Hutton lake up in Wyoming is one of those places that depending on what time of the day or year you view it will determine how you feel about it. During the day it is fairly plain and nondescript with few distinguishing features other than the wildlife and birds that are there for various reasons. The light levels are harsh during mid-day and the vegetation is sparse and low-lying. The birds that you find here are usually passing through to somewhere else, as this is a stopover for many migratory flocks.

The mammals that frequent this area, such as Antelope, coyotes, and prairie dogs are seen more often when some natural event takes place, such as when the antelope drop their calves in the spring. Coyotes are there because they’re everywhere and being opportunistic, take advantage of the food supply as it changes through the seasons. Nobody knows why the prairie dogs are there, one day one shows up and before long they’re all there. The Redtail hawks don’t mind their squatting however, especially when the young unwary prairie dogs are out and playing too far from their burrows.

The low rolling hills that surround the lake continue on until they bump up against the mountains or continue in the opposite direction eastward until they reach Nebraska or any other of the middle kingdom states that claim they have prairie. The wind blows across the hills and lakes endlessly until you find yourself developing a semi-permanent list to one side depending on which direction you’re walking.

But there are moments of unsurpassing beauty here too. When a storm is imminent the wind will kick up into nearly gale force conditions, then suddenly stop, allowing deep dark clouds to roll in close to the earth. So close you feel like you could reach up and touch them. Then the rains will come. Not often but every once in a while there is no rain just the clouds and you, and the view to the horizon. There may be lightning then, but not always. It gets very dark, even in the middle of the day, and ominous thoughts can crowd into your mind. This isn’t a place for the timid.

These conditions can be found in the early spring when this place is reawakening from its winter imprisonment. It’s as if this storm is it flexing its muscles and stretching after a long troubled sleep. The image above was taken in early April around 6:30 pm and it was one of the rainless storms. The wind had been fearsome through the late afternoon and the clouds rolling in kept getting lower and it appeared that soon there would be no space left between the clouds and the earth for humans. It looked to be time to pack it in. To go someplace warm and maybe have supper. Then suddenly the winds dropped as often happens, and in the stillness of the early evening, the sun finally broke through the clouds to illuminate the lake with a golden reflection of the sunset, and a plain somewhat forbidding place was turned into a golden paradise, if only for a moment.

That’s part of the draw of this country, an everyday occurrence can turn into an adventure at the drop of a hat. All you have to do is stand your ground even when it feels like you should be running away for all your worth. The payoff is often golden.