Mile Report Browser

The most important observations were the large but superficial rock slide at Quarry Cove and the relatively high concentrations of jellies and pyrosomes in the wrack line.

Months of winter storms and King Tides have transformed last summer's welcoming Driftwood Beach. The smooth sand entrance onto the beach from Driftwood Wayside has been scoured out, and foredunes have been sheared off into perpendicular faces. The huge 100 year old driftwood log I photographed in October south of Buckley Creek is now 100 yards to the north. More of Buckley Creek's sand bluff has sloughed off, and the impressive driftwood lean-to I began photographing last June is gone. It's a different, wild but very beautiful beach.

We have been consistently checking the erosion for the last two months - it continues now at a much slower pace than last month, but it's visible.  

Heavy driftwood accumulation on the Taft beach; makes for difficult walking from access points to beach/water. 

In general, a nice day at the beach.  There weren't many people out.  Surprisingly little man-made debris along the wrack.  The most obvious change since the new year is the beach erosion and erosion of the foredune by the January King Tides and storm surge.  There are many, many large logs washed over the face of the foredunes and pushed up 50 yards in places.  

Beautiful low tide left a very wide and clean beach on a bright and cold afternoon. Not a lot of wildlife observed unfortunately. I saw one sea star with obvious wasting disease and will report it to MARINe's Sea Star Observation Log. Photo attached. 

Well used beach today..9 people and lots of footprints since the last high tide ~6hours ago. The loss of foredunes as evidenced by clumps of sand and dune grass lying along base of remaining dunes. The marine garden on the monoliths at north end of the mile are rich in healthy orange seastars and purple seastars visible below the mussel beds and within the anemone beds. Lots of large woody debris high on the beach.

This report focuses on erosion and drainage pipe issues. The drain photos are numbered from north to south starting at Roads End State Park. With the sand and cliff erosion, more pipe drains are evident on the beach. The sand has shifted west so that the southern end of Mile 244 at Wecoma beach (access point #42), at today's low tide I paced for 1050 feet which is more than the usual distance. The high tide line has routinely reached the base of the cliffs and has caused erosion this season.

The beach area north of Beach Access 66c had erosion of the foredunes and grassy areas eroded and flooded away by storm surges - see photos.  We found one unidentified dead bird - see photo.

It was a great afternoon on Ocean Beach.  Today saw a 9.5 ft. difference from high tide to low tide making this trip to the beach quite dramatic.  The storms and high tides have exposed numerous rock fields and formations on the beach, more than I have observed since reporting on this beach. Lots of people rock hunting for agates, jasper and petrified wood.  I observed one crab boat moving up and down the length of the beach.  Also, the stairs from Oregon Homes have collapsed onto the beach.  The waterfalls are all flowing and the resulting flows are carving up the sand on the way to the ocean.  I noted several exposed large rock formations especially on the north end of the beach.  Amazingly, there is very little driftwood left on the beach.  A small pile is still located on the north end of the beach but nothing like I noted during the King Tides.  

Damage to the dunes and vegitation at the north end of Sitka Sedge Natural Area was observed due to joy riding with large off-road capable vehicles. 

Hikers parked at Tahkenitch CG lot, where there were 2 other cars, and accessed beach on Dunes Trail at Emergency Sign #115.  Sections of the fence on bluff blocking beach access next to that trail are down. It was cloudy, 45 degrees, with a light wind from northwest, and 5 foot tide level.  Only one gull and 3 sanderlings were observed, no people, no dogs.  On beach, there was kelp, a dead whole crab, small rocks, shells, wood pieces.  Land-based debris was collected including a shoe, tennis ball, 6 water bottles and 30 plastic caps and ocean-based debris such as dense foam piece from surf board, florescent light bulb, rope, parts of fishing nets. Hikers carried out debris from beach at Emergency sign #115A, back on Dunes Trail.  

