Tree falls; makes NOOS?

Recently, as reported in the Cambrian, our citizens have lost access to a system of forest trails which connect the neighborhoods of Pine Knolls, Happy Hill and Leimert with Bridge Street and both the East and West villages of Cambria.

Neighbors of Open Space (NOOS) has been formed with the goal of regaining access to the above-mentioned trails. In the near future, NOOS will be meeting with county 2nd District Supervisor Bruce Gibson and a representative of the Nature Conservancy to discuss the issue.

The more people who express interest and/or concern regarding this situation, the better chance we have of accomplishing our goal.

If you would like to lend your support for this cause, please visit this link to sign the online petition: http://www. gopetition.com/petitions/regain-access-to-cambria-trails.html.

Be advised that petitioners have the option of keeping their name “hidden.” This is important for people who want to support, but would rather remain anonymous.

Also, feel free to forward the petition to anyone you think might care about restoring access to the trails.

Adrian Taron

Cambria

‘Christmas magic’

Regarding Christmas magic at the Cambria Pines Lodge: Congratulations to Dirk Winter and your entire team for bringing magic to Cambria with the astounding Christmas Market. What a huge success.  You made your vision reality and brought “joy” to thousands at Christmas time, helping put Cambria on the map.

One gets filled with excitement imagining the benefit to our businesses and our village as word gets out, the magic grows and visitors flock here.

Thank you.

Taylor Hilden

Cambria

Caltrans’ mistake

Caltrans has been a good friend to SLO County bicyclists for a long time. But sometimes people make mistakes, and Caltrans made a huge mistake recently.

In October, Caltrans resurfaced approximately 25 miles of Highway 1 north of Cambria. The method of chip sealing employed large, sharp, angular aggregate that has made this road unbearable to ride. It has transformed a ride along one of the most beautiful stretches of road in the world from a pleasant experience to a bone-jarring, teeth-rattling gauntlet. The surface is so bad that most local cyclists have quit riding this stretch, and those coming from north or south (caught unaware) claim they’ll never ride it again. One experienced rider fell and broke his hip when his wheel slipped into a camouflaged, 4-inch drop off.

Highway 1 north of Cambria is a recreational asset that is part of our county’s identity. Along with the beaches, the vineyards, farmers markets, rural atmosphere and friendly residents, it is part of the tapestry that makes up San Luis Obispo County.

It will be a sad day for our community if Caltrans does not step up and fix the problem they caused.

Sharon Evans

Cambria

Rough road

I  fully agree with the bicyclist’s complaints with the job Caltrans did in repaving Highway 1 north of Cambria. My wife and I recently drove our vintage 1960 Corvette to Ragged Point for our regular lunch date. I couldn’t believe the number of loose stones that hit our windshield and underbody. Besides bicycles, this area of the highway is now rougher on vintage cars.

We travel on several sports car rallies yearly in San Luis Obispo County, and we’ll certainly think twice about attending one that includes this area of Highway 1. My big concern is that this type of coating will be applied to all the future highway repairs in SLO

Hopefully Caltrans can come up with a reasonable solution.

Bob Johnson

Cambria

Letters must be signed (no pseudonyms), with the writer’s address and phone number for verification. Shorter letters (under 250 words) on local topics by local authors are published sooner. Email letters to cambrian@thetribunenews.com, mail to The Cambrian, 2442 Main Street, Cambria, CA 93428; or fax to 927-4708. Letters should be received at The Cambrian by noon Friday to be considered for publication the following Thursday. All submissions become the property of The Cambrian.