Last week Molly and I served as lighthouse keepers at Crisp Point Lighthouse. Our five day stint as keepers on this remote Lake Superior shore was but a “blink in time” for Crisp Point and lighthouses in general. Ever since man constructed ports, lighthouses have existed to aide navigation. The oldest standing lighthouse today is the Tower of Hercules in Spain which was built by the Romans in the 2nd Century. Crisp Point light is a Johnny come lately to the world of beacons, built in 1904.
I hope you enjoy this photo journalistic essay of a day in the life of Crisp Point Lighthouse from the lighthouse’s perspective. This first image was taken 20 minutes before sunrise. The perspective is from out on the catwalk looking through the glass.
Our stay was our fourth visit as keepers, and we are already signed up for 2018. Molly and I feel privileged to have been a very small part of this history. The images are combined from our five day stay. Finally, I invite you to visit my wife’s blog, Superior Footprints. Molly, who is a published writer for many magazines including Lake Superior Magazine, gives her impressions of Crisp Point including our duties as keepers.
100 minutes before sunrise: Crisp Point near the finish of another night’s work. The first light of dawn may be seen in the lower right hand corner of the photo.
60 minutes before sunrise: Getting ready for a new day in the official lighthouse keepers residence, a small tent!
30 minutes before sunrise: Morning calm descends over Lake Superior
15 minutes before sunrise: Reflections on a new day!
Sunrise!
20 minutes after sunrise: Time for a morning walk on the beach before starting keeper’s duties for the day.
Daytime – morning 
Daytime – afternoon
20 minutes prior to sunset: Quite the view for dinner!
Sunset: The sun starts to dip below the Lake Superior horizon. The lighthouse photograph was taken with three minutes left of direct sunlight.
15 minutes after sunset
25 minutes after sunset
120 minutes after sunset: Nothing like a good bonfire to relax and enjoy a great day. After the last guest leaves, Molly and I enjoy our very private campsite. Reaching Crisp Point requires a 50 minute (19 mile drive) along a dirt road. The closest town of any size is an 80 minute drive … truly heaven on earth!
Crisp Point Lighthouse Map
What a wonderful description of your service as light keeper! The pictures are exceptional, too! That is an experience I will never have as I am in my eighties! We helped plant and mulch trees when Nellie and Don first were developing the site they so dearly loved and my late husband helped build the original portions of the boardwalk. That was long before the service building with the gift shop and rest rooms was built an before the entrance area was reconstructed. It is a pleasure to see how the preservation has grown and been maintained all these years!
Hi Mary Eleanor! Thanks for commenting and reaching out. I very much appreciate the fantastic work you and other volunteers did during the early years of restoring Crisp Point Lighthouse. It is a special place on a most remote coastline. Without the trees you planted I’m sure Lake Superior would have been successful in her attempt to destroy the light. Trees are so important to stabilizing shoreline. We head back to Crisp Point later this Summer for what will be our fifth year as keepers.
These photos and your journal are just exceptional! I had a short visit several years back and the memories are still very much with me. What an opportunity for you. Thank you for volunteering your time so that the rest of us can enjoy such a precious gem.
We hope that the strong north winds today don’t cause damage to the shoreline there. With the high water it could be a problem with the 60 MPH winds.
These photos are absolutely stunning, Rich…you are so lucky to be able to spend time at the beautiful Crisp Point location…it is on my bucket list, just not sure if I can talk my hubby into it. We’ll see…thank you for sharing your amazing adventure…
Thanks for sharing! I haven’t been there in a few years. My father is from that area – beautiful country!
Crisp Point is my all time favorite lighthouse. So remote & quiet, except for the crashing waves of beautiful Lake Superior. Someday I dream of being a “keeper”. Thx for sharing.
Thanks so much for sharing this. Looks like heaven!
What a great experience … and beautiful photos.
Also, the pics are superb!
These experiences at Crisp will not be forgotten, what a wonderful place! We were there in August!
How wonderful to be a keeper. Would love to do that. And the pictures–glorious!!
Thanks for sharing.