I met Darrel, my friend and former DU Bookstore colleague, along with his daughter Kim and grandson Joel, at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge to take some photographs of Joel, who will soon be graduating from high school. I have visited this refuge before, but never gotten out of the car to walk around its trails and scenic areas, and was quite impressed with the area, which consists of 15,000 acres located 10 miles northeast of downtown Denver. This area was once farmland, then a war-time manufacturing site (chemical weapons, no less), and finally a wildlife refuge. At one time, it was proposed that Denver's Stapleton Airport be expanded onto the Rocky Mountain Arsenal, but as I have said before, Denver City Fathers decided to build an entirely new airport near the Kansas border, instead, and so the Rocky Mountain Arsenal Wildlife Refuge was then established there in 1994, home to bison, deer, raptors, coyotes, and prairie dogs, among other wildlife. My favorite wildlife story at the Arsenal is Darrel telling me how he once had to sit in his car and wait while an entire buffalo herd crossed the road. How fun is that, unless you have an important appointment to get to. The photograph above, by the way, is of Darrel and his grandson Joel standing in front of one of the refuge's many lakes. All in all, it was a very fun day. Great to get together with all of you, guys!
No comments:
Post a Comment