"Let's Get Moving America": Friday - My last day on the California Zephyr

Sunrise on the train in Utah

Friday January 28, 2011.
I woke up to another awesome sunrise. This time in Utah. There was very little snow traveling through the lower elevations. What little they had though, added a special touch to the everchanging landscape.
Early this morning, we would be heading to our next great mountain pass; the Sierra Nevadas. I was looking forward to this part of the trip, because I knew that they had received an enormous amount of snow this winter.
I had been through both the Rocky Mountain and Sierra Nevada passes before by car. What to keep in mind about traveling by train, is that there are times when you will get a totally different view on the route the train goes. This would definitely happen quite a bit on this day of train travel.
I knew that we were getting close to heading up the mountain, by the increasing amount of snow on the ground. There was a great difference in terms of feet of snow, between the lower elevations and what was up on top.
We saw glacier lakes that were so beautiful. We also saw a few ski areas that really made me smile. It reminded me of my planned ski excursion when I get to Taos, New Mexico.
In the observation car, history about the area that we were passing through was broadcast by one of the local historical societies. We were also lucky enough to have two local passengers in the car, who gave us added information about the places we were seeing.
We did go over Donner pass. This is were many people perished because the group wrongly timed going over Immigration Pass. The snows came and they were stranded. Many did not realize their dreams of reaching the fertile valley on the other side of the mountain.
We went through many tunnels and underneath quite a few snow sheds. We also did a 180 degree turn to get up to the highest elevation on the pass.
We soon reached the Golden State - California. Many of the first parts that we reached, were heavily mined areas for gold. There is still gold is those hills. Probably not as much as before.
I have to tell you that I thought that there would be more snow. I did learn that the snowfall came early and that the last significant snowfall was around Christmas time. They were expecting some the next day.
The ski conditions I heard were rather icy; just like what we are use to skiing on back east.
The type of trees and landscape would change for the last time. Redwoods and oaks were what we were seeing now on the other side of the mountain. It reminded me of Oregon; the state that I have spent the most time in out west.
We slowly made our way into the valley. Farmlands would now be prominent throughout most of the last remaining hours of our ride west.
We arrived in Sacramento at about 1:00 pm. I had to say my farewells to a few people that I had formed close bonds with over the last two days. We had exchanged our addresses, so I hope that we will stay in touch.
I had about another couple of hours, until I arrived in the Bay Area. A place that I have visited many times and am very fond of.
It would be a little weird to debark from Train 5 from Chicago. It was such an amazing journey for me. The special bonds that I now have with so many wonderful people and the beautiful pictures in my mind from looking out the windows on so many occasions, will not fade from my mind for a long time to come.