Saturday, August 21, 2010 - Ride to the Lighthouse Day

Woke up again to cloudy and misty skies, a bit of a cool wind coming off the water. While the rest of the country is suffering heat waves, we're wearing sweatshirts here! Thoroughly enjoying the temps, though, they're perfect for riding. Saddled up and out before noon, headed up the trail at the base of the hills the track along the beach. The trail was pretty sandy, but slightly firmer than the sand at the last beach. While Wild Mare had a light-colored sand, this beach is dark gray, turning black when it gets wet. There was also enough vegetation to walk on, making it a lot more comfortable for the horses, although is some spots we had no choice but to walk on the beach to get around atolls that pushed out toward the sea. A very dramatic coastline, with big rocks along parts of the beach, and cliffs that go almost straight up from the beach. We headed south toward the Punta Gorda lighthouse, which turned out to be a rather short stubby lighthouse that hadn't been in use since 1951, but it had a placard that explained how difficult it was to have been built, how the materials had to be highlined from a ship, and how it was being built after a tragic shipwreck that took 80+ lives. Interesting. I climbed a very narrow circular staircase with a very small opening at the top (they were definitely small in those days!) to view the sea from above. Took a few pix, then headed back down and back down the beach. Just before reaching the lighthouse, we came across a small homestead, all wood and few amenities, with two or three out buildings, tucked up in a small cove next to the largest stream we had passed since we left camp. At first we thought it must just be someone's vacation cabin, but we both saw someone moving around inside. Obviously someone who truly likes isolation! We didn't see any vehicles or animals, though I guess there might have been one in one of the outbuildings. No signs of electricity, no TV antenna or satellite dish, and I can imagine it gets mighty cold in the winter! Maybe it is just a summer place. Also, just south of the campground, there was an area fenced off with a couple of placards describing the archeological significance of the place, the remains of an Indian encampment. Apparently, the local Mattole tribe came here every summer dating back several thousand years, and evidence shows the shoreline has been receding over that time due to the movement of the tectonic plates, because the older remains are farther inland. We love these places that provide a bit of history! It was a lovely ride, we passed several hikers and the goat guy along the way. Got back in fine shape after about three hours, just right. Relaxed the rest of the day, ran out once to check email and phone messages, and walked up to the beach to watch the sun set (a ritual shared by virtually everyone in the campground) before settling in for the night.