Mile 204 Report
Driftwood Beach Wayside, Buckley Creek
February 13, 2021
Months of winter storms and King Tides have transformed last summer's welcoming Driftwood Beach.
Report Details
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.
Conditions
Temperature: 50 F. Cloud Cover: Partly Cloudy. Wind Velocity: Calm/Light. Wind Direction: W. Tide Level: 7.0 feet.
Human Activities
Number of people: 15. Number of dogs: 5. Walking or running: 14. People walk or stand close to the water (one with a small child) with high tide approaching. The surf looked pretty uncertain, and I greeted people with a friendly "Be careful!"
Vehicles
Cars/trucks parking: 6.
Notable Wildlife
Virtually no wildlife, even gulls.
Dead Fish or Invertebrates
Unusual concentration. Pyrosomes in the driftline. These seem to be fairly new here, coming further north perhaps because of warmer waters in recent years.
Driftline Content
Small rocks, Shells, Animal casings (e.g., crab, shrimp molt), Wood pieces. Pyrosomes. Very little debris here.
New Development
After last year's delays, OSU's PacWave South wave energy project was expected to begin here in February, the offshore energy collection cables to come ashore under Driftwood Beach and into the Driftwood Wayside parking lot. So far there's no sign of activity.
Natural Changes
Erosion of vegetated foredune, Visible retreat of solid bluff, Evidence of wave overtopping.
Entrance to beach from Driftwood Wayside
Looking from beach to Driftwood Wayside, June 2020
Looking from beach to Driftwood Wayside, February 2021
Foredune erosion and shearing
Foredune erosion and shearing
New location of 100 year old big driftwood log
New sloughing off at Buckley Creek sand bluff
Site of former Buckley Creek lean-to
Incoming tidal surge meeting Buckley Creek
Pyrosomes in driftline -- "sea pickles" but not edible
Pyrosome colony -- each little bump is an individual zooid.
Report Images
Jon French
CoastWatcher
All Mile 204 Reports
Mile 204
Driftwood Beach Wayside, Buckley Creek
Mile 204 isn't my usual mile, so I've waited to walk it again until work resumed on PacWave South's wave energy testing project at Driftwood Beach Wayside. https://pacwaveenergy.
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Today marked my latest sighting of the old growth driftwood log that I've admired and whose comings and goings from Driftwood Beach I've documented since June 2020, when I first photographed it high on the beach south of Buckley Creek.
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I had read that the 265-foot vessel Seacor Lee would be anchoring a mile off Driftwood Beach in support of OSU's PacWave South wave energy testing project, positioned so that divers from the ship could perform work on previously installed seafloor conduits.
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Driftwood Beach Wayside, Buckley Creek
I haven't walked Driftwood Beach regularly since the PacWave South wave energy project completed work underground in the Driftwood parking lot.
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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 by at least half as many dogs, almost all leashed.
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Driftwood Beach Wayside, Buckley Creek
This was probably the last dependably dry Mile 204 walk before the rains begin in earnest.
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Driftwood Beach Wayside, Buckley Creek
Driftwood Wayside is open again after PacWave's departure, but I was the only visitor on this breezy, drizzly day.
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