Photos Hole In the Wall, Abaco Island, Bahamas...

[creature]

An old lighthouse.. 1836ish.. turned robot in the 1990's..

This is the road in. 10 miles.. the first stretch is pretty easy.. it gets pretty thick at about mile 4..
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It is important, however, to properly fuel up, first...
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The ride in is mostly just trees & rock road..
there's a spot called Soldier's Road, a staging area from WWI for the brits..
the damn thing is a fucking moonscape..

at the other end is the approach to the lighthouse, overgrown as hell, & after you push in, you see this:

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& this..

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These were the service buildings & housing for the light keeper & family..
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They've been open to the elements for a while.. i dunno how often folks come out here, but at the time there were some solar panels hanging out & the old mac hadn't been taken.. despite shit being blown to hell, i guess there's a definite respect for the place..

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The lighthouse is kept unlocked, which is pretty neat.. it was fucking incredible to crawl up & take in the view..
The construction is amazing.. beautifull steel, brick & block work.. i'd love to see the original plans..

They automated the damn thing, & so now there are rows of batteries, doing the work of a person...

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This is looking down at the foyer, just a few steps up..
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And she continues up.. there's at least 3 more flights above that platform..


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& down, from a bit further up...
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On the way up are cabinets built into the curve of the original walls..
i can't recall for sure, but i think there was a date on them.. clearly from the mid 1800'.. beautifull old wood & undisturbed..

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Eventually you come to the observation portals..
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That's where you really get to see the righteousness of the iron work..
over 100 years of storms..
man.. what did it take to build this thing out in the middle of no place, when *sailing* ships.. *wooden* sailing ships.. were still the strongest vessels in the ocean..?
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This is right at the bottom of the observation deck.. one last set of stairs, nearly vertical, up onto the iron lattice..
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at the top there's a platform .. that's when you start to see stuff...

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& *then* you crawl up a ladder & finally push through this hole..

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& it all opens up...



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There's the actual light, too..

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& the Compass Rose, beneath her...

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& you know what was fucking great, too?

not one single fucking sign saying "no trespassing" or other admonishments of illegality or safety..
fucking sweet..

& then it's time to descend...

This is the actual Hole In the Wall..
the waves have crashed for so long against the spit (up above), that there's an actual hole that goes through it..
i couldn't get a shot there, but this is what she looks like, before heading down the cliff:

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& looking back, the lighthouse & buildings look like this:
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heading back up, i find on the sidewalk something from 1993.. just a couple of years before shutdown..
heartbreaking in a way..

how did they know each other..??
10 miles from the road, & even further from the town..

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a long day..
then & now... time for more miles....

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[Tude]

@creature - I just saw these (I normally peruse the new threads - but this morning I'm looking at pics people have posted) - these are very cool! Must have been quite fun to go through there!