Thirty Years Later: Daytrip to the coast, part 7

Beachcombing is really popular in Lincoln City. There are all kinds of interesting things in the sand. Maybe not so many agates these days, but you can easily find fossils and other neat stuff.

The beach in Taft has a ton of driftwood, and not little sticks that you can use to draw in the sand, and not what you'd want to (or be able to) pick up and carry with you. No dog would fetch these sticks. Hah, I doubt you'd want to throw them.

Like this one.

So what do people like to do with all the driftwood?

Build shelters from the wind, of course!

Lots and lots of shelters.

Here's the crown jewel structure of the day:

This structure has a pretty sturdy roof, considering it's only held together with gravity and beach bum engineering.

Not all structures are as sophisticated. Some are just enough of an organized pile to divert the wind. Keeps the sand out of your ears, and helps you keep the bonfire burning.

D and I were wandering through the driftwood when we smelled smoke. Then we saw it. Then a lick of flame. Some idiot didn't properly extinguish their bonfire and it was still burning after they left. It's a little hard to see, but D is looking at the fire. Can you see the smoke? I can still smell it.

I really really want to plan a trip back here so we can have a bonfire on the beach. My mom did that on the beaches of Lake Superior when I was a kid, and I always loved it.

Lots of these driftwood wind breaks dot the low dunes between the surf and the residential neighborhoods just inland from the beach.

As for beachcombing, there are some really neat rocks scattered around the beach. Many are either sandstone or igneous (from volcanic eruptions), but every now and then you can find something worth a second look.

This one has fossilized layers of shells and other things in it.

I call these two "Crocodile Rock(s)"
No, I did not place them this way, I just stumbled upon them and immediately saw the croc.

Here's a driftwood knot that looks like the eye of some prehistoric critter.

As the wind blows, it separates the larger (darker) particles from the smaller (lighter colored) particles, resulting in this amazing pattern.

Beachcombing is irresistible. I ended up carrying a fossil and some little driftwood twigs around with me. I'm happy for the chance to take lots of pictures of the other things that were out there.