Julian Smith

To see where the dunes came from, just look inland: They’re essentially ground-up pieces of the Oregon Coast Range, worn away by time and weather and washed downstream to the ocean. Tides, currents, waves and wind pushed the resulting sand back inland. Since this part of Oregon’s coastline is a gentle slope instead of the usual steep headlands, the sand spread inland as far as 2.5 miles. Over millions of years, it piled up to 500 feet above sea level in places, interspersed with marshes,... More