Travel and Fire Safety
People who visit Esalen Institute may encounter two specific problems that affect their experience of the institute.
The most common problem is driving conditions. Highway 1, the principal gateway for visitors traveling to Esalen Institute, is an audacious and problematic engineering accomplishment. The road traverses the edge of cliffs overhanging the ocean. Often it is closed by landslides. Especially during periods of stormy weather, visitors are cautioned to check the status of the Highway 1 before departure.
A much less common problem is the risk of fire. Esalen is surrounded by large tracts of state forests and federal wilderness areas. For this reason, human habitations in Big Sur are periodically threatened by fire. The "Rat Creek" fire, in 1985, damaged some of Esalen's facilities. The "Basin Complex" fire, in 2008, threatened Esalen, but never came close enough to damage the grounds. However, there was a fire in October 2011 that destroyed housing at Esalen’s South Coast Center.
The Esalen community has learned to live with the physical challenges of life in Big Sur, although visitors who are used to different lifestyles may find these problems disconcerting.
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Famous quotes containing the words travel, fire and/or safety:
“I believe that the mind can be permanently profaned by the habit of attending to trivial things, so that all our thoughts shall be tinged with triviality. Our very intellect shall be macadamized, as it were,—its foundation broken into fragments for the wheels of travel to roll over.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“‘Tis the Last Judgment’s fire must cure this place,”
—Robert Browning (1812–1889)
“I nightly offer up my prayers to the throne of grace for the health and safety of you all, and that we ought all to rely with confidence on the promises of our dear redeemer, and give him our hearts. This is all he requires and all that we can do, and if we sincerely do this, we are sure of salvation through his atonement.”
—Andrew Jackson (1767–1845)