On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
Dangerman
Ah, Springtime, when a young man’s fancy LIGHTLY turns to thoughts of love (or, if a pharaohphile, to thoughts of the love of LIGHThouses). Admittedly, not as Romantic, but someday I’ll find the woman that either understands (or, better yet, is similarly afflicted).
I figured it’s about time to share a few more Lighthouse Photos and it needed to be a Central Coast Lighthouse this time, so Point Sur it is. Before I share pictures, a few notes/thoughts:
(1) I should share the background of the word “pharaohphile” as it was explained to me because I’m not at all sure that I’m spelling it correctly. The word was chosen because of the Pharos of Alexandria (or the Lighthouse of Alexandria, if you prefer), one of the 7 Ancient Wonders of the World. So is it “pharosphile” or “pharaohphile”? Beats me. Did I mention the MD has me on decaf? Stuff should be illegal.
I can talk for hours (and occasionally have) about the Lighthouse at Point San Luis (my original OTR post). The Original Docent trained me and I, in turn, trained the next generation of docents. I’m more than a little rusty on the topic, but, at one time, I likely knew the story of the PSL Lighthouse about as well as anyone alive (this will make more sense in a moment), but I really don’t know THAT much about the Point Sur Lighthouse. I know the basics, but, for detail, it has been several years and many miles (figuratively and literally) since I visited. Thankfully, Huell Howser (at least Californians will know who that is) visited the Point Sur Lighthouse and the video is available here.
While the location is stunning, I’m not ecstatic about any of my photo, I’m going to draw outside the lines a little bit >and share a little bit about whale watching, wildflowers (I hear rumors of an amazing Superbloom, and another random story that came to mind recently without further delay, the Point Sur Lighthouse.
If you have traveled Highway 1 in the Big Sur area, this view may look familiar to you; at least, that Point has always looked different to me as I was driving along (maybe because, at one time, that lovely beach was inaccessible) and then, sometime along the way, I learned there was a Lighthouse out there.
MUST VISIT!
So, I did. To my knowledge, to the general public, there are only three ways to see the Lighthouse and all involve walking.
Method 1: Daytime Walk;
Method 2: Full Moon Walk (which MAY not be available right now; at least I don’t see it on the schedule and it might have been replaced by Method 3);
Method 3: Halloween Walk (oh hell, yes, has to be done and I’ll explain why in a moment).
And the walk begins; it’s about a mile round trip, with a 360 foot elevation gain. I think I wanted more of the lovely beach than the melange but I was a little off (truer words have never been spoken).
The first look at the Lighthouse on the walk (or, more correctly, the Lighthouse Lantern). On the right is the workshop and barn.
With the lantern showing up in this photo, I think now is a good time to switch locations…
This is a First Order Fresnel Lens (FO, in this case, means the biggest lens that projects the light the farthest; I believe about 25 miles).
The cool thing about this photo, to me anyway, is it doesn’t take a huge light source for a Fresnel Lens to work. It’s a magnificent piece of engineering. I’m going to go Nerd on you and recommend a book called “A Short Bright Flash: Augustin Fresnel and the Birth Of The Modern Lighthouse” by Dr. Theresa Levitt.
The lens is no longer in Monterey; it’s in the process of being returned to the Light Station (and may already be there). The lens needs a controlled environment and is worth A LOT so it’s final resting place may still be in process. I’m entirely unsure.
If you want to get up close and personal to a First Order Lens, there is one in Crescent City (I spoke about it last time with the St. George’s Reef Lighthouse) and one on Main Street in Cambria from the Piedras Blancas Lighthouse (near San Simeon).
After the Lens, the star of this show.
Oh, that reminds me. I talked about the Halloween Tour and added a “hell yes” to that comment. There was a reason. This Lighthouse is reportedly haunted by a ghost. If you google “paranormal” and “California”, this location pops up a lot as a place to find, hopefully, a friendly apparition. I’ll repeat: Haunted Lighthouse on Halloween? Oh, hell yes.
Living Quarters, with the Assistant Keepers House on the left and the head Lighthouse Keepers on the right.
Living Quarters, with the Assistant Keepers House on the left and the head Lighthouse Keepers on the right.
