In October, my father and I traveled west to view the ring of fire eclipse. I checked many things off my bucket list during the trip and got some fantastic photos. This is the last in a series of articles about that trip. For more in the series, click here.
Our final night in Colorado was spent near Cheyenne Mountain State Park.
The park lies at the foot of, not surprisingly, Cheyenne Mountain. The mountain is primarily known as the location of NORAD. The military base is built physically into the mountain via tunnels. The state park is squeezed in between Fort Carson and the NORAD complex but is quite beautiful in its own way.
One thing the park is well known for is its diverse wildlife. We were only there for a few hours of daylight between the evening and morning, but we managed to see some mule deer just after sundown that night.
Upon awakening the next morning to reveille being played very loudly at Fort Carson, we began packing. I quickly noticed a hot air balloon off in the distance. These extremely cool vehicles are quite common out west, where there are plentiful large, flat areas to fly them without risk of hitting trees.
We were visiting during the same time as the hot air balloon festival in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and I suspect that this guy had been down there for a visit. The harsh morning sunlight made photography difficult but it was quite fun to watch him rise up and down off in the distance.
I had seen a couple of prairie dogs while driving into the park the night before but wasn’t able to get any photos. Fortunately, they were already out in full force as we made our exit from the park, and I managed to snag a couple of quick photographs of these adorable little animals.
The prairie dogs had burrows dug all over, including right next to the roadway.
This little guy was protecting its den from us as we drove by, as evidenced by its posture covering up the hole. It was ready for a quick getaway in case we were predators.
After several hours spent driving to the Denver Airport, it was sadly time to head back east.
While landing back in Charlotte, we had the pleasure of seeing the sunset above the clouds. It was an experience like none other.
Getting good photographs through dirty plane windows is difficult, but I did the best I could. I think I managed to capture the beauty quite well, given the circumstances.
Suffice it to say, no photograph could ever capture just how incredible it is to witness this in person.
And so, our journey to view the eclipse and the great American West had come to an end. After visiting multiple national parks, monuments, and state parks, it was time for the drive back home.
“Go West, young man, and grow up with the country” was a popular phrase in the nineteenth century. It became the motto for westward expansion and a call to adventure that I answered: I’m certainly glad that I did.
