Muir Beach Overlook Mystery

Today we visited Muir Beach. The Muir Beach Overlook overlooks Muir Beach. It is the home to a number of Base Ends, which were designed as observation posts where observers could report enemy vessels as they approached San Francisco. If base ends at multiple sites observed ships simultaneously the ship positions could be triangulated for bombardment by guns near the Golden Gate bridge.

The base ends are built into the hillside facing the ocean. On the back of the hillside we found a small room with a chimney, which might once have been a bunkroom or a kitchen. If you look carefully you can see a smiley face simulacra on the ground in the upper right.

Since the overlook is a point, you can see beach from the bunkroom side of the hill as well. I tried to take a photo straight through a break in the trees, but my camera would not take it. I pointed it up and to the left, and it took a photo there, I tried down and to the right, and it took a photo there, but not in the centre. That is a bit of a mystery. I guess it couldn't find anything to focus on when it was centered, or the batteries were a bit flat, or it just plain malfunctioned. Below you can see the shots I took pointing to the top left and bottom right.

Notice also the similarities between the angles of the photos on the nps.gov web site and the photos I took today (before I saw that web site).