Olympic Peninsula, Pacific Northwest
Now and then
Another change I saw at the beach this winter out on the Olympic Peninsula was much more obvious than the subtle rotations of Big Log out in front of the cabin I described in my last Bucket.
However it also involved driftwood. And big surf. Possibly even the gigantic storm that had just blasted this coastline a week before. No way to know when, since I visit infrequently, but that kind of force is quite capable of shifting the configuration of the mouth of a creek.
The Daily Bucket is a nature refuge.
We amicably discuss animals, weather, climate, soil, plants, waters and note life’s patterns.
We invite you to note what you are seeing around you in your own part of the world, and to share your observations in the comments below.
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Ellen Creek is halfway along Rialto Beach, about a mile from the parking lot by the Quillayute River. For years my Rialto beachwalks have taken me all the way to Hole-in-the-Wall at the northern end of this exposed beach of rounded black cobbles that rattle in every outgoing wave. But crossing Ellen Creek requires clambering over the driftwood log jam there, and that’s become less easy for me. Now Ellen Creek is where I have to turn around. This year, the turnaround point was even sooner than I was expecting.
Here’s what the logjam there looked like in 2013, similar to every other year I’ve been there :
Huge logjam! driftwood locked together and staked into the cobbles, anchoring the whole mass into the beach. Over the years, Ellen Creek carved a route parallel to the beach northward for several hundred yards before turning seaward again. The creek cut so far down into the beach sediment that a hill formed between it and the ocean, further diverting her course northward rather than westward to the ocean.
In the next picture, taken in January 2015, my scale figure Mr O points at Ellen Creek’s outflow. You can see why it’s impossible to wade across without getting wet over your knees — there’s no alternative but to find a way over using the log jam.
(My tracks are visible on the far side from when we came up the beach earlier: approaching, then stopped by the creek and heading up to a crossing spot. No other tracks...that means no one else came this way since the last high tide.)
See the two tall conifers up in the log jam on its inland side? One of them was undercut and fell sometime between January 2015 and January 2016 when we went there next, but they serve as a marker along the parallel stretch of creek.
This year when we approached the creek, we were stopped well before her usual outflow. The tree at the end of the rainbow in the picture below is the one remaining tall tree of the two in the earlier photo. That will orient you to see that Ellen Creek is now cutting straight out to the ocean without diverting northward behind the logjam.
Whatever force cleared this new route was substantial. Not only has beach sediment been washed away, but 6-8 feet of dirt was as well. Spruce trees were anchored in that dirt — roots now hang loose out of the bank. That’s another indication how long Ellen Creek’s route had been diverted northward. Perhaps monster waves ripped the logjam out, or maybe there was an unprecedently major flooding event that blew through it from inland. Whatever it was, it looks freshly scoured...recent.
(Sidebar: those spruce roots are tough and flexible. The local Quileutes, Makahs and other Northwest tribes used spruce roots for making rain hats and baskets that can fold flat www.burkemuseum.org/...)
So we stopped here.
There was plenty to see and enjoy, like the rainbows, the waves and dancing gull offshore, the spruce roots, that wonderful black cobbly beach sediment, the patches of sun between rain showers, and the creek itself. How cool are those standing waves?!
One of the great pleasures of walking these Pacific Northwest beaches is seeing how things change in response to all the dynamic forces acting on them, like ocean surf, heavy rain runoff, wind, currents, tides. Sea level rise is already pushing storm surge further inland and will much more in coming years, chewing away at the beaches and forest.
Meanwhile I will keep walking these beaches and watch how nature reshapes the shoreline. The tide washing footprints away every day is a reminder how ephemeral we are out here among the forces of nature.
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(I may have one more story of change at the beach this year if I can find my old cave pics)
The Daily Bucket is now open for your nature observations. What are you seeing in your backyard or your travels?
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