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CoastWatch Mile 224 County Lincoln Description Beverly Beach north, Johnson Creek Boundaries N 44° 44.731', W 124° 3.91' to N 44° 44.062', W 124° 3.461' Google Maps Nearby Roads, Directions to/from, Google photos, Satellite image, Terrain overlay OPRD Map Cape Foulweather to Otter Rock, Schooner Point (1) Vehicles • Motor vehicle travel is prohibited from the Tillamook County-Lincoln County line (45° 02.6706', Mile 247), southerly to Yaquina Bay (44° 37.0374', Mile 215), except for the following locations within the corporate limits of Lincoln City: (A) A distance of 150 feet on each side of the westerly extension of North 35th Court; (B) A distance of 150 feet on each side of the westerly extension of North 15th Street. Weather Current Weather Conditions at nearby stations (may take a minute or two on a dialup connection) Tides The NOAA Tide Predictions site may be found here. Click on the station nearest to your location to see predicted tides in graphical and tabular formats. Photo North end of mile 224   9/21/07 beach to south of Devil's Punchbowl acwasner

26 REPORTS FOR MILE 224: malachite May 6, 2013 5:00 PM   Most notable sighting was of the many live and dead winged carpenter ants which might've been the reason for the unusual number of crows & gulls I saw on the beach today. Usually I see very few birds, today I saw 30+ gulls (some near where Johnson Creek flows into the ocean, others further south on the mile) and 10-15 crows (estimate) and 2 vultures (soaring). Observed crow harass vulture & persuade vulture to fly away from crows and gain altitude. Beach was surprisingly clean given how many people might've been on the beach this weekend (2 day heatwave, HMSC weather station listed high of 84+ on Saturday, 87+ on Sunday). I saw evidence of a fire in an area w/driftwood (near the base of the bluff) but otherwise beach looked very clean. Wonderful, beautiful walk on the beach. Started out sunny, fog bank moved in during the course of my walk. Report form needs to be revised so that people can enter the time they arrived on mile and time departed. I arrived about 4:30-4:40pm and left beach about 5:30pm, back at parking lot about 5:40pm.    MORE  malachite Mar 23, 2013 5:00 PM   This dispatch is a follow up to my most recent mile report. I reported what I thought might be tsunami debris/invasive species attached to woody debris. I received a response from Chris Havel and from Ryan Parker (both of State Parks) on March 19. Ryan Parker is the beach ranger whose range includes CoastWatch mile 224. Here's Ranger Parker's response: "I patrolled the stretch of beach from Devils Punch Bowl Stairs to Moolack Motel this morning and was unable to find this item pictured in your photo. However the good news is the barnacles pictured are open-ocean pelagic barnacles called Goosenecks. They are found in all regions of the open Pacific and pose no threat to the local environment. They are commonly found on derelict boats, woody items like lumber and driftwood and Styrofoam/plastic marine debris. There has been an increase over the past four months or so in driftwood with such organisms attached, and usually in small quantities. The seagulls and ravens will eat them all off the log pictured in a number of days. These barnacles cannot survive above the water column and will soon die. My apologies for the slow reply, I did receive the message and until the overnight tide that stretch of beach north of Spencer Creek had been blocked by lack of sand accumulation. I was out there at the great 0.8 low tide this morning, Saturday March 16th at 10 a.m. From the stairs to Spencer Creek I found perhaps 11 logs and dimensional lumber with remnants of pelagic Goosenecks on them, 95% had been eaten or rubbed off from tidal forces. OPRD and ODFW field staff very much appreciate your report and advocacy and concern for the ocean shore." For more information on Goosenecks- click below: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lepas_anatifera http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikebaird/6739464901/ It's a very complete response and I appreciate his taking the time to (1) check out my report; (2) write such a detailed response. For anyone who read my report, if you were like me and didn't know the status (invasive or local) of the photographed barnacles (I thought they were a kind of clam), now you and I know they're pelagic and from this area.    