Big Sky over Bighorn Mountains, Wyoming

by Chance Kafka

Original - Sold

Price

$99

Dimensions

10.000 x 8.000 x 0.500 inches

Title

Big Sky over Bighorn Mountains, Wyoming

Artist

Chance Kafka

Medium

Painting - Acrylic On Canvas

Description

The Bighorn Mountains and surrounding Western landscape of semi-forested rolling hills are illuminated by atmospheric sunlight during a cloudy afternoon near Sheridan, Wyoming. Snow-capped Cloud Peak, the crown of the Cloud Peak Wilderness of Bighorn National Forest, can be seen towering over the thousands and thousands of pine trees covering these steep mountains. Tall cumulus clouds fill the sky with drama. The light and dynamics always changing, there is never a dull moment in Wyoming's towering skies. A small stream, perhaps a tributary of the nearby Tongue River, can be seen at the bottom of the frame. A bit of fog and mist permeates the scene, as if it had just rained and the brief emergence of sunlight heat the ground enough to create steam, a very common occurrence in Wyoming, especially in the summer.

The Bighorn Mountains are an eastern extension of the North American Rocky Mountains and the most prominent range in northern Wyoming. The first begin 50 or so miles north of Casper, near the small town of Kaycee, and continue northward toward Buffalo, Sheridan and well into Montana. All sorts of small, scenic towns sit in the shadow of these mountains, including Ranchester and Dayton. Three highways traverse the range and are among the most scenic (and dizzying) in the state. Cloud Peak, at over 13,000 feet, as the most prominent peak in all of Wyoming, rising more than 7,000 feet above the floors of the Bighorn Basin to the west and the Powder River basin to the east. Its vast wilderness area contains innumerable lakes, streams, forests, and trails. Much of the area has areas of snowpack that never melt, making it a glacier.

Uploaded

June 16th, 2020

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