Cape Meares

On Monday, my family took a short trek from where we were staying in Happy Camp, Netarts, OR, up to Cape Meares. It is a short ten minute drive up the cape to go see the Cape Meares Lighthouse and the famous Octopus Tree.

Of course, Monday happened to be the day that the clouds blew in. But, with the exception of my Grandma visiting from Minnesota, we are all Oregonians, so clouds, rain, and fog are what we expect when we visit the beach. Both dogs were wearing the coats for the trip, since I knew it would be windy and cold up on the cape.

Pallo in his jacket, ears blowing in the wind.

We parked the car and headed over to take a look at the lighthouse. The Cape Meares lighthouse is famous for being the shortest lighthouse in Oregon, since its height on the cape made a tall lighthouse unnecessary. As a result, it looks very short and stubby compared to your mental picture of a lighthouse.

Dogs at the foot of the lighthouse

Dogs aren't allowed into the small gift shop or up into the lighthouse, but the tour is free for humans. My sister was generous enough to offer to hold the dogs while I took the tour.

The below photos are a few I took while touring the lighthouse, which, even though it is short, still has two flights of stairs. When editing the photos last night, I apparently was on a kick with the black and white matte look. I guess it just makes it seem so much more dramatic, gets rid of the strange coloration from the different lights, colored lenses, and natural light spilling in, and gives it a bit of an antique feel. At least to me, anyway.

These are the gears that were used to turn the lens of the lighthouse, which was turned in a complete circle every four minutes.

And a glass window that was above me as I stood to take the picture of the gears, above.

After the tour of the lighthouse, the entire family trekked back up the trail. We headed over to the Octopus Tree for a quick look.

Pallo posing on the fence around the Octopus Tree

We got back to the cars just as the rain started for real, and spent the rest of the day laying around taking naps, eating, and playing card games. It was still warm enough to go out for a walk on the beach at sunset (though no sunset was visible through the clouds), though with the rain, mist, and fog you were pretty much soaked immediately.