Pleasant day at the beach at a low low tide (not a minus tide though. Was on the beach from about 3:40pm to 4:30pm. Number of people seen varied from 25-30 when I first started walking on the beach to 6-7 when I left the beach, it's too bad the mile report format doesn't allow for changes in the number of people noted during a one hour period on the beach. Saw very little to no litter, very few birds (only a few seagulls). Signs of erosion along various parts of the beach bluff as I walked south towards Beverly Beach, particularly, as noted, in/on/around a culvert underneath the highway about 1/3 mile from Beverly Beach. Lots of garnet sands, or heavy minerals & aluminsilicates (like garnet), amphiboles, etc., I've read there's chromite, platinum & gold particles in these sands. I see these sands mostly in the winter/spring because they're heavier then the lighter-colored sand particles & remain behind when rain/high tides transport the lighter sand sized particles.

I'd heard about some significant tree blow downs on the pack trail,  but found the usual situation in the cove. There's always small trees and dirt sloughing off the steep cliffs. Really pleasant afternoon. Some people found the terrain more challenging than others. I did a quick survey,  but walked all of it I could. I'd say all is well.  Found a foam float and some rope wedged into a crack so tight I could not remove it. Only a few plastics, but again, a pretty quick survey. 

Debris from landslide now cleared and tunnel is accessible again. Lots of rocks along shoreline. Weather was cloudy, thick fog rolled in and it started to rain upon leaving. 

Caution is advised on the beach on Mile 238 due to high winter tides/sneaker waves, ongoing significant riprap projects, and constant heavy equipment movement.

A quiet afternoon on a cool, cloudy, damp winter day. Only 2 other folks were visiting and they did not stay long. The most notable observation was the extent of the erosion of the vegetated foredune and how far inland driftwood had been deposited during this winter's storms. I regret not having been able to see the surf in action - it had to have been incredibly powerful! It was a delight to see a convocation of 9 bald eagles on the beach - the largest number of bald eagles I've seen during any of my visits. 

Spotted beached molting Elephant seal on South Beach just south of the jetty. Reported to Jim Rice (Oregon State University Stranding Program Manager) who identified the seal type from my photos.

Quiet day, picked up lots of trash on Crescent Beach.  Lots of microplastic.

There was a lot of standing water in the low areas of the dunes, which is usually not present. 

2 people fishing beyond the barrier and 1 person feeding the seagulls bread. The grassy area in front of the barrier (full length) showing severe signs of erosion from natural causes and from people walking. A multitude of mole-type hills is scattered across this area. 

Over a dozen adult and juvenile seagulls resting on the rocks and 3 Gray whales surfacing about 5 miles out.

There was much more plastic trash this time, than when we went in October.  There was a more defined bluff along part of the beach, indicating sand had been piled up.  There was a lot of driftwood and trash on the top of the bluffs, less on the wet sand beach.  The tide line had lots of small bits of plastic and styrofoam.  I would like to know if I should have taken the full plastic bottle of black oil I found to hazardous waste disposal.  I feel guilty that I didn't think of it, at the time.  I put it in the parking lot dumpster, with the rest of the plastic trash.  We only found about 6 glass bottles (3 were hard liquor bottles I found on the top of the bluff, near a campfire ring--from a local party, most likely).  Everything else was plastic.  The amount and variety of plastic trash is truly dismaying, but it feels very good to pick it all up.  We walked farther than 1 mile, maybe 2 or 3.

The beach was pretty clean. One truck was driving the beach looking for surf wood. All dogs were well behaved. Since it was low tide there was plenty of beach to walk on. 

Beach ranger came near the end of our walk.

Photos show new, significant erosion with a drop in the sand/grass bank of more than 6 feet in places; logs that were tossed around with comparison photo from 2019 of same location; rock bed revealed that hadn't appeared this last year. And, must have been "Drive on Wecoma Beach Day" in addition to being Groundhog Day. 

