Sunday, September 3

Today was probably the last scenic drive for a while as I have now left the Rockies behind and hit the plains in Pueblo, Colorado. However, there was still plenty to see on the way here. My route was along US 50, which is a scenic byway for much of the way, and took me to my second greatest elevation on the trip, 11,312 feet, as it crossed the continental divide at Monarch Pass. I also made two tourist detours, both at Royal Gorge which is another deep, narrow canyon but this time carved by the Arkansas river.

At the  top of the gorge is a park and the highest bridge in the US where the roadway is 955 feet above the river. In addition to walking across the bridge I also took a gondola ride over the gorge.

I then traveled on to Cañon City where I boarded a Royal Gorge Route scenic train which travels through the gorge, alongside the river, and under the bridge. At its narrowest the canyon is only 30 feet wide and the river fills the canyon floor so the track had to be routed over a steel bridge hung from the canyon walls. The river has many rapids as it flows through the gorge and there were plenty of rafters and kayakers to keep us company on this hot afternoon.

I had expected the total mileage for this trip to be about 11,000 but passed that number today and still have at least 1,900 miles to go. Today’s map and scenic miles can be seen here.

Royal Gorge and the highest bridge in the US as seen from the gondola ride.
The gorge as seen from the bridge.

Zooming in, you can see the section of rail track that runs above the river on a bridge hung from the canyon walls.

The train about to enter the gorge with rafters on the river.
The gorge, train, river, bridge and gondola.

Monday, September 4

I stayed in Pueblo for Labor Day as it was the last day of the Colorado State Fair which has been held here for the past 145 years. State Fairs are a US tradition but this was the first one I have attended in 30+ years of living here. The fairgrounds have large, permanent facilities for the livestock and other animal and agricultural shows as well as art and crafts exhibits and vendors selling everything from beds to whirlpools to tractors to pig noses. There are also hundreds of temporary stalls , two funfairs, several performance areas and other distractions, such as swine racing.  Total attendance is expected to be around 500,000.

After leaving the fair I took a stroll along the Pueblo Riverwalk which is a pleasant, manicured area alongside the Arkansas River downtown.

The fair attracts good crowds and is the biggest summer event in the state.

A couple of highlights were swine racing (it was so quick and crowded that I couldn’t get photos of a race but I have video)and some pretty impressive bulls.
The Riverwalk is is really a curated path but there is plenty to see along the way.