Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Great Gravel!
February 25th turned out to be an excellent day to mount an expedition on the beach gravel deposits at Road's End, just north of Lincoln City, Oregon. Although I had visions of visiting several other locations, this was the extent of my collecting for the weekend.
It turned out better than I thought. The sands were completely washed away in many places, exposing Astoria Formation bedrock for 200 yards leading north to the headland at Road's End. The Miocene-aged Astoria bed are tilted at about a 40 degree angle here, and sit unconformably against basalt and basaltic stacks that are highly resistant. The first igneous rocks look like a pyroclastic hodge-podge of angular clasts cemented into a dark host, but further out into the waves the rocks are stricter basalt, dark and dense.
Once past the headland, there is a small cove that on this day was covered with gravels. Usually the bulk of the gravels are little pea-sized rough, but this day there were cobbles piled up in places. Several stretches of big pebbles filled in the holes. Sand, mercifully, was almost hidden from view.
The pickings were excellent right away. I found agates, both red and green jasper, and some nice yellow-red jasper that I know from experience takes a good polish. I didn't find any bloodstone -- green jasper with red spots -- but I found much more petrified wood than usual. I also picked up some good agates that were trending in the direction of carnelian. In about 75 minutes I had about ten pounds of rough, and it won't take a month on the biggest grit to get it smoothed out.
I highly recommend this spot. The kids can play in the tide pools and toss rocks in the waves, the abundance of good tumbling material is staggering, and it's a bit of an adventure to get in there.
February 25th turned out to be an excellent day to mount an expedition on the beach gravel deposits at Road's End, just north of Lincoln City, Oregon. Although I had visions of visiting several other locations, this was the extent of my collecting for the weekend.
It turned out better than I thought. The sands were completely washed away in many places, exposing Astoria Formation bedrock for 200 yards leading north to the headland at Road's End. The Miocene-aged Astoria bed are tilted at about a 40 degree angle here, and sit unconformably against basalt and basaltic stacks that are highly resistant. The first igneous rocks look like a pyroclastic hodge-podge of angular clasts cemented into a dark host, but further out into the waves the rocks are stricter basalt, dark and dense.
Once past the headland, there is a small cove that on this day was covered with gravels. Usually the bulk of the gravels are little pea-sized rough, but this day there were cobbles piled up in places. Several stretches of big pebbles filled in the holes. Sand, mercifully, was almost hidden from view.
The pickings were excellent right away. I found agates, both red and green jasper, and some nice yellow-red jasper that I know from experience takes a good polish. I didn't find any bloodstone -- green jasper with red spots -- but I found much more petrified wood than usual. I also picked up some good agates that were trending in the direction of carnelian. In about 75 minutes I had about ten pounds of rough, and it won't take a month on the biggest grit to get it smoothed out.
I highly recommend this spot. The kids can play in the tide pools and toss rocks in the waves, the abundance of good tumbling material is staggering, and it's a bit of an adventure to get in there.
Friday, February 24, 2006
Oregon Beach Agates
Hoping For Storm Damage
From my vantage point in Beaverton, Oregon, there have been a lot of Pacific storms this season. Hopefully, that will result in washing several feet of sand off the prodigious beach gravel deposits I like to haunt. For the last two years, the pickings have been slim.
I checked in with Lee at Pier Avenue Rock Shop in Tierra Del Mar, just north of Pacific City. I first visited his rock shop last year and found him to be a knowledgeable dealer with experience ranging from agates to zeolites, from Oregon to points well beyond. He had some nice petrified wood from Succor Creek in his front yard, and some beautiful faceted sunstones in the display case. Lee is at http://www.pieraverockshop.com/index.html and you can contact him through there.
Lee told me that the storms had indeed moved off the sands, so he invited me to stop by and have a chat. He also told me about the so-called "Thunderstorm jasper" being marketed on eBay by Western Oregon Lapidary Source in Tillamook. He wasn't sure if this material was being created by recent rockslides at Cape Meares and Cape Lookout. He said both of those were still productive, but I'm leary about driving that far north from Lincoln City when I can just hunker down at Road's End.