MORE  malachite Mar 15, 2013 3:30 PM   Found some possible invasive species--bivalve or shellfish. I did not find it easy to report this finding. When I got home (around 5pm) I did an online search for a tsunami debris site, first one I found supposedly had an e-mail address I could use to report possible tsunami debris w/an invasive species attached. When I clicked on the address, I went to a page that stated it wasn't working. Next I found a site listing the 211 or 800 SAFENET number (I did attend a tsunami debris workshop/meeting but couldn't find what few notes I took or any other information). Called that number, got a recording. Recording supplied an e-mail address--an OR state parks e-mail address. Sent an e-mail to that e-mail address w/two photos attached & location information. That e-mail was returned as undeliverable as it was "too large". That was w/only two photos attached. Information found on another site indicates this e-mail address is supposed to accept location information and "photos." Resent w/a single photo, that e-mail got through and I received a response that indicated that copies of the e-mail would be sent to NOAA & ODFW if the e-mail concerned biologic debris/invasive species. I tend to doubt if that will happen until someone reviews it and since I was on the beach on Friday afternoon, my guess is that no one will review the e-mail until some time this Monday (03/18) at the earliest. The woody debris (weathered column/part of a post) to which the bivalves were attached was above the current high tide level (I was on the beach during high tide and it seemed to be resting about 5' above the reach of the high tide) but not above a higher high tide or high tide plus storm surge. It was too heavy for me to drag further up the beach w/out assistance and there was no one nearby to ask for help. I did what I could to report the finding, but unless the debris stays in place (no one moves it, I'm right about the reach of the tide, etc.) until at least Monday, I don't know if anyone w/expertise will locate & examine it any time soon. I looked online re: native species of clams, etc., on the OR coast and what I found doesn't look like any of commercially or recreationally harvested species. However, the bivalves also didn't look like any of the invasive species listed in a Puget Sound invasive species handbook that I found online or any information I found re: invasive species on the OR coast. Note: when I returned to the parking lot, some surfers had arrived & were on their way to the long stairway down to the beach. The beach at the base of the stairs (Devil's Punchbowl state park beach access, south side) is a popular surfing area. High tide today was 7.4' and occurred at 3:48 at the HMSC according to the tide table. I was on my mile from approximately 3:30pm to 4:30 pm.   MORE    driftline on beach    Description: Driftline notable for substantial number of small clear jellyfish. Tennis ball included for scale. Location: don't have one, probably about midway through mile. Copyright: (c) 2013 Susan E. Hogg photo of possible tsunami debris    Description: woody debris, possibly tsunami debris, w/mass of bivalve or clam (unknown species/variety) attached. Location: just south of/adjacent to Johnson Creek which flows out to ocean in south 1/2 of the mile. Copyright: (c) 2013 Susan E. Hogg 2nd photo possible tsunami debris    Description: photo showing all of the debris, wood plus attached bivalves/clams. Location: just south of/adjacent to Johnson Creek which flows out to ocean in south 1/2 of the mile. Copyright: (c) 2013 Susan E. Hogg malachite Dec 21, 2012 1:35 PM   Sun was out for awhile, then cloudy. Warmer then yesterday, very little wind. Inca & I had the beach to ourselves--an increasingly rare event. Very enjoyable. Noted increased truck traffic, truck traffic sounds were very noticeable for the southern portion of the mile. The highway runs quite close to the edge of the bluffs/beach along that part of the mile (from about Johnson Creek to Beverly Beach campground). There were several driftlines, at least 3 large pieces of styrofoam thrown up onto the base of the bluffs, etc. Much more debris on the beach & driftline than usual, no doubt because of the storm. A newish looking tire w/shiny wheel/wheel cover was on the beach. It was too far from the beach access for me to try to remove it, plus I would've had to either carry it up 90+ steps or wheel it up a steep & lengthy path (after first getting it up some muddy steps). Didn't see anything that could be clearly identified as "tsunami" debris. Just the usual trash (plastic bits, bottles, etc.) and trash thrown up by many of the winter storms. Noted that driftlogs were fairly well distributed on beach, not mostly clustered a bit north of the Alpine Chalet access as they've been for the past couple of years (iirc).   MORE    driftlogs on beach    Description: some of the driftlogs on beach, looking towards Beverly Beach. Location: south of Johnson Creek, looking toward Beverly Beach state park access Copyright: (c) 2012 Susan Hogg driftline    Description: sample of deposit in driftline. Ball tosser placed nearby for scale; ball tosser is approximately 27" long. Location: about midpoint of the mile. Copyright: (c) 2012 Susan Hogg Johnson Creek    Description: heavy flow of water through culvert a day or so after heavy rains fell in western OR, afaik this is Johnson Creek. Location: Johnson Creek culvert under highway 101 Copyright: (c) 2012 Susan Hogg looking north towards state park    Description: At Johnson Creek outfall, looking north toward headland, north end of mile 224 (Otter