Plants,  trees

Cottonwoods at Sunrise

October 28, 2011
Cottonwoods at Sunrise

This past weekend I spent a couple of hours at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge. It’s been a while since I paid a visit. I arrived 40 minutes after the gates were to open but found the gates locked. Another photographer and I waited for about 30 minutes before they showed up and found they had changed the time to 7:00 AM for the Fall season. I walked the Lake Ladora tail and was so enthralled by the colors of the cottonwood trees. As some of you know my eye does go towards trees, usually isolated ones. I’ve read where photographers need to know their subject so I’m in the process of learning more about these cottonwood trees. I’ve always wondered what the pioneers saw as they crossed the Great Plains on the Santa Fe or the Oregon Trail. Most of the short grass prairie had few native trees so they often went for a long time without seeing any trees. The prairie was frequently seen as a very foreign and hostile environment to people from the forested east. No trees meant no wood for cooking. Dried bison dung was used for cooking fuel instead! No trees also meant no shade, which can be very precious on a hot day in summer.

Retired. Having fun with photography. Journal daily. Meditate daily. Learning haiku. Have a love for fountain pens.

8 Comments

  • Paul

    October 29, 2011 at 4:52 am

    Yeah, having lived in Dallas, TX, I can attest to the harshness of life on the prairie, without trees! 🙂

    I love cottonwood trees, especially in the spring time when they are spreading their ‘cotton’ all over the place. I didn’t like them very much the first year of my encounter with them when they kept clogging my air conditioner vents of the house that I was renting. Nope, didn’t like them much at all. 😉

    Beautiful shot, Monte.

  • Anita Jesse

    October 29, 2011 at 1:48 pm

    In California, one can only plant what they call “cottonless” cottonwoods now.

    This is a beautiful stand of trees. It is easy to see how welcome these would be to a weary traveler. Since I am another who never gets my fill of trees, I am delighted to hear that you have taken on this project.

  • Ken Bello

    October 29, 2011 at 3:46 pm

    Our cottonwoods have dropped most of their leaves now and don’t look nearly as nice as these. We have them ina wooded area behind the house but we keep the air conditioner covered, since we don’t need to use it until well after the cotton is gone. But our window screens; that’s another story. Great shot, Monte.