Amtrak: Day 4

7/12/21

Colorado was a blast! Lots to catch up on. The rest of the train ride was nice, I had an empty seat next to me, so I was able to lay down flat across the seats, curled up, and get a few hours of sleep. I fell asleep as we entered Nebraska and woke up with the sunrise in Eastern Colorado. I get the sense that I didn’t miss out on much. After about an hour at the Denver station, we started climbing up the hills. For this portion of the trek, they start enforcing shifts in the observation car, with the largest windows, due to the popularity of this scenic stretch of track. Luckily, I got a seat early and I got to enjoy the dramatic slopes, rivers, reservoirs, and 27 tunnels between Denver and the next stop, Fraser.

            At Fraser I was picked up by another of my closest college friends, Anya (whom you may remember from our Jordan adventures together), who had kindly agreed to host me for the weekend. She lives in Idaho Springs, a small town of less than two thousand people in the mountains outside of Denver. I scarfed down a rather large sandwich (train food leaves something to be desired, both in taste and in price), took a much-needed shower, then hopped back in the car to drive to Mt. Evans.

            After the road passes above the tree line you enter the realm of the alpine sheep. They are everywhere, walking across the road by themselves or in packs, minding their own business – unless you get too close, in which case they stare at you with blank eyes and approach menacingly and you roll up your windows in fear. It was quite an ordeal trying to get from our parking spot to the trailhead due to the roaming packs of wild sheep.

            Mt. Evans is one of 58 “14-ers” in Colorado – mountain peaks over 14,000 feet (in this case, 14,264 feet). It is also the highest paved road in the United States, with a road leading up just short of the peak. It’s a great way to summit a 14-er while only having to hike about 5 minutes! However, be warned: the drive up is not for the faint of heart. It is a narrow, winding road that is not particularly well-maintained, flanked by steep drops and no guardrails. And then, if that wasn’t enough, about halfway up you see a sign that reads “road narrows” and narrow it does. I was also very excited to see a warning sign for “road damage ahead”, that certainly boosted my confidence. Lucky for me, I had an experienced mountain driver and Colorado native at the wheel.

            Another piece of advice: going from <1000 feet elevation to 14000 feet in the span of about 24 hours is not a trivial matter. I did alright, other than a few spots of lightheadedness and shortness of breath, but we were very cautious and made sure to be hydrating constantly, snacking, and taking it slow. At the peak, we were high enough to look out and see the clouds at eye level – in fact, we were consumed by a cloud about 5 minutes after summiting, so we got lucky with our timing.

            On Sunday we chose a more substantial hike up Herman’s Gulch, a rather steep out-and-back trail up to an alpine lake. On the way we passed streams, wildflower meadows, rocky peaks, and patches of evergreen forests. I’ve missed this kind of mountainous terrain so much; it reminds me of our trips up to Lake Tahoe as kids. It has been at least 6 years since I last hiked in the mountains, long overdue.

            Anya’s parents arrived that evening from Boise and took us out to dinner at a brewery. I had met them briefly at graduation, so it was great to see them again and get to know each other a little better. They even gifted me a four-pack of the beer I ordered to take with me, a wonderfully bitter double IPA. *Future Gregor notes that after carrying these in my luggage for three weeks, they arrived safe to Indiana and tasted great once chilled.

            I’m writing this on train #2 from Fraser, Colorado to Emeryville, just outside of Oakland. We passed through Glenwood canyon, which was so tall that I could only see the tops of the rock walls using the ceiling windows in the observation deck. Our train attendant informed us beforehand that the river was nicknamed “moon river”, and we got to find out why – twice. Next up is Grand Junction, then Salt Lake City tonight, Reno in the morning, then Sacramento and finally the bay area by tomorrow afternoon.