Mile 204 Report

Driftwood Beach Wayside, Buckley Creek

November 8, 2021

Report Details

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 sunny and calm this morning. The King Tides had run up to the dunes fronting the sand cliffs, depositing big clumps of Bull Kelp and washing away what little had remained of the seasonal mid-beach rolling dunes. Over the ocean, long lines of geese were flying south. Away from the beach, work continues on PacWave South's wave energy project, with drilling originating from Driftwood Wayside progressing towards the installation of undersea cables which will bring ashore the wave energy collected offshore. At the Wayside and across Highway 101 to the east, preparations are being made for a half mile or so of underground horizontal drilling to run transmission cables from the Wayside to PacWave's "Utility Connection and Monitoring Facility" on Wenger Lane, where the electricity generated offshore will feed into Central Lincoln PUD's electrical grid.

Conditions

Temperature: 48 F. Cloud Cover: Sunny. Wind Velocity: Calm/Light. Wind Direction: SW. Tide Level: 4.0 feet.

Human Activities

Number of people: 10. Number of dogs: 4. Walking or running: 6. Playing in sand: 4.

Notable Wildlife

Long lines of geese over the ocean flying south

Beached Birds

Total dead birds: 1. Decaying carcass of an adolescent gull

Driftline Content

Small rocks, Seaweeds and seagrass, Shells, Animal casings (e.g., crab, shrimp molt), Wood pieces. Just a few small debris items

Man-made Modifications

PacWave South project continuing

Natural Changes

Continued erosion of Buckley Creek sand cliff

Report Images

Young gull squawking for mom nearby

Geese flying south over ocean

Geese overhead flying south

Entrance to Driftwood Beach from access path

Bull Kelp mounds looking north towards Seal Rock

Continued erosion at Buckley Creek sand cliff

Underground conduit pip at Wenger Lane

Report Images

Jon French

CoastWatcher

All Mile 204 Reports

Date

Showing 8 of 56 reports

Mile 204

Driftwood Beach Wayside, Buckley Creek

August 9, 2024

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.

Jon French

Mile 204

Driftwood Beach Wayside, Buckley Creek

November 19, 2023

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.

Jon French

Mile 204

Driftwood Beach Wayside, Buckley Creek

August 11, 2023

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.

Jon French

Mile 204

Driftwood Beach Wayside, Buckley Creek

June 17, 2023

I haven't walked Driftwood Beach regularly since the PacWave South wave energy project completed work underground in the Driftwood parking lot.

Jon French

Mile 204

Driftwood Beach Wayside, Buckley Creek

January 1, 2023

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.

Jon French