Newport is beautiful this week...

Winter has blessed us once again with better weather than summer!  No wind, sunny and bright a great time for beach combing on the Oregon Coast.  The rates are low and less traffic to contend with, what more could you ask for?  Yes there are agates being found again, just the beaches are shifting and the gravel has been spotty.  I have been busy working on not one but two books to be published in the next month or so.  Just no time for us to participate in beachcombing or to get the photos up on the blog.

Editors notes: Video from News Lincoln County

First big blow of the season enroute to the Coast.

Now you can experience the raw beauty of  the Oregon Coast  during our value season  where you can enjoy storm watching from the comfort of one of Newport's warm and cozy beach front resorts.

"Saturday night and into Sunday, the rain will increase considerably, accompanied by Hurricane Force Winds, 60-75 mph. Such winds are fully capable of blowing people off their feet and tossing them down streets, lawns and hillsides. These winds are expected to occur from 8pm Saturday to 8am Sunday. Power outages are also common with such winds.

A heavy surf warning is also in effect for all day Sunday. The Weather Service warns that tidal flooding is possible since a higher than normal tide will co-inside with the storm surf and high winds."  This would not be a good time to be out on the beach!

Editors notes: For the rest of the story

Oregon Carnelian Agate at it's very Best!

Frank just found this beauty yesterday here on Oregon's Central Coast. It does not get any better than this. This beauty Pigeon blood RED agate measured 3'' long and weighed in at over 1/4 pound of the purest red you have ever seen.

He also had these other trophy pieces as well but this carnelian is beeeautiful!

I was invited out for a tour with a small group of folks yesterday morning for their TV film shoot of agate hunting at Newport. We were treated to an hour and 1/2 on the beach before the rain started. A good time was had by all finding a multitude of fossils, jasper, a piece of bloodstone, sea glass and agate. This 2 minute shot will appear the first week of February on FOX 12 Oregon Beach Vacations, February segment.

Trophy Sized Petrified Wood Found on the Oregon Coast

Just in yesterday: this trophy sized petrified wood was found by Dane, a north county resident earlier this year, here on the Central Oregon Coast. This is the biggest piece we have seen so far weighing in at just under 72¼ pounds, looks to be part of a very large limb or a part of the tree trunk. The color is actually blue grey measureing 11" x 12" and wet as you see it (as seen for scale over a large full size 22 ounce geologist pick for scale) it takes on a black with beige wood grain pattern running through it. It looks like it might be Spalted Myrtle an Oregon Myrtlewood.

This was found by lucky beachcomber Dane, a north county resident. It took him three hours to carry it home from the beach. What a determined guy he is.

Storms have started!

Have you read the latest Rock & Gem (October issue) magazine yet? They have a wonderful article on the Origin of Agate, written by Steve Voynick a mineral collector and former hardrock miner. For all of you that want to know more on the formation of agate this is an article you won't want to miss.

Here on the Oregon coast the rockhounds are all anxiously awaiting the scouring of the beaches for the agates and the fossils to reappear for all of our beachcombers to experience treasure hunting during the discovery season now through May.

Oregon Fall Beach Cleanup a Success!

Facing the threat of cloudy skies and rainy conditions on much of the coast, more than 3,700 beachcombers volunteered for the 25th anniversary of the SOLV Great Oregon Fall Beach Cleanup on Saturday. The entire Oregon coast, over 362 miles, was cleaned of debris that had accumulated since last spring. Volunteers removed an estimated 54,460 pounds of trash from Oregon’s beaches.

The SOLV Great Oregon Beach Cleanups occur twice a year when thousands of volunteers head to their favorite spots on the coast. Every beach is cleaned up of litter and marine debris, from the California border to the Columbia River.

Founded in 1969 by Oregon Governor Tom McCall to address litter and vandalism problems, SOLV’s mission has expanded to reach every county in the state and brings together government agencies, businesses and individuals in projects to enhance the livability of Oregon. Governor McCall also signed the 1967 Beach Bill into law, creating the Ocean Shore Recreation Area, managed by the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department for the benefit of all Oregonians.

