Pico Blanco is a fascinating mountain along the Big Sur coast rich in history and beauty. Meaning “White Peak” in Spanish, the mountain is aptly named with a distinctive white apron of limestone on its upper slopes. Towering 3,709 feet above the Pacific Ocean, Pico Blanco’s distinctive cone shape and striking white limestone make it arguably the most recognizable peak in all of the Santa Lucia mountain range and a sentinel of the Big Sur coast. Legend has it that the Essalen Native American people believed this mountain to be sacred and the source of all life. The Little Sur River and its south fork have carved deep canyons around the peak (separated by Dani Ridge) with an impressive stand of lush redwoods at the bottom complete with a carpet of redwood sorrel. The lush setting by the stream contrasts sharply with the hot slopes above, which are largely composed of oak woodland, grassy meadows, and rock. The mountain is particularly dry on its south and west slopes, which can swelter in the summer heat and become a frenzy for flies and other insects. The vistas from the summit are breathtaking and include Post Summit & East Molera Ridge, Andrew Molera State Park, the Little Sur River canyon, Ventana Double Cone, Cone Peak, and many other interior Ventana peaks. The Little Sur River Trail is accessed from the Old Coast Road, which is beautiful drive with amazing coastal scenery in a bucolic setting of an active cattle ranch. The windy dirt road is passable in passenger vehicles if it hasn’t rained in awhile.
Pico’s distinctive white limestone is reportedly one of the largest deposits of limestone in the Western United States. While beautiful to look at, the limestone is also a valuable resource to a private landowner, who owns the summit and other portions of the peak amounting to around 2,800 acres (note the private land and respect it as such). The landowner’s desire to extract the limestone by proposing to blow off the top few hundred feet of the peak became the subject of a landmark land use decision from 1987 – Granite Rock v. the California Coastal Commission – which pitted the mining company against the State of California, the Big Sur Foundation, and attorney generals from eight western states. The landowner argued that the State was trying to interfere with use of federal lands but the State contended that it had the right to regulate a mining use so that it be carried out in a more environmentally sensitive fashion. Justice Sandra Day O’Connor wrote the majority opinion in a 5-4 decision that decided for the Coastal Commission and established the states’ ability to impose reasonable regulation on federal land use and activities. 25 years since the decision, the mining company still owns the mountain but has not proposed any mining plans and therefore has not applied for a coastal development permit from the Coastal Commission. The result is that the mountain remains pristine and unfettered. Below are some photos from the Little Sur canyon and Pico Blanco, with the first photo of Pico Blanco above taken from East Molera Ridge.