Rail trip and 4 wheeling

Sunday, Sept 25

Today, we reached another new plateau of beautiful scenery and excitement.

It seems that each day improves in some way over the previous. It's almost like working out to get in shape. Each workout you improve. Each day, the experience improves.

Today was memorable. We rode the Durango – Silverton Railroad, climbing nearly 4,000 feet in the process. With each turn in the rail line, we were introduced to new scenery all the way to Silverton.

The steam locomotive still uses coal to fire the boiler

It was a very cool morning and the coffee was great

The pictures can tell some of the story of the scenery, but cannot begin to tell the experience.

We rode in this open car.  It was cold at first, but by the end of the trip we were very comfortable - and the views were great.



Some of the rock walls were only inches from the train cars.  You didn't hang your arms out the window very far.

 

I stood up almost all of the 4 hour ride.  I didn't want to sit down because I might miss something.  It was all beautiful

We had to stop 3 times on the way up the mountain to replenish the water for the locomotive



A happy Mimi



We met another train coming down the mountain

There were hundreds of people along the route taking pictures of the train going by.

The scenery got better every mile

The four plus hour ride up culminated in Chuck and Cheryl meeting us at the Silverton station.

Main Street, Silverton, Colorado.  All of the other streets in town were not paved.

Then the real adventure began.

After lunch, and with no previous discussion, we went four-wheelin' up to the Continental Divide in Chuck's Jeep. This turned out to be quite the experience. Again, some of the pictures can show the beautiful scenery, but nothing about the experience.

The road is a lot rougher than it looks.  The aspen trees are beautiful.



The view from the Continental Divide

 

On the (other) Continental Divide.  The first one is in Spruce Pine.



Chuck and Cheryl

The markers for clearing snow from the road.

Stony Pass - 12,650 feet



The road we traveled to the Continental Divide



Chuck Carson - the fearless driver



Panorama from the divide



To add a little drama, when we reached the summit, we met some hikers who were monitoring a situation where a wife and husband had gotten separated from each other on a hike along the Continental Divide Trail. The wife had gotten back to their car, but was in a state of panic because she did not know where her husband was. They had somehow gotten separated on the trail.

All turned out okay eventually with the husband finally appearing on the trail with his dog.

Another great day. Tomorrow, we have to leave Junction Creek Campground – they close. So we'll be moving to a new campground – and hopefully getting the slideout fixed.