Mile 99 shows effects of the winter storms, with expansion of the creeks (Johnson on the south, and Crooked Creek to the north) and erosion of the foredunes. There is a lot of marine debris along the mile, primarily plastic and nylon boat line. Two of us collected over 30 pounds of debris, and barely made a dent in the vast amount of it. A new home was built on the bluff since last survey, with newly installed stairs down the solid bluff.

Since it was high tide I opted for a foredune walk with a drop in at the beach.

We did not make the full 3 miles due to trash pick up. Our bag was full. Styrofoam was a great portion of it. Crab buoys, shot gun wads, styrofoam cup pieces . We also found a crab cage connected to a log. It was buried in the sand too far to remove. Lots of wood from large surf. Shoreline was steep. It looked like a great undertow was probably present.

Not much population pressure on the beach...only 38 people and 9 dogs. Major storms and king tides have wrought big changes in the dunes. Many instances of waves topping the dunes have left driftwood in unusual places. The dunes themselves have been cut back severely...the most I've seen in the past 7 years I've been doing this survey for CoastWatch. They are currently unscalable in many areas. In places, the water was able to get behind the foredune area and swept the foredune away leaving only a few tussocks of dune grass strewn about. Very dramatic! 

The change in the beach was the most obvious change.  There is alot more open beach.  Wrack was washed to dune area with some overflow.  Sand was carved out and channels made in dunes.  Most debris was string/rope related.  Minimal crab parts. Saw maybe 2 gulls.  Sad to see graffiti on dunes and leftover firework debris.  Many logs showed signs of charring from burns. 

The change in the beach was the most obvious change.  There is alot more open beach.  Wrack was washed to dune area with some overflow.  Sand was carved out and channels made in dunes.  Most debris was string/rope related.  Minimal crab parts. Saw maybe 2 gulls.  Sad to see graffiti on dunes and leftover firework debris.  Many logs showed signs of charring from burns. 

A nice sunny day on 220. Got a very long piece of rope (approx 25 meters) off the beach along with trash. One LIGU, not yet tagged. So much more visible erosion this winter, seems every week it is even more pronounced. Trees, bluff slumping down towards the sea. The 3 black plastic long drainage pipes are concerning as they are eventually going to go into the ocean.

As I don't live here, there's a lot that I miss. However, I've been watching for some time the bluff erosion south of the Gleneden Beach State Park, from the north to south property lines of World Mark. Interesting exposure of "stuff" embedded in the cliffs. I shall attempt to send photos.

Huge Sand erosion centered around South Beach Day use area.  Pertrified Tree roots exposed near Moore Creek. Grave bed exposed south of Moore Creek.

A quiet day on the beach, a few folks and lots of dogs.  The most noteworthy thing on the walk was the erosion of sand and dunes resulting from the storm last week.  I have walked the beach many times in recent weeks, the level of dune cut out in most of the photos was a result of the King tide last week coupled with the storm.

A cloudy calm day on the beach with a few visitors.  The notable observations include erosion along the dunes as a result of last weeks king tides+ storms, lots of large logs on the beach, and small pieces of plastic along the high tide debris line.

Rock climbing, pyrosomes, rocky beach

A sunny but somber morning on Mile 202, the ocean fairly calm after last week's storms, King Tides, and beach hazard warnings. Last Friday afternoon, a local resident, Toni Goessman, age 60, didn't return home from walking her two boxer dogs on the beach, and when one of her dogs returned home soaking wet, her husband reported her missing. That night her body was found by Search and Rescue in the surf at the mouth of Alsea Bay. Her other dog wasn't found. I didn't know Ms. Goessman, but I had noticed her in the past on Mile 202, walking with her boxers along the waters edge like the people are doing in the attached photos. As one of the reports of Ms. Goessman's death stated, "Large 'sneaker waves' are common along Oregon beaches. The closer walkers get to the water, the greater the danger."

It was disturbing to see so much debris/litter on this beach.  I have never seen this much on any Oregon beach in the 30 years i have been walking the Oregon beaches. 

Severe damage to the beach access area from a recent storm. Lots of logs and debris. Unusally severe amount of microplastics on shore.

