July 7, 2002Yes, I was glancing through my archives and found this pic from 2002 that I've always liked. It was taken on the beach near the Peter Iredale. We have plenty of driftwood along this part of the coast at any season, and much of it is not the teeny variety. I seem to remember reading that this grass that keeps the dunes from eroding was brought in and is not native. It looks pretty, though, and helps make the Oregon Coast what it is to us today. I wonder what was here before the grass? Did the forest come right down to the sand? Note the overcast day. We've been having similar weather this year, but it may be the coldest July I can remember. I'm not complaining, and we tend to get sun in the afternoon, but I hear some people grumbling about it.
11 comments:
It's a beautiful shot indeed! Maybe the forest did come right down to the sand in the good old days...
Very beautiful. I love driftwood - I try to bring a piece home with me every time I go to the coast. Along with a jar of sand :-}
I think perhaps the forest did go most of the way to the beaches. At least in places. I seem to remember a couple of years ago when a severe winter storm uncovered a grove of tree trunks on a beach that were hundreds (or more) of years old.
I love the muted colors in this shot. Even the green is a soft green.
Funny that your summer is so cold while ours is so hot. Yesterday was 95 with a heat index of 110. I couldn't even bear to play golf, that's how bad it was! Today is not supposed to be much better, but I think I have to get out there anyway. I'll take plenty of water though.
PS: I am not complaining about the heat as I like warm weather. Just the lack of golf. :)
I wonder what was here before the grass?
Sand.
I am so incredibly jealous you get to live there. Been trying to find a job in Astoria for months. THANK YOU FOR SHARING!!! It brightens my whole day getting to see a bit of the town on a regular basis. :)
Oh dear, I seem to have posted this comment twice, sorry. I thought it did not post the first time because I was not signed in.
Love this shot, so nature!
By the way I saw your checkered horses this morning and posted a link with an answer to your question.
It's a decorative pattern and they do it with special combs.
Love driftwood. People here make all kinds of things from it, like lamps and coffee tables.
I'll trade you a bit of coolness for some heat. It's in the 90's today and just blazing hot! Ugh!
There is something so relaxing about grayed driftwood on sand... the green grass just adds to the feeling of peace.
.."I seem to remember reading that this grass that keeps the dunes from eroding was brought in and is not native..."
Either your memory is faulty or the information you read was. Nothing can keep the ocean and river from eroding the dunes except jetty sized rock. The grass is there to hold the sand in place-the grass is very hardy, can take being buried under tons of sand and survive saltwater innundations. Before the grass was planted the sands at Clatsop Spit swallowed up everything as it would continuously "drift" across the Spit to be eroded by the river in the pre jetty era. Sand accumulation was a terrible problem all down past Clatsop Plains to Gearhart where it would swallow up ocean front summer homes. As the tide, surf and wind deposit sand during the winter season the grass gets buried-only to grow up and create a windproof top cover that holds the sand in place. All the ocean front area from the river mouth south to Gearhart is accumulated sand from the past 70 years or so and has moved the dune line west some places up to over half a mile. That is why there are ship wrecks like the Peter Iredale now buried under lots of sand quite a distance from the ocean. The Galena, which wrecked around the same time as the Peter Iredale is one that comes to mind--it is buried in Surf Pines where there are now houses. If the grass wasnt responsible for the major sand accumulation there it would still be awash like the Peter Iredale is.
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