If you've never been there, Road's End is at the north end of Lincoln City, Oregon. You drive past the casino, around the big curve, then past the wayside and up to the final parking spot. It's hard to find among all the vacation house driveways, but just go slow and you'll find it. From there, you step onto the beach and proceed north toward the big rock.
Two interesting points for fellow lithophiles. First, the beach is covered with streaks of black sand. This is not oil residue from the leak of the Exxon Valdez, nor bilge sludge from the wreck of the New Carissa. This is honest-to-god black sand, chock full of magnetite, ilmenite, platinum, rare earth elements, and gold. I've collected it and panned it, and I've gotten microscopic colors. The deposits have either come up from the south, such as famed Gold Beach, or down from the mouth of the Columbia, which drains the Snake River (Boise Basin) and the John Day River (Baker, Sumpter). It's fun to collect. I usually take a water bottle and fill it with black sand on the hike back.
The second treat is a limy concretion known as the Indian marble. They're small -- like marbles -- and are eroding out of the sandstones that abut Road's End. Some are the size of a baseball, and some are extremely round. They're very plentiful. I've never cracked one open to see what's inside, but then I got spoiled by the big stuff out by Vernonia where crabs and rock lobsters have been found.
Anyway, it's about a half mile to the rock at Road's End. You'll find numerous tide pools where the beach ends, and if you weren't looking for it, you'd never know that you can circle around to the north to a small, secluded cove. On a good day, you'll find loads of gravel there. On a bad day, you are going to find small gravel mounds. You never really know what you'll find.
The hike in there can be a trial. Some days, the sand is piled up flat like a super highway, and the walk at low tide is easy. Some days you have to scamper over a rocky spine that has barnacles and purple, slippery seaweed. My Golden Retrievers have made the trip along that spine numerous times, but it isn't something I'd take Grandpa along for.
The size of the gravels at Road's End is not spectacular unless you get a really nice low tide. Usually, you're working with a half-inch in size or smaller. But the quantity makes up for the size, and the quality pushes it over the edge. There is a good variety as well. I've found petrified wood, red jasper, a nice green jasper, plus white agates, crystal clear agates, carnelian, and more. The sand content of the beach ensures that the rocks are very polished, so you can tell instantly if something will take a good shine. I haven't found any fossils here, but I do consistently find beach-polished glass, especially green.
Treasure is what you make of it, of course. The dogs found a dead baby deer that had apparently tumbled down the cliff. These are the same dogs that couldn't be stopped from rolling in a dead fur seal they chanced upon. The car smelled awful for weeks after that event.
The bounty of Road's End is astonishing. There have been times when I simply lay on my side, with the sun in my face, and picked through the rocks within reach. One time, I made a "rock angel."
The cliffs up from the beach are steep, but not so steep that my son and the dogs couldn't climb up for a view. You want to make sure that you skedaddle out by the time the tide starts coming in strong, because you don't want to scramble across the big boulders in a hurry to get out. But most people have enough sense to watch for the shifting tide. To be sure, you should also check the tide tables at the OSu Hatfield Marine Science Center at http://hmsc.oregonstate.edu/weather/tides/tides.html.
I usually bring a plastic baggie for my treasures. I tried just using my pants pockets but the load almost pulled my pants down on the trip home.
To wind down, I recommend the India Pale Ale at the McMenamin's Lighthouse Brewpub back by Highway 101. It's family-friendly and they don't mind if you track in a little sand.
From my vantage point in Beaverton, Oregon, there have been a lot of Pacific storms this season. Hopefully, that will result in washing several feet of sand off the prodigious beach gravel deposits I like to haunt. For the last two years, the pickings have been slim.
I checked in with Lee at Pier Avenue Rock Shop in Tierra Del Mar, just north of Pacific City. I first visited his rock shop last year and found him to be a knowledgeable dealer with experience ranging from agates to zeolites, from Oregon to points well beyond. He had some nice petrified wood from Succor Creek in his front yard, and some beautiful faceted sunstones in the display case. Lee is at http://www.pieraverockshop.com/index.html and you can contact him through there.
