The Ghost Tree
of 17-Mile Drive -
Now merely a shadow of its former self, the Ghost Tree, is a tourist
attraction and point of interest on the 17 Mile Drive map visitors are
provided when they pay to enter the gated community of Pebble Beach.
Offering one of the most scenic car drives in the United States, you'll stop
at the map's designated location to view and photograph a bleached white Monterey Cypress
that appears statuesque, but greatly diminished in size. Lighting
to photograph is best in the late afternoon. But look around and
notice a forest of bleached white trees along the cliffs. And
if you stick around on a foggy night, perhaps you'll catch a glimpse of the
Lady in Lace ghost.
If the name "Ghost Tree" causes your
curiosity to peak, you're not crazy. Perhaps you sense a spirit that some
report seeing wandering along this stretch of highway, described as the Lady
in Lace. This region of California does like its lady ghosts and and
describes them with clothing attributes. In Moss Beach at the Moss Beach
Distillery north of Monterey in San Mateo County, The Blue Lady (who always
wears blue clothes) is a ghost featured on Unsolved Mysteries television
show. Lady in Lace supposedly wears a white dress as she wanders along the
road near the Ghost Tree at night, looking sad, then disappearing into
emptiness. Some have hypothesized that this is the ghost of Dona Maria del
Carmen Barreto who once owned a vast region of Pebble Beach. Others
speculate the ghost could be a bride or young lady who lost a loved one,
perhaps taken by the sea either in a shipwreck drowning at this location.
Because of the rocky points offshore and dense fog, this region of
California was one of the most treacherous for explorers who came by ship to
chart California's vast lands. Often on dark, foggy nights along Pescadero
Point and the Ghost Tree location, the Lady in Lace has reportedly alarmed motorists who have swerved to
miss her.
While ghost lore exists around a
stark, sun-bleached tree, a very real ghost offshore is the subject of a
recent film. Ghost Tree is the title of the finale to a new surf docudrama
"Down the Line." Ghost Tree segment was filmed near the actual Ghost Tree,
capturing world class surfing on monster waves that break dangerously close
to shore, injuring those who make even a slight mistake. So dangerous is
Ghost Tree surfing, it can easily take the life of a novice not capable of
handling such extreme conditions. Filmmakers who have chased and documented
the biggest waves in the world have included Ghost Tree along 17 Mile Drive.
A local ordinance was enacted recently to prohibit small powercraft from
towing surfers into position for these once-in-a-lifetime rides in this neck
of the woods. Mavericks and other famous surf contests with monster
waves in San Mateo County (where the other lady ghost exists) have only been
possible via a towing process. So the legendary, monster Ghost Tree waves
epitomize the long-standing Ghost Tree onshore. Wave sets have been measured
at well over 40-feet and when they boom and thunder, surfers say that Ghost
Tree is awake.
