Sunset

This morning we went biking on the Cape Cod Rail Trail, which runs pretty near our campsite. We followed it south, past several ponds, through Harwich, where there is another trail goes off to Chatham, and on to the trailhead in South Dennis. We returned to the camper for lunch, then went to Nauset Light Beach for the afternoon.
After several hours on the beach, we went to have a look at the lighthouses. There is an interesing history behind the lighthouses in this area. In 1838 this area was home to three brick lighthouses that provided beacons for sailors. Because of the encroaching cliff edge, the brick towers were replaced by three 22-foot high wooden lighthouses in 1892 and located thirty feet from the edge. The brick towers were claimed by the Atlantic Ocean later that year. In 1911, the continuously retreating shoreline made it necessary to move the lights again. Two of the towers were sold at auction, and the third was moved away from the cliff and attached to the relocated keeper's house.
The present Nauset Lighthouse, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is made of cast iron with a brick lining and stands 48 feet high. It was originally built in 1877, and was located in Chatham as a twin to the one that is there today. In 1923, the smaller wooden lighthouse in Eastham was retired, and the north tower in Chatham was dismantled, moved to Eastham, and reconstructed about 200 feet from the edge of the cliff. In 1996, when Nauset Light was just 37 feet from the cliff's edge, it was moved again, via flatbed truck over the course of 3 days, away from the eroding shoreline.
Eventually the National Park Service acquired all of the three wooden lighthouses, the Three Sisters, and reconstructed them in the woods inland from Nauset Light.

By this time sunset was approaching, so we decided to go catch the sunset at First Encounter Beach, on the bayside. As you can see we were treated to a magnificent sunset.

It's worth seeing in large.