Shore Acres #2
Cape Arago, Oregon
2023

The odd clam-shapped concretions in this photo are 3-4 feet in diameter. They look like they’re ready to pop out of the ground, perhaps being just the head of some sandworm-like creatures from the book and movie Dune.

Shore Acres #1
Cape Arago, Oregon
2023

I mentioned a few days ago about the surprise of finding a formal botanical gardens that we were not aware of along the rugged coast of Oregon. Even more surprising was the wild area of coast across the parking lot from the gardens. This area, like the botanical gardens, is part of what is known as Shore Acres and is comprised of sedimentary rock layers rather than the more usual volcanic formations found on most of the Oregon coast. The sandstone, shale and other types of sedimentary rock here came from a river delta that formed in ancient times and was gradually (and sometimes not so gradually) lifted by seismic activity. Then wind and salt water proceeded to erode the rock, leaving some pretty amazing formations that rival anything I’ve seen in the American southwest (not in overall expanse or size even, but in terms of kinds of shapes that were formed). It’s a little hard to determine the scale of these rock features, especially if you’ve looked at too many of my Little Landscape series of images, but the feature in the foreground of this photo stands about 6′ high at its pointy end.

Tenuous Grip
Cape Arago, Oregon
2023

Beachcomber
Sunset Bay, Oregon
2023

Rock Face
Sunset Bay, Oregon
2023

I really didn’t see this face until I was processing this image on the computer. It’s not often you get photo-bombed while taking close-in pictures of rocks.

Simon Says Hands Down
Cape Arago, Oregon
2023

Monkey Puzzle Tree
Cape Arago, Oregon
2023

Monkey Puzzle is the actual name of this type of tree. It certainly had the monkey in me puzzled wondering what survival advantages resulted in the species evolving to this form.

Shy Bloom
Cape Arago, Oregon
2023

Private Pool
Cape Arago, Oregon
2023

After spending a number of days exploring the rugged natural coast of Oregon, it was quite a contrast, and a pleasant experience, to stumble onto some formal gardens just off the shoreline at Cape Arago.

Bare Tree #111
Carl Washburn State Park, Oregon
2023

A well-weathered tree stump on the beach displays a nicely arranged collect of rocks. We saw a number of these firmly anchored tree stumps on beaches in this part of Oregon. It seems strange to see them out on a sandy beach with tides washing in and out. It turns out, according to what I read recently, that they are the result of a huge earthquake that happened some 1,200 years ago, causing the shoreline to drop many feet. That they are there is strange enough. That they’ve been there 1,200 years without rotting away is even stranger. I guess saltwater is a good preservative.