Pebble Beach — Ghost Tree (Pescadero Point)

The Ghost Tree stands at Pescadero Point along 17-Mile Drive: a stand of wind-contorted, bleached Monterey cypress, dead and skeletal against the Pacific. Below it, the surf break of the same name is known for storm waves as large as 60 feet. Federal regulators eventually banned the personal watercraft that tow-in surfers depended on in these waters, effectively closing the break. The tree remains. The waves still come.