Refuge Becomes a Winter Wonderland
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Posted By Admin on February 4, 2010
By Tammy Rickman
For Mississippi girl and photographer, Tammy Rickman, this is a lot of snow.
On Saturday, January 30th, 2010, winter made its presence known to the islands. The storm moved in late Friday night and the snow began to fall somewhere around dawn Saturday morning. Weather reports were calling for somewhere between 8 to 14 inches, a rarity along barrier islands which lay just off the coast line of the Eastern shore of Virginia and Maryland at the edge of the Atlantic Ocean.
The snow continued to fall throughout the day and grew in intensity causing near whiteout conditions at about a quarter of a mile. As the snow fell, I ventured out and about taking what pictures visibility allowed, of scenes like the ducks huddled in large groups in unfrozen canals. I made an effort to venture out to the Chincoteague Wildlife Refuge but the gates were down due to an inability to keep the roads plowed as snow continued to fall.
Sunday morning dawned bright and clear. A crisp sharp wind blew and even though the sun shown bright temperatures never reached above 22 degrees Fahrenheit. The scene was like something from a winter wonderland as evergreens hung heavy with think fluffy snow and the island was almost hushed in the early morning hours beneath a foot of snow. While taking it all in, the pristine…untouched hand of God, of nature, one became suddenly aware of how out of place it all felt.
A brief drive around the island found only more snow and out of place scenes. Hoping the refuge had been opened I headed out beach road. Rejoiced when I found the entry gates in an upward reach and pushed forward. The scenes along beach road on Assateague were breath taking. Woodland floors were blanketed in a foot of fresh powder, evergreens hung heavy with fluff, and a quite hush lay in the air…everything was fresh clean and new….
Wildlife ventured out into strange surrounding. Egret’s tested ice sheets in the canal along the road and ponies grazed on tall grasses reaching through the snow. They looked oddly comfortable and out of place all at once. They created a beautiful scene in the snow covered marshes.
The beach was a mix of blown sand and snow drifts. A scene unlike anything I’d ever seen. Walking was a chore at times because a light layer of sand covered portions of the snow creating an allusion of solid ground. As you attempted to step on the sand you sunk to your waist in a snow drift several feet thick. Wind and water created rippling effects in the landscape. Sand and snow mixed, mingled, danced, twirled, separated, and began the cycle over and over again as far as the eye could see.
Barrier islands are ever changing. They grow and shrink then rise and fall… their fate at the hands of the winds and waters that carve and shape them. The snow storm is just another reminder of how miraculous and surprising life here can be.
I have been a summer time visitor to the island for many years but I have always wondered what it would be like there during a snow storm. I live in Pennsylvania so it would be rather difficult to get there during one of these events. Thanks for describing the snow storm, my imigination has been given a little substance thru your trip around the island. I also love the pictures, especially of the ponies and other wildlife. Chincoteague is a beautiful, pristine place both in summer and winter, it has truly captured my heart and soul. Thanks