|
Rockies Rail Tour
(Note: Clicking on any image in this travelogue will bring up a full screen version of the image.)
Saturday, July 15: Moab to Las Vegas and Thence Home
|
The standard tour package from Rocky Mountaineer provided transport by coach from Moab to Las Vegas, whose airport offered a a much wider selection of flights throughout the country. But we chose an upgrade which they called "flight-seeing" in a small plane that would fly low enough to see the terrain. So we were up early to catch a spot of breakfast in the Hoo Doo's restaurant, and ready in the lobby for a van to pick us up, and take us to Canyonlands Field, a tiny airport 18 miles north of Moab. This was not Denver International. No vast parking lots, no multiple terminals with separate levels for arrivals and departures, no TSA security checks. We could leave our shoes on, and not have to set our phones to Airplane Mode. We were met in person by our pilot, Tracy Michaud, who escorted us to the plane, and personally loaded our luggage into the cargo hold. He also gave each of us a barf bag in case we encountered any rough air. As it turned out, the ride was very smooth all the way, but my usual reaction to bouncy airplane flights is not so much "Bleach!", but rather "Wheeeeeeee!!"
Our Faithful Steed
|
|
|
The aircraft was a Kodiak K100 single engine turboprop, seating six passengers, a pilot, and copilot. (The copilot was a woman, whose name, alas, I do not remember.) As it turned out, Jenny and I were the only passengers on this flight. That meant we were able to shift from one side of the plane to the other, depending upon where the interesting features appeared. We each had a pair of headphones to wear, and we were able to hear not only Tracy's commentary on the territory we flew over, but also his communications with air traffic control. I would estimate we flew something like 1,500 to 2,500 feet above the terrain, which consisted primarily of dessert and canyon and mountains, with occasional waterways, either active or dry, and secondary roads. Again, the apparent hostility of this landscape to human habitation struck me forcefully. At my request, Tracy diverted slightly from his prepared route in order to fly over Zion National Park, where, in the mid 90s, Jenny and I had hiked to the very end of Angel's Landing, a very strenuous trail that terminated at the top of one of those iconic ridges with a thousand foot sheer drop on three sides of us. No way could I do that trail today.
The flight lasted about 2 hours. I took 80 photographs, and a few videos. But reviewing them now, I can't remember the names the features depicted in most of those photos. I've winnowed the collection down to the following images to display here, identified only by number. Those photos I can identify will be described below the grid.
Flight-Seeing (1)
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Photo 291: The isolation of the one man-made artifact in the midst of a seemingly endless barren wilderness is striking.
Photos 294 - 298: I believe these are the Henry Mountains.
Photos 300 & 301: Woah! An oasis of civilization and agriculture in the dessert.
Photos 304 - 307: Zion National Park. For photo 307, Tracy dipped a wing to give us a better view of Angel's Landing mentioned above. I'm not absolutely certain, but I think I've identified that crag with the red arrow. Looking at it from this perspective, it's hard to imagine little bitty us atop that immense promontory.
Flight-Seeing (2)
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Photos 310-319: I'm not sure where these photos were taken, but it must have been flying over some relatively high mountains, because the terrain seems awfully close.
Photos 233 & 323: Some artificial lake, probably along the Colorado River. No, not Hoover Dam and Lake Mead.
Photo 325: Boy, does that straight highway look out of place in that terrain!
Photo 327: Now that's Lake Mead, the reservoir behind Hoover Dam. The dam itself was too far off our route for us to have detoured over it. Lake Mead, by the way, is still at only 30% of its capacity, despite the record-setting snowfall in the Rockies last winter, and extremely heavy rainfall last spring. They are digging a new aqueduct to the deepest point of the lake to provide water for California. The ongoing drought over the past several years in the American Southwest has caused the water level to drop to the point where it it's approaching the point that will affect the Hoover Dam power station's ability to produce electricity.
Photos 329 & 330: Two examples of massive solar arrays that are spring up all over the Western deserts. This is only the beginning.
Photo 331: Las Vegas.
Video 332: Video clips of our take-off, traversing some mountain range, and landing.
We landed around 10:15 (including a time zone change) at North Las Vegas Airport, a smaller airfield for general (private) aviation, separate from the main commercial Las Vegas International, and it was here that Jenny and I parted ways. My flight to Newark was scheduled for 1:22 PM, while Jenny's flight to Hartford via Atlanta did not depart until evening. We shared the taxi provided by Rocky Mountaineer first to the big Las Vegas airport, where I said my good byes, and headed into the terminal to check in. Jenny stayed in the taxi, and was taken to the Hotel Luxor ("Cheesy Egyptian theme, everything giant size." according to her.) That's where most of the Rocky Mountaineer passengers had rooms for the night as part of their package, because the coach from Moab to Las Vegas didn't arrive until late in the afternoon. She texted me the following from the gate while she was waiting for her flight:
Well, that was fun. In case you want to know, I didn't opt for adventure. Left my case at the bell desk with no hassles at no charge. Stuck my nose outside once or twice, and spent half the afternoon in the humongous hotel, gawking at the amenities and extravagant decor. Photos would not begin to capture the scale of it. Then looked at an extensive anatomy exhibit for a few hours, and hid from the heat by taking a taxi to the airport instead of waiting for a bus on the street. Have been hanging out at the gate. BTW, when I checked in, I got an offer to check the carry-on for free. Yay. Hope you fared well and that Keira [my cat] is fine.
As for me, this time I did remember to enter my KTN number when getting my boarding pass online, and so bypassed the full security check. It didn't make that much difference though, because the security lines were real short, and I was very early anyway. And then the plane sat for 2 hours on the taxiway while some problem was being resolved. We landed in Newark sometime around midnight-30, and Bill Henderson picked me up, and took me back to his place where I'd left my car. Home at last. Keira was fine.
