The Monty Parker Memorial is in place. I’ve attached three photos of its new look. In the long distance shot it is extremely hard to see the memorial even using the magnifier. But, in that picture, looking north all the way to Ano Nuevo Point, you can see why Monty loved this place.
I’ll check the bottle by the memorial every once in a while to see if anybody of general interest comes by. When Larry’s fracture heals I hope we’ll have a chance to further explore and document this area. Enjoy.
There is something stirring in the waters off the Coastside. Like Will o’ Wisps flickering in the swamp at night, vague signs of the upcoming non-buoyant marine debris season are appearing here and there. The oddball minor “Vomitorium” at Pescadero Point at Pescadero Beach, coughed up a heaping helping of its specialty: Aerobee Rings, swim goggles, fishing line balls and tire parts.
This always occurs in about a fifty- foot stretch of the rocky cove, right at the foot of the stairway leading down to the beach. Rangers confirm it has been doing this for a long time. Why these non-buoyant items, and very few others, should consistently be regurgitated here is a tantalizing mystery. It must have something to do with specific gravity, but I can’t fathom the details of the sorting process. I do know that out of my collection of hundreds of Frisbees, a majority come from this one spot, my Motherlode.
After stalling at 72 tires for a long time, the past two weeks have seen me bring that up to 74, just 27 short of the art project’s title, “101 tires.”
These two “new” tires were ejected by local vomitoriums, and give notice, the way a rumbling volcano does, that something is getting ready to blow. At those times, I feel like a seagull at the dump, one who senses the pile is going to have a landslide, and during the process, who knows what delicious morsels might be exposed. Caw. Caw.
The huge hawser on Pescadero Beach was another positive sign of things to come. That completely waterlogged thing was a beast.
Getting it across the rocks, then up Pescadero Point’s cliff was a real challenge. It was great to get it home, unknotted, and cleaned up. A true museum- quality- piece- of- marine- debris. I’m trading Meg some buoys and driftwood for her salvage rights, as she saw it first, a critical fact in the world of beachcombing.
While I consider these “signs” of things to come interesting, (with the Aerobee and goggle vomitorium mysterious as well) none have the supernatural aspect some might see in this next matter.
Angelo wrote me after I mentioned the tunnel just north of the Pescadero Beach’s northerly parking lot. I had commented on it possibly being used for explosives storage during WW II or during the construction of Highway 1. Having visited it before the War, Angelo felt it was from an earlier time, possibly related to the Ocean Shore Railroad grading. a bore tunnel or? Well, he might be right.
I reviewed Bobbi Pimentel’s letter, which I mentioned along with several other Pescaderan’s memories about the tunnel, and see that when I read it with just one eye (my excuse) I didn’t get the full picture. Bobbi wrote:
“My Dad, Robert (Bob) Ballard was born in Pescadero along with 11 other brothers and sisters….he took me to the tunnels on several occasions and told me that they were used to store guns and ammunition during the war. He helped ‘build’ them. I do not recall where the others were although I do remember that they were mostly on the coast.”
Bobbi Pimentel may not have been talking about the parking lot tunnel as I had initially assumed, but about the two others I’ve also written about (Prankster’s tunnel and the W.W.II observation tunnel south of “The Cracks.”) I’m going to email her and see if she remembers anything further.
My curiosity about this minor mystery was further fired up by a document on the “PowerPoint Presentation for the Pescadero Marsh.” I noted on a General Plan map document from the 1960’s that two tunnels were marked. The first is the “Hole in The Wall” in the promontory that serves as the south bank at the opening of Pescadero Creek, constructed, probably in the last hundred years, to regulate the opening of the creek. The second is this tunnel. Even more interesting to me, was that the apparently hand drawn symbol for the tunnel has a parenthesis style squiggle, indicating an opening, on both ends.
Well, we went out there, stomped all around, and I’m real sure there was no opening on the north end. Where the map indicates it should be, there’s a sheer hundred- foot cliff and there’s no sign of anything. Plugging a tunnel leaves evidence. For now I believe it was a cave. Why and when it was constructed, and by whom, remains a mystery.
But, while investigating it online, I came upon a bit of pareidolia, that if I were supernaturally inclined, might have me weaving a wild tale about the “Haunted Tunnel” that was closed after the “Tragedy” and never spoken of again. While reviewing all the pictures on the California Coastal Records Project, I noticed this oddity on Picture #198640287.