Well, I have 3 more spaces for photos and I might as well use the opportunity. It’s almost my civic responsibility to share that the weather on the Central Coast of California, after a miserable winter, has turned reasonably nice; not great yet, but it’s coming. And so are the gray whales on their Northbound migration. On the Northbound, the Mothers and Calves stay VERY close to the shore (the theory is they use the breaking waves to help hide from their predators). Full disclosure, the whales migrate when they damn well feel like it, so if you visit my Lighthouse for the purpose of whale watching, you could either have an amazing time (“Thank you, Dangerman! Thank you, thank, thank you”) or be highly disappointed that no whales show up (“Dude, what the hell are you smoking?”). Trust me, I’ve seen the entire spectrum, from no whales showing to it looking like the whale equivalent of the 405 near the Airport (and if you an Angeleno, you get the reference).
If whale watching is your goal, I suggest going out on the hike and not by vehicle; the view towards Point Sal is better and you MAY have more time to watch for whales. It used to be that if you walked out, you could stay out there as long as you like until the last vehicle leaves (for a small donation: $10). Do check to make sure that is still the policy.
Again, if whale watching is your thing, perhaps contact the Executive Director at the Lighthouse (her office has a wonderful view; no envy there) and ask what she has seen (and do the hike in to improve your chances). I know that doesn’t help if you aren’t local (and, if you aren’t local, don’t plan to be local, but are into Lighthouses or restorations of historic buildings, please consider a virtual tour); tell the ED a tall Dude (6’ 7” is tall, I guess) that is a Nerd (no doubt there) who was a friend of Brent, Walt, Ron, Richard, Marlon, Jean, and Barton (RIP all). She’ll know who I am. Tell her I said “Hi”.
A special RIP to Sandy, Bobby, and Bogey (two dogs and a cat that kept the Keepers endlessly entertained, between naps and for treats, of course)
If Wildflowers are your thing, it should be a SPECTACULAR season and the Carrizo Plains are for you. Take the road between Highway 166 and Highway 58 that goes by Soda Lake. I don’t think that road has a name or a number. It also doesn’t have asphalt and, after this winter, might have potholes deep enough for small vehicles to disappear. The road is perfectly safe (and I guarantee you, in wildflower season, you will NOT be alone), albeit quite slow; you don’t need a 4WD, but plan to make a day of it (also, reserve a spot at the car wash for post visit needs). Also, please do a little due diligence; if for some strange reason the flowers all suddenly disappear and you are out on the plains alone, it’s gonna be a long walk for help or a cell signal if you have a breakdown. The Central Coast is distractingly beautiful but you can get into a bad situation if you are careless (see, for example, “sneaker waves”; if you don’t know, learn before you go tide pooling around here).
One last Point San Luis Lighthouse story since most all of us just survived the attacks of the Girl Scouts (for Cookies) at the local markets.
As I mentioned last time, the original groundcover was Vinca (or Periwinkle if you prefer) and it was one of my jobs to get rid of the replacement groundcover (iceplant; evil shit, took a really, really long time to die, as Bruce Willis would say in the movie “The Whole 9 Yards”).
The funny thing is, many years ago, it was a GIRL SCOUT PROJECT to rip out the Vinca and replace it with the iceplant. Good Grief.
Now, do you think I had the slightest bit of remorse of making old girl scouts potentially cry when they would visit? I think the answer is an easy one to guess (OK, the answer is “hell no, the place has to go back to it’s 1890 look and feel” … ok, maybe the slightest, teeny tiniest bit of remorse, but it doesn’t last).
Thanks for reading everyone. I hope you enjoyed it all.
eclare
The photos of the coast and the wildflowers are amazing! Very informative write-up. Hope the lighthouse ghost is friendly, that sounds like fun.
Chris T.
Iceplant grows really well along the California coast, but it’s non-native (from South Africa if I remember correctly—and web search says I do, so go me, I guess). Had a big chunk of it at the Oakland house, didn’t attempt to replace it with something more native though.
JPL
Thank you for sharing your pictures and story with us.
LiminalOwl
Thank you for the lovely pictures and commentary.
I don’t think I’ve ever visited a lighthouse, for some reason, but I’ve long admired them. And if the spouse and I ever make it back to California for a visit, this haunted one will be on my list. Besides, I want to show him New Camaldoli monastery, my favorite place to visit when I lived in the Bay Area. (And a whale-watching opportunity, according to a Camaldolese monk I knew in those years.)
The print hanging most prominently in our living room is a painting of Point Sur, I think. I’ll post a photo here if allowed.
raven
Spectacular!
