SCENIC BYWAY, VERNAL,UTAH TO WEDNOVER, NEVADA

Windy, hilly, and in places a very scenic high desert greeted us between Vernal and Wendover. The summit was 8020 feet through Aspen Grove Pass, above. Jim took a picture for me.

I took the first shift and drove 125 miles to Heber City. When Jim took over I couldn't resist this beautiful country side.

Miles and miles of this red fall color. Haven't a clue what plant is turning red and orange.

It was a hard drive, but the scenery made it worth it. Pressing to reach Reno by Sunday, we drove almost 300 miles yesterday and switched to faster Interstate Highway 80. Better road, but windier still. The speed limit  is an unbelievable 75 mph on highway 80.

We got our first glimpse of the great Salt Lake and the many salt flats. To see the famous Bonneville test area, you have to turn off the road about a 1/2 mile. We just kept right on truckin'.

In places, people write their names, or messages with stones on the salt. Of course, we saw a huge salt plant as well.

Jim recognized this strange device as an early data relay tower, now replaced by cell towers and satellites.
I drove a second shift but never even considered speeds like the truckers cruising right on by me. They are so heavy, they have better purchase in the wind. Signs warn you of high wind areas but they also have periodic wind socks along the way to give you a sense of the wind's direction.

That orange blob in the middle of the photo is a wind sock.
We arrived in Wendover, wondering if Wendover was in Utah or Nevada?
The Nevada State line is in the middle of town designated by  a line  painted right on the street. But you don't really need the line because Wendover is filled with casinos that begin partway through town. Half the casino parking is in Utah where gambling isn't allowed.  Gave us a chuckle. It was hot and breezy and we ate cold quinoa soup and fruit salad for dinner and hit the sack early.

I didn't take a huge number of picrures, 27 in all. For a look click the link
http://picasaweb.google.com/1579penn/91710Wendover#

THE IRON GOAT TRAIL

Gold Bar, Sultan, Startup, Index, Skykomish, and Barrington are small towns between Monroe and Stevens Pass over the Cascades on Highway 2. Its a scenic drive with rivers, waterfalls and glades of alders, maples, ferns, and giant evergreens. Our goal was to check out the Iron Goat Trail which guides visitors to the remains of great black walls that once held up the timbered roof of the longest train tunnel in the world, then, at 7.8 miles long, in the 1850s.
The rebuilt tunnel is 581 feet shorter and is the longest tunnel in the U.S. part of Burlington-Northern- Santa Fe.
A more southerly train route through the cascades, with multiple switchbacks, followed the river and brought goods to Washington in the 1800s. A Great Northern Engineer by the name of Stevens decided a more direct route to Seattle would be competitive and timely. He decided he could conquer the winter snow that covered the Cascades by building a tunnel over the worst part of the mountains. An amazing engineering feat for its time, the tunnel clung to the sides of the steep mountain pass. Once in use, new problems had to be solved. The tunnel would accumulate fumes and steam from the engine and foul the air so badly that great fans were installed to clear the fumes. Once a car jumped the track and was dragged through the tunnel where it scraped away electrical wiring and necessary appendages. The portal doors froze shut and the train crashed through the portal on another occasion. But the worst accident happened when the train was holding inside the tunnel for a storm to pass and an avalanche wiped out a section of the tunnel carrying the train down with it into the Tye River. 96 people were killed, still the most deadly avalanche disaster in the U.S.
After that tragedy, a lower tunnel was built that still carries freight by rail today.
Remains of the wall, with wonderful hiking trails to various sections of the old tunnel, (1300 feet in one section), and part of the West Portal are visible from the Iron Goat Trail Interpretive center east of the town of Skykomish.
The picture below shows trees that have grown on the edge of the wall and flopped over, giving a perspective of the height of these walls. This massive concrete wall was four feet thick in one section that we could see.