I'm a bit" foggy" and "lightheaded" this morning. We had planned to spend the day sightseeing. The weather said there would be sun today, and rain tomorrow and Monday.
Forget that, for at least the time being. The fog is dense that it feels like you're being spritzed with water when you walk outside. No sense in going out to take pictures. All I would get is cold and pictures of dismal, gray fog.
So, I've stayed put inside the trailer, updating the blog about our lighthouse visits.
Our first visit was to Gray's Harbor Light Station in Westport, Washington. This was a bit harder to find, since it was more inland than the other lighthouses. The opening ceremony for this lighthouse was on June 30, 1898. Yes, old, but not forgotten.
At Gray's Harbor we ran into the volunteer (not literally) who fascinated us with his wonderful bubble making. That was just as interesting as the lighthouse itself!
Then came our quest to see or visit all of the Oregon lighthouses. Some were inaccessible, some closed, and a few we were able to take a tour.If you look closely at the picture below, the little spot on the bottom left side of the picture is Tillamook Rock Lighthouse. It lies 1.2 miles off Tillamook Head, south of Seaside, Oregon. I didn't have my long range lens at the beach, so you'll just have to squint at the picture and use your best imagination. "Terrible Tilly" was commissioned in 1881 to help guide ships entering the Columbia River. This is the only privately owned Oregon lighthouse on the National Register of Historic places. What surprised me is that it was used as a columbarium, which is a vault for storage of ashes of deceased people. That creeps me out. : ( I really didn't want to go there anyway.......
Next came the Cape Meares lighthouse. This isn't far from "Terrible Tilly", just 10 miles west of Tillamook. We got to go inside, but there were no tours because of damage done by vandals in 2010. It stands 217 feet above the ocean, and the 38 ft. tower is the shortest on the Oregon coast.
To get to the Cape Meares lighthouse, you had to park far above it and walk down a pine tree lined path. From that viewpoint, it looks like the lens is sitting on the ground.
Yaquina Head is one of the few still open for tours. At last we could climb the steps to the top! This lighthouse is on Highway 101, just a mere 3 miles north of Newport. There also is a great interpretive center, hiking trails, tidepools and places to view wildlife nearby.
This is a view of the Fesnel lens, which was illuminated in 1873. It is the tallest lighthouse operating on the Oregon coast. It took one year and 370,000 bricks to build this stately structure that has been buffeted by winds and rains for over 138 years.
I just had to take a picture of the stairs going down from the top platform. I was glad for the sturdy handrails. One volunteer said there were no handrails when the lighthouses were built...just the steps. I almost get the chills just thinking about it.
Sandy even let go of the handrail for a second as she traipsed up the metal steps.
The view from the top was spectacular. At least we were blessed with sun that day! Today, the first order Fresnel lens still blinks out it's familiar pattern of 2 seconds on, 2 seconds off, 2 seconds on, 14 seconds off for 24 hours a day. The old oil burning wicks have been replaced by electricity for many years. We did find out that some lighthouses burned lard oil, others burned kerosene.
Close by to Yaquina Head is the Yaquina Bay lighthouse. This was in service for only 3 years, from 1871 to 1874. When the brighter Yaquina Head lighthouse was put into operation, this one was no longer needed. This was quite different from all the others. It was the only lighthouse built with the living quarters attached. It is a charming, 2 story clapboard structure. The original lantern used whale oil.
The lighthouse keeper's wife had a nice cast iron stove on which to cook. The house, which was scheduled for demolition in 1946 and then again in 1955, fortunately was saved. It's now completely restored and furnished with period furniture.
I needed the long range lens to get a good picture of Heceta Head Lighthouse. It was supposed to be open for tours. When Sandy called the phone number listed on one of our brochures, she was told it was closed because the parking lot needed re-paving. We later found out from a volunteer at Cape Blanco that it also has serious water leakage problems. Fixing it will involve the state government, the federal government, a local group and a contractor. Put all of those factors together, and we'll be lucky if it will be open for our grandchildren to see!
