​On Wednesday morning, 8-28-24, 12 RAMs including two significant others, walked the Boucher Trail from the Elephant Seal Viewing Area in San Simeon to the Piedras Blancas lighthouse. The total round trip mileage was 4.3 miles. We started the walk about 9:15 AM and finished a little after noon. Elevation change was 290 feet. We spent about 40 minutes at the lighthouse and Bob Zdenek gave a very concise and extremely interesting docent explanation of the life cycle and breeding habits of the elephant seals.
Normally the lighthouse is closed to access (the gate in one of the pictures below) and only opens for visits a few days a year. Although most of us were expecting some sort of docent-led tour for our $5 donation, it turned out to totally self-lead. You can enter the lighthouse tower but access up the spiral staircase to the light is prohibited. There is a exhibit on the ground floor. There are also a couple of small buildings which once housed fog horn equipment that were open for viewing of exhibits, but all the actual equipment was gone.
The big surprise, at least for this writer, is that the lighthouse is still operational with a range of 21 nautical miles. The fog horn was decommissioned in 1975 when the light was fully automated. As you would expect, the horn started when the fog obscures the light. That may be why they called it a fog horn. It is not clear why it was no longer needed. There are several other active lighthouses (they call them light stations now) along the California coast. The fog horn for each lighthouse played a different “tune”. That way a ship offshore could not only be warned it is approaching the coast, but also know by looking at their cheat sheet, which part of the coast they were approaching. A picture showing the sound patters for each of the coastal lighthouses is included in our collection of photographs on the next page. Originally the rotation of the beacon depended on the descent of a weight at the end of a cable from the top of the lighthouse to a pit in the floor. You could tell they made things to last when the lighthouse was built by the condition of the buildings. Remarkably sturdy with timeless style. There was a display of beacon technology evolution and here is a link to a spec sheet on the current device: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VRB-25
The explanation of what goes on with elephant seals was remarkably interesting. They visit the beach primarily at three time per year. August does not have that many seals present. A picture below shows some of the seals lying on the beach. Mature males reach over 4000 pounds and “socialize” with a very large harem. Males go to Alaska to eat and the females simply feed offshore. The seals dive to thousands of feet to eat, sleep and come up for air every couple of hours. They can live below the operating depth of their predators. The population from Mexico up the coast of California has increased enormously since they are now protected and no longer hunted for their blubber. Bob is planning on leading a tour for the RAM Day Trippers during a peak period, and it should be a very worthwhile trip RAMs should consider. No hiking required for the Day Trippers.
Barb had a schedule conflict so Russ took the pictures. You can zoom in on them to see more detail if you are using a mobile device.
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