JS

I saw El Dorado Lake for the first time on my way to Chicago in the fall of 2012. About 25 miles northeast of Wichita, KS, the interstate cut through the north side of the lake, and one can see dead trees coming out of the water. "It would be cool to photograph it," I thought.

Yet, it took nearly three years since that time to come here to take pictures. During the first contact, I traveled by bus, and while I saw a glimpse of the lake, I didn't have a clue what it was. That changed several months later when I drove on the same interstate, I recognized the familiar scenery again, and I noticed a road sign, "El Dorado State Park next exit." This put it on a map, but I haven't had a journey this way in a while. However, last weekend I headed to Wichita to attend a media convention, so I planned to use the opportunity and finally make the turn.

El Dorado Lake is a human-made lake covering about 8,000 acres (32 km2). But I got to see other things on my little trip, too. El Dorado is home to a refinery producing around 135,000 barrels of crude oil per day. Might as well have a look...

I planned to stay until the evening, hoping to get a nice sunset. And oh, it worked!

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If you enjoyed this post, you might also like my other articles featuring Kansas' sunsets:

"Kansas at its Best"

"Sunset Meditation"

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