California Zephyr: Denver to San Francisco - Jan 17th to 21st, 2022

For our son’s Christmas present, we took him on the California Zephyr. This was a different trip for us, no van, no car, just using public transportation from Denver to San Francisco and back. We were gone for five days. It is 36 hours on the train between Denver, Colorado and Emeryville, California, each way. We had hotel reservations for two nights in Oakland, California which gave us a full day to enjoy San Francisco before hopping on the train back to Denver.

Our alarms were set for 5:15 am on Monday. We were out the door at 5:45 am. No breakfast, just went to the bathroom and threw some clothes on. It was a ten minute car ride to the train station to catch the RTD N Line. We needed to take the 6:14 am train to Denver Union Station. It was still dark outside. The N Line arrived at Union Station on Track 2 at 6:42 am. The California Zephyr was already sitting on Track 4.

The Amtrak California Zephyr is scheduled to leave at 8:05 am, with boarding starting 20 minutes ahead of time. We had two bags to check which needed to be checked in 45 minutes before departure time. We had plenty of time. After checking in our bags, Ann walked around Union Station to enjoy the beautiful architecture as the sun rose over downtown Denver.

The man at the Amtrak ticket window said we should start heading over to Track 4 at 7:30 am. After scanning our electronic ticket from our phone at train side, they let us board our sleeping car.

Dropping our carry on bags in our roomettes, we headed straight for the dining car for breakfast. Ann had orange juice, scrambled eggs with Swiss cheese and veggies, roasted potatoes, and a croissant. Keith substituted an omelette and cheddar cheese for the scrambled eggs and a coffee. By the time we finished breakfast, we were just pulling out of the Denver station.

The train starts winding its way up into the mountains. The first large curve is called Big Ten Curve. It is a 270 degree turn with a wind break of hopper rail cars filled with cement and welded to a track.

From there the train enters the tunnel district. The train ducks in and out of about 30 tunnels, with jagged rocky cliffs surrounding the train in between. At first, there are expansive views across the plains. Then you enter another tunnel and come out surrounded by mountains.

The last tunnel of the district is the Moffat Tunnel, the highest train tunnel and one of the longest in the country. It is 6.2 miles long, passing under the Continental Divide at 9,239 feet above sea level. They ask that passengers do not open the doors between the rail cars during the 13 minute tunnel ride to prevent diesel exhaust from entering the train cars.

Before we entered the Moffat Tunnel, there were just patches of snow on the ground. When we emerged from the tunnel, we were in a winter wonderland. We were smack dab in the middle of the Winter Park Ski Resort.

The route through Colorado goes through some of the most scenic areas of the state. The train follows the Colorado River through Byers Canyon, Gore Canyon, and Glenwood Canyon. Upper Gore Canyon can only be seen by train or kayak. Not even hikers can reach the Upper Gore Canyon. The snow provided a nice color contrast to the green trees and the rocks, which take on a nice red color in places.

We were surprised at how much wildlife we saw. The first herd of elk was at Big Ten Curve, before we even entered the mountains. There were elk, deer, hawks, eagles, and various water fowl. We even caught a glimpse of a moose.

Lunch was served before we reached Glenwood Canyon. Ann had the chicken Caesar salad along with carrot cake for dessert. Keith has the gourmet grilled cheese with terra chips and coleslaw. He also opted for the carrot cake. The food was decent and the carrot cake was delicious.

As we entered into Utah, the sun was starting to set. We opted for the 5:30 pm seating for dinner. We both had the mixed green salad and the flatiron steak along with mixed vegetables and cheesy polenta. For dessert, Ann tried the chocolate torte while Keith had the cheese cake. A drink was included with dinner, so Ann had the rose wine while Keith chose the Heineken. All in all, there was plenty of tasty food to keep our bellies full.

The meals were included with a sleeping room. There is also a cafe with additional items that can be purchased. The people riding in coach class only had the cafe as an option since the dining car was not available for them. We’re not sure if that is always the case or just during the pandemic. Coffee is available for free in the sleeping cars, but we purchased bottled iced tea from the cafe during the afternoon.

During the daylight hours while we were not in the dining car, you could find us in the observation car enjoying the scenery passing by us. After dinner we retired to our roomette. The roomette is a little cramped for two people, but would be perfect for one person. During the day, there are two wide seats facing each other with a large window in between. A small table below the window can be pulled out to set food or a laptop on. Ann didn’t find the table very comfortable to use with the laptop, as it was just large enough to hold her laptop and right up against the wall. She thought having the laptop on her lap was more comfortable.

