Big Sur’s $10 Gas Station
Gorda is a tiny off-grid outpost along Highway 1 in Big Sur, where proprietor Leo Flores manages a gas station, restaurant, stores and cabins. Fuel prices there have long ranked among the highest in the United States, and rising costs tied to the Iran war have pushed them higher still. A small group of employees lives and works on site, while travelers drift through for gas, food, a room, or simply a pause along the coast.
•
– Shot on commission for the New York Times –
There is no cell service for miles.
Gorda materializes without warning.
Gorda operates off the grid. Its generators burn several thousand gallons of diesel each month, whether customers come or not.
Most people don’t come to Gorda.
They happen upon it on their way somewhere else.
Travelers pass through Gorda, but the staff stay.
Some have lived and worked there for decades.
After sunset, the traffic thins and Highway 1 goes dark.