Large new landslide on the southern cliffs.  Large piles of driftwood at the souther most point of the mile  See pictures of both.  Note the plastic debris amoung the driftwood.  

I hiked the 3-Mile Lake - Tahkenitch Dune Loop Trail today, starting and ending in the Tahkenitch Dune Campground trailhead parking lot.  The beach portion of the loop covers Mile 154 and southern half of Mile 155.

I met just one trail runner on the entire 6.2 mile loop.  Only notable wildlife were bunches of Rough-Skinned Newts doing their slow-motion stroll across the trail surface.  A few Pacific Winter Wrens were peeping away from the foliage, no other notable birds or critters observed, mostly due to foggy conditions on the beach.  Even though I was out on the beach 2 hours after high tide, the occasional sneaker wave would force me up against the eroded sandy foredunes.

There are debris piles at both beach access points from beach walkers picking up the worst of the marine-sourced debris, mostly plastic bottles and fishing/crab pot floats.  If you look closely at the contents of the high water wrack line, it is filled with plastic bits and pieces - bottle caps, shotgun shells, inhalers, immense numbers of dime-to-quarter sized plastic bits, and lots of nylon rope pieces and shreds.  This was hands-down the worst collection of plastic debris I've ever seen on this beach since 2007 (see photo).

In this dispatch, it will cover mostly visually the changes to the embankments of the eight or so private residences north of the Wakonda Beach (Beachside Beach) beach access (highway mile marker 159) from March of 2010 to January 2021. All but a few of the images were taken during King Tides in their respective years. They will show that the recent King Tides, especially in January 2020 and January 2021, have been very destructive removing so much of the embankments that the septic systems are threatened to be exposed. This has concerned Jay Sennewald, Ocean Shores Coordinator with the Oregon Parks & Recreation Department, that parts of these systems could eventually end up on the public beach that he has been issuing emergency armoring permits. Some of these have then been changed to permanent permits for those mose affected after a public notification process. With the damage starting last January (2020) and exacerbated this year (01/2021) by increased damage of unprotected embankments (possibly) due to the adjacent installations of armoring. Even the recent armoring has suffered damage at the south edge where it was exposed to the high and aggressive waves. 

Finally, the recent storms and king tides have brought the big, persistent chunks down. 

Morning after severe king tides along South Beach, OR. The sand dunes west of the SouthShore community has been eroded up to the beach grass. The sand used to provide a gentle slope from top of dunes to sea level, perhaps about 10 degrees. The drop off is now a nearly 12 feet tall cliff as seen in the photos.

I saw something that looked like sea pickles on the shore. I have never seen them before. I found out from an episode of Oregon Field Guide tonight that they are Pyrosomes. I guess they are a new thing on the Oregon coast.

More trash and human debris than I have seen here before, probably brought in by the king tides the previous few days.

This visit was just a day after a series of king tides and heavy rain. More logs on the beach than usual and one massive new landslide. I asked a two of the few people I met on the beach about the "sea pickles" in the drift line and nobody knew what they were. As I was getting ready to write this report I saw an episode of Oregon Field Guide that mentioned them: Pyrosomes. I guess they are a new thing on the Oregon Coast

Today was a welcome respite from the recent heavy rain, high winds, and stormy weather that accompanied the King tides of Jan. 11th-13th. This afternoon's walk had mild weather, little wind, and cloudy skies. With an outgoing tide, a large stretch of beach was covered in sea foam. The Del Rey beach access road experienced significant sand erosion from the sides of the road where the pavement meets the beach, and loads of woody debris (logs, tree stumps, branches) are now strewn along the road, making access not advisable. A large gate and sign block current vehicular access today. The King tides left an impressive array of debris, both natural and human-caused, along the highest wrack line that I have seen (almost at the very base of the dunes). Along with typical plastic debris (shotgun shells, lighters, soda bottles, bottle caps, single-use plastics from food packaging), I found some unusual items including a rice cooker spoon and a printer ink catridge. Two dead birds washed up on the beach: a juvenile red phalarope and an ancient murrelet. Bird identifications confirmed by iNaturalist. 

