Yep, we're off to see the gorge and the bridge.

Click any image to see a larger view.

The first view is pretty amazing. We are on the East side of the bridge.

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The first part of our tour started with the

incline,

which descends into the gorge at a 45 degree angle. The

funicular,

uses three rails. Each car uses two of the three until they pass in the middle of the trip, where there are four rails to allow for passing.

It is steep. This photo looks down from the top.

Once at the bottom, you are 1053 feet below the bridge!

Looking North up river.

Looking down river.

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Looking up 1053 feet at the suspension bridge.

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After returning to the top, our next leg of the journey was the Sky tram.

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Arriving on the west side the gorge, Deinna took a breather. She can never find a chair where her feet reach the floor.

I, of course, was busy checking our position.

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This White buffalo (where is Charles Bronson when you need him?) is one of the many animals on display on the west side - along with elk, moose and goats.

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One of the really fun things to do on the west side is the Skycoaster, which hurls you out over the gorge at 50 MPH. I did want

so bad

to do this, but on this particular day, I was wearing the wrong color shorts.

This young lady prepares for launch.

Yes, she was screaming!

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Deinna starts off on the return trip. The bridge is 18 feet wide. You can drive your car , motorcycle, or just walk - there is also a trolley that will take you across both ways.

The flags of all the states are flown across the bridge. Here, I try to hold the Pennsylvania flag still, as the wind is

really

blowing up here.

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Another way to see the gorge is by white-water rafting down the Arkansas river - way down there below the bridge .

And of course, what every good gorge needs is a

great train ride

on the Rio Grand Railroad.

There is a helicopter also available.

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Deinna reaches the center of the span - you can see by how low the cable is to the bridge.

Also at the center, you can see how large the cable is - my hand is next to a splice made in a single strand - there are 2,100 strands in each cable.

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Returning back to the east side, we found the marker that tells some of the history of the gorge.

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