February 24, 2019

Pigeon Point Light Station or Pigeon Point Lighthouse is a lighthouse built in 1871 to guide ships on the Pacific coast of California. It is the tallest lighthouse (tied with Point Arena Light) on the West Coast of the United States and one of the most picturesque lighthouses on the Pacific coast. The tower stands on a rocky promontory and has long been a landmark for ships approaching San Francisco Bay from the south. The lantern room of the tower is no longer equipped with the original first-order, 1000-watt Fresnel lens. No longer illuminated for demonstration purposes, the lens has 24 flash panels, is composed of 1008 hand-polished lenses and prisms and is capable of producing over 500,000 candlepower illumination. It was manufactured in Paris, France and was first lit at Pigeon Point at sunset on November 15, 1872.

We met at Crystal Springs Reservoir at our usual meeting place, a dirt turn out adjacent to the reservoir. There we enjoyed a running board breakfast. At 10 am we traveled  on to the Pigeon Point Lighthouse in Pescadero. It was a slow ride down Highway 92 to Half Moon Bay led by Kev Enderby in his 1984 red Ferrari. Then we turned south onto Highway 1 and then a short sprint to the Pigeon Point Lighthouse in Pescadero. Following our visit to the lighthouse and the visitor center, we wondered around the state park. We then continued on to Duarte’s Tavern in Pescadero, a well known Portuguese roadhouse that has been serving patrons since 1894. At Duarte’s we enjoyed a fabulous lunch along with their famous olallieberry pie. A great time was had by one and all.

Photos by Scott Williams