Inverness - Pt. Reyes

Last weekend we were in Inverness, a very Bohemian part of our illustrious coast. Saturday was a marvelous day, clear and warm when we arrived. We arrived rather late in the day, so we didn't take any photographs.



On Sunday, we arose early and got out of the B&B by eight and made our way to Pt. Reyes. Katie and Megan were camping with friends down the coast, roughing it in tents. Not to be out-done, we camped out at the Golden Hinde, a place that passes itself off as a B&B, but is really an old motel situated on the water, next to a restaurant. It was serviceable, if a bit expensive for the accomodations. Overall, better than sleeping on the ground in a tent!




Our morning destination was the Pt. Reyes Lighthouse. Having never ventured this way before, our travel was slow and deliberate over the headlands. As we approached the outer coastline, it became apparent that we were going to indulge in a bit of fog. We passed many ranches and dairy farms as we drove westward. The scenery had no depth of field at all, and as we came over a ridge we spied a line of cows standing nose to tail on top of a hill. They nearly fooled us into thinking that they were just cardboard cutouts - only the flick of a tail belied that they were, indeed, three dimensional. Finally, at the end of the road was a small parking lot where birders were making way back to their cars - too foggy to see much of anything. Undaunted, we made our way up the rough road leading to the top of the ridge where a building housed a very small museum of artifacts as well as a park ranger who was quite willing to help us identify a small hawk we had seen on our drive up.





The lighthouse, however, was situated DOWN into the fog (we couldn't even see it until we had gone more than half-way down). There was a sign at the top of the steps which relayed the information that the climb down to the lighthouse (and hence back UP!) was equivalent to a 30 story building.

Were we daunted?

Were we squeemish?

Were we foolish?
I don't know. Take your pick. Kandy went first, though, if that tells you anything!


Once we got there it wasn't so bad. The Lighthouse itself was very small, but the second Ranger that we found that day asked us if we'd like to go inside. He was getting ready to do some maintenance and offered us a look around. It was just Kandy and I, and the Ranger, so this was a real treat! He opened up the door on the 2nd level (there are three levels, we were standing inside on the 2nd floor) and led us into a room that housed the mechanism for turning the light in the prism house above us. Inside the room was an exquisitely beautiful brass mechanism, built in France in 1867, for this lighthouse.

Our journey to the Lighthouse now complete, we turn around to begin the climb upwards. It was then that we noted that each step is numbered, and the last step down now becomes our first step up - Step number 308!