Arch at Marin County beach crumbles after recent storms

The arch at Tennessee Beach at Tennessee Cove was the subject of hundreds of photos over the years, often when the sun would shine though the hole, creating a beam of light that landed on the beach.

But on Dec. 29, after several storms drenched Marin, the natural archway came crashing down onto the beach below.

"When we got to the beach, we noticed a few rocks tumbling down," said Robert Wills, a graduate student at the California Institute of Technology who was on the beach with his family for a holiday walk. "I pointed my camera toward the arch thinking some more rocks might come down. The next thing I knew there was a flow of debris."

"It was pretty exciting," Wills said of the massive collapse, which occurred at about 2 p.m. "It was definitely a rush to see it." Wills' father, Chris -- who coincidentally is an engineering geologist with the California Geological Survey -- was with his son to witness and document the rockslide.

"The whole thing was kind of 'wow,' especially given my background," Chris Wills said.

The event also left a pile of rubble at the base of the cliff. and a cloud of dust. Much of the rock that fell has washed into the ocean, turning the surfline a milky brown that was still evident Monday morning.

Anne Lamott of Fairfax strolled on the beach Monday and was amazed at what Mother Nature had done.

"It's kind of something that can't be, yet there it is," said Lamott, a well-known Marin author, as she surveyed the new cliffside terrain. "I have been seeing the arch for almost 50 years. It's like someone came down and erased it with a big eraser. So many people will come out and wonder what has changed. It was beautiful before and now it's beautiful in a different way."