Stormy night at the Box Butte Reservoir

our campsite in the cottonwoods

banks of the Box Butte Reservoir

Jenifer sleeping in

Box Butte Reservoir

We decided to camp out where our map showed a lonely teepee symbol which turned out to be the Box Butte Reservoir. Built mainly for the irrigation of the area’s huge wheat farms, it is also a Recreation area for local boaters and fishermen. The woman at the next campsite stopped to chat in the evening where we learned that she lives in northwestern Nebraska (like most campers who come there) and was partying in a camper with her sisters for several days. She was proud of the area and excited to see people from out of state chose to stop and see what the area looked like.

All evening enormous thunderheads were chugging in from the west. The wind whipped up violently just as Jen and I climbed into our sleeping bags, and with no rain we tried to watch the storm with the tent door open until it felt like the wind would rip it apart from inside. During pauses in this noisy chaos we could hear the camper full of women drinking and laughing, which calmed my nerves. Then all hell broke loose. The lightning was immediate and rapid. With no escape, all we could do was lay there hoping our vulnerable, shaking little shelter would hold up. That was the last thing I remember before the birds woke me up to see the sun coming over the ridge to the east.