On Sunday morning while church bells rang in the villages alongshore, the world and its mistress returned to Gatsby's house and twinkled hilariously on his lawn.
"He's a bootlegger," said the young ladies, moving somewhere between his cocktails and his flowers. "One time he killed a man who had found out that he was nephew to Von Hindenburg and second cousin to the devil. Reach me a rose, honey, and pour me a last drop into that there crystal glass..."
"Who is this Gatsby anyhow?" demanded Tom suddenly. "Some big bootlegger?"
"Where'd you hear that?" I inquired.
"I didn't hear it. I imagined it. A lot of these newly rich people are just big bootleggers, you know."
"Not Gatsby," I said shortly.
He was silent for a moment. The pebbles of the drive crunched under his feet.
"Well, he certainly must have strained himself to get this menagerie."
- F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
About this Area
The first American homesteaders in this area were John and Laura Partington and their family, who bought the lands here in the 1870s. One local story tells of their first arduous trip down the Big Sur coast in the days before any road was put through. At one point one of their mules fell over the trail, dragging three other tethered mules with it and a considerable portion of the Partington's household goods, including their precious sewing machine. One of the men they hired to help them make the move died while trying to recover some of the goods which fell to the rocky shore below. So drive carefully on Route 1!!
The Partingtons set up a cottage industry harvesting the bark from the tan oak in the canyon which was used in making leather. A rough landing was built in deeper waters to load the bark on ships bound for San Francisco. A small hoist was used to raise and lower a fishing boat to eke out more of a living from these rugged acres. In later years the hidden landing was used by bootleggers during prohibition.
Part One: Signs of Life Under the Cs
“Of course you will," confirmed Daisy. "In fact I think I'll arrange a marriage. Come over often, Nick, and I'll sort of--oh--fling you together. You know--lock you up accidentally in linen closets and push you out to sea in a boat, and all that sort of thing——“
The posted coordinates will take you down the trail towards the ocean. You pass a sign, warning of the dangers which await you. Pause as you begin your search for the clues to the coordinates for the final stage at
- N36 10.ABC W121 41.XYZ where
- A = the number of letters in the word after intermittent.
- X = the number of letters in the word in the yellow square on the sign.
Part Two: The Canyon
This is a valley of ashes - a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke and, finally, with a transcendent effort, of men who move dimly and already crumbling through the powdery air.
Upon reaching the posted coords, you turn and follow the stream back up the cool canyon. You breath in the air and feel the isolation as you notice the many trees, with arms reaching for the sky.
- B = number of the tree that's not in the canyon.
- River Maple = 2
- Joshua Tree= 4
- Bay Laurel = 6
- Redwood = 8
Part Three: The Cove
Across the courtesy bay the white palaces of fashionable East Egg glittered along the water, and the history of the summer really begins on the evening I drove over there…
Taking the trail back along the stream down to where it meets the ocean, you pause at stage 3, and note the large rock on the beach, perched on several smaller rocks and with a log jutting out from under it. Continue down and stand by this rock.
- C = the height of this rock. Is it 3, 5 or 8 ft high?
Part Four: The Landing
"Involuntarily I glanced seaward - and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock.”
The last unexplored area in this gem is found by retracing your steps until you come to a bridge. Following the trail across the bridge, you note the number of posts per side that prevent your fall into the abyss. The light at the end of Partington's tunnel draws you onward to a hidden cove where the foundations for the hoist and landing are all that remains of this long ago link to the world beyond. A crude bench beckons, where you rest and imagine those days of long ago. As you pass back through the tunnel, you note the old lumber forming the end face of the tunnel.
- Y = The number of pieces of lumber in the opening that are cut at an angle on the lower side + 2.
- Z = the number of posts on either side of the bridge.
- Checksum = A+B+C+X+Y+Z = 40
Part Five: Anything Can Happen
"Anything can happen now that we've slid over this bridge," I thought; "anything at all. . . .”
Even Gatsby could happen, without any particular wonder.