August 25, 2011

August 25, 2011

I am not sure the attraction of Big Sur. The view of the rugged coast is often hidden by fog; and the water is bone-chilling cold. We head back north thru fog again to Monterey. We have been to Monterey before on vacation so we pass it by and head towards the San Francisco area. In the town of Martinez, we stop and visit the John Muir National Historic Site. The site is the former home and grounds of this famous conservationist. When I hear the property at one time was 2400 acres I thought that environmentalism (ala Al Gore) must be a high paying job. Only later I find that he got his money the old fashioned way, marrying into it.

We toured the house and remnants of his fruit ranch. It was mostly uninteresting. I was left wanting more information on Muir’s life. Unfortunately the small Visitor Center is closed for remodeling. Muir is well known as the founder of the Sierra Club but I was surprised to learn that Muir was much more, a true “Renaissance man”. He was also a writer, traveler, fruit rancher, inventor, botanist, and geologist. The list of what he wasn’t seems shorter.

One of the other buildings has a lot of exhibits on the Juan Bautista de Anza National Historic trail. I am familiar with Anza living in Tucson. In 1776, he led a huge group of settlers 1600 miles from Mexico past Tucson to San Francisco hoping to cement Spain’s hold on California.

Muir is also headquarters for the Port Chicago National Memorial. The Memorial is just north of here and is the site of a massive explosion of a munitions ship that occurred during WWII. Unfortunately it remains a Naval weapons facility and access is very limited and irregular. I give the ranger our details hoping the Navy will clear us and tours resume soon. I am not holding my breath.