Historic Coquille Lighthouse (Bandon, OR)

A few days ago, my husband and I got ourselves up about an hour before the sun began to rise. We got ready for the day and made sure to dowse ourselves in the shower to wake up, plus eat a little to warm up, before heading out to Bandon's South Jetty County park, allowing me to set up and get some sunrise shots!

At South Jetty County Park, you have a few beautiful options. First, it is a hot spot in the town for anyone on their lunch break. You can sit in the parking lot and watch the waves roll in onto the beach (which is no more than a few feet in front of you) while feeding the massive amounts of seagulls who hang out in the parking lot. You can walk along this beach for quite a stretch, passing many magnificent rock formations on the way!

The other sight from the park is what I captured. Our lighthouse! The historic Coquille lighthouse is actually located in Bullards State Park and can be reached by going down the highway in the opposite direction then that which I travel to get to South Jetty, through a campground, by a beach, and to the end a narrow, winding road. From South Jetty, you get a nice view of the lighthouse from across the way, near the mouth of the Coquille River.

This historic beacon was built in the late 1800's and did its job for a mere 43 years, when it was shut down and taken over by an automated beacon. A little sad, if you ask me, but I like to think of it as sitting there on its solid rock foundation, reminiscing of days past, filled with memories of sailors warned, as it silently watches the river flow to the sea.

For this morning shot, I set up in a shallow area just below some of the jetty rocks. Thank goodness there was a low tide! I was trying to get shots of the reflections off the pool of water in front of me as the sun rose, but when I glanced to my left I was entranced by THIS sight! I LOVED the way the posts framed the little lighthouse, and how I could still see plenty of the water and color from the rising sun! It was truly a gift from God, both the beautiful view and the inspiration!

It was a FREEZING cold morning (temperatures in the low 30's and ice on the roads!), and by the time I was done taking pictures my fingers were aching, my body was shaking, my nose was running, and I couldn't feel my toes! My husband actually made me quit photographing, afraid I'd end up with frost bite.

When we got home, my fingers were almost back to normal, but my toes had regained feeling and were aching even worse than my fingers had! True, there was a decent bit of pain and a case of the massive shivers for both my husband and I, but it was well worth the trip and all the complaints seemed to melt away as we brewed up and drank some much-needed morning coffee! Tomorrow morning (1/31) we're getting up and heading out to capture the sunrise at Bullards, for even closer shots of the lighthouse at this colorful hour!

I wish you all a wonderful week and hope you enjoyed my photograph! I absolutely love the history in our County - especially the lighthouses. They are so much fun to visit! Thanks for checking out my photo and reading about my fun little adventure! God bless!

By Chelle152 from Coquille, Oregon