knowing that nothing — not even tough times — lasts forever.  

“People down here are high-spirited and optimistic,” Mayer from the Big Sur Taphouse concluded. “We have this time together. I’m lucky to be able to stay open — and kind of normalize life.”