1968: FREIGHT TRAIN TO YOSEMITE

In late May of 1968 six of us hopped a westbound freight train in the Denver freight yards, trying to get to Yosemite. This photo shows us approaching Eldorado Canyon, with a long way to go. We got as far as Grand Junction where several sheriff cars greeted us in the freight yards as the train slowed to a stop. The engineers had radioed ahead to have us removed – we had not been very discreet and, by the way, riding freight trails is illegal. That was the end of the first leg of the trip, and there were many more before we eventually made it to the Valley a few days later. The whole journey to Yosemite and back was quite an epic that included jail time for me and Danny on the trip back home. And we DID also do some climbing in Yosemite. For the fuller story, see Freight Train to Yosemite.

Left to Right: Roger Dalke, Steve Tandy, me (back facing), Tom Ruwitch (mostly blocked by me), and Danny Smith.