PHOTOS KODIAK GREENWOOD Post Ranch Inn perched along the bluffs above the Pacific AN ICON AD-LIBS Mother Nature forces the hand of a seaside landmark celebrating its 25th anniversary Inside one of the resort‘s six-sided Butterfly rooms; dessert at Sierra Mar I t’s been a surreal year on Big Sur. One of the most spectacular coastlines in the world, the 150km stretch of California’s iconic Highway 1 between San Simeon and Monterey is also one of the most popular, attracting three million visitors annually, who come for the coastal drive’s unrivalled views and stay in the few choice hostelries that beckon among the soaring redwoods. It’s a spiritual place and has been since the 1940s, when hippies, bohemians, beatniks and authors decamped here. But, since February, when record rainfall turned into floods and then landslides, a 56km portion of this incomparable national treasure has been cut off from the outside world, quite literally. And marooned in this now deserted stretch dubbed “the island”, with the defunct Pfeiffer Canyon Bridge to the north and a 400m stretch of rubble to the south at Mud Creek, is Post Ranch Inn: a 40-room property hugging the bluffs overlooking the Pacific that is just as iconic as the setting it inhabits. 2017 was supposed to be a year of modest commemorations for this independently owned inn: the 25th anniversary of its founding, the debut of new-look tree houses and a myriad additional guest services. But, as it turns out, the most feted accoutrement the property has introduced and is purveying amid all the consternation is one that came about as a result of the road closures: a private helicopter transfer from Monterey Regional Airport. “It’s been absolutely amazing,” says Mike Freed, Post Ranch Inn’s managing partner, of the reaction longtime guests have had at being able to sample the natural majesty of the craggy coastline by air and then savour the quietude of this crowd-free Lotusland once on the ground. The lack of cars, except for those owned by the 500 or so residents of this quaint community, means guests can now use electric bicycles to unhurriedly discover tarmac that is usually used by 13,000 cars a day. And local restaurants have opened to cater to the modest influx. More importantly, perhaps, “by staying open, we’ve ensured that at least 120 people, who are our employees and family, have a livelihood during this difficult time,” says Freed. Proving, once and for all, that the indefinable Big Sur spirit lives on. postranchinn.com Farhad Heydari CENTURION-MAGAZINE.COM 49
