As Mike mentioned yesterday, in addition to taking pictures of Cape Hatteras at sunset and from the old location, we also climbed the tallest lighthouse in the United States. It was the first lighthouse that either of us had ever climbed, which made it an even more memorable experience!
As you can see climbing the Cape Hatteras lighthouse is the equivalent of climbing up a 12-story building! As the tallest lighthouse in the United States, Cape Hatteras clocks in at 208 feet tall! This surpasses the second tallest lighthouse by 17 feet, which is the Cape Charles Lighthouse in Virginia (a skeleton lighthouse) at 191 feet tall.
After purchasing our tickets to climb the lighthouse, we had a short explanation from one of the park rangers about climbing the light. She mentioned that we should take our time to get to the top and stop for water if needed. In addition, she mentioned that it is recommended that climbers wear closed toe shoes as the lighthouse's steps are made of cast iron (we may have been wearing flip-flops) and if you stubbed your toe it would really hurt!
The National Park Service's website states that the climb is "strenuous", however, we are avid hikers and the climb wasn't too bad. We did stop along the way at a few of the landings to take pictures out some of the windows.
Half-way there!
We continued up to the top most point that you can climb to (completing the 248 steps) and had our picture taken by another park ranger, it was really windy that day. In fact, when we went to the Outer Banks most of the beaches were closed because of the amount of wind and rip-currents that were caused by Hurricane Earl. We were lucky and just missed the bad weather in the Bahamas, Key West and the Outer Banks!
At the top you can get a 360 degree view of the land surrounding the lighthouse. Here are some of the shots that we got.
Of course, Mike had to take a picture of the lantern room! We also were able to get a picture of the shadow of the lighthouse that was cast on the ground.
There you have it, our complete Cape Hatteras experience! We would recommend that anyone who visits the Outer Banks make a stop at this amazing lighthouse, however, do climb the lighthouse at your own risk.
What is the tallest lighthouse that you have climbed?
Great post!! I really want to go to the outer banks and this lighthouse will be one that I will definitely have to see!! I haven't climbed any lighthouses but I did climb the Bunker Hill Monument...it is very strenuous but I was able to run most of the way up....dad joined me at the top a good 10 minutes later!!!
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