Third day of January 2021 King Tides.

The expected Erosion between normal 75 feet from beach access to Cliff Top happened. It will mean several minutes delay between photos as I have to retrace up to "Grand Central" and then back down to Cliff Top.

Any shift of my “Cliff Top” position will make the photos looking north to 68^th street no longer showing the houses located there.

The past few days of King tides have scoured the build-up of summer sand and made a 5-10 foot "cliff" at the high tide mark from south of the Day Use (61B) to North of 61A.  There is a small area of 5-10 feet between the sand cliff and the dunes to walk when the beach is not accessible, but the ocean-side edge is unstable.  35+ snowy plover have been seen on mile 214, for several months.

Second day of January 2021 King Tides.

The expected Erosion between normal 75 feet from beach access to Cliff Top happened. It will mean several minutes delay between photos as I have to retrace up to "Grand Central" and then back down to Cliff Top.

One other note.  I will shortly change my “Cliff Top” position. I could “feel” the surf pounding at present location. And the change of location will probably make the photos looking north to 68^th street no longer showing the houses located there.

First day of January 2021 King Tides.

Erosion between normal 75 feet from beach access to Cliff Top will mean several minutes delay between photos as I have to retrace up to "Grand Central" and then back down to Cliff Top.

Sunshine on a weekend brought more visitors to south beach's mile 214 this past Saturday. Many groups of people walking, playing in the sand, and surfing. The tide was really low so plenty of space for people to spead out at a safe distance. It looks like some of the recent storms have really carved the beach out from the dunes forming a cliff between the two. The path from the south jetty road also had numerous hazards where the path had fallen in and signs telling people to stay off the jetty. 

It was the day before official King Tide Weekend.  Waves were quite high in places and had alot of power.  Sneaker waves were present and would move into shore quickly.  Large logs and stumps were being thown about in the surf.  Only a couple of gulls seen and a couple of seals.  Beach had been flattened.  Prior sand hills all gone.  Wrack had been pushed into shore by dunes in places.  Alot of sea foam was blowing about the beach.

I saw no appreciable change in the coastline. 

After very high tides, before King Tides, lovely sunny Friday. Sand level is down signficantly but clear evidence of sneaker waves.

Dune removal. See photos. Also, the Facebook drilling was active with a large loud machine working.  

Beach was clean for the most part. Only two people on the beach.

The beach was SO quiet....only changes were evidence of new driftwood from recent high tides.

A low tide and warm temperatures brought lots of people to Ocean Beach today.  A great day to enjoy walking, rock hunting and fishing.  There are lots of exposed rocks along the beach along with the rock fields on the north end of the beach.  I noted lots of jellies in and around the driftline.  Lots of waterfalls all along the high banks.  The large pieces of driftwood observed during the recent King Tides are settled along the banks waiting for the final King Tide of the season to send them back out to the ocean.  

After awe, erosion next catches my eye. The sedimentary hillside is slowly oozing seaward. The stuff is so saturated one can jab a stick in to a depth of a few feet. This time of year there is little to no sand so walking is tough going through rocks, boulders, and driftwood. Fortunately there's no plastic or debris of consequence.

I intentionally went during a relatively low tide. I have photos from years past of purple and orange sea stars in abundance clinging to the base of huge rocks: now not a single sighting there. There are tide pools just a little bit away on mile 12 in which I've observed over the years black and gumboot chitons, various types of starfish, nudibranchs, anomenes, even an octopus. The only of those things I found this day were plentiful anomenes and a single starfish that was an unusually dark purple. Whether it was a trick of the light or not, to me, the anemones appeared less vibrant in color. I read that their color is in part due to natural pigmentation but mainly to their symbiotic relationship with green algae. I don't venture far from shore these days at low tide so there is a lot I'm unable to observe but the things I mentioned used to be where I looked this time.

