Peaked Hills

Snail Road is little more than a sandy footpath traversing the dunes to the Atlantic Ocean. At its highest point, where I took this photograph, it crosses Peaked Hills in the Province Lands of the Cape Cod National Seashore. In the distance are a few small dune shacks surrounded by what is now an uncommon expanse of undeveloped land. This beautiful open space is a welcoming oasis to both the senses and the soul. I was so inspired by this scene that every afternoon, for four days in a row, I drove an hour and hiked through rolling hills of soft sand to pursue this photograph. On the last day, after waiting an hour and a half, with very little daylight left, the sun suddenly streaked through a thick blanket of cumulus clouds and disappeared. The warm shaft of light illuminated the dunes for less than ten seconds, just enough time to expose a few frames of film. The shack perched on the last dune before the ocean is the Margo/Gelb dune shack. Look at the image titled “Shack Time” to see the view from inside this dune shack.