Saturday, May 29, 2010

A Day at Royal Gorge

Sunday Heather and I went to the Royal Gorge for the day.  The weather was beautiful and we had a great time.  Thanks Frankie for the idea.

This is at the entrance.  The clocks track the year, month, day and hour.  It's a great place to come and get your bearings if you do any time travel or fall asleep for 20 years.

First view of the bridge.  It spans 1,000 ft, and is over the same distance from the canyon floor.  It was built at the beginning of the Great Depression in just 6 months.  Today it would take longer to do the environmental assessment.

The Bridge offers awesome views of the Canyon.  The Arkansas river cuts through the middle of the canyon.  You can't see Arkansas from here, though.

This is what the bridge looked like at the time it was built in the 1929, when everything was black and white.



There's more to the park than just the bridge and gorge.  There is also wildlife.

Some is tamer than others.

If you've ever wanted to visit a real mining town, don't come here.  But if you want to experience the ambiance created by a small replica of an old west mining town, they have that covered.

There is also an incline railway to take you to the river's edge, and a suspended tram to take you across, if you get tired of travelling over the bridge. 

A train runs along the river.  The tracks are suspended at this point.

One last view and it was back home for us.