Rock). Showing some driftlogs on beach, and a fair amount of surf even though it's two days after the most recent storm front/low moved through. Location: near Johnson Creek/culvert. Copyright: (c) 2012 Susan Hogg malachite Jul 21, 2012 8:40 AM   Water was way out today; quite a bit of the ocean floor (or an area normally underwater) exposed. I was on the mile from 8:40 a.m. to 9:55 a.m.; the number of people on the beach changed during that time, as did the number of dogs (and vehicles in the parking lots). Number of people increased to approximately 17 people, number of dogs to 5, all off leash, seemed mostly well mannered. Of the 17 people, maybe 4-5 were surfers, two were runners and 1 a bicyclist, the rest walkers/standers. This is a typical pattern, people come & go on this beach within the hour or so that I spend on it. Probably the surfers are most likely to be on the beach as long as I am, unless it's a hot day and people come w/their kids & spend several hours on the beach. There are two lots and some on-street parking at the beach access. I checked only one lot on my arrival. When I left, there were 8 vehicles in the first lot, 10 vehicles in the second lot, and maybe 4-5 vehicles parked on the street. Towards the south end of the mile, the sound of the surf was overridden by the noise of traffic on the highway. No noisy small aircraft overflights today or the aircraft was flying high enough to be not intrusively noisy. I saw 3 big white onions & a banana in the driftline, all w/in about 40 feet and all relatively fresh looking. Part of a picnic? Part of a picnic that went overboard? Or maybe people just tossing overboard or onto the beach whatever they don't want. The sun came out as I walked the mile--it was close to muggy--I could see some fog/clouds just to the east and a fog bank sitting several miles offshore. Not even a breeze except right down by the water. I've attached photos of: general view of mile from near top of access stairs; a few views of the ocean bottom and how the water flowing over the beach & retreating tides shape it, and continued bluff erosion (physical erosion/water & air/gravity). This beach was pretty clean, I picked up a medium-sized piece of styrofoam and a plastic bottle (that was near an area that looked like people had been picnicking/partying). When I was back at the parking lot, heading towards the trash cans, a woman walking nearby made a comment something like: Oh, I see you picked up the biggest piece of styrofoam. I was in a hurry so I didn't stop to ask her what she meant but it sure sounded like she & perhaps the person w/her had also picked up some litter they found on the beach. If so, it's good news.    MORE    view of mile 224 looking south     Description: A view of mile 224 looking south towards Beverly Beach state park campground (south boundary of the mile), low tide, at about 8:45am. Taken from near the top of the stairs down to the beach. Location: Near top of access stairway at Otter Rock. Copyright: (c) 2012 Susan Hogg surface of beach/exposed ocean floor    Description: exposure of beach/exposed ocean floor about midpoint of the mile, near a creek (whose name I can't remember, sorry). Showing water flow patterns, including how heavier minerals (garnets, magnetite, etc.) show flow by their depositional patterns. Location: about midway of mile/near creek. Copyright: (c) 2012 Susan Hogg erosion of beach bluff    Description: continued erosion of beach bluff near the south end of the mile. Location: near the south end of the mile, i.e., north of Beverly Beach state park Copyright: (c) 2012 Susan Hogg exposure of bedrock by tide    Description: An exposure of bedrock on the beach/ocean floor at the south end of the mile. The tide had turned and water was already starting to fill up this area, that was lower then the rest of the surrounding beach. I haven't seen this exposure before--I don't know if I just haven't been on the beach at the right time of year/tide or if for some reason this area got scoured a bit. Looked like mudstone, didn't see any fossils in it (but didn't look at all of the outcrop. Location: Perhaps 100 feet west of bluff, towards south end of mile Copyright: (c) 2012 Susan Hogg firepit    Description: Fire pit in the southern 1/3 of the mile. Just an example of the several firepits I saw. All ready for a party but--no litter so far. Location: southern 1/2 of mile, near the base of the bluff. Copyright: (c) 2012 Susan Hogg malachite Apr 1, 2012 4:30 PM   Actual time on beach was from 3:55pm to close to 5pm and I don't know the exact tide height, low tide for the Marine Science Center dock was listed as 0.9 at 2:55pm. Looked like there was some storm surge, lots of surf & the tide was definitely coming in. # of people on beach changed, there were perhaps 3 people at the south end of my mile by the time I ascended the stairs at the north end of the mile. Everyone else had left. Beach was even cleaner than usual today, no doubt because of the work of all the SOLV volunteers yesterday. I saw 5-7 full SOLV bags piled around the trash cans at the state park restrooms. Thanks SOLV volunteers! Much greater volume of water in all creeks/culverts then usual, due to the heavy rainfall in the past few days. I took a few photos (attached)of (1) what looked like a recent slide/erosion of the part of the headland at the north end of the mile. (2) driftline, (3) colorful beach sediment/particles; (4) two different/separate erosion sites on the same section of bluff. It was sunny for part of my walk, rained for only 10-15 minutes. A very welcome break from the rain, snow and strong winds of the past few weeks.   