i heart scottsbluff

i wanted to see the view from the scottsbluff national monument, so this afternoon once we'd finished our long and terrible day working at the bridgeport sandpits, i dragged my crew out to the bluffs. (i'm being sarcastic. our nets were disappointing and nearly empty so we spent the afternoon tubing around the lake. it wasn't long or terrible. it was loads of fun.) i was all about hiking up the bluff, but the guys persuaded me to drive when we saw lightening. on the trail at the summit we watched a white wall of rain roll in at an amazing speed, and i thought 'wow, its really coming down hard - i can't see through that rain at all'. then i was suddenly being pelted with hail and i realized why i couldn't see through it. lucky we were only about a quarter mile from the car. we made a mad dash for it and i yelled ow ow ow ow ow and laughed the whole way. we were all soaking wet but we sat out the storm and then i walked around and took some photos and smelled the ponderosa and talked with jerry who works for the park driving the shuttle. he told me he's come countless times to the summit and each time he looks out over the plains and at the surrounding bluffs he feels like someone is telling him something new. and i thought that was a wonderful way to describe the place.



the hail that pelted. it was small, pea sized, but it still hurt!


the wall of rain, uh, hail.