I remember the concert, I was 17, and had ridden my motorbike down from the bay area, where I lived sometimes in SF, sometimes around Palo Alto, and sometimes in the mountains along Skyline Blvd, south of where it crosses Page Mill Rd (near Pacific High School). I think it was raining on the way, but the day was lovely. It was wonderful seeing all the bands and I spoke to Joni Mitchell one afternoon. It was behind the stage area. I was just a weird 17 yr old, living in the mountains when I wasn't working with the Palo Alto Draft Centre. I can't remember a lot about the conversation. I remember she spoke about some personal things and I talked a little about myself and politics, and a bit about police harassment that was happening at the time. I remember her saying the way I told some stories was almost funny, if it hadn't been so sad.

I was sleeping on a hillside across from Esalon, but sneaked into the baths in the evening. The baths were underground, three large rectangular baths, fed by hot springs, and one face of the room was open to the ocean, which crashed on the cliffs below. (I understand the cliff eventually sheared off, and the baths are now gone.) There were probably 8-10 people in each tub. David Crosby and some other folks were at the baths. At one point, someone started singing Gregorian chant tones, and others joined in, harmonising with each other, enjoying the way the sound echoed in the stone chamber. It went on about half an hour, and was one of my most magical memories.

I was 21 years old, from Ottawa Canada, just graduated from college and with several friends set out on the "archetypal" journey to California. We had all split up into splinter groups and two of us, myself and Maria were hitching from San Francisco to Los Angeles. We were 'clean-cut' hippies and in those days you could just head out on the highway and get rides BECAUSE you had long hair, not in spite of it. Anyway somebody picked us up and as we reached Big Sur it was something like: "hey lets check THIS out. An impromptu rock festival. The Esalen Institute. The ocean. The beautiful people. How California!" We stayed (I certainly don't remember buying a ticket) and out came Joan, Joni, all of CSN and oh yeah as if that wasn't enough the first public performance of CSN with Y!!!
The whole experience was luminous.
Talk about being in the right place at the right time!

It was the end of summer in Berkeley & me & my friend Janis were wanting to head down south in the worst way, but no wheels. We posted a sign at the student union "2 girls looking for a ride to Big Sur" & on Friday morning two guys from the Oakland Army Base gave us a call. We drove down the highway, them in the front, us in the back, some rattle trap car, maybe a Mustang--on the way there, we were all silent.
Then we got to the concert. Spread out a blanket & dug the show for two days, listening to Joni & CSN, the music bouncing off the cliff walls. Somewhere in the middle of all that, one of our soldiers in the front seat gave me the Look.
On the way back he & I argued politics, war, where the best place to go dancing or hear music. I swore I turn him from the military.
We got married six months later...

Looking at these photos, I wish I could transport myself back in time and be up there on stage with them!