Mile 224 Report
Beverly Beach north, Johnson Creek
September 25, 2010
Foggy day at the beach.
Report Details
Foggy day at the beach. I arrived about 45 minutes or so after high tide but there was alot of surf, a pretty high energy system. As a result, the waves were reaching much further up the beach then I'd expected. When I reached the beach near the Alpine Chalet access, I sat for 15 minutes or so, waiting for the tide to retreat some more so I could walk the rest of the mile. More people than I expected to see, parking lots & on street parking looked about 3/4's or 7/8s full when I arrived(around 3pm), when I left (around 4pm), the lots, etc., looked about 1/2 full. Seemed to be mostly surfers, some of whom were in the parking lots, removing wet suits, or coming back up the steps but some of the vehicles might've belonged to some of the SOLV Clean up participants. There was one SOLV bag (not completely full) left at the base of the stairs down to the beach, and what looked like 4-5 more bags left next to the trash cans near the public restrooms.Beach itself was pretty clean except for the usual litter tangled up in the drift line, and the usual bits of plastic, not many pellets, mostly bits of plastic, some w/sharp edges (broken off from something else), etc. Lots of seaweed, seawhips, etc. A high energy event (storm far offshore) seems likely for so much kelp, seawhips, etc. to end up on the beach. Photos attached. I've been seeing information on the coastwatch listserve re: dragonfly flights but did not see any today, nor have I seen any in the past week on the beaches I've walked (mostly Lucky Gap to Agate Beach wayside, also north of Yaquina Head to Moolack shores). Too bad, I like dragonflies. Only ones I've seen were a week or so ago out in Five Rivers.
Conditions
Temperature: 65 F. Cloud Cover: Foggy. Wind Velocity: Calm/Light. Wind Direction: NW. Tide Level: 8.0 feet.
Human Activities
Number of people: 35. Number of dogs: 2. Walking or running: 5. Playing in sand: 2. Sitting: 7. Photography: 3. Surfing: 17. I did see tire tracks on beach about 1/3 mile north of Beverly Beach (south end of mile), looked as though they might've been made by an ATV, but didn't see one.
Concerns
Fire
Apparent violations: none, fire close to base of bluff & some vegetation, but protected by rocks, very high tide probably controlled placement of fire.Vehicles
Notable Wildlife
Pelicans, saw around 50 flying in mostly a south/south west direction more or less parallel to beach, probably as many or more again sitting on the westernmost extension of cliff at/near Cape Foulweather.
Driftline Content
Seaweeds and seagrass, Styrofoam, Wood pieces. bits of plastic, seawhips
New Development
Steps down bluff.
Natural Changes
small slides, continued erosion of bluff, some newish looking small slides, possibly as a result of the recent heavy rains
Actions & Comments
No action to take, the steps down the bluff (actually down bluff & along wall of channel carved out by creek) have been there, what's new is that the steps/stairway has been reinforced, some railings installed, so it's a more elaborate set of steps & rails. Erosion is natural.
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All Mile 224 Reports
Mile 224
Beverly Beach north, Johnson Creek
Sunny & warm day, with more people & dogs then I've seen in years on the beach, probably because of the heat wave in PDX, the Willamette Valley & so much of the US. In addition to walking the mile to do a Coastwatch report, I participated in a Surfrider day after the 4th beach trash pickup.
s hogg
Mile 224
Beverly Beach north, Johnson Creek
Low tide at Yaquina Bay was listed as 12:16 pm today, the north jetty & a headland, and probably about 8-10 miles separate YB from the beach at Otter Rock where my mile is located, I don't know how much those factors change (or not) the exact tide level when I stepped onto the beach this morning OR when I left, about noon. Overall a beautiful day on the beach, on my arrival there were probably 23 people (including surfers) on the beach, that number increased to the number I entered.
S hogg
Mile 224
Beverly Beach north, Johnson Creek
Very low tide this am, I have no idea what the exact tide level was so I didn't enter a number.
malachite
Mile 224
Beverly Beach north, Johnson Creek
Pleasant if chilly walk on the beach.
malachite
Mile 224
Beverly Beach north, Johnson Creek
Quite a dynamic winter on this mile, more erosion noted, and a moderate sized slide seen on the mile.
malachite
Mile 224
Beverly Beach north, Johnson Creek
Nice day for a walk on the beach, clean beach, saw 6 cyclists (one solo, I think the rest were more or less together), first time I've seen cyclists on this beach, have seen them off & on from the south jetty north to Lucky Gap access.
malachite
Mile 224
Beverly Beach north, Johnson Creek
Pretty day on the beach, I was on the beach when the tide was going out, my South Beach tide table indicates the low tide in SB was at 9:43 am & 1.
malachite