It was a lovely fall day; the only one that week, as I recall. The sun was low in the October sky as I packed the camera in my backpack and made the five mile hike to the lighthouse. There was a sense of urgency to the trip. The beautiful old french fresnel lens was about to be removed from the tower and given to the Coast Guard Museum in Seattle. It was the end of an era. The New Dungeness Light Station, the first American light north of the Columbia River, would soon be automated.