On my one year anniversary of being in Alaska, I was graced with a beautiful day and took Cassanova and myself on a walk to Sand Dollar beach. The air is still crisp and there was plenty of snow around to make it even more scenic. What I didn't expect however, was how difficult it made it on the trails. 
It looks like just a light covering of snow, but remember, these alder bushes are 4-5 feet tall, so when I traipsed through the trail in these bushes, I sunk up to my calves and knees at times and every step was a question whether I wanted to continue or retreat. But, always looking for a challenge, I forged ahead and at one point sunk to my hip which made it real difficult to pull a leg out and stand to take the next step. It looked pretty ridiculous and I wasn't making much progress. So, since I didn't have snow shoes, I did the next best thing that would help me distribute my weight over the snow......I crawled, literally on my hands and knees over the snow till I could get to more firm ground.
It looks like just a light covering of snow, but remember, these alder bushes are 4-5 feet tall, so when I traipsed through the trail in these bushes, I sunk up to my calves and knees at times and every step was a question whether I wanted to continue or retreat. But, always looking for a challenge, I forged ahead and at one point sunk to my hip which made it real difficult to pull a leg out and stand to take the next step. It looked pretty ridiculous and I wasn't making much progress. So, since I didn't have snow shoes, I did the next best thing that would help me distribute my weight over the snow......I crawled, literally on my hands and knees over the snow till I could get to more firm ground.
Cassanova thought it was funny and tried playing around with me, I guess he thought I was getting down on his level. He was so light he just bounded over the top and occasionally I had to laugh when even he sunk and looked bewildered like "where did the ground just go?"
But, we made it and of course the view never disappoints from any angle. The tide wasn't even out but still the water level changes with the seasons and allowed us to walk, explore and find all kinds of neat discoveries.
Like this unusual runoff in the shape of a heart. I always think things like this are signs from Above that remind me Who actually made them and they are there for my pleasure.
There were frozen waterfalls from the bluffs above and there was a blue tint to them like the glaciers we saw in Seward last summer. What a contrast against that Aleutian Blue sky!!
And then, the icing on the cake!!! I chose to take a different route home and I was so glad I did. I spotted 2 herds of Buffalo grazing on the hill above me and I was safe this time, to get out my camera and shoot as many pics as I wanted.
I'm not sure why they were down so low and what they were grazing on, but I knew Who sent them and I was enjoying every minute of them I could. Cassanova was never even aware of them, there was no wind to carry any one's scent at all. What a beautiful way to celebrate my one year in Alaska and an even better way to start off my next year in my Aleutian Adventure.
