Point Reyes National Seashore was more crowded than we had expected, especially the lighthouse and the headlands.  On our last evening, we decided to wake up “early” and drive out to the light house and photograph it from the top of the steps beyond the fence.  When a national park ranger decided to open the gate 30 minutes early, we were the only ones there.  We had the light house all to ourselves for 20 glorious minutes.  Here is what we saw.

It’s 300 plus steps down and up, with two “rest areas” along the way, seriously.

And it’s steep and its cold.  It is often foggy here, hence the lighthouse, but we had a clear cold beautiful morning.

Our wonderful national parks ranger took Mary into the tower and opened up the light and gearbox for her.

I was on the deck watching for Gray Whales.  I had my Canon 70-200 mm with a 2x extender for an effective range of 400 mm.  I also cropped this shot about 50%.  I estimate I was about 600 yards from the whales.  There is nothing like seeing a whale tail live.  What a thrill.

After we walked up the hill and were on our way to our car, we made this last photo of South and North beaches on the Point Reyes peninsula.  This is one of the prettiest places I have ever been and is just 90 minutes north of San Francisco.  Go.

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