Blow it up, and it looks like this: You can still see the human face very clearly. It reminds me of a face in the background found in many classic paintings. But, who is it? And what forces created it?
This anomaly is just above the site of the former tunnel. Is it related to the tunnel?
It looks like there was a path from the parking lot to the site of this anomaly. Was it a memorial? Could there have been a murder? a tragedy? associated with the tunnel that has left it haunted? Or covered up and “forgotten” by the local populace? Probably not, but I wouldn’t mind knowing the full story of this former “Hole in Pescadero.” I’ll keep looking. Enjoy. John.
P.S. If you look at the 1986 straight down aerial picture of this area on CCRP (#198640286)you can see the face beginning to form.
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John Vonderlin explains the natural wonder called: tafoni.
Email John ([email protected])
I.
Hi June,
As I mentioned previously, one of the most common of Natural Wonders on the San Mateo Coast, are the rock features called Tafoni. When I first started researching what was causing the unusual formations, I was amazed to find out they were not restricted to the immediate coast, but could be found in the desert or on mountaintops. While the science of their creation in different environments, in different rock types, is still a bit mysterious, here’s the text from a sign that attempts to explain Tafoni.
“The fascinating structures that cover the sandstone are called tafoni, which is Italian for cavern. Geologists first used the word tafoni to describe sandstone formations found on the island of Corsica, and the term “alveolar weathering” to describe the process that created these formations. This complex weathering process that creates the caves, columns and sandy surfaces that are smooth in some areas and covered with labyrinths of knobs and ridges in others, takes place over thousands of years. This is how it works: During the rainy season, water soaks deep into the sandstone and mixes with the calcium that is there. As the water evaporates from the stone during the dry summer season, some of the dissolved calcium is drawn out to the surface of the stone where it forms a hard outer layer called the duricrust. This evaporation process causes any calcium remaining in the interior of the stone to be distributed unevenly so that there are some soft, low-calcium areas and some hard, high-calcium areas. If the outer surface of the sandstone is cracked or broken, the softer parts of the interior erode away more quickly than the harder areas, forming caves, caverns and tafoni formations.”
I’ll attach some miscellaneous photos from my extensive collection. The first photo is from Pebble Beach.
There are a number of better photos online of this type as the combination of Tafoni and the colorful pebbles is irresistible to photographers. The second
is a variation on that same theme, but on a larger scale. I assumed the pictured rock was somebody’s beach art at first until I looked closely. It is just an example of Nature, abhorring a vacuum or finding a hole and filling it. The third photo
is a cannonball concretion with associated tafoni. The last are examples of the myriad of possibilities that tafoni displays along our coast. Enjoy. John Vonderlin
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II. John happens upon Jon Boxerman’s fantastic oddrock site: tafoni.com
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III.
Meet Jon Boxerman
Biography: The Loma Prieta earthquake in October of 1989 was a defining moment in my life. After those 15 frightening but exhilarating seconds, I wanted to better understand the Earth. Shortly thereafter, I enrolled in a year-long earth sciences elective, taught by Mr. Peterson at Gunn High School in Palo Alto, California.
Tafoni, a class of cavernous weathering landforms.
Bean Hollow State Beach, in Pescadero, California is about 3 meters across.
Note the exquiste boxwork weathering in the center of this sandstone outcrop. Photograph by Jon Boxerman.
I attended UC San Diego where I studied Earth Science at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography. I received degrees in earth science and fine art (photography), working to understand the aesthetics and wonders of art and science. After graduation I worked for several years as a field geologist for an environmental engineering firm. I left private industry and went on to receive a MS in geoscience from San Francisco State University. The focus of my masters project centered on tafoni, a mysterious rock weathering phenomenon. While working toward my masters degree I co-taught sixth grade earth science for a couple of years at a San Francisco Unified School District middle school and was funded by a National Science Foundation partnership program called GK-12. Currently, I am studying Learning Sciences at Northwestern University and funded through the Center for Curriculum Materials in Science, a National Science Foundation funded Center for Learning and Teaching. I also am helping build a middle school earth science curriculum as part of the IQWST project (http://hice.org/iqwst/).Thefocus of my research is on how people understand earth systems science and changes to the earth over extreme spans of time and space.
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IV
Thank you kindly for the compliment on the website. I have put a lot of time into creating something accessible for the general public, so it’s always good to get feedback every once in a while. What did you like most/least about the website?
I spent many many hours and days in Pescadero, as it was the primary study site for a pretty intense geology masters thesis project. I know those outcrops well and think about them often.
