We traveled 15 miles from False Pass to fish near Sanak Island, where hundreds of cows, left from the inhabitants of an old cod saltry, still roam. The houses on the island have been deserted for 30 years, but their interiors remain intact – as if their occupants had intentions to return. We looked into the old schoolhouse. There was still writing on a chalkboard and damp grammar workbooks piled on the tables. We hiked through the village and find cow skulls left over from a hard Aleutian winter, and a cemetery where headstones are marked with familiar Aleut family names. Three brown shaggy cows watched us as we rowed our inflatable raft from their beach back to the Lucky Dove, anchored in their bay.
