Mile 204 Report
Driftwood Beach Wayside, Buckley Creek
October 16, 2020
The woman ahead of me on the path down to the beach from the Driftwood Wayside parking lot cried out "Yes!
Report Details
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. I walked in the dunes looking at some of the driftwood for which the beach is named, old stumps and logs that have been deposited in the beach grass at the base of the cliffs. I counted tree rings ranging up to 110 years old, and these old logs were obviously not new to the beach. Driftwood Beach is very wide, and it's hard to visualize the kind of storm surges that must occur here. Where Buckley Creek flows onto the beach, in addition to the petroglyphs inscribed in the sand cliff, people have left little memorials to departed loved ones on a driftwood log next to the creek. For when the wind blows, someone has reconstructed the nearby lean-to and added an entranceway. Despite the human traces, you'll almost certainly be alone here.
Conditions
Temperature: 60 F. Tide Level: 7.0 feet.
Human Activities
Number of people: 25. Number of dogs: 5. Walking or running: 20. Sitting: 4. Fishing: 1.
Vehicles
Cars/trucks parking: 15.
Notable Wildlife
None, just a few gulls and crows.
Driftline Content
Small rocks, Animal casings (e.g., crab, shrimp molt). Very little driftline content.
Man-made Modifications
No activity seen for OSU's PacWave wave energy project (see my previous reports).
Natural Changes
Not new, but a couple of houses are close to the edge of a sand cliff.
Driftwood Beach, looking south 15 miles to Cape Perpetua
Surf Fishing, Driftwood Beach
Driftwood in dunes and beach grass
Driftwood log and rusted spikes
Driftwood log, 45 tree rings
Driftwood log, 100 tree rings
Driftwood log, 110 tree rings
Houses at edge of sand cliff
In Memoriam log, Buckley Creek
New entranceway, Buckley Creek leanto
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.
Jon French
Mile 204
Driftwood Beach Wayside, Buckley Creek
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
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
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
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
Mile 204
Driftwood Beach Wayside, Buckley Creek
This was probably the last dependably dry Mile 204 walk before the rains begin in earnest.
Jon French
Mile 204
Driftwood Beach Wayside, Buckley Creek
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.
Jon French
Mile 204
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.
Jon French