BONITA

Buscaba en el garaje esta mañana mi gorro negro de estibador, que por supuesto no encontré (la edad no perdona y ahora voy a pérdida de prenda por semana), al dar con dos de mis Road Atlas de Estados Unidos que utilicé en algunos de mis viajes por el interior del país. Antes, sin GPS, estos atlas maravillosos te salvaban de cualquier apuro aparte de llevarte allá donde quisieras sin problema alguno. Son una joya y los que tengo los guardo como oro en paño, claro está que estos que aparecieron en el garaje seguro son una devolución de algún amigo al que se los había prestado.

Abrí el atlas al azar y salió el mapa de San Francisco, obviamente más usado que el resto puesto que ha sido la ciudad de partida, en casi todas las ocasiones, de mis viajes en coche. Mapa de área de la bahía y un punto que me viene a la cabeza: POINT BONITA; he aquí.

Point Bonita Lighthouse is a lighthouse located at Point Bonita at the San Francisco Bay entrance in the Marin Headlands near Sausalito, California. Point Bonita was the last manned lighthouse on the California coast.

The original Point Bonita Lighthouse, a 56-foot (17 m) brick tower, was located too high. Unlike the East Coast of the United States, the West Coast has dense high fog, which leaves lower elevations clear. The original light was 306 feet (93 m) above sea level so the second order Fresnel lens was often cloaked in fog and could not be seen from the sea. In 1877, the lighthouse was moved to its current location at 124 feet (38 m) above sea level. The United States Coast Guard currently maintains the light and fog signal. It is accessible to the public during limited hours (12:30 PM–3:30 PM) on Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays. Up until 1940 the lighthouse could be reached without a bridge, but erosioncaused a trail leading to the lighthouse to crumble into the sea. A wooden walkway was installed, but when that became treacherous the suspension bridge was built in 1954. As of January 6, 2010, the suspension bridge to the light house was closed to public access. According to the Federal Highway Administration, the bridge, which was 56 years old, started to rust. It underwent repairs in 1979 and again in 1991, but the metal components were not able to stand up to the sea spray. The new span reopened April 13, 2012. The new bridge construction cost a bit over $1 million. It is made of tropical hardwood with steel suspension cables and attachments.