With the tide being low there were some people walking along the cliff to get to the inlet between that cliff and god's thumb. I did not do that for fear of unexpected waves. Noted differences in the landscape, likely due to recent king tides. Not on mile 246 but at the beach access entrance at sign #40 the entrance was malodorous, wreaking of sewage. On mile 246 there were a couple new water run-off waterfalls substantial enough to warrant negotiating where to cross them on the sand in order to avoid wet shoes.

Went down to Ocean Beach for the last day of 2020.  We were the only ones visiting during our time there.  Although it was not yet high tide, 8.6ft at 12:30pm, we were unable to get onto the beach.  We stood and observed from the stairs watching driftwood get tossed along the beach.  The shrubs lining the overlook and the path to the beach have been trimmed back substantially enhancing the view from all the picnic tables and making the walk to the stairs wider.  Thanks Park Department!  

The most striking thing about today's walk on mile 202, the north spit of Alsea River, was the contrast between 202 and its northward extension, 203. After recent storms and King Tides, the driftline on 202 was marked by large driftwood logs and masses of small branches and twigs, with some shells but little else, hardly any debris. In contrast, yesterday on 203 there was very little driftwood but instead huge tangles of bull kelp, small stones everywhere, shells, moon jellies and pacific sea nettles, a lot of micro-plastic chips and some other debris--plastic bottle caps, lengths of cording and line, etc. I attribute the difference between miles to the Alsea River as it enters the ocean perhaps deflecting or reducing the onshore current so that mile 202 is as much influenced by the river as the sea.

One of the things that I surprisingly did not find, was litter. I normally pick up litter along the beach, either washed ashore or dropped by people on the beach, but there was not any observed today

A pleasant day to walk our mile. Small sandpipers running back and forth with the incoming/outgoing tide. Signs of high tides (see photo) on the bluff. Small to medium stones blanketing the beach. 

A cloudy, cool day.  Cold wind from the south.  Hardly anyone on the beach.  Minimal trash, except for two large items which we could not carry.  There were lots of large driftwood pieces on the beach ... not surprising given the series of recent storms.  There were NO harbor seals in their usual resting place at the tip of the Salishan Spit.  Several were spotted in the water.  Noticed quite a few dog paw prints in the sand, so maybe the seals had recently been spooked by people with dogs getting too close.

I walked parallel to and well above the rocky shoreline on Otter Crest Loop (Old Highway 101), experiencing very strong wind that came from the north or the south depending on where I was along the road.  I suspect that the topography influenced the wind direction.  All in all, the experience was unpleasant.  The only human activity observed was not along the mile proper, but rather at the Lookout at the State Wayside, where people were parking their vehicles, bundling up, and hurrying out to get quick views of the coastline.  There were perhaps three vehicles parked at any given time.  On a weekday with rain, that number would likely have gone to zero. Essentially no wildlife was observed and no physical changes were observed.

Quiet day on the beach, Christmas and a rain/wind storm approaching.  Lots of sand has mooved off the beach and several rock fields have emerged. A number of small slumps have occured and evidence of waves washing up the bluffs several feet in some areas.  One new house appears to have been completed (the third for this year).  No birds were out at all.

It was a beautiful sunny day on the beach. A number of people and dogs were making the most if it.

The recent high tides have resulted in new erosion of the dunes (see photos). The high tides and storms have also resulted in a profusion of plastic debris mostly washed in by the waves. One couple was picking up some of it, as was I.

There is no trace of nesting bird protection.  The signage and fencing are gone.  The big story on this survey is how many people are using Bayocean Spit.  Yes, the weather was great after a period of rain and storms,  but we have noticed that since the Covid outbreak, considerably more visitors are coming to the Oregon beaches.

This survey was actually over two days, Dec. 23 and 24, 2020.  The weather was very nice both days, although a bit windy on Dec. 24.  Owing to the remote location of this beach, there was very little human activity.  We only saw a three person family with a young child and another adult with a dog, and only on the first day.  Everyone was acting responsibly.  Our main observation, and this was primarily concentrated on the northernmost end of the beach, was a considerable amount of human debris, which we gathered up and took away.  This continues to be a beautiful beach, in very good condition, but it does receive debris from primarily ocean and river traffic.  

