Even in picturesque California, few landscapes are as stunning – or as fragile – as Big Sur. The constant storms and seismic activity that forged its dramatic cliffs and canyons also make its infrastructure a nightmare to maintain.
The primary road through the region, world-famous Highway 1, which clings to cliffs high above the Pacific Ocean in postcard worthy fashion, is almost constantly closed by landslides, isolating communities and stranding weary travelers.
Local hiking trails don’t fare much better.
The Pfeiffer Falls Trail intersects with the Valley View Trail, a lovely loop that provides gorgeous views of the state park clear out to the Pacific.
(Lisa Winner / Save the Redwoods League)
So, as if they had just taken a deep breath and crossed their fingers, California State Parks officials announced this week that one of the region’s most beloved hikes, the Pfeiffer Falls Trail, will finally reopen after a towering redwood collapsed in a 2023 storm taking out its signature pedestrian bridge.
The trail, a .75 mile stroll that cuts through Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park and ends with a stunning view of a 60-foot waterfall, is one of the prime draws for a park that attracts roughly 750,000 people each year.
For such a short walk, the trail has a long history.
In 2008, the 162,818-acre Basin Complex Fire devastated much of the route and surrounding forest. It took $2 million and nearly 13 years to complete a renovation project — removing aged and damaged concrete, rerouting the trail and constructing the bridge — to finally reopen the hike in June 2021.
About 18-months later, that storm arrived and a towering redwood crashed the party.
The Pfeiffer Falls Bridge in 2023 after a giant redwood fell on part of the structure, closing the trail.
(California State Parks)
The tree splintered a 15-foot section of the bridge. Crews salvaged much of the original structure but replaced the damaged section with fiber-reinforced polymer in the hope of making the span stronger and more resilient to its unforgiving environment.
“It’s unfortunate that the trail had to close so soon after our original renovations,” said Matthew Gomez, senior parks program manager for Save the Redwoods League, a non-profit that helped with the repairs. “But our close partnership with California State Parks allowed us to rebuild the bridge better than ever.”
It is a truly spectacular hike. Enjoy it while it lasts.
THEY were the larger than life characters who ruled the MasterChef kitchen for 20 years.
But as Gregg Wallace and John Torode’s reign as judges ended under a murky cloud of accusations of sexist and racist language, the relationship between the two men publicly soured quicker than warm milk.
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John Torode and Gregg Wallace have co-presented MasterChef for 20 yearsCredit: Twitter/John Torode
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The duo’s reign as judges on the show ended under a murky cloud of accusations of sexist and racist languageCredit: PA
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Despite their on-screen chemistry winning them an army of fans, their relationship behind the scenes seems unconventional to say the leastCredit: Shutterstock Editorial
They may have known each other for more than 30 years, but their relationship has always been complicated.
But those who know Wallace, 60, and Torode, 59, best are unlikely to be surprised that battle lines were drawn.
Despite their on-screen chemistry winning them an army of fans, their relationship behind the scenes seems unconventional to say the least.
As Torode once said bluntly: “It’s funny, we’ve never been friends.”
After moving to the UK in the 1990s, Australian Torode was working at a London restaurant when he first encountered Wallace, who was the owner of George Allan’s Greengrocers.
And despite their good working relationship as chef and supplier, in 2013 Torode spoke about his doubts about Wallace for MasterChef.
“In 2005 I was asked to go to an interview about some cooking show and Karen Ross, the boss at Shine, the production company involved, said, ‘I’d love you to do it, but I need to audition people to partner you with.’ I had everyone from AA Gill to Oliver Peyton,” he told The Independent.
“One day she asked, ‘Do you know a guy called Gregg Wallace?’ I had misgivings, as Gregg was big, brash and loud.
The Gregg Wallace Interview Part Two
“Actually, nothing has changed, except no one expected the success the show has had.”
And Wallace had a similar view of Torode from their old days, recalling their first meeting: “It was a hot day and the kitchen door was open into the alleyway and I saw this young brash Aussie chef with his trousers rolled up around his knees, a tartan baseball cap, and a voice that was as loud as his attire.”
