For pretty much the rest of the day we followed the upper Colorado River as it slowly grew in size and steadily cut deeper and deeper into the surrounding rock. The scenery (like all of the Amtrak trains, there was an observation car) was just beautiful. For large stretches of the journey we were gazing on wilderness of one sort or another. And where there are wildernesses, there are wild animals. We saw plenty of deer and, the thrill of our lives, saw no less than five bald eagles (together with sundry other birds of prey, including a golden eagle or two). We also saw wildlife of another sort. The river is renowned for its whitewater rafting. Some say that the Gore Canyon stretch provides the wildest waters in the country. We glimpsed some rafts on these upper stretches. Lower down, the white water is more gentle. Clearly, it is the tradition among frat boy holidaymakers to moon the passing trains and so moon us they did. At one stage I saw the gaunt ruins of an old chimney stack high on a bluff, as if to underline the fact that such landscapes can never be truly tamed and man’s presence is only tolerated. At Dotsero we passed Colorado’s most recently active volcano (a mere 4,140 years ago) and then enjoyed the beautiful Glenwood Canyon, its spectacular high cliffs dotted with Aspen and evergreen trees. More sinisterly, we passed through New Castle, notable for an underground fire in an old coal mine that has burned away for many years, before pulling into Grand Junction two hours late (so named because it is at the junction between the Gunnison and the Grand Rivers – before 1921 the upper reaches of the Colorado were known as the Grand River).