Mile 157 Report
Oregon Dunes NRA, west of Perkins Lake
January 11, 2009
We went on the day with the highest tide of the year (10.
Report Details
We went on the day with the highest tide of the year (10.4). Got to the beach early, fortunately; high tide was at 11:45, and we were already running out of beach by 9:45. Weather was very mild, so expect much less impact from this high tide than if it had hit coincident with a big storm. Accompanied by Melissa Hart. Saw no other people. Thank you, Melissa, for IDing the northern harrier.Very large volume of driftwood on beach, from twigs to whole trees and stumps in the surf line. Fair amount of ocean drift, including a startling number of intact lightbulbs, some small but most very large. Among them: one long, thin fluorescent tube; a large (5" D) halogen bulb; four large (5" D) dark red lightbulbs in scattered locations; and one large (6" D) clear bulb, nearly round (it really looked like a fishing float at first). It's not unusual to find one lightbulb, but this must have been a shipment lost at sea. Some were colonized by pink coraline algae, so had been floating for a while.
Conditions
Temperature: 50 F. Cloud Cover: Cloudy. Wind Velocity: Calm/Light. Tide Level: 6.0 feet.
Human Activities
Number of people: 2. Walking or running: 2. Only other person we saw was ranger collecting fees at trailhead, though we did see human and dog footprints; someone beat us to the beach that morning.
Notable Wildlife
One surf scoter in surf and a few sanderlings. A northern harrier in the dunes.
Beached Birds
(Saw feathers in the driftline, but any dead bird(s) were probably buried under sand; lots of drift was buried.)
Driftline Content
Seaweeds and seagrass, Ocean-based debris (from fishing boats, ship trash, etc.), Shells, Wood pieces. LOTS of wood, plastic bottles (many apparently Japanese), parts of jellyfish, and LIGHTBULBS (see narrative in this report).
Natural Changes
Erosion of vegetated foredune. Some recent erosion, but sand volume still very high; no fishing boat visible.
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All Mile 157 Reports
Mile 157
Oregon Dunes NRA, west of Perkins Lake
It was another beautiful day on Mile 157, which we entered from the upper part of the Oregon Dunes Loop Trail.
GasiorowskiM
Mile 157
Oregon Dunes NRA, west of Perkins Lake
Mile 157 is a beautiful, little-visited stretch of coastline.
GasiorowskiM
Mile 157
Oregon Dunes NRA, west of Perkins Lake
Beautiful New Years Day at the beach, while it was cold and foggy in the valley.
bzenderson
Mile 157
Oregon Dunes NRA, west of Perkins Lake
A rainy day; we had the beach to ourselves.
bzenderson
Mile 157
Oregon Dunes NRA, west of Perkins Lake
Gorgeous day at the beach (crappy and cloudy and cold in Eugene).
bzenderson
Mile 157
Oregon Dunes NRA, west of Perkins Lake
There is a lot of buzz about whether the stuff on the beaches these days is from the tsunami.
bzenderson
Mile 157
Oregon Dunes NRA, west of Perkins Lake
Fair amount of ocean-borne debris, but unlike my last walk here about a month earlier, when the debris was d0ominated by Japanese plastic bottles (tsunami debris?
bzenderson
Mile 157
Oregon Dunes NRA, west of Perkins Lake
Stunning winter day; we were totally overdressed, kept shedding clothes to the brink of immodesty.
bzenderson