Point Reyes Lighthouse; America's 2nd Windiest Place

Photo of the Day

The Point Reyes Light Station
Marin County, California, USA

{ Nikon D80 } – { 12 mm } – { f/13 } – { 1/640s exposure } – { ISO 100 }

Sitting on a bluff alongside the Pacific Ocean, the Point Reyes Lighthouse and it’s surrounding area is the second windiest place in the continental United States.

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Due to its location, the lighthouse is quite often fogged in and unreachable. In fact, my friend Erik (check out his awesome travel blog) tried to visit it for 5 days in a row and was fogged out each time.

For this reason, I consider myself very lucky to have captured this photograph on my one visit to Point Reyes. It was Thanksgiving 2009 and I was on a weekend retreat with my wife Carrie and her family.

While there was no fog, it was so cold and windy that my mother-in-law Terry bought herself a hat at the Point Reyes Ranger Station to keep warm. Needless to say, everyone was glad to get back in the car when we were done.

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For a little history of Point Reyes Light Station, here’s some 411 from Wikipedia:

A lighthouse was assigned to Point Reyes in 1855, but construction was delayed for fifteen years because of a dispute between the United States Lighthouse Board and the landowners over a fair price for the land. The lighthouse is a sixteen sided, 37-foot tower, and a twin of Cape Mendocino Light. The first-order Fresnel lens was first lit on December 1, 1870. Electricity came to the lighthouse in 1938, and concrete steps were built into the cliff in 1939. The station was automated in 1975.