Originally posted by seagirt:
Cathy-It is possible to do it in a day. However, forget about taking a break for a walk on the beach or anything. Bring lunch with you. You'd have to be in and out of every light, and might not have time to climb all 11.
Greg,
There is no way possible to do all 11 Lighthouses in one day and climb them all.
There are a number of them that you often have to wait quite some time to get into to climb- even Sea Girt can back up because of the size of it's Lantern room.(4-5 people at one time)
East Point (3-4 people at one time)is usually a long wait, Hereford Inlet (4-5 people at one time)can back up, Sandy Hook (7-8 people at one time) requires a wait.
They all require at least 15-20 minutes to climb and those above can take 1-2 hours to actually climb on the challenge weekend days.
I would not advise anybody to try doing the Challenge in one day but it is doable- just barely. Anyone choosing to do this would have to speed and just jump out of the car and get your token and get right back in.
It's not the best way to experience the lighthouses, but it can be done if a person wants to do it.
You would have to be at the first Lighthouse before it actually opens and just kkep on truckin' the whole day long.
I was not exagerating when I said it takes almost 400 miles and 11 hours of driving to finish in one day. You might cut down the driving time by speeding whenever possible but again I wouldn't reccomend it to anyone.
Take the 2 days and go at a more leisurely pace and actually get to enjoy and experience the Lighthouses - and the other Wackos you will run into on the way. You might still not get to climb all of the Lighthouses if you take 2 days to do the challenge- but you'll have more fun and meet some nice people.
Dennis