Just a few miles and twenty minutes south of Birch Bay and what a difference. Wind and waves and a very different beach.
Gulf Road is the only place you can really get down to the shoreline in the vicinity of Cherry Point - unless you're an oil tanker or an aluminum ingot. Unlike the rest of Puget Sound, where high-end residential development is creeping along the shoreline like mold, this stretch was set aside decades ago for industrial uses and is marked by three large piers, two attached to refineries and one attached to an aluminum plant running on our famously inexpensive electricity. Ironically, the industrial designation may be what saves these beaches from being nickeled and dimed over the next few decades, although a little more public access would sure be nice.
This section of beach is actually a barrier, with wetlands behind and a small stream mouth at the north end.
wish that PW would remove that darn road. its in horrible shape, goes nowhere and might enable enhancement of the marsh? i think the marsh is in pretty good shape but historically extended further south. do you know the story behind the derelict structure in the top photo?
ReplyDeleteis this part of DNR conservancy now? too bad we didnt see you when you were up here!