Perched steep on a high stone wall, like a cantankerous hermit whose mouth is too dry to spit over the ledge, sits a ramshakle patchwork of lumber and history. Now scarred by years' worth of weather and knife-carved graffiti, the small shack - heralded as the highest elevation lighthouse in the United States - once warned Lake Tahoe mariners of the perils that awaited them on the rocks of Rubicon Point.
"You didn't just come aground on some sand and dirt, you hit the rocks and down you went," said Bill Lindemann, Sierra District Interpretive Specialist with the California State Parks, as he looked down on the stony outcropping within the D. L. Bliss State Park.
Lindemann made the short hike up to the old lighthouse to assess the structure's potential for restoration. Accompanying the park ranger was Chuck Fell, a restoration specialist with Empire Mines in Nevada City who is bidding on the project.
"You know, on the surface of things, this doesn't look like it's in all that bad of shape," Fell said while ducking under a support beam to inspect the lighthouse's foundation.
Two years ago the Tahoe Heritage Foundation donated $20,000 for the restoration work. Combined with $120,000 worth of federal funding from the Recreational Trails Program Grant, both the lighthouse and nearby trails are set to be restored.
"The better you make the trail system, the more people will use it," said Karl Knapp, Sierra District Maintenance Chief with the California State Parks. "It's actually incredible now, but it will be better. We're upgrading it and making it more accessible."
While the trails offer an enjoyable hike, their steep, narrow and rugged terrains pose somewhat of a logistical problem for the restoration of the lighthouse. On the trek up, Lindemann and Fell discussed various ways to haul materials, and possibly even a completed structure, to the project site; some possibilities kicked around included using a snowmobile or a helicopter - or possibly taking a cue from the men of yore who hauled the required acetylene fuel to the lighthouse via mule train.
"The site is so inaccessible," said Lindemann.
Though the project will undoubtedly prove to be tedious, Lindemann explained that he feels it is important to preserve local history for the enjoyment of future generations. It has not been decided yet if the preservation of the lighthouse will entail a simple stabilization of the structure, a restoration job or possibly replacing the original with a replica. In any case but the latter, as much original material as possible will be reused.
According to Lindemann, the lighthouse was originally operated from 1916 until 1919.
Because no pictures exist of the lighthouse while in use, it is not known what type of lamp it housed.