Who Knows Where This Is?

Hammond, Oregon ~ November 2012  

"Secret Beach" at the South Jetty near Astoria, Oregon.  Can you find this?

Where to look:  Go to the South Jetty at Fort Stevens State Park.  There is a wide walkway that heads north parallel to the Jetty.  At low tide you can cross a creek bed and continue North where eventually you'll find the ocean and Columbia River.  The driftwood teepee can be found tucked into the sandy dunes to the right, though weather and time may eventually sweep it away.

 

Cyndi Mudge, Guest Blogger

Astoria, Oregon, Daily Photo is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Photo Contest: "Kids at the Peter Iredale"

Warrenton, Oregon/Ft. Stevens State Park

Guest Photographer: Merri Padgett

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Animated

July 7, 2002

Yes, 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.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

High Wind, High Surf Advisory

The coast is under high wind and high surf advisories from Sunday night through Monday. The high winds were just beginning and it was still safe to go out on the beach. It's hard to see the blowing sand here, but before I got back to the car, I had sand in my ears, my hair, my clothing, and my camera. Even with the wide angle, I came just short of getting entire length of the wreck of the Peter Iredale. I've included the picture below from February 2008 to show how you can spot the end of the wreckage. Near the center of the photo and touching the horizon are two metal pipes sticking into the air (they look like one in the small version). I'm not sure if they mark the end of the ship or only a spot near the end. The sand ebbs and flows with the elements, and some years, days, or storms, you can see more of the ship than at other times.

Clearly, Peter is more photogenic on some days than others, too. I've posted images before, and I still have a few in the archives to come later. But today I wanted to show you the beginning of the storm. It's been rainy, drizzly, cloudy, and now windy, and it seems we have rain forecast all week. I would love to get out there and show you some huge waves, but we'll see how it goes. Even as I drove back along the access road, the police were out "suggesting" that lookers be careful. And I do have respect for big waves.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Driftwood in February

Fort Stevens State Park, Warrenton, Oregon ~

February 3, 2006

If you like driftwood, you'll find it in winter on the Oregon beaches. Brought in by the storms, it accumulates along the dunes that separate the beach from the forest and grasslands. The park is large and varied, incorporating ocean, forest, bike trails, lakes, and old miltary bunkers, and it's all about 8 miles west of Astoria.

I took the photo standing a few yards from one of our favorite sites, the wreck of the Peter Iredale. It's such a picturesque and interesting spot (and easy to get to) that I've already used it three times on this blog: sunset, bones of the ship (one of my favorite photos on the blog), and sunset with ship's bones. These photos are taken just a couple of miles south of the jetty series at the mouth of the Columbia River. Fort Stevens also holds this military cemetery. A person could do an entire City Daily Photo blog on Fort Stevens and never run out of material. Don't get me started, I'll end up like Jacob.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

On a clear day you can see the mouth of the Columbia: A 19th-Century feat of engineering

This aerial photo was taken by Frank Wolfe and lent to me by Branden Wilson for use on the Astoria, Oregon, Daily Photo blog. It shows the south (Oregon) side of the Columbia River as it pours into the Pacific Ocean. The line you see going from Clatsop Spit into the ocean is a man-made jetty. The line crossing from the land to the left side of the photo (and disappearing behind the airplane in the lower left) is what's left of the train trestle used to carry rocks to the jetty project. When you see all the mud in the water, it's easy to understand how the sand bars are built and moved around.

I took yesterday's blog photo from near the point where the white ocean waves meet the line of the jetty. Now, if you look at the right-hand edge of the waves, where they encounter the mass of land at the end of Clatsop Spit, and take this as the starting point, estimate about 1 mile going left, and that is where the mouth of the river was at the time of the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1806. That mile of beach and land is new, having accumulated once the jetty changed the flow of the water. It's pretty amazing. It took several expeditions to this area before Europeans even realized this was the mouth of a river. Due to the sheer size of the river's mouth, it had not been obvious, especially in bad weather. It was not until 1792 that Captain Gray discovered the river. Even Captain Cook had missed it in 1778, and Captain Gray had missed it on his first trip, a few years before his 1792 discovery. Others had also come this way and not recognized what they were passing. Today it remains one of the most dangerous bars to cross in a ship. I believe it was one of the pilots who said, there is one more dangerous, but this bar takes more skill. Don't ask. That's all I remember. The mouth of the Columbia has been dubbed "The Graveyard of the Pacific." Wikipedia quotes Saddler Russel as saying, "More than 2000 vessels and 700 lives have been lost near the Columbia Bar alone." (This "Columbia Bar" link helps explain why the elements here cause conditions to be so treacherous.)

But the mouth of the Columbia is also a beautiful and stirring place. Wildlife abounds, along with majestically scenic views and a taste of the incomparably-moody ocean. More scenes from both sides of the river to come later on this blog.

Astoria's one sandy beach

This minute stretch of sand is Astoria's only actual beach. Most of the river front is taken up with buildings and piers or else it consists of piled rocks, and is treacherous and uninviting. But speaking of that, I'm not sure how much swimming actually takes place here. I've seen kids playing in the sand, and I think it's a good thing that the pilings would keep a person from drifting down-river if they did venture into the river. The water is cold, and as Lee says, the Columbia is "drowning water." It may look charming and calm, but the currents are swift and hypotermia sets in quickly. People who fall from boats often die before they can be rescued, even with life jackets and even with the presence of the Coast Guard nearby. The posts to the right originally held a building of some kind, and I wonder if this was built as a boat slip. I have not done the research yet. I took this photo on April 5th. The grass is still mostly brown, and logs have washed onto the beach from winter storms. I like this photo a lot. I love looking at the water, and you can't keep me out of the sea at a tropical snorkeling beach, but here in Astoria, I'm going to leave the river to the fish, the ships, and the shore birds.

Where is the best place to swim in your town?