We recently hiked the 5.5 miles to the Dungeness Spit Lighthouse and back.
Yes, that is 11 miles in a four hour trip.
It was a perfect day and I could not take a bad picture with my phone.
Enjoy!
I wrote about the hike itself, and why, in my last post here.
One hour into our hike, we rounded the bend in the spit and finally saw our destination.
Sitting out at the end with water on three sides, in stormy weather the lighthouse area can be cut off from society.
While the lighthouse has a phone and spotty internet connections, the volunteer lighthouse keepers (who come out for a week at a time for $350 each), are brought in by boat.
It’s just easier that way.
The wind blows continually and on the August day we visited, it was fresh and soothing.
We were the first hikers to reach the lighthouse on a Monday morning, though another couple arrived right after us.
A drizzle the day before had limited the visitors to six. The previous Saturday had brought 60 people to the end of the trail.
Visiting the Lighthouse
A family “keeping” the lighthouse that week as part of the New Dungeness Lighthouse Keeper program (They stay in the house), greeted us.
My husband and I drank deeply from a fountain and then explored the museum on the ground floor.
The teenage sons of the family were our tour guides once we started climbing up.
We laughed at the room displaying flotsam.
Flotsam or trash?
I paused to look out a window on a beautiful day.
This looks like a Wyeth painting to me!
At the top, we marveled at the view.
We could see Canada.
The big lamp is automated now, no one has to climb the stairs carrying heavy kerosene jars as they did in the past.
My husband picked up a pair of binoculars and peered at the ships coming through the Straits of Juan de Fuca.
Both boys were impressed this Navy guy could recognize the various types!
They pointed at various places on the property, asking if we could guess what the red area was for.
That’s Canada and a helicopter pad in the foreground. (Author photo) .
The spiral staircase made me nervous, and both boys jumped when my husband–long experienced with such things– went down facing out.
I took their advice and slowly climbed facing inward!
After a snack, we picked up our pack and our tired feet and headed back to “civilization” at Sequim, Washington.
The Olympic Mountains beckoned us.
And the neap tide never caught our boots.
Tweetables
A glorious day at the Dungeness Lighthouse. Click to Tweet
To the lighthouse we went on a perfect day! Click to Tweet
Beautiful photos at the Dungeness Lighthouse Click to Tweet
What a gorgeous spot!