At night, the car attendant sets up the beds for you. The two seats flatten into the bottom bunk bed. A thin mattress is placed on top of the seat cushions. The top bunk folds down from the wall. There is only enough floor space left to stand. There is no room for luggage on the floor. Keith put his daypack on the narrow top step used to get up to the top bunk. Ann placed her laptop bag on the bed next to her feet. There is a very narrow closest with enough space to hang two jackets. Our shoes fit under the bottom bunk. You have to really like the person you are sharing the roomette with in order to change clothes and get ready for the night.

We turned in for the night at about 9:30 pm. Even though there are temperature controls in each roomette, our room was still rather warm with the heat turned all the way down. Ann slept most of the night with just a sheet, but added the blanket closer to morning. The sway of the train did not bother Ann, but Keith felt a little less comfortable in the narrow top bunk. We both slept OK during the night without ear plugs. The last announcement Ann heard was just before quiet hours at 10 pm. She remembers the stop for Salt Lake City, Utah, around 11 pm, but she believes she slept through the other stops during the night. She only remembers waking up enough to roll to her other side periodically. The mattress was firmer than what she is used to and her hip starts aching after a while.

We woke up before the sun on Tuesday, at about 6 am Pacific time. Breakfast didn’t start until 6:30 am, so we headed to the observation car to watch the sun rise. The train was now in Nevada. There was a fog across the wide open desert. The sun rose and poked in and out of the fog and clouds. In the opposite direction, the fuzzy moon was setting. We ate breakfast around 7 am and returned to the observation car by the time we reached the Reno Nevada station. Ann tried the continental breakfast this time which consisted of oatmeal, yogurt, fresh berries, and a croissant. We couldn’t see much of Reno because the tracks drop below ground level to reach the platform.

Quite a few people got on the train in Reno. There was an announcement for coach passengers to remove any belongings from the seats next to them because every seat in coach class was needed. After Reno, the train starts entering mountains again. This time it is the central region of the Sierra Nevada mountain range in California. The views from the train were spectacular. The snow in the mountains seemed deeper than the snow we had seen in the Rockies. At one point, the train stopped for about ten minutes to let a freight train to go by. We didn’t mind waiting as we had a great view to enjoy.

As we descended out of the mountains, we past cattle and horse pastures, vineyards, and orange groves. The Douglas fir and ponderosa pine trees gave way to palm trees.

For lunch, Ann tried the burger which came with Terra chips and coleslaw with cheese cake for dessert, while Keith had the grilled cheese again but with cheesecake this time. The menu never changes, but there is a wide enough of a selection that you can have something different for each meal over two days on the train.

We know we have a homeless problem in this country, but the number of homeless camps visible from the train tracks shocked us. It was almost like we were traveling in a third world country.

As the Zephyr was making its way around the bay to the Emeryville station, the train came to a stop. The conductor heard a strange noise and stopped to check it out. While we were sitting there, we caught a glimpse of a seal or sea lion popping his head up above the water’s surface. Then it went under again. Hopefully Ann was quick enough on the camera shutter to get a picture of it. The conductor didn’t find any issues, so we continued on our way. Despite the stop, Amtrak got us to Emeryville ahead of schedule.

Our hotel reservation was in Oakland. We could have tried to take a bus or train from Emeryville to Oakland, but we chose to take an Uber. It was easier than trying to figure out where and how to buy a ticket for the bus or train. On the ride to the hotel, we asked our Uber driver for recommendations for dinner. He suggested Gyu Kaku, a new Japanese BBQ place.

It was 4:30 pm by the time we reached our hotel. Gyu Kaku was only a six minute walk from our hotel. So we booked a 5:00 pm reservation online and headed over to the restaurant. Not really knowing what to order, we opted for the Ninja, a BBQ sampling for three people (our son was with us). There was a hot grill in the center of our table. The instructions were to place the thin slices of raw meat on the grill with the metal tongs and take off the cooked meat with our chopsticks. We are not very proficient at using chopsticks, so it really put our skills to the test. It took us about two hours to complete our dinner. It was delicious. The dessert was s’mores. We felt like kids again, roasting our marshmallows over the grill.

After dinner, we relaxed back at the hotel and turned in early. We only had one full day to explore San Francisco and we wanted to make the most of it.

