3/8/16 - Special Field Trip to Glass Beach, Port Townsend!
This Saturday, March 12th, this web page's author will lead a hike out to Glass Beach to explore for glass treasures on the beach! We will meet at the North Beach park and parking lot around 9:00am or 9:15am in Port Townsend to begin our hike out to glass beach. Please pack a lunch, plenty of water bottles (2+), rain gear, good rubber boots and a hunger for sea glass. It will be about a 3 mile hike out to McCurdy Point to begin the hunt for sea glass around that area. For directions see the field report about Glass Beach on this web site.
This Saturday, March 12th, this web page's author will lead a hike out to Glass Beach to explore for glass treasures on the beach! We will meet at the North Beach park and parking lot around 9:00am or 9:15am in Port Townsend to begin our hike out to glass beach. Please pack a lunch, plenty of water bottles (2+), rain gear, good rubber boots and a hunger for sea glass. It will be about a 3 mile hike out to McCurdy Point to begin the hunt for sea glass around that area. For directions see the field report about Glass Beach on this web site.
A few months ago I made an exploratory trip up to Port Townsend to see what North Beach was like. North Beach is considered to be Port Townsend's primary beach for the community. It faces north out onto the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Widbey Island is to the Northeast and the San Juan Islands due north by northwest. My primary focus at the time of this hike was agates. I hadn't begun my focused hunt of "Sea Glass" yet or even understood the types and qualities of glass that could be found on a beach. My focus at North Beach was to look for quality quartz and jasper in the gravel beds and to hopefully pick up a few agates. It's always the hope but usually a hit or miss proposition. I found the North Beach parking lot and then set out heading east toward Point Wilson which is just north of Fort Warden. As a beachcomber heads east on North Beach you will notice that the bluff on your right will begin to rise with Fort Warden crowning it's headlands. The Fort Warden batteries were designed as coastal defenses beginning in 1900. Multiple gun positions were strategically located on headlands that rise over 200 feet above the beach.
North Beach and Fort Warden headlands
Agates: The gravel beds on North Beach were great hunting grounds that day and drew my focus every few yards. I did pick up a few amazingly opaque quartz stones that would go well in the rock tumbler. After about an hour and a half of focused rock hunting I turned my attention toward the sandy rock fall below the bluff. I thought there just might be a large agate waiting to be plucked from it's sandy embankment. After a few minutes my eyes landed on a cluster of rocks with an agate specimen staring up at me.
large 2" agate found in sandy bank
agate found on North Beach, Port Townsend
On several hikes weeks later I have found a few agate specimens as I have been scanning the rock beds for sea glass. The agates in most cases have been smaller specimens but the last one found on my way back up the beach toward the parking lot really caught my eye. It was a carnelian agate with a yellowish hue. It just proved to me that agates are actually more abundant on North Beach than I had previously thought.
 Carnelian agate found on North Beach, 4.4.16 |  A collection of agates found on North Beach, 4.4.16 |
North Beach rock beds and bluff
Sea Glass: While hunting for agates and colorful rocks on North Beach, I didn't really focus on sea glass but came upon an amazing sight while scanning the rock beds close to the bluff. Something very bright and colorful caught my eye. It was bright green and stood out against the drab browns and grays. I said to myself, "no way" and reached down. It was a beach tumbled green glass flower frog for floral arrangements, at least what remained of it.
I'm sure with a beach combing focus leaning toward sea glass, I will be able to locate a greater trove next outing on North Beach. So, for all interested combers.... enjoy the beach!
Directions: Drive to North Beach parking lot, 5880 Kuhn St. in Port Townsend, WA.
Glass Beach/ North Beach hike tips to avoid high tide dangers
New Entry: 2.22.16
On Monday, February 22nd, I made another exploratory hike heading west on North Beach in Port Townsend. A few weeks ago I made my first hike out to Glass Beach and found an abundance of sea glass as time allowed. During that hike I experienced a great deal of difficulty making my way along the beach because of the rising tide. The the tide was getting higher and higher and I was forced to go up on the rocks at the base of the bluff. After making it out to the beach below McCurdy Point I began finding fragments of glass immediately before the point and southward after it. The beach area called "Glass Beach" actually begins at McCurdy Point and spreads southwesterly. I had heard from many locals that the primary concern when taking a hike out to Glass Beach and McCurdy Point was the TIDES! The higher tides tend to cover the beach and make it very difficult to hike out to the point if you haven't done your homework! (See my video uploaded from Youtube about "Hiking out to Glass Beach, Port Townsend, WA- tips and tide concerns for the sea glass hunter.")
