Mile 204 Report
August 20, 2010
by waterwitch
Other Mile 204 Reports (51)
2023
January 1, 2023 - Jon French
By the time I got to Driftwood Wayside, a lot of people had already arrived for their New Years Day beach walks, some 30 vehicles in the parking lot and 30 - 40 people down on the beach, accompanied...
2022
October 23, 2022 - Jon French
This was probably the last dependably dry Mile 204 walk before the rains begin in earnest. The incoming tide covered most of the normally wide beach, the tides now beginning to erode the seasonal...
August 17, 2022 - Jon French
After the morning fog lifted and before the marine layer moved in, I walked from Seal Rock on Mile 205 to Beach Access 66C on Mile 203. My wife, Trish, and our dog, Sweetie, met me, Sweetie wearing...
June 3, 2022 - Jon French
Driftwood Wayside is open again after PacWave's departure, but I was the only visitor on this breezy, drizzly day. I walked north to Seal Rock looking for potential Western Snowy Plover nesting...
May 10, 2022 - Jon French
The PacWave South wave energy project hosted a BBQ today at Driftwood Wayside for staff and neighbors to celebrate the completion of construction work here and the reopening of the Wayside later this...
March 22, 2022 - Jon French
The year's first beach walk in shirt sleeves, a balmy 60 degrees! With the tide a low 0.5,' the almost flat Driftwood Beach stretched far to the west. I walked my Mile 204 and continued up north...
February 16, 2022 - Jon French
Driftwood Beach Wayside remains closed for construction of OSU's PacWave South wave energy project, however the drilling rigs have now been removed from the parking area, as have the sound buffering...
2021
December 27, 2021 - Shema
I did not see any additional erosion or water damage from the few yards I accessed
December 3, 2021 - Jon French
I walked down to Driftwood Beach about an hour after the morning's King Tide. The water hadn't run up too high on the beach, but as always there was evidence of previous strong tidal surges--a...
November 8, 2021 - Jon French
After the weekend's King Tides and wind, rain, sleet, hail, thunder and lightning, sun breaks, and beautiful cumulonimbus sunsets (with NOAA predicting 55 mph gusts for tonight), Driftwood Beach was...
September 20, 2021 - Jon French
The continued closure of Driftwood Wayside for OSU's PacWave wave energy testing project means that today's Mile 204 walk was more like three miles, with few people on the beach despite this being a...
August 1, 2021 - Jon French
With the closure of the Driftwood Wayside parking area for construction of OSU's PacWave South wave energy testing project, hardly anyone was on the beach despite this being a beautiful summer...
June 2, 2021 - Jon French
Construction has begun on OSU's PacWave South wave energy testing project at Driftwood Beach State Recreation Site (see my previous reports). The Driftwood parking lot is closed to vehicles, however...
May 18, 2021 - Jon French
The Driftwood Wayside parking area is scheduled to close soon for construction of onshore infrastructure for PacWave South's long-planned wave energy testing project. Driftwood Beach will still be...
March 4, 2021 - Jon French
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has approved PacWave South, OSU's long-planned wave energy collection project. As I reported in June of last year, the project will install and test wave...
February 13, 2021 - Jon French
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...
2020
December 27, 2020 - Shema
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
December 4, 2020 - Jon French
My first sneaker wave. My wife and I sat in the dunes watching today's heavy surf as two children, maybe 6 and 8, played too close to the water. A man, their father presumably, watched them with a...
November 23, 2020 - Jon French
The recent King Tides and storms have washed away the low sand dunes that formed over the summer seaward of the vegetated dunes south of Buckley Creek, which now flows onto the beach like a real...
October 16, 2020 - Jon French
The woman ahead of me on the path down to the beach from the Driftwood Wayside parking lot cried out "Yes! Yes! The beach!!!" I don't know where she was from, but that's how beautiful it was today....
September 12, 2020 - Jon French
Today's weather forecast called for areas of fog with a Dense Smoke Advisory because of the wildfires, but I didn't smell any smoke, just dense fog all along the beach, with hardly anyone to be seen...
July 29, 2020 - Jon French
Driftwood Wayside is open again after remaining closed beyond the COVID restriction period due to construction scheduled to begin on the PacWave South wave energy project (see my report for 6/6/2020...
June 24, 2020 - Jon French
I walked Mile 204 today for CoastWatch along with Miles 203-205 looking for snowy plover nests. Three chicks have hatched this nesting season on Miles 203/205, and beach ranger Doug Sestrich roped...
June 6, 2020 - Jon French
I've walked this mile for Plover Patrol; this is my first time for CoastWatch. The photos show the future landfall site of PacWave South, OSU's project to install and test wave energy collection...
