Inside the Watch 2

nxtrFOTO has added a photo to the pool:

We finally made it out of Fort Ross and drove leisurely north on California Highway 1. About an hour and a half later, we arrived at Point Arena Light in Mendocino County. I understand this is the tallest lighthouse in the US west coast where one can still climb up to the top and enjoy whatever view was available around the unpredictable Northern California coastline.

This view from inside the Watch (service room) of the lighthouse is looking east and shows part of the 2-mile roadway that connects this place to the Shorline Highway (CA-1). For safety (and sanity) reasons, visitors were not allowed to go outside on this level.

Point Arena Light is a lighthouse in Mendocino County, California, United States, two miles north of Point Arena, California. It is located approximately 130 miles north of San Francisco along California's beautiful and scenic Highway 1. The lighthouse was constructed in 1870 of brick-and-mortar. The tower included ornate iron balcony supports and a large Keeper residence with space to house several families. The devastating 1906 earthquake damaged the Keeper's residence and lighthouse so severely that they had to be demolished. In 1908, the new lighthouse began operations again, 18 months after it was demolished in the 1906 earthquake. It stands 115 feet tall and featured a 1st Order Fresnel Lens that is over six feet in diameter and weighed more than six tons (12,000 pounds). In the late 1970s, the lighthouse was modernized with the installation of an automated aircraft-type beacon on the balcony tower and the historic 1st Order Fresnel Lens was discontinued.

For more information, visit: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Point_Arena_Light

This photo is part of a series of images captured during a road trip up the northern coast of California during late spring of 2011. This single-day trip began in the central valley of California and camera shooting started in Windsor just north of Santa Rosa and on to Bodega Bay all the way up to Fort Bragg.

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