MORE    headland erosion    Description: Erosion/rock fall of part of headland structure/cliff, north end of mile. Location: north end of mile, south west side of headland. Copyright: (c) 2012 Susan Hogg driftline    Description: photo of items in driftline. Location: southern 1/2 of mile. Copyright: (c) 2012 Susan Hogg minerals in the beach sands    Description: Photo showing how water flowing from creek to ocean winnows out the heavier particles of minerals (garnet, magnetite, amphiboles & pyroxenes) from the lighter more silicaeous sand sized particles. Location: about midway of mile. Copyright: (c) 2012 Susan Hogg 2 separate erosion sites    Description: towards the left is one erosional site at the top of the bluff, note light colored cobble sized rocks making their way down the face of the bluff. Further to the right, there's a scar indicating where a mass of much small sized sediment has eroded away or caved off. Location: southern 1/3 of mile. Copyright: (c) 2012 Susan Hogg malachite Sep 24, 2011 1:40 PM   Very warm day at the beach, not much wind. While it was sunny, there were mare's tail clouds and a fog bank offshore. There was some ground fog further south and it was foggy this morning north of Yaquina Head (south of mile 224) that didn't dissipate (until around 4pm) until 11 am or so. Felt humid. Many people on the beach for this beach, and parked along the lookout & near the Otter Rock, Mo's. All the spots along the road were occupied. Not everyone wants to go down (and back up) the 90+ steps, generally they just walk in the area near the lookout or to the north side of the park. Many surfers, not all of them in the water, there were probably over 30 people w/boards & wetsuits on, but some were resting. All but one of the dogs appeared to be well under control, even if off lead. The 5th dog was let off lead & ran wildly all over the beach and into the ocean. Eventually the owner caught up with it & while not putting it on lead, did keep the dog closer to her. The driftlogs continue to seem to shift location slowly to the north. There were again only a few driftlogs at the Alpine Chalet access, very few near the stream flowing (except it wasn't really flowing today, more like a slow moving puddle) just to the north of AC, so the bulk of the drift logs were to the north of the stream outlet, stretching north for perhaps 100'. There were signs of at least 3 fires near the stream outlet, one at the base of the bluff & right next to bluff vegetation, horsetails, etc. The Coast Guard helicopter flew by in the general vicinity (you can hear it coming some time before you see it) as I turned back to walk north to my access point/Devil's Punchbowl park). However, the helicopter flew to the EAST of the beach, either over the highway or to the east of the highway. The further south it went along my mile the further east it flew. So, instead of flying OVER (or at least near) the beach on a very warm day when many people were surfing or south of my mile, wading and playing in the ocean, they flew further & further away from the beach and over land. There did not appear to be any interest in keeping an eye on all the people in the water. That happens fairly often, maybe it's because the CG's been part of DHS for a number of years.   MORE    Looking south down the mile    Description: On access stairs, looking south down the mile towards Beverly Beach state park access to the beach. Location: access steps/Otter Rock/Devils Punch bowl state park access steps to beach on south side of DB Copyright: (c) 2011 Susan E. Hogg looking south, about 1/8 mile from access--development of slightly raised foreshore (may not be correct term)    Description: Looking south again down the mile a little ways south of the base of the access stairs. The photo shows (not really well) the beach geomorphological form: there is a slight ridge that has formed and then the sand beaches slopes a little more steeply than usual (still fairly shallow slope) down to the beach. Note a fair amount of seawhips, etc., washed up on the beach, same deposits seen at Agate Beach wayside to Jump off Joe. Location: Maybe 1/8 mile south of base of access stairs Copyright: (c) 2011 Susan E. Hogg people mining (?) or panning creek about 1/3 mile north of Beverly Beach access at south terminus of mile    Description: A fairly large group of people who appeared to be looking for something, panning? Sluicing? in the creek. I've seen similar activity a few times before in previous years, but never this many people. Location: creek flowing through culvert under highway onto beach, about 1/3 mile north of Beverly Beach access at south end of mile Copyright: (c) 2011 Susan E. Hogg malachite Mar 6, 2011 4:00 PM   Pleasant day at the beach. More people on beach (mostly walking, 2 surfers) when I left then when I arrived & for the first part of my walk, possibly because the tide was going out. No new slides seen, only somewhat incised channels, probably caused by rain water, in the exposed beach bluffs. Huge number of plastic bits in the driftline, primary component of drift line.   