The best tour was through Umpqua River Lighthouse. It was led by a very knowledgeable man who had done his research. He had also volunteered at Heceta Head. The Umpqua River Lighthouse is located 6 miles south of Reedsport. The first lighthouse built in this area was built on sand. Guess what? It fell into the river and washed away. At least the builders for the second lighthouse did their research. The base is on top of 7 feet of concrete and below that there is rock. There is not even one crack in the structure after all these years.
This is a view from the bottom of the red and white first order Fresnel lens. It came from France with red panels as an option. In the early years, one person had to clean the lens daily because of the build up from the kerosene fuel. There are about 900 pieces to clean! Special white garments had to be worn when the lightkeepers were in this room. The garments kept down the lint from the garments and prevented coat buttons from banging into and damaging the lens. Other cleaning was done with a paint brush and small can of water. No broom was allowed!
Sandy took a peak up into the lens. It was tight quarters at the top level, and we were all squeezed together.
Cape Arago is not accessible to the general public. Again, I was thankful for the long range lens. Otherwise, you would be trying to figure out what it looked like! This was quite close to the Sunset Bay campground we were staying at, and the best shot was from a viewpoint up the road. This lighthouse is owned by area tribes, who turned off the light in January, 2006. We could hear the lighthouse's unique fog horn at our campground.
We made a special trip to visit the Coquille River Lighthouse, located 2 miles north of the town of Bandon. Again, the brochures said it would be open April through October. Nope, closed and padlocked. This was commissioned in 1896 and decommissioned in 1939 after improvements were made to the river channel. Now a light inside is operated by a solar system. That makes me wonder how it manages to keep going. There have been a lot more foggy and dreary days here than sunny ones. Maybe they could move it to Arizona. Just a thought.
Cape Blanco was also a favorite one, since it was open for tours. It towers above the westernmost point in Oregon. It is also the oldest standing lighthouse in Oregon. The bricks for the lighthouse were made on site since it was too remote to have them shipped or transported over land.
It almost looks like Sandy is praying and Jerry is wondering how many more steps were involved as they waited on a platform before ascending to the top. Vents in the brick walls allowed the lightkeepers to control the temperatures inside the structure. You can see a vent just above Jerry's head.
We were rewarded with a beautiful view of the coastline from the top. The lighthouse stands 245 feet above the ocean, and the conical tower is 59 feet tall. It was built in 1870.
After the view at the top, it was time to go back down to the bottom. Another group was waiting below since only 5 people at a time were allowed. It was worth the wait.
Another check mark on our bucket list! This was fun and also quite interesting. Sure made me glad I wasn't the wife of a lightkeeper. It would have been a very lonely, and solitary life.
Next came the Cape Meares lighthouse. This isn't far from "Terrible Tilly", just 10 miles west of Tillamook. We got to go inside, but there were no tours because of damage done by vandals in 2010. It stands 217 feet above the ocean, and the 38 ft. tower is the shortest on the Oregon coast.
To get to the Cape Meares lighthouse, you had to park far above it and walk down a pine tree lined path. From that viewpoint, it looks like the lens is sitting on the ground.
Yaquina Head is one of the few still open for tours. At last we could climb the steps to the top! This lighthouse is on Highway 101, just a mere 3 miles north of Newport. There also is a great interpretive center, hiking trails, tidepools and places to view wildlife nearby.
This is a view of the Fesnel lens, which was illuminated in 1873. It is the tallest lighthouse operating on the Oregon coast. It took one year and 370,000 bricks to build this stately structure that has been buffeted by winds and rains for over 138 years.
I just had to take a picture of the stairs going down from the top platform. I was glad for the sturdy handrails. One volunteer said there were no handrails when the lighthouses were built...just the steps. I almost get the chills just thinking about it.
Sandy even let go of the handrail for a second as she traipsed up the metal steps.