So, I decided I needed to do a little more exploratory work on North Beach to determine the best times and best tide levels to make the three mile hike. The high tide a few weeks ago was 8.8 feet which made hiking the beach very difficult.
On Monday I deliberately set out on North Beach just before low tide in order to explore the exposed gravel beds, hunt for agates and sea glass and to determine what tides would work best for a trek out to Glass Beach. There are several places along the beach with obstacles that pose difficulty whenever the tides are higher. These obstacles actually protrude out onto the beach and as the rising tides come in the exposed beach becomes pinched off. These obstacles were observed at six feet "high tide" levels to determine whether they posed difficulty at that level. Most hikers who are determined to go out to Glass Beach beyond McCurdy Point must make that trek when tides are at least less than seven feet. When the tide rises higher than seven feet a hiker will be forced up onto the rocks or sandy bluff. The following map illustrates my route this week that brought me only 1.5 miles west on the beach from the North Beach parking lot. Several of the obstacles were passed and measured for tide levels at those points.
New Entry: 2.22.16
On Monday, February 22nd, I made another exploratory hike heading west on North Beach in Port Townsend. A few weeks ago I made my first hike out to Glass Beach and found an abundance of sea glass as time allowed. During that hike I experienced a great deal of difficulty making my way along the beach because of the rising tide. The the tide was getting higher and higher and I was forced to go up on the rocks at the base of the bluff. After making it out to the beach below McCurdy Point I began finding fragments of glass immediately before the point and southward after it. The beach area called "Glass Beach" actually begins at McCurdy Point and spreads southwesterly. I had heard from many locals that the primary concern when taking a hike out to Glass Beach and McCurdy Point was the TIDES! The higher tides tend to cover the beach and make it very difficult to hike out to the point if you haven't done your homework! (See my video uploaded from Youtube about "Hiking out to Glass Beach, Port Townsend, WA- tips and tide concerns for the sea glass hunter.")
So, I decided I needed to do a little more exploratory work on North Beach to determine the best times and best tide levels to make the three mile hike. The high tide a few weeks ago was 8.8 feet which made hiking the beach very difficult.
On Monday I deliberately set out on North Beach just before low tide in order to explore the exposed gravel beds, hunt for agates and sea glass and to determine what tides would work best for a trek out to Glass Beach. There are several places along the beach with obstacles that pose difficulty whenever the tides are higher. These obstacles actually protrude out onto the beach and as the rising tides come in the exposed beach becomes pinched off. These obstacles were observed at six feet "high tide" levels to determine whether they posed difficulty at that level. Most hikers who are determined to go out to Glass Beach beyond McCurdy Point must make that trek when tides are at least less than seven feet. When the tide rises higher than seven feet a hiker will be forced up onto the rocks or sandy bluff. The following map illustrates my route this week that brought me only 1.5 miles west on the beach from the North Beach parking lot. Several of the obstacles were passed and measured for tide levels at those points.
The video below provides helpful tips and tidal information for a successful hiker to enjoy a trip out on North Beach and out to Glass Beach at McCurdy Point. I've also provided a collection of photos that illustrate the comparative levels of high tides at various locations along the North Beach route out to Glass Beach. These tide levels will aid the hiker in making wise decisions as you make your way along North Beach and possibly out to the Glass Beach area. Begin your hike as the tide is going out and below the 6 foot level. This will enable you to make a quick journey up the beach and not be forced into slow going as you climb over the larger rocks along the bluff.
Large bulk head obstacle at 6 ft. high tide leaving minimal exposed beach
North Beach piling wall at 6.1ft high tide with diminishing beach
North Beach rock fall obstacle at 6.6ft high tide
North Beach cobble at 6.8ft high tide- diminished beach
North Beach parking area at 6.9ft high tide
The picture below illustrates the typical rock bed along North Beach that holds many pieces of sea glass. A little concentrated digging throughout a bed like this would yield small and medium sized sea glass pebbles. It may be time consuming but will yield a handful of tiny treasures.
The gallery of sea glass pictures illustrated below is the result of a few hours of rock bed picking along North Beach. The sea glass pieces here were smaller than those found out on Glass Beach at McCurdy Point but they were still quite diverse in color and size. I was able to fill a small mason jar with the sea glass treasures.
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