Please send me a handful of photographs that you think are really great. There are already a ton posted from places in Northern California, so if you can try to find ones that don’t look quite like what’s already posted, then I’ll throw them up there with you name on them.
I’m really happy June Morrall has linked to tafoni.com. I don’t advertise this site or really do much to spread the word, so whenever I hear of people linking to tafoni.com it brings a smile to my face.
With regards to the “boxed” tafoni, I don’t really think all kinds of boxwork is tafoni (if this is indeed what you describe, or is it the screenshot you sent that you are referring to?), although there are little tafoni between some of the concentric rectangular bands and in the center (possible concretion in the center?). Next time you are out there look in the solid bedrock (not weathered by tafoni) for concentric banding, sometimes a purplish or brown/red color. This concentric banding form is called liesegang banding and occurs when super heated groundwater flows through the rocks when they are buried up to mile below the surface. In the subsequent million year time scales since deposition and diagenesis (e.g., mineral rich groundwater flow when this part of California’s coast was being subducted), the rocks have since been uplifted. Some of the bands are enriched in iron and magnesium cements while the spaces between them are depleted. When it begins to erode and weather, the harder more resistant forms are revealed. If you look at the rocks you might notice a cross cutting fracture pattern, these forms are related to this pattern too, but the concentric nature is likely a kind of liesegang banding.
Finally a favor to ask. The tafoni at Bean Hollow (south of the parking lot) are pretty sacred to me. I have been studying them for quite some time and this beach is one of the most equisite examples of tafoniworldwide, but many of them are quite delicate. If you do share this space with others, please tread lightly. They take lifetimes to form.
I just got caught up at Pescadero Memories. I’m especially enjoying the correspondence around Monty Parker. Thanks as always for your gracious words.
I think I neglected to mention that I took a nasty fall during my hike on while getting in position to take a picture of Obstacle 3, The Wall. The good news is that I managed to hang on to my iPhone (as a younger man, it might have been a beer!). The bad news is that I landed hard on my right forearm and shin. The impact was jarring but I shook it off, continued on my way, and pretty much forgot about it.
Several days later, however, the pain in my shin and ankle increased beyond the point of distraction. I made a trip to Urgent Care and discovered that I have a hairline fracture of my right fibula and a sprained right ankle. The doctor advised me to take Motrin for the pain and take it easy. So I will rest up a bit, but I look forward to more coastal adventures. I would love to explore the Seven Sisters with you and perhaps anchor a rope to the top of the Scree Slope. Something to look forward to.
I hope all is well with you and Meg, and I look forward to seeing you soon.
Take care,
Larry
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The picture captioned “Main Notch Cove” actually refers to the cove immediately accessible from above. I was unable to make it into the cove immediately to the north that is bounded by the Notch wall on the north end.
I ascended the Scree Slope to exit WW Lagoon. I would not descend that slope without a rope. I think it would be great to sink a spike in the ridge and leave a rope dangling down the Scree Slope.
Actually I never used Ashaleigh’s rope. Instead, I exited at the north end using the rope you left behind. I then walked back to my car at Scott Creek, stopping at the cliff aboe AMBS Beach to check on Ashaleigh. My timing was good as they were just beginning to climb out.
Thanks for encouraging naming conventions. Here areafew suggestions and requests for assistance:
The Gauntlet – The entire section of coast from Scott Creek north to the Notch
Obstacle 1 – The Moat
Obstacle 2 – Trefiret’s Traverse (apologies)
Obstacle 3 – The Wall
Obstacle 4 – Chicken’s Roost
Obstacle 5 – The Scree Slope (or perhaps “The Slippery Slope)
Obstacle 6 —The Plunge
Your name for the series of arches from WW Lagoon to the Notch – The Seven Sisters?
Please suggest better names for the following three coves:
North Cove (bounded by the Notch wall on the north end
Central Cove (the one with the largest arch and your rope)
South Cove (smallest cove with view of the exquisite arches—part of the Seven Sisters)
Have you heard back from Asahleigh?
Take care,
Larry
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Hi Larry,
Great photos. I can see why you feel it was a superb adventure. That was one fine low tide. Were you able to walk into the Notch or just close enough to take the picture? Looks pretty treacherous with all the slimies. That climb over the Scree slope doesn’t look too bad. I’ll have to try it sometime myself. How did you climb back up it? It would be nice to have an anchored coiled rope there, though. You must have used the rope at the rappel spot to get back on the cliff based on the last shot, of Ashaleigh. How was that?
