Trip Report: April 23 to May 8, 2003
by Ted & Sylvia Blishak
TO PITTSBURGH AND GREENVILLE, SC
WITH THE BLISHAKS
Day 1: April 23, 2003: Klamath Falls toWinnemucca.
We usually begin our Amtrak trips at the Klamath Falls station. The most obvious routing to the East is the Coast Starlight to Portland, connecting with the Empire Builder to Chicago. We actually used to do this, but Coast Starlight timekeeping since the Union Pacific took over the Southern Pacific a few years ago is so poor that we no longer trust this connection, but rather layover in Portland at a nice downtown hotel, such as the Heathman or the Westin. We have also stayed over at the Eugene Hilton and made the connection to the Empire Builder with the Talgo Cascade from Eugene. The advantage to taking the Portland section of the Builder is the incomparable scenery of the Columbia Gorge.
Another option is to take Starlight #14 all the way to its endpoint and layover in a Seattle hotel such as the Edgewater or the Sheraton. The advantage of this routing is that the Seattle sleeper on the Empire Builder is next to the dining car, whereas the Portland sleeper is stuck on to the rear of the train at Spokane, requiring a lengthy walk through all the coaches and the Café Lounge in order to reach the diner which has arrived on the Seattle section. (Passengers out of Portland on the sleeper get a cold box dinner in their room instead of a dining car meal.) Hiking through the train for two days gets a little tiresome. It also results in some minor bruises as one is hurled against the bulkheads due to the bumpy ride on some sections of track.
A way to save a day is to wait until evening and go south on the Starlight to Sacramento and connect with the California Zephyr. At one time we would have been able to do the Railroad Museum or stroll around Old Town between trains, but with the UP trackwork going on south of Klamath Falls, even a six hour connection can turn out to be unreliable.
So we tried something different this time. The Winnemucca to the Sea Highway is a beautiful 300 mile long drive, so Ted recommended that we drive to Winnemucca and board the California Zephyr there. Sylvia, not an enthusiast of lengthy auto trips, was eventually convinced to try this with the promise of a dinner at one of Winnemucca's excellent Basque restaurants before boarding #6 at its scheduled 7:07PM departure time.
We left home at 8:30 AM, carrying plenty of food and water and with a full gas tank. The first 100 miles east took us over two mile-high passes, Bly Mountain and Quartz Summit, to Lakeview, OR, nestled at the foot of the snow-covered Warner Mountains. This segment, with sparse traffic, went by swiftly.
In Lakeview we stopped for a coffee and donut, and topped off our fuel tank. The next 200 miles to Winnemucca offer only two populated stops, which are not always open. The first is at Adel, Oregon, on the other side of 6000- foot Warner Summit, the other at Denio Junction in Nevada. This is probably the longest stretch of nearly unbroken wilderness in the West; high, dry desert with formidable rock formations, endless sage and juniper-covered plateaus, and incredible views of snow covered mountains in the clear air. For most of the distance there are no ranches or towns or fences -- or any sign of another human. Between Adel and Denio Junction, we crossed two more 6000 foot summits, Blizzard Gap and Doherty Slide. Climbing up Doherty Slide is the next thing to taking off in a light plane; at the top of the Slide is a hang glider launching site.
Although we met another vehicle only every thirty minutes or so, there were herds of small wild horses and carmel-and-white antelope, a dozen of which decide to cross the road in front of us. Stopping for a picnic break at the entrance to the Shelden Wildlife Reserve we have a true top of the world experience, with views of up to 100 miles in all directions.
After one more short stop at the Denio Junction store to stretch our legs, we arrived in Winnemucca a little past 3:30pm, after seven hours on the road. We had reserved a day room at the Quality Inn and by the time we'd collected phone and E-mail messages and responded to them, it was after 6 PM. Basque dinners, with their multitude of courses, cannot be consumed in a hurry. Obviously there was no time for my eagerly-awaited reward for agreeing to the automobile journey.
"But you promised!" I wailed when Ted called Amtrak to learn that the Zephyr was, inconveniently, expected on time. "This is what I get for being a good sport?"
Ted pointed out that flexibility was required here. "Rather than Basque wining and dining, it appears that we are going to have whining and no Basque dining". Once I'd calmed down, he revealed that the CZ had originated in Sparks, Nevada, instead of Emeryville, California, because a freight derailment on Donner Pass had closed the line to all trafffic.
"The people boarding in Emeryville, which would have included us if we hadn't driven here, were put on a bus and spent all day on I-80 covering 239 miles. Would you have been a good sport about that?"
Quickly realizing what a hellish experience that would have been, I recovered and proceeded to the Raley's Supermarket across the street to collect a picnic dinner, after incorrectly assuming that the CZ might be short of food because of the unusual circumstances.
The Quality Inn van dropped us at Winnemucca's version of an Amtrak station, a plastic shack designed to seat six passengers. Only three of us were boarding. The train turned out to be about 45 minutes late after all, and Dee, our well-groomed young car attendant in the 631 car said that she had not made dinner reservations for us and we should just go to the dining car when they made the last call.
Having had previous fairly consistent experiences on the CZ with delayed meals and menu items that had become sold out (I always warn my clients to pack snacks on this particular train for that reason) I laid out a gourmet picnic as soon as we settled into Bedroom C.
Why is it when you're prepared the things you worry about don't happen? We were sipping Merlot and nibbling cheese and salami when they made the last call for dinner.
End of Day 1.
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