Torrey
Fantastic–both the pictures and the narrative. Thank you!
Dorothy A. Winsor
Lovely pics. I especially like the ones of the water and then the whales.
OzarkHillbilly
Yeah, I’ve been a little off my entire life, just ask anyone who knows me. Thanx for the pics and especially the stories.
HinTN
An excellent commentary and visuals of that part of the world cannot help but be stunning. The mama whale and calf, ooo la la. Thanks for taking us there.
Anyway
great pics. will have to check out the lighthouse next time I am in the vicinity.
Sucker for wildflowers here and am enjoying the CA bounty after the precipitation events…
Amir Khalid
Awesome pictures (especially the whale mother and calf). Fascinating story — I loved every word.
MomSense
Love the photos and the post this morning!
WaterGirl
@LiminalOwl: You can send me the photo and I can add it in the comments.
WaterGirl
@HinTN: Baby whale! And the wildflowers are stunning.
pluky
Ice plant! When my dad was stationed at Fort Ord my mother grew to despise the stuff; the sap stains like you can’t believe.
mvr
Thank you! The photos conveyed the place well enough and there was an interesting variety of topics. So many places to go and see!
Madeleine
Pharophile or pharologist.
Jerzy Russian
@pluky: Some of the varieties we see here in San Diego can have spectacular blooms, though. I can’t keep up, but as I recall there are some varieties that are less invasive than others, and there is a push to use the former rather than the latter.
El Cruzado
Oh I’ve been there! Well worth a visit, although as mentioned you do have to plan for it.
As for the superbloom, I keep meaning to check it out and life keeps getting in the way. Is it still ongoing? Might be able to get a couple free days before June…
J R in WV
Great post, history photos. May have met the Momma whale down Cabo way a few years ago, when a baby nearly climbed into our Zodiac for hugs and kisses. Sneezed out the top of their head and inundated Dr Mike from head to foot, pretty big fun. Wish, hope I had video, will review the logs…
Needed to know more about Augustin-Jean Fresnel, so here’s a link — famous for far more than his fabulous lens back in his day !!!
ETA: But how many lives did his lens crafting save on all the rocky points into the oceans? No snark here, saved many uncounted thousands of people~!!~
Thanks to W-G and all the people taking photos all around the world! And to our late Alain who helped Balloon-Juice through a rough spot in our bloggy past. He was a great friend mumbling with me about fishing holes, mushroom gathering and gathering the wild things to eat from the V deep woods. He is missed.
Ruckus
This is one of the most remote lighthouses I’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing. I’ve been twice and it is everything Dangerman says it is. The last time I went was a few years ago and I hadn’t remembered the number of stairs to get to the actual lighthouse because the first time was just a bit ago, when I was a tad bit younger. Being born in CA very nearly 3/4 of a century ago I have had the luck and fortune to have a family that traveled and camped in a lot of the coastal areas of CA and have gotten to see a lot of it as a youngster and adult. Much of it is a tad bit different from decades ago, what with the few more people that live here now.
Origuy
I’ll have to try to get down there one of these days. Nice pictures. Have you been to the Point Pinos Lighthouse, up the coast in Pacific Grove? It’s a lot easier to get to. It is the oldest continuing lighthouse on the Pacific Coast.
Dangerman
Thanks everyone. Lunchtime at my new gig so I can drop in for a few minutes.
I’m hearing different things about the Plains this year. Some say this, others say that. I’d call the Ranger’s Station at Soda Lake (I seem to recall a station there but decaf, so I could be wrong) for best information. Best information I have heard is 2023 isn’t as super as the 2017 Superbloom. The pic above is 2017 and it was jaw dropping.
As for Point Pinos, that doesn’t sound familiar but, again, decaf. I tend to hit locations away from the Big City. There one just north of the Golden Gate (Point Bonita) is an exception.
ETA: I was reading about Lighthouses this weekend on Angel Island. There was more than 1 as I recall but, mf, decaf.
pieceofpeace
Terrific pictures and love your impressions. In the 90s, good deal of time spent in that area of Big Sur. Full of adventuresome delights, hikes, and solitude time.
Thank you.
Dan B
Here in Seattle that Veronica (Vinca major) is invasive like baby Kudzu. It smothers plants. Ice Plants are limited to Delosperma which are tiny and supposedly frost hardy. Ha!