Next week is the last full week in July, and for those of us in southeast Wyoming, that means Cheyenne Frontier Days.
I’ve been absorbing everything Frontier Days has to offer ever since I moved to Cheyenne in 1999. The first several years, I was working for the local newspaper, and it was part of my job. But since I left the paper, I’ve continued to find ways to make some money at CFD.
For the past several years, I’ve been taking photos of the action in the arena. I used some of my wife’s connections in the barrel racing world to secure a deal to submit photos to Barrel Horse News, and this year, I’ll be shooting for the PRCA, as well. I finally got my PRCA photography permit, so it’s an official job, now.
Part of me still wishes I could spend the week up in the Snowy Range, though. I’d spend the mornings and the evenings fishing, and I’d take a siesta in my tent in the hotter part of the day. I know a lot of people from Cheyenne who do just that. The population of the state’s capital city doubles during Frontier Days, and many of the locals would prefer to get far, far away from it.
If you live in one of the other corners of the state, Frontier Days may not mean much to you. But if it’s too hot to fish where you are, consider coming down to Cheyenne for a few days. You might want to stay with someone you know, though, because it could be fairly difficult to find an open hotel room. Or better yet, bring your camper down, park it at Curt Gowdy State Park, and spend most of the week fishing. You only need to come down the hill for a rodeo or two, and maybe a concert. The rest of the time, you could be doing what most of us who live here would like to do – spend the week fishing.
