As I was driving south along I-25 on my return from a summer working with the National Outdoor Leadership School in Wyoming, the sun began to set behind the Rockies. But I couldn't find the right spot to pull off the road to shoot the scene. After several failed attempts, I turned onto the inspection station access road atop Raton Pass and followed it around to the rise from which I captured this image.

After driving 10,000 miles through Wyoming, Montana, Idaho and Utah, transporting NOLS students, rations and gear to wilderness trail heads, the road now continually calls to me. Not only does it stretch ahead to the horizon, it extends to the core of my being.

More images of my westward odyssey appear elsewhere in this AFAR collaborative.