Keith and Ann were able to enjoy a relaxing breakfast at the hotel while we waited for our son to finish a work conference call in the morning. It was a one mile walk to the ferry dock to catch the San Francisco Bay Ferry over to San Francisco. When we reached the dock, the 10:10 am ferry was boarding. We hopped on and purchased our round trip tickets on board after we got underway. They collect the tickets when you depart the boat.

It was a foggy morning, so we couldn’t see much on the 25 minute ferry ride over to San Francisco. The ferry brought us to the Ferry Building near downtown. From there, it is about one and a half miles to Fisherman’s Wharf, so we decided to walk. After being on a train for two days, we needed the exercise. It was a nice walk along all the piers.

Pier 39 is full of shops and restaurants. At the end of the pier is a sea lion viewing area. We couldn’t access most of the viewing area because it was closed off by a film crew. We didn’t ask what they were filming. We were not too disappointed, as there were no sea lions in the area at the time.

For lunch, we stopped at the Boudin Bakery Cafe on Pier 39. Ann admired the interesting shapes of some of their breads. There were loaves shaped into Teddy bears, turtles, alligators, and pigs. So cute! We both had half sandwiches on sourdough bread along with small bowls of soup. Keith had the turkey and havarti along with clam chowder. Ann had the chicken pesto with artisan tomato soup. Our meals really hit the spot.

As we continued strolling down the piers, we came across the large flagship Boudin Bakery on Fisherman’s Wharf. At the time we had lunch, we didn’t realize Boudin was the bakery who started the famous sour dough of San Francisco. We probably should have poked our heads into the flagship bakery as we later found out they have bakery demonstrations inside.

As we were approaching Fisherman’s Wharf, we came across the Red and White Fleet tour boats. They were about to board a one hour cruise that goes under the Golden Gate Bridge and around Alcatraz Island. Since it was still foggy, we thought a cruise was the only way we were going to see the Golden Gate Bridge, since we didn’t have time to walk all the way over to the bridge. So we purchased our tickets and hopped on board. During our cruise, the fog gradually burned off. We had wonderful views of both the bridge and Alcatraz.

The next pier past Fisherman’s Wharf is Hyde Street Pier, home of the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park. Since we have an America the Beautiful national park pass, all three of us were able to get onto the pier to see the historic ships for no additional fees. We definitely have gotten our money’s worth out of the park pass.

From there, it was a short walk over to Ghirardelli Square. The square used to be where the chocolate factory was, but now it is a group of shops and restaurants. The Original Ghirardelli Ice Cream and Chocolate Shop sounded like a great place to stop for an afternoon snack. We each ordered their famous hot fudge sundaes. To sit inside, we each had to show our vaccination records and our ID’s. It was the first time we had been asked that on our trip. After savoring our sundaes, we checked out the machinery on display that showed the different stages of making chocolate.

Next on our list of things not to miss was a cable car ride. We purchased day passes so we could hop on and off as much as we pleased, in addition to being able to ride other street cars. However, from the Hyde St. & Beach St. station, we only ended up hopping off once, at Lombard Street, then hopped back on to take the cable car to the other end, the Powell Blvd & Market St. stop. It would have been cheaper to pay for each ride separately.

When we got off the cable car at Lombard Street, we walked down next to the crooked street to the bottom, took our token selfie and walked back up to the top to catch the next cable car. Quite a few cars wound down the street while we were there. Some were taking it slow. It seemed like others were trying to see how fast they could go, but they were not going much faster. The speed limit is 5 mph, but the sharp curves keep the speed down regardless of the speed limit.

At the end of the cable car ride, we walked over to Chinatown. From Market Street, the Dragon Gate is only half a mile walk, through Union Square. From the Dragon Gate, we continued walking down Grant Avenue to Broadway. It seemed to be through the heart of Chinatown, with red lanterns strung across the street.

Along the way, a woman handed us a coupon for free wontons and green tea ice cream at the Chinatown Restaurant on Washington. We gave the impression we were going to eat at the restaurant, so when we kept walking down Grant, the woman came running after us to let us know we were going the wrong direction. We told her we were coming back and we did.

At the end of Grant Avenue, we turned right on Broadway and circled around to Columbus Avenue. Columbus is a busy thoroughfare, so we quickly cut back to Grant Avenue. We learned later that we should have turned left on Broadway and come back along Stockton Street. Stockton is the more authentic section of Chinatown, reminiscent of Hong Kong. We’ll know better next time!