Lee told me that the storms had indeed moved off the sands, so he invited me to stop by and have a chat. He also told me about the so-called "Thunderstorm jasper" being marketed on eBay by Western Oregon Lapidary Source in Tillamook. He wasn't sure if this material was being created by recent rockslides at Cape Meares and Cape Lookout. He said both of those were still productive, but I'm leary about driving that far north from Lincoln City when I can just hunker down at Road's End.
If you've never been there, Road's End is at the north end of Lincoln City, Oregon. You drive past the casino, around the big curve, then past the wayside and up to the final parking spot. It's hard to find among all the vacation house driveways, but just go slow and you'll find it. From there, you step onto the beach and proceed north toward the big rock.
Two interesting points for fellow lithophiles. First, the beach is covered with streaks of black sand. This is not oil residue from the leak of the Exxon Valdez, nor bilge sludge from the wreck of the New Carissa. This is honest-to-god black sand, chock full of magnetite, ilmenite, platinum, rare earth elements, and gold. I've collected it and panned it, and I've gotten microscopic colors. The deposits have either come up from the south, such as famed Gold Beach, or down from the mouth of the Columbia, which drains the Snake River (Boise Basin) and the John Day River (Baker, Sumpter). It's fun to collect. I usually take a water bottle and fill it with black sand on the hike back.
The second treat is a limy concretion known as the Indian marble. They're small -- like marbles -- and are eroding out of the sandstones that abut Road's End. Some are the size of a baseball, and some are extremely round. They're very plentiful. I've never cracked one open to see what's inside, but then I got spoiled by the big stuff out by Vernonia where crabs and rock lobsters have been found.
Anyway, it's about a half mile to the rock at Road's End. You'll find numerous tide pools where the beach ends, and if you weren't looking for it, you'd never know that you can circle around to the north to a small, secluded cove. On a good day, you'll find loads of gravel there. On a bad day, you are going to find small gravel mounds. You never really know what you'll find.
The hike in there can be a trial. Some days, the sand is piled up flat like a super highway, and the walk at low tide is easy. Some days you have to scamper over a rocky spine that has barnacles and purple, slippery seaweed. My Golden Retrievers have made the trip along that spine numerous times, but it isn't something I'd take Grandpa along for.
The size of the gravels at Road's End is not spectacular unless you get a really nice low tide. Usually, you're working with a half-inch in size or smaller. But the quantity makes up for the size, and the quality pushes it over the edge. There is a good variety as well. I've found petrified wood, red jasper, a nice green jasper, plus white agates, crystal clear agates, carnelian, and more. The sand content of the beach ensures that the rocks are very polished, so you can tell instantly if something will take a good shine. I haven't found any fossils here, but I do consistently find beach-polished glass, especially green.
Treasure is what you make of it, of course. The dogs found a dead baby deer that had apparently tumbled down the cliff. These are the same dogs that couldn't be stopped from rolling in a dead fur seal they chanced upon. The car smelled awful for weeks after that event.
The bounty of Road's End is astonishing. There have been times when I simply lay on my side, with the sun in my face, and picked through the rocks within reach. One time, I made a "rock angel."
The cliffs up from the beach are steep, but not so steep that my son and the dogs couldn't climb up for a view. You want to make sure that you skedaddle out by the time the tide starts coming in strong, because you don't want to scramble across the big boulders in a hurry to get out. But most people have enough sense to watch for the shifting tide. To be sure, you should also check the tide tables at the OSu Hatfield Marine Science Center at http://hmsc.oregonstate.edu/weather/tides/tides.html.
I usually bring a plastic baggie for my treasures. I tried just using my pants pockets but the load almost pulled my pants down on the trip home.
To wind down, I recommend the India Pale Ale at the McMenamin's Lighthouse Brewpub back by Highway 101. It's family-friendly and they don't mind if you track in a little sand.
