Cumbres & Toltec Railroad

Posted by E-George on August 14, 2007

The thing you’re supposed to notice about an experience like the Cumbres and Toltec railroad would be the vistas like this:

But, I was completely hypnotized by vistas like this:

The intrusion of this Giant Pinkness was only amplified by the, at times, violent swaying of the train and the rather viscerally chilling timbre of her voice.

Matthew was the usual picture of poise and stoicism while he slowly roasted his head to a stunning and never-before-seen shade of orange-red.

I did likewise on my shoulders, so now I have to go see a tanning salon to see if they can smooth out my rather ridiculous looking tan lines in time for Craig & Kayla’s wedding. The train was arduous, and uncomfortable in spots. The seats were angled straight forward, requiring me to crane my neck to the side to see out the window, or go outside to get pelted by coal particulates and listen to the ceaseless prattling of the train docent talking about how much better the rocks were that held up one particularly section of track versus other rocks.

Once we got to Antonito, we were promptly herded to a large bus, packed on and sent back to Chama from whence we came. The ride back was actually quite funny as there was a little 3-year-old boy with his daddy sitting right behind us. Most of the land we traversed was ranch land, leading one to suspect that the preponderance of bovine population would be normal, but the little boy was fascinated - suspended, really, in disbelief from all the wildlife he was glimpsing. Finally he could hardly contain himself and asked of his father, “Are they wild cows?” to which his father replied in a serious and thoughtful voice, “They very well could be.” I looked at Matthew in amazement for surely we had stumbled onto a cow preserve! A veritable haven for cows to thrive in the face of such heedless hunting. So, I give unto you, a cow residing happily in her little stake in the Northern New Mexico Cow Preserve:

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