After 8 hours of non-stop work, I can officially say the haunted trail is officially tore down!  It is going to be a few more days before all the batteries are removed and the decorations get stored away until next year.  The primary reason for the delay is everything has to dry out thanks to a heavy rain that started just as the party was breaking up.  We headed down for the official lighting of the flaming pumpkin and it started to sprinkle.  The tree canopy shielded the trail from the light rain, but by the time we made it back to the house it was a full on downpour for most of the remaining night.  By the way,  it isn’t a Midwest Halloween until a carved pumpkin full of Kerosene is sending 4 foot flames out the top!  Seems like a fitting time to feature another form of bright light.

I am guessing one of my followers already recognized this particular lighthouse.  For those of you not familiar with it, this is the Split Rock Lighthouse.  We discovered it on our Waterfall hunting vacation along the coast of Minnesota back in July 2017.  Ironically, if I recall correctly, it was raining a lot that week as well.  Seems to be a lot of water related events seeing as we just drilled a new well a few weeks ago.  Anyway, my wife is the big waterfall photographer and planned our trip up the coast in an attempt to get some in the tin to add to her portfolio.  Think I mentioned this before, but she is a big photographer as well.  While I focus on feathers and fur, she prefers landscapes and dog agility/portraits. Every once in a while she will encroach into my domain (pretty sure she does it just to bug me).  Two can play that game hehehe.

Hit the jump to read a bit more about our lighthouse adventure.

We opted to not pay the fee to go inside the lighthouse.  Forget what the cost was, maybe $10 per person.  To be honest, I prefer the outside architecture of these buildings as opposed to the often basic elements inside beyond the light fixture itself.  After taking a long look at the map, we came to the conclusion Linda could get the shot she wanted by simply walking along the shoreline.  The question was whether we could get a straight shot at it or if it would be obscured by trees or possibly additional rock structures.  Good news, you can indeed get a clear view.  In fact, depending on how far you are willing to walk you can get a variety of different scenes.  There might have been some additional pull-off opportunities, however, we opted for a nice stroll while there was still some sun on the vacation.  For not being a landscape photographer, I thought some of the shots came out quite nice (yes, Linda just gave me an eye roll followed with a “what a newb” sigh).  Would have preferred a few more fluffy white clouds in the background to break up all that blue.

The shot above is probably my favorite.  Just like how the evergreen tree on the far right is almost mirroring the lighthouse.  A strong and sturdy Ent standing ever vigilant to ensure safe passage around the rocky shores.  Interesting enough, it is at this spot I found the Red-Breasted Nuthatch.  We were just getting ready to make our way out onto the rocks that cover the shoreline when the Nuthatch decided to grace us with a brief encounter before heading back into the woods (link here).  For the record, that technically means I was really birding and just happened to get pictures of the lighthouse while tracking the bird as it flew away (that’s my story Linda and I’m sticking to it!).

Lastly, here is a shot from the pull off a few miles down the road.  Although there is finally something to break up all that blue, I just prefer lighthouse shots from a lower perspective.  They seem more majestic sitting higher on the land.

So, now time for some audience participation.  Interested in knowing what perspective you prefer.  Of course, I hate them all and leave the landscape shots to your better half” is a completely acceptable response.  Yikes, just noticed the time and I still a have another post to do if I want to make my monthly quota. Hopefully you enjoyed the change of pace.