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Photos show the sweeping vistas that await reopened Big Sur

Piedras Blancas Light Station, on a rugged point six miles north of Hearst Castle along California Highway 1
Clear skies provide a blue backdrop for Piedras Blancas Light Station in early May. The lighthouse is on a rugged point along Highway 1 in Big Sur.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
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A section of California’s scenic Highway 1 near Big Sur that collapsed during a winter storm has reopened, just in time for Memorial Day travel.

The highway has been closed since Jan. 28, when heavy rain unleashed torrents of mud and debris left over from a wildfire, washing a 150-foot chunk of roadway into the sea. The slide occurred about two miles south of Big Sur’s Esalen Institute, blocking northbound coastal travelers from such Central Coast sites as Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, Nepenthe restaurant and Big Sur Campground & Cabins.

A narrow waterfall falls over rocks onto a beach.
McWay Falls drops over an 80-foot cliff at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park in Big Sur.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Crews began to fill the canyon below with compacted dirt in early March. They worked nearly 12-hour shifts, seven days a week, and were able to restore the roadway nearly two months ahead of schedule, aided by dry weather and increasingly longer days, the California Department of Transportation said.

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The work was estimated to cost $11.5 million, the agency said.

An L.A. Times photographer’s early-May weekend trip took in the views awaiting travelers now returning to that stretch of highway.

A long stretch of rocky, tree-covered coastline is met by blue-green waters and misty blue sky.
A view south to the coastline of Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
Ocean is seen through the arches of a bridge lighted softly by a setting sun.
Bixby Creek Bridge, completed in 1932, spans Bixby Canyon on the Big Sur coast.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
An aerial view shows a two-lane roadway between steep hills and an expanse of ocean.
California’s Highway 1 hugs the coastline near Limekiln State Park in Big Sur.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
A field of bright yellow flowers with an outbuilding in the background.
A field of mustard stands out near a white ranch shed north of Point Piedras Blancas.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
A closeup of deep purple flowers.
Echium candicans blooms in the wild at Ragged Point.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
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A woman walks a black Lab on a winding trail with a railing, lush vegetation on either side.
A woman walks her dog along the boardwalk viewing area at the Piedras Blancas elephant seal rookery, south of Point Piedras Blancas along Highway 1.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
A pile of sleepy elephant seals.
Elephant seals lounge on the beach at the Piedras Blancas rookery.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
A man helps a woman climb atop a low fence at a viewing spot, with ocean and rugged coast in the background.
A couple climb up as they take in coastline views in Big Sur.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
An aerial view of cabins bordering a cliff that drops to rocks and surf.
Cliffside cabins have a commanding view on a bluff at Lucia Lodge.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
People relax in inner tubes in calm water with overhanging trees.
Campers keep cool on colorful inner tubes on the Big Sur River in Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
A woman reclines on a fence with an expanse of ocean in the background.
Hilda Pongo of Simi Valley enjoys the view of the rocky cliffs of Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park.
(Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times)
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Trees are seen on a bluff as waves wash up on an empty beach.
Pines top a coastal bluff north of San Simeon along California’s Highway 1.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
A rocky stretch of coastline and surf.
The setting sun sets cliffs aglow along Highway 1 north of San Simeon.
(Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times)
A distant sun peeks through branches that are in silhouette.
The sun sets behind pines at Point Sur.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
Choppy waves are whipped up by wind alongside a gray, overcast beach.
Beachgoers walk on the sand at San Carpoforo Creek Beach near Ragged Point.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
A view of flat, deserted beach and ocean surf rolling in over low boulders.
Wind and waves on the beach along Highway 1 north of San Simeon.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
People are seen on a flat, wide, rocky beach at dusk; in the foreground a campfire burns next to a small tent.
People walk along the shore as a campfire glows on the beach at San Carpoforo Creek.
(Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times)
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At dusk, a lighthouse and a lone building are silhouetted next to the surf.
Night falls on the Piedras Blancas Light Station.
(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

More visual journalism from the photography staff of the Los Angeles Times

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