But working together so closely filming MasterChef – which returned today – was always going to take its toll on two big characters.
Torode told The Independent: “Spending 200 days a year filming together, we got a lot closer, but any relationship where you spend that much time together inevitably gets strained.
“We used to fight about stuff, as we’re both so opinionated. In the first series it was over [eventual winner] Thomasina Miers, as Gregg had said, ‘There’s no way I want her.’
“Then in the second round he said, ‘I want her.’ And I said, ‘You git, how can you hate someone vehemently one day then like them?’”
6am phone calls
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Torode claimed Gregg used to call him up at 6amCredit: Shutterstock Editorial
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Torode said the pair used to fight about stuff because they’re “both so opinionated”Credit: IAN YATES/FAMOUS
Wallace has said there is no-one he is closer to, other than his mum, than Torode and has praised his former co-star for supporting him with his mental health struggles.
But it has seemed that it is Torode who has wanted to keep their relationship purely professional, complaining about everything from Wallace’s 6am phone calls to his OCD tendencies.
Speaking to The Times in 2022, Torode said: “We know each other so well. But that’s not to say we don’t have our moments.
“With Gregg my issue is the 6am phone calls. Last time it happened I wasn’t very happy and I said, ‘Gregg, mate, it’s 6am.’ And he said, ‘But you’re on my list!’
“That’s the thing with Gregg, he gets up very early and his whole life is diarised and run on lists. Anyway, the next time I saw him face to face I sensed that disturbance in the force — I knew there was something wrong. I said, ‘Mate, come on, what’s up?’
“He said, ‘You weren’t very nice to me on the phone the other morning.’ I said, ‘It was 6am!’ and he said, ‘But I get up at 5am and you were on my list!’
Best man… but ‘not friends’
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Torode was Wallace’s best man at his fourth wedding to Anne-Marie Sterpini
But in 2013 Torode was the one who said he would be open to expanding their friendship, but Wallace’s OCD made it complicated.
He claimed: “Gregg has rules in the dressing-room that are pretty easy to understand as they are vocalised quite often.
“Things like, ‘Don’t put anything on my table, don’t touch my stuff and stay on the left-hand side of the room until lunch.’
“I know that, with his OCD, if I went to his house, say, I’d have to sit in a certain place. It’s frustrating, as I’m open [to expanding the friendship], but I don’t feel Gregg is.
“But he’s also given me so much: he’s taught me the importance of being self-deprecating and he’s made me laugh at myself. He’s fun and very funny.”
But it was just a year later that Torode said they weren’t even friends.
“It’s funny, we’ve never been friends,” he told The Mirror.
“We’ve not been to each other’s houses… He’s so OCD, he wouldn’t know what to do. He’d build it up in his mind for three days, and probably make himself quite sick, then he’d have an argument with his wife and not turn up.
“If I went to his house, he would feel like he wasn’t in control.”
Fractured
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The duo fell out over series one winner Thomasina MiersCredit: Camera Press
Whatever their relationship was before the MasterChef scandal saw them both out of a job, it seems that it is now fractured beyond repair.
The pair were both fired by the BBC last month after a report into the cooking show upheld allegations against them.
The report revealed that more than 40 complaints against Wallace had been upheld, including one of unwelcome physical contact and another three of being in a state of undress.
He has insisted he was cleared of “the most serious and sensational allegations”.
The upheld complaint against Torode related to a severely offensive racist term allegedly used on the set of MasterChef in 2018.
The presenter said he had “no recollection” of it and that any racist language is “wholly unacceptable”.
Despite unfollowing Torode and his wife Lisa on social media, Wallace defended Torode in an interview with The Sun, saying: “I’ve known John for 30 years and he is not a racist.”
But he added: “We never really did get on that well. We’re two very, very different characters.
“But we made bloody good telly together for 20 years.”
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Despite unfollowing Torode and his wife Lisa on social media, Wallace defended him in an interview with The Sun, insisting he is not a racistCredit: PA
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Gregg Wallace broke down while discussing the MasterChef scandal in an exclusive interviewCredit: Dan Charity
