Saturday, October 18, 2014

Did Somebody Say Scenery?

Our next stop was on public BLM land outside of Antonito, Colorado.  We've been here before and there is something special about this spot.  All that black smoke in Antonito is a clue.

It's the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Train on its way to Chama, NM.  Here's a video of it as it passes our overnight spot.  Turn your sound up for the full effect.


But we were not here to take the train because we already did that a couple of years ago.  To see the post on that trip, click here.

It was a fantastic train ride, climbing up and over the Cumbres Pass to Chama.  As an added bonus, I was unexpectedly wowed by the bus ride back to Antonito.  Remembering that ride over state road 17, we decided to take the bus's route in the car, thinking it might be even more gorgeous with the fall colors.

The road follows the Conejos River for about twenty miles where willows and cottonwoods provided color.


After about 20 miles, the road left the river and the aspen took over.

And we crested La Manga pass at 10,230 feet.

 After the pass, we began to parallel the train tracks,

If I was my father, I would have stopped right there and waited for the train to appear.  However, I figured it was stopped for lunch, so we continued into Chama and had a nice lunch ourselves.

On our return trip, I was hoping to catch the train at a opportune spot, but we only caught a glimpse of it through the trees.  I had to settle for more pretty trees.

I think this drive is one of the prettiest I've ever seen, especially with the fall foliage.

For anyone who is interested in our boondocking spot outside of Antonito, the coordinates are 37.05389, -106.03918.  It's a little tricky because most of the area is private, but it you put the coordinates in your GPS it will take you right there.

10 comments:

  1. Beatiful colours and its so expansive. You can beat the sound of a steam train especially when its going at speed. Thanks for the co ordinates.

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  2. Wow the yellows are vibrant against the dark green conifers! I love trains--they wake up the hobo spirit in us don't they? I just mentioned in my blog how the west has all the public lands we got zippo over here--I think Ill write WASHINGTON A LETTER: Dear Mr Secretary, how about instead of allowing China to buy up American soil Washington buy some so I can Boondock for free!! haha.

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  3. So beautiful. We took a drive yesterday but the storm that came through really did a number on the leaves and it's not real pretty anymore.

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  4. Nothing nicer than the sound of a steam locomotive.

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  5. Love the colors. Last time we came thru Antonita we stayed at the depot overnight.

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  6. That is a nice drive, even if you didn't catch the train on its route.

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  7. Absolutely gorgeous fall colors. But even more, how did you do those train videos? John was mesmerized.

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  8. Holy Crap, that is the best fall color I've seen anyone post this year! I like the train too. I'm taking note of the coordinates.

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