More Southern Oregon Scenes

Rainy day today on the coast. Though it was cold and wet, the changing light makes for good photography. Here the rain is approaching the rocks in Boardman State Park.

I've seen this old hulk the last couple of times I've been in Gold Beach. Turns out it's the Mary D Hume, and has a history. It was built a few hundred feet from here in 1881 and served as an active ship for 97 years! It's done everything from tugboat service to Arctic whaling, surviving a 6 year voyage to northern Alaska in the early 20th century. It's been sitting at its present spot in town, slowly decaying, since 1978. It's a shame the boat couldn't have been restored...it's probably past salvage by now.

This is the lighthouse at Cape Blanco, at the westernmost point of Oregon. It's been in continuous service since 1870. Meteorologically, Cape Blanco is a notorious spot...the wind REALLY blows here. In fact, two days ago, on May 19, gusts reached 74 mph. While strong for this time of year, that qualifies as a routine winter storm. 100 mph gusts are not rare here. I toured the lighthouse and the docent told me that they cancel tours when the wind exceeds 50 mph. Yesterday when I visited, the wind was blowing at 10-15 mph which qualifies as a calm day at Cape Blanco. Nowadays, the light is automated and a good paved road leads to it. However, life was rougher in earlier times. There was no electricity until 1942; the first car didn't arrive til 1911. Before that, the keepers and their families had to ride ten miles into Port Orford on horseback, and they tilled gardens and raised livestock...sheltering the stuff as much as possible from the wind.

The lighthouse has a second order Fresnel lens, manufactured in France in 1936. This is a view through the lens to the light in the middle...the bulb that is not burning is a spare in case the main bulb burns out. The light is actually not that strong...1000 watts...but the precision glasswork in the lens magnifies the lighting so that the beam is visible 25 miles out to sea.

Near Port Orford, I came upon an urban agglomeration of starfish and anemones...blow the pic up for more detail.