A wave 200 feet high!? This photo was taken by Bob Wick of the Bureau of Land Management. It’s the image for the August page of BLM’s 2018 California calendar. Trinidad is in Redwood Country on California’s north coast. Sea level is beneath the bottom of the photograph. Although difficult to visualize, the cliff is 198 feet high. That’s twenty stories. The caption to the photo reads:

Trinidad Head, California Coastal National Monument

“Trinidad Lighthouse was first activated in December 1871. Perched 198 feet above the ocean on a dramatic clifftop, its most notorious event was a huge wave that struck the headland in the winter of 1914. Keeper Harrington, stationed on the head for 28 years, described an immense storm the likes of which he had never experienced. He watched an enormous wave approach until the sea itself fell over the top of the bluff and struck the tower on about a level with the balcony, making a terrible jar and disabling the light. Although no official measurement was made, this is still considered to be one of the largest reported waves in history.”

More on this amazing event here: http://lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=61 Click on the photo for a larger image. Although the old lighthouse is not open to the public, the views are grand everywhere around Trinidad. Make sure to eat breakfast at the Seascape Restaurant. You’ll thank me.