Berthoud Pass, Colorado

Last week I boarded Amtrak's California Zephyr in Lincoln, Nebraska on my way to Winter Park, Colorado. I had rode trains many times before in Europe but had only been on a train in the United States once before, as a sophomore in High School I went on a school trip to Chicago. It was after midnight when the train pulled out of Lincoln traveling at night through Nebraska and eastern Colorado, arriving in Denver at 8:00 a.m. After leaving Denver's Union Station it began to climb into the mountains, we were surrounded by beautiful scenery the rest of the way to Winter Park. The train passed through many tunnels including the 6.2 mile Moffat Tunnel that was completed in 1928 and goes under the Continental Divide. On arriving in Winter Park I was met by my friend, he lives in Lincoln and rents a condo at Silverthorne for a week each August. We went to the condo in his car passing through spectacular mountain scenery. I took this picture from the summit of Berthoud Pass looking down at the switchbacks, the tall mountains in the distance are mostly in Rocky Mountain National Park.