Rocky Mountains

 From Salt Lake City, the route turned southeast, roughly paralleling US 6 until we got to the Colorado River and Interstate 70. This section included narrow canyons, where the road and the tracks squeezed on either side of the river with a high plateau and dramatic cliffs and mesas in the distance. 

When we got to the Colorado River, the scenery was even more spectacular. Gorges with high, sheer walls cut by the river forced the train to go through tunnels at times and the freeway to be split into two levels. The mountains earned their name -  lots of rocks all along the route, looking like they had just been piled up the two sides of the river. We paralleled the river for hours, seeing lots of rafting/kayaking activity. The freeway headed east while the train turned north and continued to follow the river. Eventually, we came through a very long tunnel to the eastern slope of the mountains, which was very green and covered with pine forests. It was raining below us with sun shining through the clouds and rain, resulting in many rainbows, including a few double rainbows. After a quick descent down to flat land, we rolled into Denver, somewhat behind schedule.