Waves can move even the most massive objects about with little effort if they still are lighter than the water. It wasn’t hard to infer how and when these natural souvenirs of hydraulic lift arrived. The log at left was partially burned at some point before a nearby river washed it into the ocean, probably during snowmelt-related flooding within the previous few weeks of late spring and early summer. Still carrying some of its bark and soaked with saltwater—quite truly, waterlogged—it had landed fairly recently along the high tide line. By contrast, the enormous logs at right—over six feet in diameter, bleached, and dry through and through—likely was stranded during one of the previous few strong wintertime cyclones. Surf associated with such events gets gigantic on the Washington coast, as huge waves hurl floating detritus of all sizes high upon the beach slope, not necessarily at angles parallel to the calm waterline.
2 NW Queets WA (13 Jul 6) Looking NNW
47.5653, -124.362Leftovers from the Liquid Lumberjack
Waves can move even the most massive objects about with little effort if they still are lighter than the water. It wasn’t hard to infer how and when these natural souvenirs of hydraulic lift arrived. The log at left was partially burned at some point before a nearby river washed it into the ocean, probably during snowmelt-related flooding within the previous few weeks of late spring and early summer. Still carrying some of its bark and soaked with saltwater—quite truly, waterlogged—it had landed fairly recently along the high tide line. By contrast, the enormous logs at right—over six feet in diameter, bleached, and dry through and through—likely was stranded during one of the previous few strong wintertime cyclones. Surf associated with such events gets gigantic on the Washington coast, as huge waves hurl floating detritus of all sizes high upon the beach slope, not necessarily at angles parallel to the calm waterline.
2 NW Queets WA (13 Jul 6) Looking NNW
47.5653, -124.362