We normally don’t like to go to places where we feel like we were recruited to go, but we did not see many restaurants open in Chinatown, so, not knowing of any better options, we ate at the Chinatown Restaurant. The food was not bad. In addition to our potstickers and green tea ice cream, we had lemon grass chicken, sesame chicken, and black pepper beef.

From the restaurant, it was about a one mile walk to the Ferry Building to catch our ferry back to Oakland. The ferry runs about once an hour, with the last ferry for the day at 9:10 pm. Again, our timing was perfect. We arrived at the dock just barely in time to get on the 6:35 pm ferry. The bright lights of downtown San Francisco and the San Francisco - Oakland Bay Bridge provided a beautiful landscape against the night sky as we pulled away from the dock. Another 25 minutes and we were back in Oakland.

It was a long but fulfilling day in San Francisco. We felt like we succeeded in seeing the highlights of the city. Keith was a little disappointed that we didn’t get to ride the electric street cars, but riding the cable cars seemed to satisfy him enough that he was not unhappy.

Thursday was the start of our train ride back to Denver. After a quick breakfast at our hotel, we hired an Uber ride back to the Amtrak station in Emeryville. We arrived in plenty of time to check our bags at the station. The scheduled departure time was 9:10 am and we were at the station around 7:45 am. They started lining us up on the platform about 20 minutes before departure time.

While we were at the station, Keith asked Amtrak to check their lost and found. He had left his sweater on the train on Tuesday. He realized his mistake before we reached our hotel. However, there was no local phone number to call Amtrak. His only option was to fill out a missing item report at the national office online. The Amtrak clerk at the station brought out two jackets, but neither one of them were Keith’s. We’ll just have to see if his sweater turns up. We don’t have high hopes. Keith will probably be ordering a new sweater soon.

It was foggy Thursday morning, just like it was the day before, so there wasn’t much scenery to see as we first pulled out of the station. Within the hour though, we were out of the fog and the sun came out.

Our first meal on the return trip was lunch. Ann was still trying out all the lunch options and had the artisan grilled cheese this time which is cooked with turkey and bacon inside. However, there are only three desserts to choose from. Ann was settling in on the carrot cake as her favorite. She’s not sure if the carrot cake is any less calories than the cheesecake or chocolate torte, but at least it sounds a little healthier with carrots, raisins, pineapple, and walnuts.

We finished lunch in plenty of time to enjoy the scenery through the Sierra Nevada mountains. The highlight is Donner Lake just before the town of Truckee, California. The cute houses and beautiful forest are perfectly reflected on the surface of the long, still lake.

You also get a pretty good view of the cute town of Truckee. Ann missed most of the town on the ride out to California, as she was waiting in line downstairs in the cafe to purchase an iced tea. She didn’t miss it this time and gave her camera a workout.

We started losing daylight after Reno, Nevada. So we traversed most of Nevada and Utah again in the dark, just as we did on the westward trip. Although we enjoyed seeing the mountains covered in snow, the disadvantage of taking the California Zephyr in the winter is the short daylight hours. We’ve never been to Salt Lake City, so it would have been nice to see. However, we’ll probably travel to Salt Lake on some of our future travels. And maybe we’ll take the Zephyr again some day in the summer, just to compare notes with our winter ride.

The dinner appetizers we chose were a green Chile cheese tamale for Ann and a crab cake for Keith. For the entree, Ann had the tortellini in a pesto cream sauce with chicken and Keith ordered the salmon with ancient grains and mixed vegetables. The sun set while we ate our meal, giving a nice glow to the few clouds in the sky.

Just to be fair, Ann slept on the top bunk this time and let Keith sleep on the bottom bunk. The closet in our roomette this time was a little different than the previous train. Instead of a little, narrow door on the end, it was open with a strap to secure anything you hang on the hook. We hung our jackets on the provided hangers on the hook, but we also were able to hang Keith’s carry on bag from the same hook. This allowed Ann to put her bag on the top step and we didn’t need to put any bags on the bottom bunk while we slept.

The mattress on the top bunk is a little firmer than the one on the bottom bunk. We both felt that the bottom bunk was more comfortable. Again, we woke up often during the night. In Ann’s case, it was to roll over to stop her hip from aching. Ann doesn’t mind the swaying of the train car and there is not much noise at night.

We’ve ridden the California Zephyr several decades ago, but only the section between Denver and Chicago. The scenery is definitely better heading west from Denver instead of east. From Denver to Chicago, crossing the flat plains, mostly pastures and farms. Back then, the train was much noisier. There was the familiar clickety-clack of the rails. Track rails used to be jointed to allow for expansion. Now it is more common to weld the segments of rail together, which provides a quieter and smoother ride. (Joining Rails).

