The Smiley Smile Message Board

he'll meditate his way through it, don't worry

Al's ranch is down near the end of Sycamore Canyon rd., just before the beach. The fire is on Pfeiffer Ridge, as I understand it, well north of Al's house. Hope he's ok, though, and all of the Big Sur residents....such a shame, the most beautiful place ever.

Stalkers of Al Jardine, that isn't where he lives. He lives on the moon. Go to the moon to find your hero Al Jardine.

The evening news just did a story, showing it was pretty much contained, just a couple of spot fires.  They didn't say how it got started.  Two houses damaged.  If Al's place was threatened, they probably would have mentioned it.  Sycamore Canyon is mostly low growth, that's what they showed damaged.  The house they did show was not burned, was well cleared near it, but the damage was too close for comfort.  Glad it didn't reach the tree line.  

The evening news just did a story, showing it was pretty much contained, just a couple of spot fires.  They didn't say how it got started.  Two houses damaged.  If Al's place was threatened, they probably would have mentioned it.  Sycamore Canyon is mostly low growth, that's what they showed damaged.  The house they did show was not burned, was well cleared near it, but the damage was too close for comfort.  Glad it didn't reach the tree line.  

I show 15 houses gone, including the fire chief's, who originally alerted residents to the fire.

There's not much cause for humor when a potential disaster is being discussed... poor as the attempt may be.

Was Al playing "Mrs. O Leary's Cow" on his hi-fi set?

Sorry to hear about this - the wife and I spent our honeymoon at Big Sur's wonderful Post Inn Ranch three years ago September (unfortunately, a week before Al's concert at the local library). Hope the fires are indeed contained for good, and hope the damage was minimal.

"My mom went back down to try and help get livestock out of the canyon," Davey writes. "I think she has a friend with a horse trailer coming to rescue the Jardine's two horses," she adds, referring to horses owned by Beach Boy legend and Big Sur resident Al Jardine.

http://www.montereycountyweekly.com/blogs/news_blog/article_aa7cd5ee-6669-11e3-a493-0019bb30f31a.html

Oh. Sorry. Don't wanna be redundant here.

As we speak, the fire is only 5% contained. 200 more homes are still being threatened. It's now about a mile away from the Ventana Inn.

UPDATE: Matt Jardine posted this update on Facebook six hours ago:

Thinking of all of our Big Sur neighbors on pfeiffer ridge who are evacuating & have lost their homes from the wildfires. Very very sad news & my thoughts & prayers are with them. My Dad's ranch, where I grew up, is not out of the woods yet. The fire is very close & is burning on the ridges above his property. Fire crews are working very hard to stop the fire but cannot contain it. Put some good thoughts out there for my pops & other big sur residents please.

Man, that's a drag. I can't find any new info today. Any word specifically on Al's house? 

Oh, and I can't find the Matt Jardine info on facebook.  Do you have to be on his 'Friends" list to get it?

Been there many times.  There are a lot of trees in the canyon along the main road to pfieiffer beach  but coming up out of the canyon and along the ridges there is that Big Sur/California coast grass and brush, brown even in normal rainfall.  This is the stuff that burned all the way along the coast road and into the forests just a short few years back.  The folks out there have a way of coming together in times like thisi.   My thoughts go out to the residents.

As for the location of Al's house, as many times as I have been to pfieffer beach I am still not sure exactly where he lives.  And I've looked.   ;)   Folks will have to have more info than the name of a road or a landmark. So, odds are the hint left on this thread will be of little value and Al's provacy will be intact.

http://www.silentway.com/venue/red-barn-studios

As far as finding Al's house from these postings, good luck! It is easy to get lost trying to find the place, and if you don't know to make turns, those one-lane roads will take you to a dead-end or a gate.

  ~swd

Can you walk us thru the twists and turns to get  there?

Drive for a couple miles
You'll see a sign and turn left
For a couple blocks
Next is Al's, you'll turn left on a little road
It's a bumpy one

You'll see a white fence
Move the gate and drive through on the left side
Come right in
And you'll find Al in his house somewhere
Keeping busy while he waits

I noticed those too, but you have to know who you're looking for to spot him in the crowd.

COMMENT:   Al's property contains not only his lovely home, but the Red Barn Studio, the animal barn, five guest cabins, a garage, chicken coop, storage buildings and a lake.  A few years ago Alan had the forsight to invest in many large barrels of an anti-burn foam. These are bought with the good graces and blessings of the Big Sur fire department. Those residents who have this supply of foam on their property, by arrangement with the fire dept., can expect their buildings to be covered with the foam by the fire department, if the fire is so intense it could ignite by flash-flame. If you don't have foam on your property, the fire department uses water mostly to control the flames. I know he had enough foam for the house, and expect that by now he has foam also for the studio (his most valuable building).  The foam is removed by hose & water.

Considering how fast things grow in BigSur, the loss of green vegetation will be replaced. Most of the extremely large trees just burn a little and come back. It takes a year or two, but the area will return to its beautiful self fairly quickly.

Of course, no one wants to see any damage to BigSur or Al's home, but he is very on-top of all the preventive measures for the area in which he lives. These fires are not uncommon this time of year and are something with which everyone lives and copes who live in BigSur. I have been there when you could see flames over the hill. It's scary for certain!  But they all seem to be (somewhat) use to it and have procedures in place to protect the animals and buildings. 

I thought humor wasn't allowed in this thread. Is it okay to make jokes now that the fire is almost entirely out?

Yes RangeRoverA1,  Big Sur is so beautiful, and Pfeiffer Beach is one of the best along there.  Been there many times, but never even looked for Al's ranch.  I'm sure it's very well guarded.  Al would be friendly if you did though.  He doesn't seem like the kind of guy that would come running at you with a pitchfork.  ...