The view from the top was spectacular. At least we were blessed with sun that day! Today, the first order Fresnel lens still blinks out it's familiar pattern of 2 seconds on, 2 seconds off, 2 seconds on, 14 seconds off for 24 hours a day. The old oil burning wicks have been replaced by electricity for many years. We did find out that some lighthouses burned lard oil, others burned kerosene.
Close by to Yaquina Head is the Yaquina Bay lighthouse. This was in service for only 3 years, from 1871 to 1874. When the brighter Yaquina Head lighthouse was put into operation, this one was no longer needed. This was quite different from all the others. It was the only lighthouse built with the living quarters attached. It is a charming, 2 story clapboard structure. The original lantern used whale oil.
The lighthouse keeper's wife had a nice cast iron stove on which to cook. The house, which was scheduled for demolition in 1946 and then again in 1955, fortunately was saved. It's now completely restored and furnished with period furniture.
I needed the long range lens to get a good picture of Heceta Head Lighthouse. It was supposed to be open for tours. When Sandy called the phone number listed on one of our brochures, she was told it was closed because the parking lot needed re-paving. We later found out from a volunteer at Cape Blanco that it also has serious water leakage problems. Fixing it will involve the state government, the federal government, a local group and a contractor. Put all of those factors together, and we'll be lucky if it will be open for our grandchildren to see!
The best tour was through Umpqua River Lighthouse. It was led by a very knowledgeable man who had done his research. He had also volunteered at Heceta Head. The Umpqua River Lighthouse is located 6 miles south of Reedsport. The first lighthouse built in this area was built on sand. Guess what? It fell into the river and washed away. At least the builders for the second lighthouse did their research. The base is on top of 7 feet of concrete and below that there is rock. There is not even one crack in the structure after all these years.
This is a view from the bottom of the red and white first order Fresnel lens. It came from France with red panels as an option. In the early years, one person had to clean the lens daily because of the build up from the kerosene fuel. There are about 900 pieces to clean! Special white garments had to be worn when the lightkeepers were in this room. The garments kept down the lint from the garments and prevented coat buttons from banging into and damaging the lens. Other cleaning was done with a paint brush and small can of water. No broom was allowed! 
Sandy took a peak up into the lens. It was tight quarters at the top level, and we were all squeezed together.
Cape Arago is not accessible to the general public. Again, I was thankful for the long range lens. Otherwise, you would be trying to figure out what it looked like! This was quite close to the Sunset Bay campground we were staying at, and the best shot was from a viewpoint up the road. This lighthouse is owned by area tribes, who turned off the light in January, 2006. We could hear the lighthouse's unique fog horn at our campground.
We made a special trip to visit the Coquille River Lighthouse, located 2 miles north of the town of Bandon. Again, the brochures said it would be open April through October. Nope, closed and padlocked. This was commissioned in 1896 and decommissioned in 1939 after improvements were made to the river channel. Now a light inside is operated by a solar system. That makes me wonder how it manages to keep going. There have been a lot more foggy and dreary days here than sunny ones. Maybe they could move it to Arizona. Just a thought.
Cape Blanco was also a favorite one, since it was open for tours. It towers above the westernmost point in Oregon. It is also the oldest standing lighthouse in Oregon. The bricks for the lighthouse were made on site since it was too remote to have them shipped or transported over land.
It almost looks like Sandy is praying and Jerry is wondering how many more steps were involved as they waited on a platform before ascending to the top. Vents in the brick walls allowed the lightkeepers to control the temperatures inside the structure. You can see a vent just above Jerry's head.
We were rewarded with a beautiful view of the coastline from the top. The lighthouse stands 245 feet above the ocean, and the conical tower is 59 feet tall. It was built in 1870.
After the view at the top, it was time to go back down to the bottom. Another group was waiting below since only 5 people at a time were allowed. It was worth the wait.
Another check mark on our bucket list! This was fun and also quite interesting. Sure made me glad I wasn't the wife of a lightkeeper. It would have been a very lonely, and solitary life.
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