This morning I took advantage of a dry day and Griffin and I went out to Shirley, specifically the Sheringham Point lighthouse...I parked a ways back and we walked down the narrow, winding road.
Hoping to see a bear or two but they were all in the bush having salmon berry breakfasts.
I used to come down here quite a bit but it's been a few years now and things have changed a lot.
As we got closer, the road looked different and there has been a new developement paved into the forest.
I could just see the top of the lighthouse in the distance....
As I got closer I realized that there is chain link fencing with locked gates all around the area.
Technically the Canadian Coast Gaurd owns the property but is working on a deal with the Sheringham Point Lighthouse Preservation Society to open it up for the public. It would become a historical park.
There was always a bit of fencing around it but years ago someone had cut a crawl through hole in it and you could walk through the meadow up to the Light.
I did find a new way in and then.....this!
Luckily there is a small trail around the fence and I was in with the veiw I used to know...
I suppose it's mainly to keep the vandals and *#@holes out...
This Light was built in 1912 to guide sailors away from the rocks below...
It doesn't look too rough here, but in the dead of night when the easterly's are blowing in...well...thats why its called the Graveyard of the Pacific around the west coast.
22 metres high...
Apparently the only lighthouse ON Vancouver Island...
The light flashes every 15 seconds.
This marker was put up to specify the boundry between Canada and the U.S or something to that effect...
You see across the water is Washington state...
There were lots of wildflowers blooming along the way...
and this old narly apple tree up around where the lighthouse keepers house would have been...long gone now.
So here's hoping that one day this will be a bit more accessible with some of the story behind such an important part of marine history written up on plaques.
3 comments:
i think i've mentioned before how taken i was by this area when i visited the island some years ago. i can remember standing on some of those rocks, looking towards washington, loving the air and the sound of the ocean, envying anyone who lived there.
this post is magical. while i hate hate to see the chainlink, worse would be the vandalism that might result without it. and why am i not surprised you found a way to get to where you wanted anyways? ;0
You may get tired of the rain but you really do live in one of the most beautiful places in the world. I have such fond memories of Vancouver Island and your post makes me want to visit again someday.
I can't believe I have never been up there!
Thanks for taking me, virtually anyway! It's so beautiful!
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