Big Sur Ca

Sometimes visitors to Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park are so enchanted by the spectacle of McWay Falls tumbling into the Pacific that they overlook this Big Sur park's considerable back country--more than 3,600 acres of dramatic ridges, oak-dotted meadows and rugged, redwood-filled canyons. Ewoldsen Trail, named for the former ranch foreman who fashioned this path from a onetime logging route back in 1933, tours McWay Canyon and surrounding slopes.

California Highway 1 was reopened here Sunday as firefighters continued to gain the upper hand on a two-day-old wildfire that charred 668 acres of the nearby Los Padres National Forest and Ventana Wilderness. The fire began Friday atop a ridge about a mile from Pfeiffer-Big Sur State Park and eventually forced the evacuation of campgrounds, restaurants and 25 homes, said Joanna Guttman, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Forest Service.

Light winds and cooler temperatures aided firefighters Monday in their battle against a 668-acre blaze, the second major wild fire on the scenic Big Sur coast in less than a month. The fire was expected to be fully contained by Monday night, said Los Padres National Forest spokeswoman Kathy Good. The cause of the fire, which began Friday about 30 miles south of Monterey and Carmel, remained under investigation.

Ugly clouds of acrid smoke continued to hang over the rugged Big Sur area Monday, but crews battling fire with fire made steady progress against a blaze that charred 14,300 acres since it started a week ago. The arson fire that started Oct. 7 about 25 miles south of this scenic coastal town was 95% contained by midday Monday, said Kathy Good, a U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman. "Don't be surprised if that acre figure grows," she said, noting that firefighters will add to the toll themselves.

Fire crews set backfires Sunday hoping to thwart a 10,500-acre wildfire that was burning along the steep slopes of Big Sur. The backfires were set along a road about two miles north of the steep terrain where the main blaze was burning. "That's the line we're trying to hold from," said Rich Tobin, a spokesman for the Los Padres National Forest. As of mid-evening, the blaze was 60% contained, although fire officials said they did not know when there would be full containment.

Rugged terrain hindered firefighters Tuesday as they battled the second wildfire on the scenic Big Sur coast in less than a month. The blaze grew from 668 acres to 875 acres and containment lines decreased from 85% to 59%, said Maeton Freel of the Los Padres National Forest. Authorities had hoped for full containment by 6 p.m. Monday, but a flare-up jettisoned that estimate and the blaze "just took off," Freel said.

A wildfire along the scenic Big Sur coastline more than doubled in size Saturday, sending vacationers and residents packing and closing two state parks and the California 1 highway. By 6 p.m., the fire had burned 650 acres. Officials evacuated residents from 25 homes and five businesses and asked vacationers to leave the area. The fire started Friday afternoon and was burning Saturday in Pfeiffer-Big Sur State Park and the Ventana Wilderness. The fire was 45% contained Saturday night.

Big Sur means different .jthings to different people. To renowned photographer Ansel Adams it was both artistic and spiritual inspiration. To locals it's the Monterey County village of Big Sur, with its post office, roadside businesses and campgrounds, lodging and information station. To the casual tourist, it's a stop at the restaurant Nepenthe for a cappuccino, an Ambrosia Burger and a stroll through the Phoenix gift shop.

After four days of weather-induced isolation for all but the most adventurous, customers at the Big Sur Center Deli couldn't agree Tuesday whether they preferred the new seclusion or longed for a return to normal. Outside the small store, the usually noisy California 1 was nearly deserted because of a downed bridge over the Carmel River 25 miles north. Kaye Sanders, a reformed New Yorker who lives in Big Sur, liked the silence just fine. "This is not a problem," Sanders said.

In the '60s, I grew to manhood, moved to California and learned what my sign is. I picked up new words, such as \o7 karma, mantra, chakra \f7 and \o7 ashram.\f7 I heard wondrous tales of a magical retreat on a bluff over the Pacific, a place where I might find George and Ringo and Ravi and the Maharishi. And then I heard something just awful, just disgusting. There were middle-age people there, and they ran around naked. Turned my stomach.