A JOURNEY THROUGH THE MAJESTIC ROCKIES
Author: Heather
Day 1
After packing a ridiculously large sun hat and a mini fan in my carry on, I’m off to the airport to make my way to Salt Lake City. After an obligatory Atlantic Canada connection through Toronto, flying into Utah over the mountains was a gorgeous change of scenery from my favourite port cities.
Day 2
Like all good travelers, everyone is early to the hotel lobby where we’ll board a coach bus to Moab. Salt Lake City stretches across the flat valley between the surrounding mountains, and we all struggle to get photos from the bus that accurately captures the rolling green hills and mountain peaks.
The fauna isn’t totally unfamiliar, but the beige grass and rock formations surrounding our drive hold sprawling estates, white steeples of Mormon churches, and the occasional abandoned RV. After finishing my latest read (“Calypso” by David Sedaris) I’m more than happy to watch the scenery roll by with Noah Kahan in my headphones.
Eventually, the green and beige rocks turned red as we arrived in Moab. The Hoodoo Hilton is as beautiful as it looks in photos, well air conditioned, and all of us clock the pool. After cooling off, it’s time to brave a 15-minute walk to the Lin Ottinger rock store. If you didn’t realize already, the Southwest is for rock fans! The rest of the evening is just as relaxing with a short walk for some awesome takeout tacos and gelato.
Day 3
This is the day I’ve been looking forward to all week! We’re up bright and early for our guided tour of the Arches National Park, about a 30-minute drive from the hotel. We sail up the mountain side and our guide knows every formation like the back of his hand. We spend the next 3 hours strolling among Jurassic age pillars and arches going absolutely bananas over the photography. Everyone manages to avoid twisting ankles on the uneven terrain while our cameras work overtime shooting the stunning red vistas. This is where I let the photos make up for a thousand words:
I have to give the Arches National Park 5/5 stars. All the arches and views were incredibly easy to access on low grade sandy walking trails and stairs, everyone was well supplied with snacks and water on the air-conditioned bus, and our guides definitely knew how to take a great photo.
A 30-minute bus ride took us to our main event…boarding the Rocky Mountaineer Silverleaf Plus! Our hosts greeted us with the Rocky red carpet, setting the stage perfectly to board the super spacious passenger train with domed vista windows. As a Tall Person, I have extra appreciation for the head room and leg room! We were immediately served beverages, and I stepped onto the open-air platform to take pictures on my way to the lounge car for snacks.
Our host, Mike, shared stories about the geology of passing landscape along the way, pointing out unique rock formations like hoodoos and honeycomb pockets from wind erosion. An unexpected part of the scenery was a silly salute from river bathers and boaters: it’s a Colorado tradition to moon passenger trains!
The train’s domed vista windows were originally invented by an engineer seeking a better view of Glenwood Canyon. There’s no straining required to see all the mountain peaks above our heads! We arrived in Glenwood Springs at about 9pm and promptly went to sleep after an unforgettable day.
Day 4
The sunrise unveiled new views of Glenwood Spring’s surrounding canyons, accompanied by another amazing meal on the Rocky Mountaineer Silverleaf Plus train.
As we travelled through Glenwood Canyon, our host showed us where the national kayak team traverses the Colorado River, sections of rockslides (the engineers would stop to remove rocks if any block the tracks, there were none on our journey), and ideal spots to pan for gold! Passing the Utah Colorado border later in the day we saw the Three Sisters hoodoos, and yes, more boaters’ bottoms!
The Colorado landscape held more tunnels, ski hills, eagle nests, and cattle ranches. Eventually Denver emerged in the distance under a passing thunderstorm, and we all debated whether we would prefer a penthouse or a sprawling Denver ranch…I’m choosing the ranch every time!
The Rocky Mountaineer ground crew greeted us in Denver, and after a few more group photos and endless thank yous to our wonderful hosts, we said our goodbyes and headed out to explore downtown Denver. The scenery and service could not have been better every step of the way. I will be talking about this trip for a very long time!
