Nebraskaland

NEBRASKAland October 2015

NEBRASKAland Magazine is dedicated to outstanding photography and informative writing with an engaging mix of articles and photos highlighting Nebraska’s outdoor activities, parklands, wildlife, history and people.

Issue link: http://mag.outdoornebraska.gov/i/573001

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22 NEBRASKAland • OCTOBER 2015 A friend and I traditionally hunt grouse in early October on the remote Valentine National Wildlife Refuge located in the heart of the Cherry County Sandhills. We stay nearby at the Game Commission's quaint Alkali Fish Camp nestled on the shore of Big Alkali Lake. Mornings before our mid-day hunts and evenings following, I often walk the beach, enjoying the Sandhills autumn. Last year, Big Alkali's waters were low, exposing a wide, vegetated shoreline. Most plants, including scattered willows and cottonwoods hugging the high-water line, were ablaze in yellow, though the abundant bulrushes remained green, harvesting the last rays of the lowering sun. Above the beach, the endless, grassy dunes were frost- hardened a rustic red. On most outings, the only sounds were the wind rattling leaves and the unceasing, gentle lapping of waves. The chatter of summer birds had long faded, but not all had abandoned the beach to the coming chill. Occasionally, dull-colored sparrows darted about the rushes and southbound shorebirds and waterfowl had recently left long-toed impressions in the wet shoreline sand. Tracks also told of the midnight wanderings of several raccoons, a doe and fawn deer and a lone coyote. Soon Big Alkali's waters would ice over, silence the waves and leave only the sound of the wind. ■ A Walk on the Big Alkali Lake Photos and story by Gerry Steinauer

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