Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Blue Ridge






Seattle's Blue Ridge neighborhood lies on the hills that rise from the beach north of Ballard.  The community even has its own private beach access, but Sunday's low tide (-3.6' MLLW, so one of the year's lowest) made this a much more public beach, with a lot of folks walking between Carkeek Park and Golden Gardens.

AERIAL VIEW

A couple of small streams - not sure what distinguishes a stream from a stormwater outfall in these urban areas - emerge from culverts beneath the tracks at the Blue Ridge access. The larger one takes a sharp, but brief, right hand turn, before turning again down the beach.  I guess this suggests drift, or at least recent drift of the sandier material, is northward, although I think the larger pattern is the other way, since this area gets some shelter from the south.


The railroad dominates the upper beach - pretty much replaces it, actually - except for a narrow backshore right around the stream mouths.  But the lower beach goes out forever, or so it seemed today, when low tide sort of merged into the gray day.


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