MORE    plastic bits on mile 224, southern 1/2    Description: photo of plastic bits, major component of several driftlines deposited along the southern half of mile 224. Not as abundant/visible along the northern 1/2 Location: southern half of mile 224, south of creek. Copyright: (c) Susan E. Hogg incised rainwater/runoff in exposed bluff sedimentary rock    Description: incised rainwater/runoff channels in poorly consolidated sedimentary rock (layered) of exposed bluff at the south end of mile 224. Location: exposed bluff sed about 1/8 to 1/4 mile from Schooner creek/Beverly Beach state park (north of BB) Copyright: (c) Susan E. Hogg malachite Nov 25, 2010 4:00 PM   A nice day for a walk, cloudy but not raining, cold, or very windy. I saw more people on the beach than I expected to. No fires, mostly just people & quite a few children, walking on or playing on the beach. Saw one live gull standing on the beach near the waterline, some gulls & a few members of another species (not sure what, was pretty far away) flying off shore. At the south end of my mile, higher energy wave action is (I think) transporting the lighter sand particles off shore, leaving/exposing the heavier pebble & cobble sized sediment, also "garnet" sands were very visible, some of the sand looked quite pink (in a red violet kind of way). See 2nd & 1st uploaded photos for higher energy beach (2nd) and example of "pink" and "purple" sands (1st). Also noted: what I believe is a continued shift in transport of drift logs. There is a creek outlet & path up to a street just a bit north (200 feet? 300?) of the Alpine Chalet access. For at least the past 4-5 years, if I wanted to ascend that path, I had to clamber over a large pile of driftlogs spread out over that part of the beach. Today I simply walked over, a much smaller number of logs lay mostly a bit further north. Because of the lack of erosionally protective drift logs, some of the "steps" or the slope leading up and to the path appeared to have been partially eroded or worn away by the fall/winter rains & possibly storm surges/very high tides as well. In an earlier trip report I noticed a decreasing number of drift logs as well as an apparent shift in placement. Today's observations seem to confirm the decrease/change in location. Will try to remember to photograph the logs next time.   MORE    plastic bits in driftline    Description: plastic bits/trash in driftline, largest pieces maybe 1/2" by 1/2". Plastic bits were concentrated in driftline in southern 1/3 of mile, not so present in driftline of the rest of mile. Location: southern 1/3 of mile 224 Copyright: (c) 2010 Susan E. Hogg cobbles/pebbles exposed at south end of mile 224    Description: Higher energy beach demonstrated by exposure of increasing number of large sized particles, i.e, pebble & cobble-sized. Earlier this year (late winter/early spring) this part of the beach surface was almost all cobble/pebble sized sediment and was a bit difficult to walk over. At height of summer/low energy waves, was a mostly sandy beach. Location: a few hundred feet north of Beverly Beach state park Copyright: (c) 2010 Susan E. Hogg old slide/erosional area, continuing to erode    Description: The photo is of an older slide, I think it's still moving a little or just spreading out. The photo is looking south and immediately adjacent (north) of the slide a creek comes though a manmade access/drainage onto the beach. I do not know the name of this creek. Location: south of Alpine Chalet access, adjacent to name unknown creek flowing underneath hwy 101 Copyright: (c) 2010 Susan E. Hogg malachite Sep 25, 2010 3:30 PM   Foggy day at the beach. I arrived about 45 minutes or so after high tide but there was alot of surf, a pretty high energy system. As a result, the waves were reaching much further up the beach then I'd expected. When I reached the beach near the Alpine Chalet access, I sat for 15 minutes or so, waiting for the tide to retreat some more so I could walk the rest of the mile. More people than I expected to see, parking lots & on street parking looked about 3/4's or 7/8s full when I arrived(around 3pm), when I left (around 4pm), the lots, etc., looked about 1/2 full. Seemed to be mostly surfers, some of whom were in the parking lots, removing wet suits, or coming back up the steps but some of the vehicles might've belonged to some of the SOLV Clean up participants. There was