Cottonwood Cathedral

 

Cottonwood gallery near Gothenburg, Nebraska

When my flight from Seattle was descending into Denver International Airport my first thought was, “Where are the trees?”  You could see how the early homesteaders must have cherished the sight of trees — most often cottonwoods lining river and stream banks — as they travelled across the plains of Nebraska and Colorado because the landscape is so empty of trees.

Colorado landscape with cottonwoods

When I spotted this magnificent gallery of cottonwood trees arching over a road near Gothenburg, Nebraska along I-80, I couldn’t resist the urge to stop for photographs.  The over-arching branches created a vault like the interior of a cathedral.  Awesome!