In mid-January, a neighbor found a resident in his 70s collapsed in his home. An ambulance could come only as far as the southern closure.
Four members of the local volunteer fire brigade considered hiking across Polar Star Slide with the man on a stretcher, but heavy rain rendered that option unsafe, recalled Mike Handy, 31, the son of John Handy and a volunteer firefighter.
Hours later, after nightfall, with all other options exhausted, the man was airlifted by a National Guard helicopter to a hospital in San Luis Obispo, he said.
It was a few days later, once the rains had stopped, that the older Mr. Handy, a toy designer who now runs the Treebones Resort, mulled over his own risks of hiking across the slide on foot in defiance of sternly worded orders from local and state officials.
His granddaughter, Cici, was turning 2 soon, and he wanted to again see his newborn grandson, Lev. They lived south of Polar Star Slide in Morro Bay.
The danger seemed contained, and he thought it would be safe for him to walk across the 100 yards or so to the outside world.
But he ultimately decided against it. Instead, he later managed to talk road workers into letting him through a closure up north, he said — and he drove the long way around, two hours north, then two hours south on inland roads to make it to Morro Bay. He dressed as a giraffe and his wife wore a kangaroo costume for the animal-themed birthday party.
“It was her special day,” he said. “You can’t miss that.”
