Highway 1 (Coastal Highway), Carmel-By-The_Sea, Pebble Beach, Big Sur and Point Sur Naval Facility

After visiting Monterey we decided to drive back to Lemoore via Highway 1. This road is also known as California State Route 1, Pacific Coast Highway, Cabrillo Highway and Shoreline Highway, and I'm sure there are other names for it too. This is a beautiful drive. Highway 1 is a state highway that runs along much of the California Pacific Coast, and is famous for some of the most beautiful coastlines in the world. It is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System, which limits development close to the highway. The section that runs through Big Sur is an official National Scenic Byway. Below are random pictures we took along the way. I will also put more description in to describe the various areas, but please keep in mind the pictures are random and may not be exactly where the description is talking about.

The coastline through here is beautiful. I didn't realize until after posting this picture how blurry it was, but keep looking as there are much better pictures farther down.

Construction of Highway 1 began in 1919. At that time California Highways were not referred to by route numbers, and the name "Highway 1" came about some 15 years later. The first two approved sections of the highway were Legislature Route 56 from San Simeon to Carmel and Legislature Route 60 from Oxnard via the coast to San Juan Capistrano, intended as links in a continuous coastal roadway from Oregon to Mexico. Over the years various laws extended both sections so that Route 56 ended in El Rio and Route 60 to Capistrano Beach. Eventually Route 56 was further south and now ends in San Luis Obispo.

Over the years other sections were added and original sections were extended. The beauty of this highway just cannot be expressed appropriately in words.

Sunsets on the West Coast were magnificent--this doesn't even begin to do justice.

Over the years various sections of Highway 1 have been renamed to honor various groups. These names include Blue Star Memorial Highway, Cabrillo Highway, CHP Officer John Pedro Memorial Highway, Los Angeles County Vietnam Veterans Memorial Highway, Louis J. Papan Highway, Orange County Korean War Veterans Memorial Highway, San Simeon Highway, U.S. Submarine Veterans of World War II Memorial Highway and Ventura County Vietnam Veterans Memorial Highway.

As you drive down the highway on one side you have the ocean
and on the other are mountains.

The first city we visited on this highway was Carmel-by-the-Sea, usually known as simply Carmel. Carmel is a small town in Monterey County, California, founded in 1902 and incorporated in 1916. The town is known for its natural scenery and rich artistic history. Clint Eastwood was the Mayor of Carmel from 1986 until 1988. The town is also known as being "dog-friendly" with many of its hotels, resturants and stores admitting guests with dogs.

Carmel is also know for several unusual laws, including a prohibition of wearing high heels without a permit, a law that was enacted to prevent lawsuits arising from tripping on irregular pavements.

Carmel has a long Native American, early Spanish and American history. It is mainly thought the Esselen speaking people were the first to inhabit Carmel, but the Ohlone people pushed them south to the Big Sur Mountains in about the 6th century. The first Europeans to see the area were Spanish mariners led by Juan Rodiguez Cabrillo in 1542. He sailed up the California Coast but did not land anywhere. After 60 years Spanish Exployer Carmelite Friar Sebastian Vizcaino "discovered" what is known as Carmel V alley in 1602 and named it for his patron saint, Our Lady of Mount Carmel. The Spanish did not colonize the area until 1770 when Gaspar de Portola and Franciscan Fathers Junipero Serra and Juan Crespi visited the area looking for a mission site. Portolo and Crespi traveled by land while Serra came by ship with the mission supplies, arriving after Portolo and Crespi.
The Colony of Monterey was established at the same time as the second mission in Alta California. Monterey became the capital of California until 1849. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries most of the Ohlane population died out from European diaseases, which they had no immunity to, and because of overwork and malnutrition at the missions where the Spanish forced them to live. In 1821 Carmel became Mexican territory when Mexico gained independence from Spain. On June 3, 1770 the Mission San Carlos Borromeo de Carmelo was founded in Monterey, but was relocated to Carmel by Father Junipero Serra because of interaction between soldiers at the Monterey Presidio and the Indians.

This is Point Sur Naval Facility, also called Point Sur Lightstation. It sits 361 feet above the ocean on a large volcanic rock. Point Sur is the only complete turn-of-the-century lightstation open to the public in California, and is on the National Register of Historic Places. It was first lit on August 1, 1889, and the lighthouse has remained in continuous operation. Lighthouse keepers and their families lived at the site fron 1889 until 1974 when the lighthouse was automated. Established in 1957, the former Point Sur Naval Facility was once part of a worldwide network of defensive listening stations that tracked the movement opf Soviet submarines. The Point Sur Naval Facility is one of the remaining Sound Surveillance System facilities, and the only one remaining on the West Coast. For the most part, other Sound Surveillance facilities were part of larger military complexes, while Point Sur was established as a stand alone, self-sufficient base.

