Ear: Tree

The scrawny but beloved tree growing out of one of the rocks in the landmark Three Graces sea stack formation on Tillamook Bay, a bit north of Garibaldi, has blown down.

According to the Oregon Coast Beach Connection, it had died in the last two or three years, and would not have lasted much longer, anyway. The cormorants who loved to roost in it must be as disappointed as the locals and tourists.

The tree was there for over 100 years, as shown in the accompanying photo, taken in 1910. How the tree got there in the first place has always had people wondering. Erick Finnell, stewardship forester with the Oregon Department of Forestry, told Oregon Coast Beach Connection he thinks the rocks were probably closer to land before the Tillamook Bay jetties were built, flooding the area around the Three Graces.

The seed for the tree, which was likely a Sitka spruce, he speculated, was probably dropped by a bird, or blown off a hill, and landed in a concave area of the rock where soil had collected. “And, by a miracle (the seed) sprouted on top of the rock,” he explained.

“It was probably quite a stressed-out tree growing on a rock like that,” he added. “The older the tree and the bigger it gets, the more resources it needs. Until it just hit the rock below, and just died.” And the wind did the rest. (Photo: Oregon Coast Beach Connection)