Sequim Daily Photo

I didn’t count them but I recall being told there were 74 stairs up to the light room at the New Dungeness Lighthouse. The Lighthouse sees about 5,000 visitors per year, many of whom walk ten miles roundtrip on the Dungeness Spit to get there. Two visitors who came during our stint ran the last mile and several were into their 60s and 70s. It helps renew my faith in the fitness of U.S. citizens.

This open ladder is the final ascent into the light room of the Station.

Tomorrow we’ll look at the Keeper’s Quarters.

The Strait of Juan de Fuca is a busy shipping channel and the Dungeness Spit is a serious navigational hazard as ships head into and out of Puget Sound and the more northerly straits leading to Canada. The New Dungeness Lighthouse flashes a beam of light that can be seen for 17 miles in clear weather, 12 times a minute and 17,280 times per day.

The lighthouse tower was originally 100 feet tall and the light was fueld by lard oil and magnified by a third order Fresnel lens. The tower was lowered to 63 feet in 1927 because of structural damage. The current light is a rotating six-sided bull’s-eye prism and is completely automated. The U.S. Coast Guard still changes the lights inside while the New Dungeness Light Station Association (NDLSA) maintains the building, grounds, and infrastructure of the Station.

The environment on Dungeness Spit, where the lighthouse is located, is harsh. NDLSA has been replacing the unique, curved windows of the lighthouse. You can see above what time and the elements have done to them. The Association spends about $100,000 a year on upkeep and has a long to-do list. Funds come from keeper stays, donations, and grants. Despite its age, the Light Station remains clean and beautiful. As volunteer keepers we were allowed full access to the light and the exterior catwalk around the light room. Payback? My husband polished all the brass in the room and the stairwell, renewing a relationship with Brasso that he hadn’t had since his Navy days.

Here is one of the early harbingers of spring in this area, the Red-Flowering Currant. It begins to burst forth with these bright blossoms as early as late March. These photos were taken in April and early May this year.

The blossoms are showy and attract hummingbirds and butterflies. These shrubs are a nice addition to a natural landscape and the Clallam County Conservation District sells them as part of their annual Native Plant Sale. Although they are reputed to have persistent berries, I haven’t noticed any in the many plants around the Dungeness Recreation Area. This is what a typical plant looks like now that fall has taken hold.

Some of the shrubs have a lot of bronze coloring, some are various shades of green, and some of them look battered and moth-eaten.

Dungeness Recreation Area is a wonderful place to walk and it’s particularly nice to observe the changing of the seasons.  This past spring I took pictures of some of the native plants in bloom and remembered this as I’ve watched the season’s changes. Snowberries, shown here, are one of the interesting surprises.

Snowberries have very inconspicuous blossoms, 1/4 inch or less in size. Compared to many other plants in bloom in late spring, they’re the quiet girls at the back of the room. But come Autumn, it’s a very different story!

By summer’s end the blossoms turn to bright white 1/2 inch berries that form a sea of white on the many shrubs in the Recreation Area. They lighten the landscape with a brightness that looks like polka dancers masquerading as ballerinas. Paired with the common bright red rose hips, which I’ll show in another post, they’re an especially beautiful sight.

The folage of the snowberries are browsed by deer and elk. The flowers attract butterflies. And the berries are eaten by many birds and by winter’s end may also serve as a food source for other wildlife.

Autumn seems to be moving through here pretty quickly. Here’s a hillside in the Dungeness Recreation Area on one of those perfect fall days.

This might pass for a spooky Halloween mask but for its odd setting, attached securely into a bush of wild roses. I’m fairly sure this is a paper wasp nest. Nobody came or went while I was photographing, so there were no clues there. It was on the large side, about eight inches tall and perhaps six inches wide. Notice how it’s constructed completely around branches of the rose, with a “front door” opening at its base. Much as we prefer to dislike wasps and yellowjackets, they are beneficial insects that eat pests that can damage trees and shrubs. Here is more information from the Washington State University Cooperative Extension.

Here’s another view that shows more of the setting, surrounded by ripening rose hips. Though the insects abandon the nest around now, it’s not a bad neighborhood if you’re an insect looking for a nice spot.  This is not near any human homes.

This whimsical  little hat has been living on top of a post in the Dungeness Recreation Area lately. Scarves and mittens that get dropped and forgotten are often left on posts or benches and find owners. I suspect children often outgrow their lost apparel before anyone notices it’s missing.