Point Reyes Lighthouse

                                                                                    Written by Soo Y. Kim

   Yesterday was an exciting and cheerful day, thinking about my visit to Point Reyes Lighthouse. I wasn’t able to truly fall sound asleep the night before. In the morning, it was sunny after some rain at midnight. My son-in-law drove and it took three hours to arrive at Point Reyes Lighthouse.

   My daughter and two granddaughters including myself were so excited to see beautiful sceneries through Point Reyes National Seashore. As we traveled through, I couldn’t help but notice the deer, the cows and bulls of various colors all over the prairies grazing on the green rich grass. There are several beautiful lakes, thick forest and renowned hiking courses along the road.

   The scenery looked like a masterpiece of art, but really it’s a masterpiece of God. It gave me joy and pleasure. From the bottom of my heart, I enjoyed every minute of my visit to the Lighthouse. When we arrived at the Lighthouse, I exclaimed with a breathtaking surprise. There are almost 500 stairs on the steep rocky cliff leading all the way down to the Lighthouse. As I looked down the stairs, I felt dizzy. The Lighthouse commands a beautiful view of the navy blue ocean.

   Point Reyes Lighthouse is the windiest place on the Pacific coast and the second foggiest place on the North American Continent. This Lighthouse was built in 1870 and an automated light was installed in 1975.

   The Lighthouse at Point Reyes Seashore is now a functionary museum, where the era of the light keepers’ lives is explained and the craftsmanship and the beauty of the Lighthouse is actively preserved. Lighthouses provide mariners some safety by warning them off rocky shores and reefs.

   The lens in the Lighthouse is a “First Order” Fresnel lens, the largest size of Fresnel lens. After Fresnel’s invention in 1822, the brightest lighthouse could be seen all the way to the horizon, about twenty-four miles. The Fresnel lens intensifies the light bending and magnifying the source light through crystal prism into concentrated beam. The Point Reyes lens is divided into twenty-four vertical panels, which direct the light into twenty-four individual beams.

   Listening to the tour guide telling the history, it was an amazing and awesome story hidden about its lamp. I was short of breath, when I climbed the stairs all the way up to the top of the hill after I saw the Lighthouse. Happily I toured without any difficulties or problems in the long run. It proved that I am still in good health, considering my age. I give thanks to God for it.

   This trip visiting the Lighthouse was a wonderful and unforgettable memory./늘 추억의 저편

등대 2.docx