Dunes Grass

Our walk to the beach in Bandon included a short hike through the dunes.  This super soft, clean sand and dunes grass reminded me so much of where I grew up, on the southern shore of Lake Michigan.  So in addition to being a breathtakingly beautiful beach, it also felt a bit like a homecoming to me.

Snow Fence

It's really late in the year to see a snow fence still up (or maybe really early?)  But it turns out that this snow fence at the Sleeping Bear Maritime Museum in Glen Haven, Michigan was put up to protect a habitat restoration project.  Marram grass is an important part of the dunes ecosystem, and although I left it out of the photo here, small clumps of the beach grass were already growing in their protected area behind the fence.   

Snow Fence

Snow fences were coming down both sides of the dunes at the State Park.  The other side includes a sledding hill, but I had better luck with composing this side.  And I learned a thing or two about walking in snow drifts on sand dunes!  I had to head up the dunes a bit to get this photo, and for a while I was walking right on top of the frozen sand.  Then all of a sudden I hit a different side of the drift and my feet started dropping deep into the dune.  With every step I was at least up to my knees in sand and snow!  I did pack my snow boots, and I was prepared to knock some snow off at the end of my photo shoot, but I really wasn't imagining having to clean so much sand off my legs and boots!