Sunday, February 24, 2019

Bluff Erosion and Abandoned Road Above East Sound, Orcas Island

East Sound is an embayment on the east side of Orcas Island. The sound is very much like a fjord. At the head of the sound are two bays separated by Madrona Point. The western bay, Fishing Bay, has a rocky shore and the town of Eastsound (note the words are combined for the town name) is located above the bay. The eastern bay is Ship Bay with a sand and gravel beach and, to the southeast, a steep bluff non bedrock bluff. Wind generated waves coming up the sound from the south erode the bluff. A road formerly was located along the bluff; however, shoreline erosion and bluff failures led to moving the road by the 1960s.     

Pavement in not forever


Missing road section and view down the fjord-like East Sound

1941 aerial (USGS) of road along the bluff


Erosion is continuing


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