I can’t believe it, there has been yet another Devil’s Slide related fatality! At the time of writing the cause or circumstances surrounding the man’s death are still not clear, I’m sure events will unfold in the next few days. I called the abandoned car in to the Sheriff at 9.10am this morning on my way to work, I had seen the car parked in the turn out near Grey Whale Cove Sunday lunchtime and got suspicious when it was still there on Monday morning. So some of the reporting is a little off fact-wise in these links, but here are the HMB Review and SF Gate reports.

So the predicted storm hits us, it rains hard and the wind blows. All hell breaks loose, sadly a person dies and people are trapped in cars in a nasty head on collision on the slide, this road has claimed so many lives. To add to the misery our power has been out for hours, I’m stuck at home gridlocked in with no power, only a few bars on my trusty iPhone to communicate to the outside world.

Explorer – Just Outside San Francisco, a Wild Coastline – NYTimes.com.

Looks like we made it in to the travel section of the New York Times.

Recent graffiti at Montara Beach parking lot

I don’t like graffiti. But… I found this sort of amusing and misguided all at the same time, the person(s) who spray painted this concrete barrier is obviously referring to the recent accident where 24-year-old Jesse Garcia drove over the edge of the slide. They may be friend or family or just a citizen with an opinion (and no sense of civil pride). From what I have read this would not have stopped the guy going over the edge anyway, he apparently was speeding in dense fog. Next time please try writing to Cal Trans with your suggestions rather than make an ugly piece of concrete even uglier. But hey, don’t stop caring.

This is one lucky guy! As I drove to work this morning I saw the twisted skid marks and the impact site on the old stone barrier. Anyone who knows this road must wonder what was going through his head as he plummeted 150ft toward the rocks and certain death (it’s around 300ft high there), must have needed to change his shorts, that’s for sure. Lesson learned: Devil’s Slide+Fog+speed=TROUBLE.

Read the full story in the SF Chronicle

Inside the Devils Slide tunnel ©CalTrans. Photographer John Huseby

I was thinking just the other day how awesome it would be to get a tour inside one of the tunnel bores, and of course take my trusty Canon 20D with me.
Imagine being INSIDE the mountain deep under the rock which has not seen the light of day for probably many millions of years. Well chances of that happening for me are pretty slim, but there is a very lucky HMB photographer by the name of Larrs Howlett who got that chance. Here is a link to a slideshow gallery of his exciting visit into the very bowels of the mountain. Great shots, I’m very jealous…. There is also an Official Caltrans Photography Catalog by photographer John Huseby. Enjoy.

A Millbrae man has pleaded not guilty to charges that he caused a deadly Saturday accident on Devil’s Slide that resulted in the death of a 32-year-old woman. [Read more →]