In December 1771 the transfer of the mission to Carmel was complete and the new stockade became the new Mission Carmel. The first church and dwellings were simple buildings of plastered mud until more sturdy buildings of pine and cypress could be built. Even these were temporary until a permanent stone building could be built.

After a final tour of all the missions in 1784 Father Serra died and at his request was buried at the mission in the Sanctuary of San Carlos Church next to Father Crespi, who had died the previous year. The Mission at Carmel also contains California's first library and Father Serra is also known as the "Father of California". In 1833 a Scottish immigrant, John Martin, acquired lands surrounding the Carmel Mission and named it Mission Ranch. Carmel became part of the United States in 1848 when Mexico ceded California as a result of the Mexican-American War. Known as "Rancho Las Manzanitas", the area that was to become Carmel was bought by a French businessman, Honore Ecolle, in the 1850's. He was well known and prosperous in Monterey, and owned the first commercial bakery, pottery kiln and brickworks in Central California. In 1888 Ecolle and Santiago Duckworth, a young Catholic developer from Monterey who wanted to build a Catholic retreat near the Carmel mission, filed a subdivision map with the county recorder of Monterey County and by 1889 at least 200 lots had been sold.

In 1909 Frank Devendorf and Frank Powers filed a new subdivision map of the core village that became Carmel. In 1910 the Carnegie Institution established the Coastal Laboratory and several scientists moved into the area. Carmel was incorporated in 1916. In 1905 the Carmel Arts and Crafts Club was formed to support and produce artistic works. After the 1906 San Francisco earthquake lots of musicians, writers, painters and other artists moved to Carmel to establish an art colony. They were offered home lots--$10.00 down, little to no interest, and whatever they could afford on a monthly basis. Over the years Carmel remained an artist colony with many noted artists establishing residency there. Various cultural centers and theatres were built and Carmel remains rich in culture and history, with the theatres producing many plays, dramas and Shakespearian works.

Carmel is one square mile and has no street lights or parking meters. Businesses and houses have no street numbers. Originally houses were named. Because of this the postal service does not deliver mail to individual addresses, but residences go to the post office to receive their mail. As stated earlier, Carmel is very dog-friendly and allows dogs with their customers. Many restaurants have "doggie menus" and stores have treats and water bowls available. Dogs must be leashed or under voice command. Police take animal welfare seriously and will open cars and site owners after removing the pet. As for the law of not being allowed to wear shoes with heels higher than two inches, people are not cited for not having the permit to do so, but should they injure themselves they will not be able to sue the city without previously obtaining the permits, which are free. Another unusual law was the forbidding of selling or eating ice cream on public streets. When Clint Eastwood was elected mayor, he and the new Council overturned this and other similar laws considered to be too restrictive of businesses.

The next city along the way was Pebble Beach, an unincorporated community in Monterey County. It sits at an elevation of 3 feet and is the home of the famous golf course, Pebble Beach Golf Links. It is actually not a city but a corporation owned by the Pebble Beach Corporation, which is a subsidiary of Plaut, Inc. Residents of Pebble Beach pay homeowners fees for road maintenance as well as Monterey County property taxes. The area is also partly administered by the Del Monte Forest Foundation, a non-profit orgaization designated by Monterey County and the California Coastal Commission. Except for two representatives of the Pebble Beach Corporation all members of the Del Monte Forest Foundation board must be property owners and residents of the forest.

The Pebble Beach Company was originally created as the Del Monte Properties in 1919 by F. B. Morse, grandson of Samuel F. B. Morse, American painter and inventor of the Morse Code and the telegraph. In the early 1900's Morse was appointed manager for the Pacific Improvement Company, an affiliate of the Southern Pacific Railroad. In 1919 he formed the Del Monte Properties Company which included the Del Monte Forest and the Hotel Del Monte (which is now the Naval Post Graduate School in Monterey). F. B. Morse died in 1969. Alfred Gawthrop, Jr. was chairman of Del Monte Properties for some time before its sale to Marvin Davis. Marvin Davis purchased the company and renamed it Pebble Beach Company. In 1985 it was sold to Rupert Murdock, but Davis kept several of the company assets not directly related to the film and television industry, including the Pebble Beach Company. In 1990 Davis sold the Pebble Beach Company to a Japanese Businessman, Minoru Isutane, who made it a subsidiary of the Japanese Resort Compay Taiheiyo Club, Inc. under a holding company called the Lone Cypress Company. In 1999 the Pebble Beach Company was bought from Lone Cypress by an investor group led by Clint Eastwood, Arnold Palmer and Peter Ueberroth. In 2000 the company initiated Measure A, a development proposal that was quite controversial, but the plan was eventually denied. Pebble Beach Golf Links has been the site of the U.S. Open in 1972, 1982, 1992 and will be again in 2010. Famous residents include Clint Eastwood, Alan Shepherd and Charles Schwab.

