What a violent storm we must have had in early January! It washed a giant log up on to
the beach and smashed it into the bluff. Temple said it was the biggest log he’s ever
seen land at the mouth of McDonnell Creek. It’s likely to have a major impact on the
lagoon and our beach access for the near future.
On January 20, Glenn and I walked down to take
pictures. Here is Glenn
standing on the path with
the log and the beach
behind him. This gives you
a pretty good idea of the
diameter of this tree trunk.
It didn’t arrive all alone.
Lots of smaller logs and
other debris litter the area.
The arrow points to the
huge log. It came along
with some other pretty big
stuff.
Temple and friends had built this sturdy bridge that crossed the creek and provided access to beach on the west side of the creek for most of last year. In spite of being well anchored, it was washed up higher into the area east of the lagoon. It looks to be mostly intact and can be
rescued with a little effort.
Fortunately, the creek is flowing straight out now, and the lagoon has emptied. That makes it easy to walk around the big log to get to the beach on the east side of the creek. Here’s a photo of the giant obstruction looking south from the beach. This gives an idea of its length. Although it’s easy to walk around it for now, that won’t be the case when the lagoon refills.
Getting to the west side now is another story. There are some smaller logs scattered across the creek that could possibly be crossed by a very sure-footed person, but Glenn and I weren’t tempted to try it.
In the past, we have always been able to provide a way to access the beach safely.
Remember the ladder we had to descend to reach the bottom of the bluff? And do you
recall the path that led up over the top the hill and down a nicely build set of stairs? Both
gone. People who have lived here longer than I can remember other ways they reached
the beach. It’s been relatively easy to get to the west side in recent times thanks to well-
placed logs or that sturdy bridge. The big log presents a new challenge, but we’ll find a
way around (or over) it. No question, our shoreline is constantly intriguing, yet changing.
Carol Young and Glenn Browning