one SOLV bag (not completely full) left at the base of the stairs down to the beach, and what looked like 4-5 more bags left next to the trash cans near the public restrooms. Beach itself was pretty clean except for the usual litter tangled up in the drift line, and the usual bits of plastic, not many pellets, mostly bits of plastic, some w/sharp edges (broken off from something else), etc. Lots of seaweed, seawhips, etc. A high energy event (storm far offshore) seems likely for so much kelp, seawhips, etc. to end up on the beach. Photos attached. I've been seeing information on the coastwatch listserve re: dragonfly flights but did not see any today, nor have I seen any in the past week on the beaches I've walked (mostly Lucky Gap to Agate Beach wayside, also north of Yaquina Head to Moolack shores). Too bad, I like dragonflies. Only ones I've seen were a week or so ago out in Five Rivers.   MORE    looking south on mile 224    Description: looking south from north end of Mile 224, foggy day, not long after high tide. Location: north end of Mile 224, perhaps 100 feet from base of stairs. Copyright: (c) 2010 Susan E. Hogg brown pelicans    Description: Brown pelicans sitting on westernmost rocks at Cape Foulweather, photo not that sharp. Location: Mile 224, north end, looking west, northwest Copyright: (c) 2010 Susan E. Hogg malachite Jun 17, 2010 1:30 PM   Lovely day on the beach. Only one noisy small plane flew overhead, I (& everyone else on the beach) was spared the intrusion & noise assault of a low flying helicopter overflight. Quite a few children/preteens seen, mostly towards the south end of my mile, just across the creek from the Beverly Beach campground access. It was on the north side of the creek (or along my mile) that I observed about 5 preteens boogie boarding/playing in the surf. All the exposed bluffs looked as though some additional slow erosion had occurred, but because of all the rain, it looked as though all the loosest particles had been washed down the several bluffs, etc., so most of the bluffs had a freshly washed look, or fresh cut look. Except for the two plastic bottles & the plastic bits in a thin driftline, a very clean beach. I observed that there seems to have been a shift (temporary?) in the deposition pattern of the drift logs--the area around the Alpine Chalet beach access had few to no driftlogs--there are usually quite a few there. There were smaller then usual (to my eye) piles/collections of drift logs near the bluff bases to the north & south of the Alpine Chalet access. But fewer than usual. Garnet sands still exposed to the south of the Alpine Chalet access, no ancient tree trunks exposed. Large pebble/cobbles at the south end of the mile, but many fewer & extended for a much shorter way into my mile, which suggests that more sand has been deposited on the beach since my last mile report & covered up some of the large pebbles/cobble-sized, poorly round to moderately well rounded, rock. Enjoyed my walk in the sun (haven't seen that much sun lately).   MORE    view of mile looking south    Description: A view of the mile looking south towards Beverly Beach. Note ground fog. Location: near the stair access of mile 224--north end of mile Copyright: (c) 2010 Susan E. Hogg well defined strata exposed in bluff    Description: Photo posted for purposes of comparison with a photo of the same bluff w/well-defined strata attached to an earlier mile report. To show evidence of ongoing erosion of bluff. Location: south end of mile 224, near Beverly Beach State park access (across the creek from the access) Copyright: (c) 2010 Susan E. Hogg malachite Feb 7, 2010 4:00 PM   Beautiful day on the beach. I'm going to try to upload some photos. Some new small slides. Definitely a higher energy beach today--as I walked south towards Beverly Beach, I saw garnet/amphibolites & pyroxenes coloring the sand, & sections of beach where there was a poorly sorted, semi-angular pebbles to cobbles on the beach. Further south the distribution change to well sorted cobble-sized rocks only, that were semi-well rounded, and from there to adjacent to Spencer Creek (Beverly Beach) it looked as though the cobbles became more & more heavily distributed (except for one sandy area) that the beach was more a field of cobbles. No sign of old stump I've seen exposed on the beach at times.   