Monday, September 26, 2022
Battery Point Lighthouse Keeper's Log
This was the first of three days without tours. Teare noted that this would be a good day to take our final off-site adventure. We decided to drive north to Oregon and set Cape Blanco as our target. We did the morning duties and we were on our way! We decided to take Lower Harbor Drive in Brookings, Oregon and check out the the marina area. Here we stopped at the Bell & Whistle Coffee Shop and enjoyed a couple scones.
We continued north on a foggy US 101. There was no temptation or opportunity to stop at one of the many overlooks or trails, since everything was so fogged in. (It was the same in Crescent City.) We drove a side road at Pistol River which was very nice and ended up back at 101. We drove through the coastal towns of Gold Beach and Port Orford before we arrived at Cape Blanco. The Cape Blanco Lighthouse is at the end of a 6 mile road that runs through the Cape Blanco State Park. It sits majestically on a hill. To get to it, you have to walk about 3/4 of a mile down and then up the hill. It is a completely different set up than the lighthouse at Battery Point. The lighthouse is simply the entrance way and the tower, with no living quarters. The keeper's over the years had a separate home they occupied which is no longer there. the Fresnel lens is a 1.5 order lens which still revolves due to an electric spring mechanism. We took the tour and I enjoyed learning about the different lens and what it took to operate that lighthouse. It was not until the end of the tour that we shared we were the keeper's at Battery Point! Of course, that was the source of a bunch of questions at their end! It was very windy up at the parking area which was a narrow pass between the Sixes River Valley and the ocean to the north and the giant cliffs and ocean to the south.
Down the hill from the lighthouse was the historic Patrick and Jane Hughes House. It belonged to a dairy farmer who became well known for his butter and cream operation. It turns out the bricks used in the lighthouse came from the clay and kilns from the Hughes property. One of the Hughe's sons became a keeper at the Cape Blanco lighthouse. The home was beautiful and full of period furniture. It was built in 1898. It is considered one of the best preserved, unaltered, late nineteenth-century homes in this region.
We stopped in Port Orford at the Golden Harvest Restaurant for lunch. We ate at an outside picnic table and I no sooner sat down then a crow nailed me from a tree branch above! Fortunately, I did not have my sandwich on the table at the time!
Our drive south was pleasant and the fog did permit some stunning views from time to time.
We did some shopping once back in Crescent City. On the way across the tidal basin, I noted a bicycle which had several saddle bags on it and was obviously on a long-haul trip. I talked to the cyclist who was sitting on a log and he shared that he had started his bike ride in Montreal and was headed to the southern tip of Argentina! Now that's a Cross-Country ride!
Teare and I had dinner and we settled back into our lighthouse home.
Evening chores were performed and now we reach the end of the day. It was a fun day of exploring the Oregon coast. I would recommend it to anyone!
Keeper's Teare and Bill wishing you a good night.
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