Hike to Race Point Lighthouse

Sunday, July 11, 2021 

Hi Blog!

Since arriving on Cape Cod, we haven't seen much of the sun. However, this morning we awoke to a brilliant sunrise. Our plans for hikes and paddles thus far have been stymied by the bad weather. With the promise of a good weather day, we decided to pile on as much as we could while the good weather lasted. We got an early start to hike out to the Race Point Lighthouse pictured below. 

If you hike to the lighthouse from the beach access at the Race Point Ranger's Station, it is a 7 mile round trip beach walk. However, if you hike across Hatches Harbor, it is only a four mile return walk across an old dike. The only problem with Hatches Harbor is that it must be done at low tide, or else you are getting your feet wet! Lucky for us, low tide was at 10:45, which would give us plenty of time to get to the lighthouse and back before the tide came back in.

The trail starts on the access road to the dike. With all of the recent rains, there were several large puddles in the roadbed that we had to work around.

We soon found ourselves climbing up and down several rows of sand dunes. With all the scrub oak and pitch pine, the area reminded us of the Carcross Desert in the Yukon.

As we left the scrub and entered the marsh, we got our first look at the Race Point Light. Race Point's name comes from the strong cross current, known as a “race,” that made navigation around the terminus of Cape Cod a nightmare for mariners. As early as 1808, the merchants and mariners of Provincetown asked for a lighthouse at Race Point.

There are over 200 different wildflowers that live on the Cape Cod Dunes. Here are just four:

Hatches Harbor was originally the mouth of a large water body known as Race Run. Hatches Harbor Dike was constructed in 1930 to lower the water level and reduce the mosquito breeding grounds in the 400-acre salt marsh of Race Run plain. But six decades later, recognizing the upset caused to the marshland ecosystem, the Park Service began installing culverts through which salt water could once again flow. This part of the dike still sits high above the marshland.

With the tide out, the red sand of the tidal channels stands out against the bright green of the marsh grass.

The final section of the old dike has been removed to allow sea water to freely flow into the marsh. Just at we reached the end of the dike, we noticed a large group of hikers working their way around the dunes and heading toward the dike. We waited for them to arrive and chatted briefly with the hike leader. The group hike was arranged through MeetUp. Lucky for us, they were parked at a different parking lot than we were, or else we never would have found parking at the trailhead. They were also kind enough to leave a trail through the wetland and up into the dune which was easy for us to follow.

A piece of driftwood that appeared to have been cut and assembled into a chair provides a welcome respite.

After weaving our way around the dunes, we soon found ourselves at the base of Race Point Lighthouse.  The original tower, first illuminated in 1816, was replaced in 1876 with the current 45-foot tall iron-plated tower and a new keeper's dwelling. The American Lighthouse Foundation operates the property and rents out two buildings for overnight stays. The actual light is maintained by the Coast Guard. 

In addition to the rooms at the Keepers House, the old Whistle House has been renovated with two bedrooms and one bath. However, if you stay at the Whistle House, you have to provide your own four wheel drive transportation.

As we made our way down to the beach, here is our view of the keepers house and lighthouse. It would be really cool to be able to stay overnight. Maybe next time.

Everyone always talks about the wide open spaces out west. However, there are still a few open spaces left on the East Coast. Cape Cod has its fair share. Below, Kathy embraces the wide open beaches:

Just as we made it down to the water's edge, a curious gray seal approached. We tried several times to get a good photo, but he kept ducking every time we raised the camera.

This seagull, however, was more than happy to pose for a photo.

Race Point is the site of many shipwrecks and between 1873 and 1902 and had a Lifesaving station known as Race Point Station. Unfortunately the station was no longer in operation when the fishing schooner Buema crashed into the surf and was wrecked on January 7, 1908.  The wreck can still be seen on the beach at low tide:

After taking in the views, we did a little beachcombing, looking for that perfect rock or shiny shell. Here is an example of the things we found. Some hermit crab would be lucky to find a shell like this one.

The hike back through the dune and coastal scrub was uneventful. However, we did run into this "fun guy." Our grandson insists that it isn't a good blog if we don't have at least one fun guy photo!

We finished our hike before noon, which gave us plenty of time for our next adventure. See the next blog for some cool photos from our paddle around Nauset Marsh.