THE FURTHEST WEST YOU CAN GET...
...in the 48 Contiguous States, that is...-
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I first accessed the Cape Blanco Lighthouse back in 2004. During a tour of it, I was able to go up and see the absolutely-huge Fresnel Lens. If you can imagine a cut diamond the size of an average asteroid, that's what the lens looks like. So I learned a lot, but I could only go so far that particular day. When I got up to the top of the 260-foot bluff, high above the ocean, the place was socked in by fog. I resolved to come back one day when the sun was shining. I wanted to stand on the very edge, as far west as I could go. Cape Blanco is the furthest west you can get in the "lower 48".
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When I got waay up to the top, I was met by a great view, along with the "closed" sign out, which didn't exactly make my day. And I'd driven all that way for nothing. 'Closed is Closed', right? Deciding to make the best of it, I took as many photos from this point that I could. Then, I saw a couple walking their dog, coming from the lighthouse. "Can anyone go up there?", I asked them, and they told me that nobody stopped them. Aha. Okaay. The only thing was, I had to walk all the way up there from here. And I'm so out-of-shape, it's pathetic.

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First of all, here's how Cape Blanco looks from outer space. Even the gigantic ocean is rendered small once you get way up there in the Atmosphere. Highway 101 bypasses the point, but there's a connecting road, and after 5 more miles, you are there. The place has a certain forbidding quality, a bleak, austere type of beauty. It felt like I was standing on the edge of the world. It may be snowy and ice-cold this time of year back east, but here, everything stays relatively the same. The big piece of rock the Cape Blanco Lighthouse sits on has been the lonely keeper of the flame for a long time.

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After taking this photo of the Lighthouse compound, up there I went. The access road was blocked off where I stood here, so I still had a little ways to go if I was going to get any decent photos...trying to work up the courage to walk over there, I was just a little paranoid, thinking the Coast Guard or Park Service Meanies were gonna order me off the property...well, I guess if yer gonna trespass, do it here for the views!

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So I took that last photo, and went up the last incline to where the Lighthouse stood. I didn't need another tour; I'd been there before. I wanted outside visuals! The last part of the road, as well as the Lighthouse, is closed from October thru March. But having been here and not seeing the view tortured me, and I just had to go back on a day when Blue Skies prevailed. It was a real spontaneous thing; I woke up one morning when the sun was out, and decided to Go, just like that. I'm glad I did. Why did I go to the Lighthouse? Because it was there!

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Just before embarking on my unforeseen trek up to the lighthouse, I took this photo which depicts the northern cliffs of Cape Blanco. I think those tough rocks protected the land just behind it; when I came here the first time, in the thick fog, I thought there was a steep cliff to the side of the road, but not so. Now I'll feel more comfortable when I navigate the road again.

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And here it is, a couple hundred feet West of the lighthouse. Unless you want to swim out to those rocks, this patch of ground is the Furthest Point Westward in the "lower 48". That's it. Unless you feel like making a 260-foot cliff dive. Uh, no thanks. The winds were fairly fierce that day. This foto was taken 3 feet from the edge. You can actually see the curve of the horizon out there.

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Moving onward around the point, I ran across the foundation of some sort of building (The Lighthouse Keeper's quarters?) of which the structure disintegrated due to the climate, with this concrete footprint left as a sort of memorial. The west end of the foundation, behind me, is at the exact edge of the cliff, and with the years, the winds will erode that part of the cliff even more, with concrete chunks falling into the ocean.

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Going down the steps at the front of the foundation, I headed south/southeast along the edge, pointed the camera, and grabbed this minor photo masterpiece of the Cape Blanco Beach with a forbidding sea-stack. Off in the distance (mid-right of this foto) is Humbug Mountain, which is over 2,000 feet high and tumbles into the ocean. Highway 101 has to loop around behind it in order to continue south.
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As I was completing my way around the point of Cape Blanco, (now I'm southwest of the lighthouse), I thought I'd take this photo, which depicts old technology working together with the new. I'm not sure about the future use (in general) of Lighthouses, since those who sail have GPS monitors, and marker buoys out in the ocean are also wired up. It's still a working lighthouse, with the beacon moving in circles. Constructed, 1870.

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As I headed back to get to my car, I took this last photo, which looks north/northeast and you can see how windy it was with all those whitecaps out there on the ocean. I want to come back down here and spend an entire day. It was definitely worth it, coming back here to see what I couldn't see the first time around. It was mid-afternoon when I left; I had one more photographic destination; the Sea-Stacks of Bandon, 30 miles to the north. You'll see those photos sometime in the future.

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Finally, some philosopher said once upon a time that the Journey, not the destination, is the thing. I think I proved him wrong here. What a destination!