Just another beautiful day on the beach.  Nothing unusual to report.

I saw no human activity on this mile, but there was evidence of lots of erosion from our recent king tides and storms. 

There was a larger amount of natural debris washed up on the beach which had been carried downstream in creeks from recent heavy rains.

It was a fairly unpopulated time on the spit.  Rockhouds and walkers.  Started to drizzle after completion of our mile.

The beach appears to be wiped clean due to all the recent wind storms and king tides.

I saw no human activity on this mile, but saw lots of erosion from the ocean!

Since it was a Saturday, the beach was relatively busy. Many people were walking their dogs... mostly unleashed!

I'm filing this report because of the big landslide on the south end of the Oceanside Tunnel. 

Lots of erosion has taken place on Netarts Spit from our recent KING TIDES!

Very little beach due to storm and high tide.

Some beach was visible at the south end of the mile; no beach was visible at the north end.  No people, no birds; stormy sea.

Another King Tides Day.

High Tide was at 11:48 AM at 10.5 ft. NOAA had a Surf Height of 14-18 ft.   One last thing: AT NOON a High Surf Advisory went into effect.

The public was telling me that they saw a Beached Seal that appeared dead. I did not see the animal.

It was the height of the king tides. About 50°, mild breeze, intermittent sunshine. No real beach to walk on safely. When the waves ebbed they left a little beach space up near the dunes, but intermittently the water surged rapidly all the way up to the edge of the dune grasses. I could not safely walk down my mile so I stayed at the entrance just south of the jetty and also walked over to the side of the jetty along the channel. 

The whole beach was littered with huge logs that had washed up since my last report on 11/8/20. The big white tree is no longer perched on the end of the jetty. The waves at their highest came all the way up to the dunes. They knocked around huge logs as if they were pickup sticks. The waves were really high in between the jetties too, cresting over the height of the jetty. 

A few people were watching the waves. Including one idiotic guy who manically kept rushing out to the water's edge or standing on beached logs, daring the waves to catch him. A couple walked south down the beach, also not safe; I’d just taken a photo of the water right over the place where they walked. Saw a total of 10 people at the beach, plus one surfer between the jetties.

Last year (2019) during king tides I saw two men surfing between the jetties, so I was on the lookout to see if I could spot any surfers again. Yes indeed! A lone surfer took good advantage of catching the really long ride of the waves multiple times before he turned in, riding a wave clear down the jetty on one shot. I wish we could post videos on these reports--I took a great one of the surfer! Probably not a wise place or time to surf, but evidently irresistible.

After about 30 minutes I drove to the south end of the road by the houses along the strand, almost at the south end of mile 295. There too waves had nearly reached the dunes leaving lots of foam, and big logs were strewn all along the beach. I could tell the tide was now already subsiding.

King Tides Day

High Tide was 10.6 ft. NOAA also has Surf Height at 17-21 ft. I could have walked to "Rock Line" which is about 15 feet from my normal entrance onto Star Fish Beach.

Started the survey on the south side of Tenmile Creek. Winds were 1-5 mph out of the SW and sky was overcast. Tide was on the way out after a king high tide at approximately 11am with a low tide predicted for approximately 5pm according to Waldport tide tables. We had just finished walking the beach and were headed to North Stonefield Beach when the weather changed; winds 20-25+ mph, a driving rain, surf came up. This made going onto the north beach to treacherous to continue. We saw no debris on the beach. We observed 8 people and 2 dogs walking and playing on the beach. There were 4 cars in the parking lot.

King Tide of 10.3 this morning. Observed many shorebirds, residents and dogs walking along the pathways, which is the only safe location to observe mile 229. Nothing extraordinary to report, other than the King Tides, which are always a welcome treat, especially since there were no accompanying storms this time.