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