Our last days in Utah

We spent Thursday, Friday, and Saturday meandering around Utah north of Salt Lake City and starting our trip across Nevada towards Reno.

Golden Spike NHS

Thursday, October 6, we headed out to Promontory Point to visit the Golden Spike National Historical Site. That is the spot where the Central Pacific Railroad and the Union Pacific Railroad met after both lines engaged in a heroic struggle to be the first to reach that spot and join up to form a transcontinental railroad. The CP started in Sacramento. They used Chinese laborers to complete the challenge of crossing the Sierra Nevada Mountains via tunnels which were almost dug by hand. The UP started in Omaha and they used Irish and other immigrant laborers to build across the plains through all kinds of weather and fighting the Native Americans while they were at it. We saw replicas of the two steam locomotives that met when the last rail was laid and the golden spike was symbolically hammered in. They reenacted the event with bells, whistles, steam, and the two engines chugging back and forth.

We stayed in Odgen UT which is a railroad town and has a wonderful Railroad Museum in the old Union Station Passenger terminal (they still have a working terminal next door). They had at least a dozen engines on display and all types of rail cars. I was amazed at how gigantic they all looked when you were standing right next to them.

Don and Mickey at the Great Salt Lake

We stayed in Elko NV, just off I-80 on Friday night. On Saturday we did another scenic drive from Elko to Lamoille Canyon at the foot of Ruby Mountain. We saw more spectacular scenery as we climbed up through the canyon which had been cut through the mountains by several glaciers millions of years ago. The mountains were rugged with craggy tops and were covered by aspen trees in their beautiful yellow fall colors. The tops had some snow and there were a few waterfalls. We stopped at several overlooks to see side canyons and hanging valleys also created by glacial action. We walked down a short path to a spring and saw the dams and mound created by beavers. They were gone now, looking for greener pastures, but it was so interesting to see the stumps of all the aspen trees that had been felled by these active woodsmen and the dams and ponds that they had created.

Suzanne at Lamoille Canyon

Tonight we are in Winnimucca NV and will head off to Reno tomorrow.