#17 Royal Gorge 8-11-08

We left South Fork Campground and headed north and stopped in Salida, CO. We found a campground just west of the 285 on hwy 50. We stayed at Heart of the Rockies campground. It was very quiet and away from town. We had excellent satillite reception and were able to see the Olympic games on TV.

While we were camped there we took a drive up to Royal Gorge Park. Here are a few of the pictures.

The suspension bridge over the Royal Gorge. Built in 1931.We did walk across the bridge. You can drive, but it is very narrow and it moves when you are on it. On the other side of the bridge the state has built a replica of an old town. There is also a movie about the building of the bridge in the theatre.This sign tells about the bridge. It is about at the half way point across the bridge.That is the Arkansas river below. This was taken right by the information sign. It is really hard to tell just how far down the river is. We got on the incline railway. The steepest incline railway in the world. And down we went to the river and railroad tracks.
This is the overhang that the railr0ad built to carry the train through the gorge. Notice the "I" beams that cross the river. The overhand that holds the tracks is suspended from those "I" beams. This suspended railbed has been there since the 1920's and is still being used today. A train came through just before we arrived down at the bottom of the incline rails. The canyon is only 30 feet wide at this point.
We are looking up to the suspension bridge from the river. The Arkansas River is one of the most highly used rivers for rafting and kayaking. While we were at the bottom of the canyon six or seven rafts came through.
We pass the other "rail car" on the way back to the top. All of us are standing in cage like areas. The red part of the picture at the top is part of the "cage" that we were riding in. The ride only takes 5 minutes each way. The tracks are held in place by those steele "I" beams imbedded in the rocks that you see under the rails. Very cool ride.

To the right of this picture is the trolly that can be ridden across the bridge to the old western mining town. This is one of the "cowboys" that you can see in town. He is riding that long horn steer.