California fires affecting route planning?

[jocmel]

Hi there,

does anyone know to which extend the recent fires in California would affect our trip planning for September? We would like to make a roundtrip S/F to Las Vegas and then heading to the coast slightly north of L/A. Then travelling the shore line back to S/F. As far as I know the Big Sur was quite heavily affected by the fires. Any recommendations there?

Thanks a lot,
Jogi

[AZBuck]

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

It's a bit too soon to know what the situation will be over a month from know, but this discussion is where people are talking about current road closures and has a link or two that should prove informative.

AZBuck

[Mark Sedenquist]

As far as I know the Big Sur was quite heavily affected by the fires. Any recommendations there?

Like AZBuck mentioned, it can be tough to make predictions two months in advance -- I can tell you that a RTA correspondent drove a section of the Big Sur coast yesterday (below) you can see it is still very smoky.

Here is a great tool that uses the MODIS satellite data and Google Maps for determining if there are any active fires along a planned route.

Realistically, this area is going to be smoky until it rains in November or later. There aren't enough human resources in the state to get this fire completely put out until rains. Of more more importance is the rock falls and dirt slides that are already affecting the highway -- as the soil loosens, rocks and other debris will continue to slide down the hillsides to the road. The state highway department is working diligently to keep this cleaned up -- but it's going to be very tricky.

Dan's field report: "...The fire fighters did a great job keeping the flames away from the buildings in the valley, but the hillsides for miles around are moonscaped. There are little piles of rocks and debris raining down on the highway too. Can't imagine how impassable it will all be this winter during the rains..."

I can also tell you that you will find shop owners and motel hosts very interested in your business -- they will be hurting big-time from all of this.

But, the rest of your trip is very doable -- here are some tips and suggestions for planning it.

Happy Planning!

Mark

P.S. The photo is by Dan Sedenquist