The California Zephyr Continues
I was excited to leave Denver as my research had informed me that the segment of the California Zephyr’s route between Denver and Glenwood Springs was the most scenic of all. This turned out to be spot on. There were extraordinary views on both sides of the track for almost the whole journey. I sat in the observation carriage next to an elderly American couple. Before her retirement, the woman had worked as a geologist in Colorado. As such, she enjoyed pointing out various rock formations and explaining the topography to me along the way. She had a very intriguing relationship with her husband. They must have married late in life because at various points along the route she would point out certain locations to him and start telling a story about her children playing in that area when they were young. He was visibly disinterested and did not even pretend to be listening to her stories. Soon after, he brought up something about his life growing up in Alaska and she was similarly disinterested in hearing what he had to say. It was unclear whether she was simply giving him a taste of his own medicine, or whether they were truly both content to share intimate stories about their past, only to have these stories fall on deaf ears.
After speaking to me about the importance of the Mother-Daughter relationship, the elderly woman decided that it was time to take a nap, directing her husband to retrieve her at 1pm for lunch. Much to my bewilderment, her nap time coincided with the most scenic portion of the trip and I felt both disappointed for her (that she was missing the spectacular scenery), and disappointed in her (for abandoning me when I would have enjoyed learning more about the topography of the most dramatic portion of the route). Fortunately, I soon remembered that I had my guide book which provided a sound overview of the sites we were passing. Unfortunately, the elderly man decided that he would at that point like a highly detailed explanation of my rail journey thus far, requiring me to detail every single stop, justify why I had chosen these stops and omitted others from my journey, and list every single attraction that I had seen in each location that I had alighted in. Annoyed that he was making me participate in such a cumbersome task during the most spectacular part of the journey, I was delighted when he jumped up to collect his wife at 12pm for lunch. It seemed that he had failed to change his watch back one hour to mountain time at the Nebraska-Colorado border, meaning his departure from the observation lounge was one hour premature. I decided it was best not to correct his error and subsequently enjoyed being able to absorb the scenery in peace.
This was the first of all the Amtrak journeys that I had taken up until this point where it really did not matter whether one sat on the left or right side of the train – the views from both sides were unbelievable the whole way to Glenwood Springs. We passed through 29 tunnels which only served to increase anticipation and excitement levels as we waited to see what scenery we would be treated to when the California Zephyr emerged on the other side. One of these tunnels – the Moffat Tunnel – marked the highest point on Amtrak’s network. Before the tunnel’s construction, it took five hours to cross the Continental Divide. Now, it takes the California Zephyr a mere ten minutes. It was at points like this that I wished the tunnels did not exist and our journey could be extended a further 5 hours through the rugged mountain terrain.
Other points of interest along the route included Winter Park, which my guide book described as the ‘ice box of America’ (with temperatures falling to -46 degrees celsius during winter), and Gore Canyon where we travelled alongside 450 metre high red rock walls.
Much to my horror, I was soon joined by a middle-aged woman who was perhaps even more irritating than the elderly man. For some reason, she was not content to accept my polite head nodding in response to her unremitting exclamations that we were so lucky to be travelling through such beautiful scenery, but instead required repeated verbal confirmations that I was in agreement with her. She then proceeded to spread falsities throughout the observation carriage, such as her claim that we were fortunate to be travelling west-bound because the east-bound California Zephyr crosses this spectacular portion of the route in darkness. This was evidently incorrect as we had stopped, mere moments before, to allow the east-bound California Zephyr enough space to pass us – a fact which the train conductor had repeated numerous times. Indeed, the California Zephyr’s route is timed so that passengers can see the most-scenic parts of the Rocky Mountains and Sierra Nevada Mountains during the daylight, regardless of the direction they are travelling in. Nevertheless, I ultimately decided that it would be inconsiderate to ruin her excitement, so remained silent.
As the California Zephyr rolled closer to Glenwood Springs, we travelled right along the banks of the Colorado River for at least an hour. During this time, I observed people kayaking, rafting, and fishing in the river, with almost everybody waving excitedly at the passing train. I heard someone on board refer to this section of the Colorado River as ‘Moon River’, and the inspiration behind this name became clear when I saw one young man in an inflatable raft pull down his pants and moon the train.
Glenwood Springs
I was thrilled to alight in Glenwood Springs. The second I stepped off the train I was surrounded by astounding views in every direction. I was in the middle of the Rocky Mountains, with the Colorado River running through the centre of the town. My accommodation was only a 10 minute walk from the train station, but it took at least triple this time for me to arrive as I struggled to stop taking pictures of my impressive surroundings.
Hanging Lake Hike
On my second day in Glenwood Springs, I enjoyed hiking to Hanging Lake, with its clear turquoise water and prominent mountain location. The lake was formed by a geologic fault which saw the lake bed fall away from the above valley floor. Reservations are needed to access this trailhead, so I had to reserve my hiking slot a few days in advance. The pictures below show the views from the hike.
Aspen and Maroon Bells
I spent my third day visiting Aspen and the Maroon Bells. Aspen was filled with expensive fashion boutiques, but was less impressive than I was expecting.
The Maroon Bells (two peaks in the Elk Mountains) were stunning, and I enjoyed walking around the Maroon Lake Scenic Loop Trail.
Well before the conclusion of my three day stay in Glenwood Springs, I decided that this was my favourite stop on my USA rail adventure, and one of my favourite places I have ever visited.