Next we went through the Big Sur Region. Here the Santa Lucia Mountains rise from the Pacific Ocean. "Big Sur" is dervied from the original Spanish language "el sur grande" meaning "the big south" or from "el pais grande del sur", "the big country of the south". Big Sur's Cone Peak is the highest coastal mountain in the contiguous 48 states, rising nearly one mile above sea level, only

three miles from the ocean. Big Sur has no specific boundaries, but usually is considered to include 90 miles of coastline between the Carmel River and San Carpoforo Creek and extends about 20 miles inland to the eastern foothills of the Santa Lucia Mountains. The northern end of Big Sur is about 120 miles south of San Francisco and the southern end is about 245 miles northwest of Los Angeles.

Three tribes of Indians, the Ohlone, Esselen and the Salinan, were the first people to inhabit this area. Evidence shows they ived in the area for thousands of years and whilw not much of their material culture survived, it is known they traded with other tribes hundreds of miles away. This is evidences by the fact that their arrowheads were made of obsidian and flint and the nearest source of these rocks is the Sierra Nevada Mountains and the northern California Coast Ranges. They followed local food sources, living near the coast in the winter and moving inland at other times. Bedrock mortars, which are large exposed rocks that they hollowed out into bowl shapes to grind acorns into flour can be found throughout Big Sur. The Indians also used controlled burning to increase tree growth and food production.

The first Europeans to inhabit Big Sur were Spanish mariners led by Juan Cabrillo in 1542. Two centuries later the Spanish tried to colonize the ares. In 1769 and espedition led by Gaspar de Portola first set foot on Big Sur near San Carpoforo Canyon. Beacause of the sheer cliffs they avoided the area and pressed inland. Portola landed in Monterey Bay in1770 and established the town of Monterey, along with Father Junipero Serra, who also helped found most of the missions in California. The Spanish also gave Big Sur its name at this time. The Spanish colonization devastated the Indian population, with most of the Indians dying of European diseases or forced labor and malnutrition at the missions.

Big Sur became part of Mexico whe it gained independence from Spain in 1821. In 1834 the Mexican governor, Jose Figueroa granted the 8, 949 acre Rancho El Sur in northern Big Sur to Juan Bautista Alvarado. His uncle by marriage, Captain John B. R. Cooper soon assumed ownership. The oldes surviving structure in Big Sur, the Cooper Cabin, was built in 1861 on the Cooper Ranch. As a result of the Mexican American War Mexico ceded California to the United States in 1848. After passage of teh Homestead Act in 11862 a few people moved into Big Sur drawn by the promise of free 160 acre parcels.

From the 1860's through the turn of the century lumbering cut down most of the redwoods along the coast. Along with industries based on tanoak bark harvesting, gold mining, and limestone processing the locla economy provided more jobs and supported population than today. In the 1880's there was even a gold rush boom town, Manchester, that sprang up at Alder Creek, but it was abandoned soon afte rthe turn of the century and burned down in 1909. There were no reliable roads to supply these industries and small boat landings were built, but none of these exist today. The rugged isolated area kept out most people. A 30 mile trip to Monterey coold take three days by wagon.

After teh industrial boom, decades passed with few changes in Big Sur. As late as teh 1920's only two homes in the entire region had electricity and this was locally generated by water wheels and windmills. Most of the population of Big Sur lived without electricity until the early 1950's. Big Sur changed qickly when Highway 1 was completed in 1937 after 18 years of construction. Highway 1 altered the local economy and brought the outside world much closer. Ranches and farm quickly gavfe way to the tourist industry and second homes. Even so development was still limited, due largely to residents who fought to preserve the land. he Monterey County government won a landmark case in 1962 affirming its right to ban billboards and other visual distractions on Highway 1. The county the adopted one of the country's most stringent land use plans, prohibiting any new construction within site of the highway.

These pictures do not even begin to do justice to the amazing scenery in this area. Becasue the area is so rugged there are many areas that you can pull off the road so you can just aze at the view. There are very few hotels--most of the places to stay overnight are camping areas or expensive resorts. Every so often way up on one of the mountains you would see a home and wonder how the people who lived there got back and forth. The towns and cities are mostly gated communities and you rally don't see many home as they are behind old trees and fences to hid them form view and take away from the beautiful scenery. As you ride down the road you have mountains on one side, the ocean on the other, and then all of a sudden you see a sign saying you are in a National Forest.

The sunsets on the West Coast are spectacular and so much more colorful. As you drive down the highway with the mountains on one side and the ocean on the other, you also notice huge volcanic rocks out in the water. On these are hundreds of sea birds and sea lions and when you get out of the car you can hear the sea lions barking. There are huge kelp gardens in the water. Most people who know me know I am not overly religious, but in traveling through this area I know there is a higher being. I know there are geological explanations for the formation of the mountins and seas, but this area is beyond words. At every bend in the road you want to stop and take another picture. Some day I am going to go back and take more time to explore this area more fully. I just cannot do justice to the description of this area. I will go a long way before I ever see anything to equal this.