MORE    view of mile 224    Description: View of mile 224 looking south from Otter Rock, on the stairway to the beach. Location: Access Stairway down to Beach, south Otter Rock Copyright: copyright Susan Hogg Slide    Description: Slide on Mile 224 Location: south of condos on mile 224 Copyright: @2010 Susan Hogg another slide, adjacent to creek/major outfall north of Spencer creek    Description: Substantial slide, worsening of a slide that started last year, in the next creek/substantial outfall north of Spencer Creek at Beverly Beach State park, perhaps 1/4 to 1/3 of a mile north. Location: about 1/3 mile north of Spencer Creek, adjacent to a creek/outfall Copyright: (c) 2010 Susan Hogg terraced bluff just north of Spencer Creek/Beverly Beach state park    Description: Photo showing a bluff profile that demonstrates a terracing resulting from different rates of erosion of the exposed western face of the bluff. Softer strata erodes more rapidly, with the more resistant strata forming the top surface of the "terrace". Location: Bluff w/clearly defined strata located about 1/8 mile north of Spencer Creek Copyright: (c) 2010 Susan Hogg "garnet sands"    Description: Sand w/two types of garnet, amphiboles & pyroxene sediment (sand sized particles), characteristic of high energy beach in this area. Location: unknown, probably halfway through mile Copyright: (c) 2010 Susan Hogg anthropogenic acceleration of bluff erosion    Description: This is a highway drainage pipe or a pipe designed to make sure water drains through to the beach w/out unsettling an already unstable highway. The unattached section of pipe broke off probably around 8-9 years ago, when the bluff eroded sufficiently that it was no longer supported. Lack of maintenance (probably by ODOT) or attachment of a flexible downspout has meant that the water coming out the pipe end is eroding the bluff even faster than it would naturally. Note foot prints along one side, showing additional anthropogenic acceleration of erosion. Location: north side of terraced bluff, close to Spencer Creek. Copyright: (c) 2010 Susan Hogg malachite Oct 2, 2009 3:30 PM   Lovely sunny day at the beach. More people walking, playing, surfing than I expected. Absence of colored plastic bits from driftline noted, as is significant or noticeable erosion of top strata of bluff at south end of mile. Clean beach. Observed what looked like several groups of pelicans flying grossly parallel to beach, far offshore.   MORE  malachite Aug 7, 2009 4:30 PM   A very large number of people at this beach. I think many are attracted by the surfing lessons, I have no idea who's offering them. The parking lot closest to the beach steps was almost full, mostly, I think, with surfers/surfer student vehicles. Wouldn't hurt if the instructors: (1) are required to provide life-saving personnel/meet certain standards for provision thereof--as I see no reason why either the Coast Guard or the Fire & Rescue people in Otter Rock/Depoe Bay should have to subsidize a profit making activity like surfing lessons by providing free rescue service if it's needed. (2) pay a fee to state parks--given that they are taking up so many parking spaces. Again, for a profit-making activity. All dogs I saw under reasonably good control, whether on or off leash. I was surprised by how many fire circles I saw along my mile, at least 5-7, stretching from just north of Beverly Beach state park access all the way to the immediately adjacent to the beach steps (north end of mile). There were two fires going while I was walking the mile, one was well away from any vegetation, the other was located almost in the midst of the mass of drift logs near the Alpine Chalet access. The fire circles tend to be loosely clustered (in terms of concentration) near the several access points along this mile, although one was probably close to a 1/3 of a mile from an access. Most were in the sand, near the base of a bluff. I was pleased to see with how free from litter the beach looked, despite what looks like unusually heavy use this summer (lots of footprints). I saw two people w/small dogs on the leash also carrying a plastic bag (shopping bag)--I don't know if they were picking up litter or not. However, I did not see evidence that people were picking up after their dogs (although I didn't see any dog feces either so perhaps I just didn't see it happening).   MORE  malachite Jun 4, 2009 4:00 PM   Pleasant walk on the mile, very little litter, saw 5 whimbrels, pelicans fishing offshore (unusual # of birds). Walk ended in heavy rain, thunder & lightning.   MORE  malachite Nov 19, 2008 12:00 AM   Clean beach at fairly low tide on a cloudy day. Beach very sparsely populated, just a few surfers & one other walker besides myself. Just the way I like it!   MORE  malachite Aug 8, 2008 4:35 PM   Very crowded beach at southern end of mile-where there is beach access from Beverly Beach state park/campground. Significantly less populated at north end. Lots of autos/RVs parked in parking areas, I suspect the 99 steps down to/up from the beach at the access stop some people from doing anything more than looking at the view, stopping at Mo's, etc., then getting back on the road.   MORE  malachite May 7, 2008 10:40 AM   Significant exposure of the beach not long after low tide, unusual number of short lengths of lumber (used) in the driftline, some shorebirds seen on the beach--unusual sight on this mile.   MORE    looking south from access stairs    Description: Looking south from access stairs at north end of mile 224 during low tide. Location: north end of mile 224, stairs giving access to beach. Date: May 7, 2008 12:00 AM Copyright: (c) 2008 Susan E. Hogg malachite Mar 5, 2008 5:00 PM   Main reason to file this report is to document my sight of a bald eagle. It's not the first time I've seen one on this mile, I believe I saw one at least once before during January/February (forgot to document at the time). I believe I also observed an osprey one day during the winter too.   