Lighthouse

Last weekend we took a hike in the Marin Headlands to get some exercise and enjoy the gorgeous scenery on the other side of the Golden Gate. We decided to hike to Point Bonita Lighthouse which is the primary marker on the north side of the entrance to SF Bay. We started on Rodeo Beach and climbed a pretty step hill. Lawson was quite the trooper and hung in there all the way to the top. I kept offering to carry him on my back, but he would have nothing of it. When we finally made it to the lighthouse, we had inadvertently arrived 30 minutes before it "opened." Little did we know there was a walking tunnel carved through the rock and a suspension foot bridge required to access the lighthouse. We were concerned Lawson wouldn't take the wait just sitting on a trail for 30 minutes. Boy were we wrong. In the meantime we saw probably 100 grey seals playing in the water, countless sea birds, over 20 racing sail boats and most impressively a whale! Needless to say Lawson was quite entertained while we waited. When the ranger arrived they unlocked a medieval looking door which was the entrance to the dark tunnel. We walked through that to get to the last 100 yards or so of the trail that ended at the foot bridge. It looked pretty impressive (see photos) so we were shocked to be instructed that only 2 people could cross it at a time. It was an invigorating walk across looking straight down at the crashing waves and a great climatic ending to the journey. We explored the inside of the lighthouse for a few minutes and watched the racing boats round the outer channel marker before we started hiking back. Literally within 5 minutes Lawson passed out in the carrier on my back. He was pooped but is still talking about it. What a great outing. The Bay Area is so amazing!