Fire Returns to My Backyard · Episode 7 of 10 · 11 min
No Timber at Timber Top
A wildfire in August 2026 took the name of Timber Top, a Big Sur ridge long covered in grass and brush. The episode traces the name to the homestead-era tanbark and redwood economy, lists the fires that reached the ridge, and checks the host's memory against trail reports back to 1998. The memory largely holds, with complications, while redwoods survive below and condors fly overhead.
Who's who
- John Partington1874 homesteader who built a tunnel and landing for tanbark and lumber
- Laura PartingtonHomesteader with John at Seaview Ranch on Partington Ridge
- Jaime de AnguloLinguist and homesteader on Partington Ridge from 1915
Where it happens
- Timber Top, Big Sur, California+2 more episodesCamp at 3,068 feet on the Coast Ridge; grass and ocean views
- Boronda Trail, CaliforniaOld ranch route from Highway 1 up to Timber Top
- Partington Canyon, CaliforniaRedwood canyon with the Partington tunnel and landing
- Landels-Hill Big Creek Reserve, California+1 more episodeUC Santa Cruz reserve; burned 1985, 1999, and 2020
- Logwood Creek, CaliforniaDrainage named for the timber economy
Timeline
- 1874John and Laura Partington settle on Partington Ridge.
- 1998A trail report already describes a grassy ridge with no conifer stand.
- June 2008The Gallery Fire, part of the Basin Complex, ignites below the Boronda Trail and burns the ridge.
- 2014A traverse finds pines surviving and saplings emerging south of the camp.
- August 8, 2026The Timber Fire ignites near Timber Top.
Still debated
No source documents who coined the name Timber Top or what trees it meant, so the tanbark-era origin is an inference. Fire alone may not explain the missing timber, since the summit may never have carried heavy conifer forest.