Naturally the weather was picture perfect for sunday, monday & tuesday with a high of 90 degrees Monday here in Newport. September and October kicks off the lower rates at the coast and generally offers our guest to the coast better weather than June - Labor Day. Now we are all waiting for the great storm watching weather to start the beachcombing season for the agates to be exposed (removal of the sand by the storms to expose the gravel beds).

Unsual Basalt formation...

This specimen was found about 6 weeks ago just south of Newport, by Richard of Seal Rock. Basalt is normally smooth and does not have any pattern at all to it. We believe this orbicular pattern to be an indicator as to the rapid cooling during it's formation. Nice find Richard!

Beachcombers' Alert on the Oregon Coast...

Well the beaches have finally been scrubbed clean of tons of sand to expose the gravel bars. This is what the beaches looked like Sunday (both north & south of Newport). Temperatures were amazing in the 50's and not a breeze! Don't bother to call and ask someone if the agates are showing as this condition may only last 6 hours or 6 days at a time. This is Mother Nature's way of providing for the future beach combers.

Yesterday folks came in with lots of nice agates to get their tumblers started! Congratulations to the gentleman that found a nice sized partial agatized "enhydo" (water bubble within it) clam belly. In the near future I have some interesting photos to get up from our agate collecting guest.

Later: In the Newport area I just returned from a 10 minute break from my deliveries wearing a T shirt (no need for a coat) in JANUARY and that was too warm. Temperature was 65 degrees, sunny without a breeze (better than summer at the coast) and I found a sandwich bag full of lovely agates and jaspers for our little friends. They were every where! Folks collecting there were visiting from Nevada, Washington and California as well as Oregonians. The weather is suppose to be nice throughout the holiday weekend!

Below is a great story to check out!

Central Oregon Coast Beaches Rich with Agates, Oddities:

"Keep looking down while at the beach. There's lots to see this year.

Agates abound on the central Oregon coast right now, and some of the ghost forests are starting to peek out of the sand, along with some extremely ancient bedrock." By Andre' Hagestedt, Oregon Coast Beach Connection and photo.

April was a very busy month here at the beach!

This winter the storms scoured the beaches down so far that ancient forest tree trunks and shipwrecks that had been buried for 200+ years or so were exposed. This brought so many visitors to the coast, that on some days there were as many as 150 people at a time on the local beaches.

Photo above shows a small but unique 2" piece of petrified wood limb cast with small worm holes, as found in by Newport resident Larry Thompson. This was just one of the many beautiful pieces that we had seen from the many people beachcoming in April.

Moss Agate recently found!

Handsome five pound, 6 inch Jasp-Agate, with veining of green moss found, at the beach in south Lincoln Co., Oregon. Exterior of gold jasper showing veins of agate, cut open displaying moss agate interior.

Trophy Sized Petrified Wood Found!

Beachcomber Thiago G. of Lincoln City, proudly holding the large 15 pound Myrtle Wood boulder he reciently found on the beach, in Lincoln County, Oregon.

More beautiful Oregon Agate found!

Kevin's February 2008 Agate find!

Agate found by Joe Cheek, just fresh out of the tumbler. Only polished enough to retain the exhisting patterns as it was found!

It's agate season on the beaches of Newport, Oregon!

It is truly agate season here on the central coast of Oregon. The tides have yielded some of the nicest trophies of beautiful agates to be seen here in years. Here is another trophy for a proud local beachcomber Joe Cheek with his 4.35 pound agate that he found in January at South Beach, of Newport, Oregon.

Exotic Agate found by beachcomber Ray Morrow

Exciting find of a 2.2 pound agate found just north of Newport , Oregon August 2007. I identified it as an agate but thought it would be a carnelian agate, due to the exterior color.

Ray took it home and it was the first rock that he ever sliced, just removing the heal he exposed the most unsual agate found in the area. It was not carnelian (red-orange) but BLUE as like blue lace agate but with spectacular ribbons of pyrite dendrites running through it!

He brought it in to the showroom and we polished the exposed face of it to bring out it's true beauty.