A couple years ago during the early spring we visited Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, but it wasn't open for a climb that early in the year. I jumped at the chance to make the ascent on this trip, though I did it cautiously because I didn't want to startle Eli out of doing this. He was pretty nervous to commit to the unknown of a spiraling staircase to such a high spot.
I haven't yet mentioned that we convinced (everybody's favorite) Staci to go on this trip with us. She is awesome at just about everything she gets pulled into doing when she's with us whether it's dish duty in our kitchen or tent set-up in a tight space. She knows each of my kids for their strengths and quirks, and they each feel loved when she talks to them. We all love it when she's around.
She was newly reassigned to be the assistant principal at our elementary school, and the kids spent all weekend switching between her titles, trying to decide which name they wanted to use: Miss England, Staci, Sister England are all options.
As Dan guided the boys up and while Staci helped A feel sure of herself on the stairs, I played photographer.
The ascent up these circle stairs was a good little hike: I looked down every now and then to appreciate the workmanship of wrought cast iron and and perfectly rounded brick layers. Blackened crusty rust caught my eye. Flaking layers of white and red paint seemed beautiful. Exposed brick was exquisite.
Once outside we looked UP!
And then we looked down again.
And Joshua might have become a little dramatic again.
Park Ranger Joe taught us about the relocation of the lighthouse and currents and sand that cause Hatteras to constantly move and change. He told us about the unique nature of Diamond Shoals, a shallow ten-mile long stretch of the coast where the Labrador Current and Gulf Stream collide. I marveled at the fragile nature of this very thin strip of land, but concluded that it is equally hearty to survive all the forces that shape it.
The breeze at that height was rather blissful in contrast to the stuffy, humid interior of the lighthouse stairwell, but we descended the twelve stories of stairs anyway and found air conditioning in the museum in the yard below. The memory of this climb were worth the work to the top and a great end to our summer camping trip to North Carolina's Outer Banks.
Click here for more about our walk at
Jockey's Ridge and
camping at Frisco.
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