Friday we woke up to overcast skies in Utah, so we could not see the sun rise. For breakfast, we both opted for the French toast with fresh berries, since it was the last option we had not yet tried. It hit the spot.

As we entered Colorado, it started snowing. The train came to a stop. The Zephyr had tripped a dragging equipment detector along tracks, so it had to stop to be inspected. An engineer walked along the whole length of the train and didn’t find any issues. We started back up after about ten to fifteen minutes and were on our way again. However, about an hour or two later, another dragging equipment detector was activated, so we stopped again. This time the engineer knocked ice off the underside of the train which had built up from the wet snow. He hoped that would prevent further drag detection from occurring. We had no issues after that.

For lunch, Ann continued to try something different and had the chili. You can have it in a bowl or on top of a baked potato. She opted for the baked potato while Keith had it in a bowl. It was pretty tasty. The chili had a little kick to it, but not too spicy.

Despite the overcast skies, the views of the Rockies were still gorgeous. Wildlife was again abundant along the Colorado River in the various canyons we traveled through. This time, in addition to seeing many elk and deer, we also spotted bald eagles, golden eagles, and river otters.

As we approached Winter Park, it became obvious that we were a little behind schedule. The crew was trying to keep our small station stops as short as possible to make up some time. The issue was the Moffat Tunnel that was coming up after Winter Park.

It was Friday and the Amtrak Winter Park Express was loading up at the ski slopes. It runs on Friday, Saturday, and Sundays in the winter between Denver and Winter Park. It departs from Union Station at 7 am and arrives at the base of the ski slopes in Winter Park at 9 am. To return the skiers to Denver in the evening, it departs from the slopes at 4:30 pm and arrives in Denver at 6:40 pm.

The problem is that only one train is allowed in the Moffat Tunnel at a time and the next train needs to wait half an hour to allow the diesel exhaust to dissipate out of the tunnel. Our engineer was hoping to beat the Winter Park Express through the tunnel, but we did not make it. Instead, we held up for half an hour at the Winter Park/Fraser train station to wait for the Winter Park Express to go ahead of us. So, instead of arriving in Denver at our scheduled 6:38 pm, we arrived closer to 7 pm.

Amtrak has a reputation for not being on time. However, if you look at their history, it is not as bad as their reputation. Rumor has it that freight trains have priority over passenger trains. This is not exactly true. According to federal law, Amtrak has preference over freight traffic. However, in practice, the freight companies are the ones who own the rail lines and control the schedules and are rarely punished for not giving Amtrak priority. Amtrak does try to provide the different freight companies with financial incentives, but some freight companies are better than others. (Amtrak Report Card).

Given that we were traveling 36 hours on a train and ended up at our destination just minutes after our schedule’s arrival time is not that bad. And our delays were due to weather and wildlife. All that wildlife we saw? It means that the train has to slow down for safety reasons. Amtrak does add padding to the schedule so they can try to allow for some delays and try to make up lost time by shortening stops at stations.

The crew is good at announcing how long the train will be stopped at a station, with some stops allowing people to get off and stretch their legs or have a smoke. They also warn the passengers multiple times not to stray far from the platform, because the train will not wait for them. Once they announce “all-aboard”, they depart whether or not all the passengers have gotten back on or not. We actually overheard someone who was left behind once because they wandered off to smoke a cigarette and didn’t get back in time. One of the crew told us that it happens all the time.

We entered the Moffat Tunnel at about 4:50 pm. Since we were getting off in Denver, we had dinner reservations for 5 pm. Before we entered the tunnel, they announced that the 5 pm reservations needed to enter the dining car before the tunnel since traveling between cars while in the tunnel is not allowed. Thank goodness no one violated that because we didn’t want a dining car full of diesel fumes while we ate.

We arrived at Denver Union Station in the dark, just the way we started our journey five days earlier. After picking up our luggage at baggage claim, it was a short wait for the RTD N Line to get back home. It was a nice, enjoyable trip. Now Ann just needed to work on losing the six pounds she gained during the five days she was gone.

The trip was a little more expensive than our normal trips, but it was a wonderful experience. Sharing the trip with our son made it even more special. Sometimes it’s good to mix it up a little and do something different.

Check out our related video: California Zephyr: Denver to San Francisco

(Ann)