2018
May 18, 2018 - Shema
5-18-18 mile 204 Driftwood beach wayside north to south end of Seal Rocks beach8:30 am, 1.7 minus tide, went with 1 other person, cloudy morning, no rain, very little windonly other people on the...
2016
March 16, 2016 - Volunteer Trainer
They're Back...They are in even earlier than last year. Along with the larger Velella velella was a purple mass of tiny substance. I collected it an took it into the Hatfield Marine Science Center....
February 8, 2016 - malachite
I walked from the Driftwood State Park access north to the rocks/point. I saw a dead seal on the beach. It had either been there for awhile (and dead) or had been in the water for awhile after death...
2015
January 6, 2015 - Janets
The day started with a beautiful sunrise and then.... at 8:15 a.m. the full moon setting into the horizon. Will add that photo.Clouds were high and thin with the sun breaking thru. The tides had...
2013
December 3, 2013 - Janets
On the day before...the day of the high tides, we had a series of very violent hail storms. It was fun to see that the hail had left dimples in the clean smooth sand. Rather like really rough...
January 7, 2013 - Janets
The wind was strong.... perhaps 30 mph. We walked south to begin our mile, walking from Drift Creek to Bayshore. There were many waterways to ford. The sand was wet from high tide all the way to...
2012
August 21, 2012 - Janets
The sun was out, the blue sky was decorated with a few fluffy white clouds. The temperature was mile with no wind.We were just enjoying ourselves! As were the other 30 people we saw, the most we...
July 20, 2012 - waterwitch
This is a very stable beach. I find the usual woody debris and not much else. Good vegetation on the hillsides and not alot of visible changes.9 people strolling the beach, a few playing with a dog...
May 21, 2012 - Janets
Cold, rainy and windy. Beach laden with debris, from big trees to pebbles.
February 3, 2012 - waterwitch
Driftwood Beach lived up to its name. Considerable wood debris but surprisingly no trash.
2011
October 17, 2011 - Janets
It was a most interesting walk. The sun was out, but the wind a bit strong to be comfortable.The large number of birds was fascinating. And the gal photographing the stranded seal pup was very...
July 18, 2011 - Janets
My friend and I really enjoyed being able to get out onto the beach for a very refreshing walk.
March 23, 2011 - Janets
This was a gorgeous walk on an early spring morning. The sun came in and out of the clouds and the wind was minimal. The beach was wide, flat, and extremely clean. Notably devoid of logs, kelp...
2010
November 2, 2010 - Janets
We were excited to walk our mile on this day of wonderful weather following yesterday's storm. The surf was fluffy and white with large balls of white foam on the shore that were drifting south....
June 21, 2010 - Janets
It was a wonderful sunny lst day of summer. A bit too chilly to sit on the beach. The beach was especially wide, flat, and clean.The high tide had recently been all the way to the bluff so the...
June 16, 2010 - waterwitch
The beach was calm and clean of debris. No seabirds present. The only birds were vultures eating two, apparently headless, dead, baby seals that had washed up appx. 1/2 mile apart.
March 7, 2010 - waterwitch
A calm day with broad expanse of clean beach, no duning, not much driftwood, nothing major to report.
February 15, 2010 - Janets
Doug and I enjoyed watching more people on this beach than we have ever seen before. All ages and all enjoying the beautiful day!No unusual animal or environmental issues.We were enjoying it as well!
2009
November 1, 2009 - waterwitch
No visible issues with cliffs, a large flock of gulls, no debris but a large piece of rope, a clear wind-swept beach with tide receding.
October 27, 2009 - Janets
A cold and windy day. Sand was clear and clean. Only a bit of driftwood and it was way at the back edge of the sand.
August 2, 2009 - waterwitch
Beach very clean, very little debris, no dead animals, or birds. 25-30 people (adults and children) enjoying the beach, 5 leashed dogs. A flock of gulls and 3 wimbrels or curlews on the shore. Both...
June 15, 2009 - waterwitch
Sunny day, low tide, not much wind. About a dozen people and 3 dogs observed. No seabirds present, only crows. 3 large plastic bags picked up. A cruise ship passed heading north - seemed close to...
June 1, 2009 - waterwitch
This was the first time I had seen or walked Mile 204. The beach was clean and wind swept. I saw 3 people, each with a leashed dog, and picked up one 8" round piece of plastic.
2008
November 5, 2008 - Janets
Our biggest observations were two-fold. The huge number of small feathers in the tide lines and the total change in the surface of the beach from many wind rippled mounds to just the opposite: many...
July 23, 2008 - Janets
On this, our first "official" CoastWatch walk, the bluffs seem well covered with healthy vegetation - trees shrubs, beach grass.
2007
August 19, 2007 - [email protected]
An ailing sea lion was on the beach. OSP were called -- final disposition unknown.