Greetings from Crested Butte, Colorado

We have been on the road now for 15 days and have finally begun to get into the swing of things. Moral is high, the food is great, and we miss Prof. Dan Sherman dearly. Below is my small account of the time we spent in Wind Rivers, Wyoming.

After a pleasant jaunt down to the lake to take my first “shower” of the trip, I took some time to sketch and paint this beautiful place. Mountain storm systems rolled through every 15 minutes or so. The cloud’s cast dark shadows on the far off peaks. These moving shadows helped reveal some depth and dimension in the complicated topography. As they rolled on over glacial landscapes and igneous intrusions I couldn’t help but be taken aback by the place I was in. I thought to myself, “How the heck did I end up here?” As a Californian, I will ignorantly admit that the beautiful state of Wyoming had barely even crossed my mind in my 20 years of existence prior to this trip. Now however, I can’t get this breathtaking landscape out of my head. More so, I can confidently say it was well worth the 15 hour days in the vans.

You may be wondering why the Southwest Semester Squad was far off in the Mountains of Wyoming. The answer lies in the hydrology of the Western United States. The Wind River Range marks the headwaters of the Green River, a major tributary of the Colorado River, the place where the watershed begins. Our journey will follow this watershed from it’s glacial genesis in the mountains of Wyoming, to it’s diversion and evaporation fueled demise in Southern California. Stay tuned!

– Rita McCreesh