For years, a quarter-mile stretch of this western Reno County road was canopied by elms and cottonwoods. I've had adults tell me that, as children, they pestered their parents into driving this route so they could see the trees. Sadly, the trees have suffered wind and ice damage and have been severely trimmed so that the canopy is gone. West of Hutchinson in Reno County, Kansas. October 24, 2006.
I was at the spot late in the day to photograph 'The Mighty Samson of the Cimarron,' a railroad bridge 1,268 feet long erected in 1939. The sun dropped below low clouds in the west and spotlighted the cottonwoods and the dry plants in the foreground. Between Liberal and Kismet, Kansas, (Seward County) where US 54 crosses the Cimarron River. October 23, 2006.