Imagine any summer’s day around 1915 along this beautiful stretch of sand known as Nye Beach. Vacationers from the Willamette Valley (or Summer People as they are called) are strolling down the beach, some stopping at the newly built Nye Beach Natatorium (indoor swimming pool) or Dr. Minthorn’s Hot Sea Bath House, where folks can either soak in therapeutic sea water baths or just change from beach clothes to street clothes after romping in the sand and surf. Some have come by train, some by ship or ferry (no fabulous coastal bridges yet), others by horse and buggy and some have even driven across the Coast Range in shiny newfangled automobiles, which at this point can reach unimaginable speeds of 15 or 20 mph. Each year a newer, more improved automobile beats last year’s speed record for making it from Corvallis to Newport.You may even see a flimsy aeroplane skimming the sand, followed closely by curious land dwellers. Women push metal buggies, men roll up their trousers to wade into the surf. Small children carry buckets and tools to make sandcastles… older children with handmade wooden surfboards clamor out to the edge of the water.
A horse race commences in front of the new Nicolai Motel, with the lucky guests poised on the balcony to view the spectacle while their friends engage in ballroom dancing inside. Shoppers wander down the wood planked streets to buy fine handmade confectionaries and souvenirs while passing movie theatres, bowling alleys, hotels, eateries, printers, clothing shoppes and art galleries. The smell of fresh cooked seafood and hot baked sourdough bread wafts down to the long stretch of sand, which takes beachcombers and lovers north between eroding cliffs and pounding surf, past summer cottages and apartments and public restrooms.
The lighthouse can be seen in the distance, but to continue north along this beach, vacationers must traverse a famous local landmark; a shoe-shaped seastack that stretches from cliff to surf, affectionately known as Jumpoff Joe. Why is it named Jumpoff Joe? Several explanations exist: One is that an Indian warrior nicknamed Joe was cornered on the rock and rather than be captured jumped to his death in the Pacific Ocean. Another story involves an “Indian maiden and her forbidden lover” story of mutual suicide via jumping. Yet another (and perhaps more plausible) legend is that the formation was so named because beach walkers of the late 1800’s and early 1900’s had to climb the steep sandstone and jump down off the other side. Whatever the reason for the name, every visitor to Nye Beach knows about Jumpoff Joe. They visit it every year, trying to remember what they saw the year before and how it had changed in the year since.
Fast forward to the present. Jumpoff Joe, or what is left of it, is that tiny little set of boulders on the beach just north of the bluff these coordinates will take you to. Each year a little more is gone. Soon even those rocks will only be a memory. It is one of the best documented examples of severe beach erosion in the United States. Photos of Jumpoff Joe from the 1880’s through the present show the incremental “disappearing act“ of the landmark.
As part of a college Physical Geography class, Zzzoey came to this spot to study the effects of coastal erosion. The same structure sat at the top of the bluff, peering down upon the remnants of good old Jumpoff Joe. The structure is actually the complete foundation of a multilevel condominium built in the early 1980’s. Even though studies had been done on the land’s instability and even better yet, experience had shown the erosive nature of this spot, the City of Newport went ahead and granted the developer a building permit. I am sure they caught some flack for it later… Before completion, the erosion that has claimed the best of Jumpoff Joe had taken it’s toll on the new building, and the entire project had to be abandoned, leaving behind this great example of mankind’s attempts to control erosion, and erosion coming up victorious. Today the foundation stands as a testament to the power of Mother Nature.
The cache is hidden in a regular ammo box, secured with a lock on a short chain, so you won't be able to pull it too far out of it's hiding place. Please go easy on the vegetation so it isn't hanging out in the open for non-cachers to find. Please rehide as best as you can, this is a popular spot. Take the time to explore the foundation and the view, but more importantly, look just north of due west between the bluff and the lighthouse…and notice the tiny boulders (at low tide) stuck in the sand. That, my friend, is all that is left of Jumpoff Joe. By all means find a set of stairs or a path down to the beach from here. Be careful of the ever-eroding cliffs and be mindful of not causing unnecessary slides. The bluff below the foundation is Jumpoff Joe’s distant relative, a bluff that extends out toward the surf. This bluff has endured the same erosion and is exhibiting the same disappearing act. Look closely at the sandstone that makes up this cliff. You will see numerous fossil shells. They are quite delicate and extracting them is tedious and not very rewarding, and besides, we don’t need to add to the erosion of the beach here. Look around the base of the cliff for smaller chunks of sandstone that have fallen and you can find the same shells. In the sand at the base you may even find full fossil shells that have lost all the “matrix” of compacted sand they were housed in for so many millennia.