MORE  malachite Mar 4, 2008 4:25 PM   Beautiful sunny day. Because my walk started at 4:25pm, very near low tide (0.1), I was able to see rock outcrops exposed on the beach that are often submerged. Some ongoing gradual erosion, bluffs towards the south end of my mile may be exhibiting a somewhat accelerated rate of erosion--bluffs just north & south of southern mile boundary deeply incised by rains & runoff (if latter present).   MORE  malachite Jan 25, 2008 4:15 PM   Beautiful, sunny & warm day on the beach. An unusually large number of colored plastic bits seen in the driftline(s). Many small slides seen, no new major slides. Brief discussion of concern re:increased number of people permitting (or not bothering or able to prevent) their dogs to chase/harass shorebirds in wintertime/off season.   MORE  malachite Nov 21, 2007 2:15 PM   Beach is developing "winter" (higher energy) profile--noted the exposure of the ancient tree trunk/roots about 1/2 way through mile. Noted passage of one of "scenic ride" helicopters--this one out of Siletz airport (not quite as noisy as the one out of Newport airport) yet another visual and audio blight on an otherwise beautiful landscape.   MORE  acwasner Sep 21, 2007 3:00 PM   Absolutely beautiful afternoon. Surf was high (low tide) and surfers were certainly enjoying it. Where there had previously been debris, many tiny pieces of plastic, there were new gently sloped dunes of fine white sand. It was very clean. Clumps of small purple flowers were blooming along the edge of the embankment. I saw at least one tree with the roots all exposed. No new slides. Noted very few birds and no shorebirds. No dead birds or animals.   MORE    North end of mile 224    Description: beach to south of Devil's Punchbowl Location: north end of mile 224 sehogg Aug 30, 2007 9:20 AM   Pretty low tide today. Beach was exceptionally beautiful (even for this beach) looking from about 1/4 of the way down the stairway access, looking south. When I first got down to the beach, a fog bank, looking like white cotton candy covered the beaches from about Beverly Beach south, with fog merging to clearer air as you went north until it was sunny at the base of the stairway and as I walked south (initially). There was a brown tent on the beach, the tent was down or gone and two people were sitting at the base of the bluff with a fire going, looked like they were eating breakfast. On my way back, I walked by the spot where the seal had been. The signs were gone, as was the seal and there may have been some smudges of blood on the sand. Perhaps the guy in the Forest Service green pickup picked up the seal. The topography of the beach had changed since my last visit. The water had formed a kind of bench for about 1/3-1/2 of my mile (north to south) and the beach (from the bluff) mildly sloped (the slope varied as I walked south) up towards the edge of the bench. If you walked down that (3-4' high?) the ground sloped down from the bench and then sloped back up a bit as you went towards the water line (tide had turned to start coming in). Further south, the water had carved a fairly deep and long gully on the beach below the bench. The creek that flows a bit south of the Alpine Chalets was flowing through a shallow channel over the bench and down to the ocean. However, another creek/water outflow north of Alpine Chalet was seemed fairly well dammed by the slope upwards towards the edge of the bench--3 plovers were cheerfully swimming in the large pool formed by this "dam." This bench became shallower and shallower as I walked south and disappeared by about 2/3s of the way south. Would be interesting to see what happens at high tide. Fossil or very old tree stump not exposed, therefore probably sand has been deposited on that section of the mile. No dogs chasing birds, not many birds to chase. This is one of the few times I've seen any birds (dead murre, 3 plovers) besides a few crows, seagulls and vultures (2, soaring) on this beach.   MORE  sehogg Jul 1, 2007 8:15 AM   It took years but now Oregon beaches have something in common with beaches in Queens (NYC)--trash heads leave shopping carts there.   MORE  sehogg Apr 23, 2007 12:45 AM   From southernmost end of my mile I could see all the equipment's that been brought in to redo the bridge at Beverly Beach state park. Not a great time to be staying at that campground. Beach was pretty clean. All dogs under control off lead or leashed. Old/Ancient tree roots near Alpine Chalet access still exposed. Some "garnet" sands still present. No sign (yet) of the campfire (stones grouped in circle for campfire) and attendant trash, half burned cans, broken bottles and other signs of trash head beach partying this spring (there was last spring) not far from the access steps at north end of mile.   MORE