What do you think of naming the first obstacle “The Moat?” I like the “Channel,” The Scree Slope,” “Chicken’s Roost,” and “The Gauntlet.”
Got any suggestions for the driftwood aided sheer cliff or the traverse spot or any of the other sections? I find it amusing to name them, plus it’s easy shorthand when trying to refer to them. I’ll forward Ashaleigh’s reply and hope we can combine a few of your added observations in a posting. Keep on Climbing. John
To view Larry Fitterer’s beach hike photos, please click here
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Hi June, I was caught by surprise last week when out of the blue the following email arrived. To say it provided a heartwarming answer to a minor mystery that has been bugging me and others for quite a while would be an understatement. Enjoy. John.
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Hi John,
I am here to crack the mystery of Monty Parker, although I must admit it brings me a lot of sadness to be putting an end to his newly created cyber life.
Monty Parker was born in New Mexico under the name Alton Monty Parker. The AM Parker that you found in New Mexico with the same birth date is most likely the mystery man you were looking for, but, the AM in the AMBS Beach sign does not stand for Alton Monty.
All the effort put into deciphering the meaning of AMBS beach was thoroughly amusing and I enjoyed all the effort and creativity that was put into your speculations. I never thought of our sign as a mystery and its great to see my childhood memories of my father grow into a coveted story.
I am one of two of Monty’s children and the rappel site used by the Merry Pranksters is the entrance to our “secret beach”. When I was about 6 and my brother was about 10, my dad took my brother and I to the “secret beach” for the first time. He carried a thick and heavy rope down the poison oak filled path from Hwy 1 while my brother and I followed with our Golden Retriever Chelsea. Then he attached the rope to the same stakes that are still there to this day and tossed it over the edge. I don’t remember being scared or nervous about climbing down the cliff but I think that is because my father never showed us fear and was constantly taking my brother and I on extreme adventures. Then he lowered the dog down in a duffle bag and we all climbed down the rope one by one. When we got to the bottom we started our exploration of every nook and cranny and this is when our passion for our “secret beach” began. After that day no other beach would ever suffice.
We had about 6 years of adventures at the secret beach with my dad, but he didn’t always take us with him. On June 3, 1995, my dad and a few of his friends went abalone diving at our “secret beach”. Monty was an avid diver and had been Navy Seal trained so he was a very capable swimmer. After their day had ended and his friends headed back up to the car, Monty went on “one more dive” by himself. His friends reached the car and my dad never returned. After waiting for some time they went to find him which proved unsuccessful.
Hours later a surfer discovered his body up the coast. The autopsy showed he drowned although the cause of his drowning was unknown, and to this day, still unknown. Only speculations have been made about what could have caused Monty Parker, a very capable and experienced diver, to drown.
I am not exactly sure, through all the chaos of my father’s death, who put up the sign, but I think it was my father’s friends that were with him that day. The sign was put there shortly after my father passed and over the years began to be overgrown. I hadn’t been back to our “secret beach” for over two years now and I was overjoyed to see that it had been moved to a more accessible spot and that it had been cemented. Thank you, from my entire family, to whoever put the time and effort into preserving my father’s memory.
And for the meaning of the sign… AMBS beach is an acronym for my immediate family names: Ashaleigh (me), Monty (my father and the “mystery man”), Brandon (my brother), and Sherry (my mother).
There is a lot to the “mystery man”, his life, and his death. He set off on numerous adventures over his 48 years and made thousands of friends. I only know a small portion of his tales and am amazed by every one. Its nice to know that I could fill in the blanks of at least one of his adventures though the adventure of our “secret beach” seems so plain compared to the escapades he faced before I was born.
In conclusion, your mystery man was an adventurer that never turned down a challenge and always kept people on their toes. There was no whining allowed and no time for sitting around. He constantly pondered the purpose of life and was always trying to learn more by doing.
I find it incredibly touching that my father’s life survives in your thoughts and imagination and want to personally thank you for creating a new and happy memory for me.
John Vonderlin explains the natural wonder called: tafoni.
(Image: Larry Fitterer)
I was caught by surprise last week when out of the blue the following email arrived. To say it provided a heartwarming answer to a minor mystery that has been bugging me and others for quite a while would be an understatement. Enjoy. John.
I am here to crack the mystery of Monty Parker, although I must admit it brings me a lot of sadness to be putting an end to his newly created cyber life.