I have spent the month of December as a volunteer at the Heceta Head Lighthouse, near Florence, Oregon. In exchange for my 20 hours per week, I received a free campsite at a nearby campground. It’s a great exchange and has come with unexpected perks making it even a better deal than I originally expected.

It offers unbelievable beauty. And even though it is the same view, the same lighthouse, I find myself taking photos each day I work at the lighthouse. I cannot stop myself. I don’t want to stop myself. Because even though it’s the same view and the same lighthouse, every day is different.

The light plays differently with the water. Some days there are clouds—from white cotton candy fluffy ones to dark gray angry ones. The tides create a different landscape as I look down from the edge of the lighthouse grounds—from high surf that makes big crashing noise (and on occasion hits the rocks 205 feet below so hard and so high, mist sprays my face) to flat slow waves. On quite surf days, the sea lions chat up a storm from a nearby cove.

Some days I wear sunglasses, sit on the bench and feel the warmth of the sun. Other days I turtle into my jacket to conserve heat with a stocking hat on my head and gloves on my hands. One day was so windy it was necessary to lean into it just to stay upright.

In the near future I will do a full post (probably two) sharing all the details about Heceta Head Lighthouse and the Lighthouse Keepers’ House as well as my experience as a workamper (a person who exchanges labor for money and/or a campsite).

But in the meantime, I wanted to share a few photos of this extraordinary place. I thought it the perfect post this holiday season. One of beauty that inspires and awes.

View from where I park my car every workday before walking a half mile up the hill to the lighthouse.

Here is the same beach but from the point of view up at the lighthouse looking down. The parking lot and beach are to the very left, kind of hidden behind the hill.

The former duplex was the house where the two assistant light keepers lived with their families. The head light keeper’s house was torn down in 1940. You cannot see the lighthouse itself from the parking lot where this photo was taken from.

Heceta Head Lighthouse whose flame was first lit on March 30, 1894. It has guided sailors for more than 125 years though these days with technology it is not a primary navigation source for ships or boats.

The view of Heceta Head Lighthouse from the cliff behind the lighthouse, looking out to the Pacific Ocean.

From the cliff behind the lighthouse, a close up view of the First Order Frasnel (pronounced FRAY-nel) lens. First Order means it is the biggest of the Frasnel lenses. It also means it is the brightest of all the lighthouses on the Oregon coast because, as I understand it, the other lighthouses have Second Order and Third Order lenses.

And as beautiful as these photos are, they don’t even come close in comparison to seeing it in person. Do you have a place you’ve visited where you just cannot seem to stop taking photos or being in awe? Please share.

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