July 6

From Cheyenne we headed west to Ames Monument which honors the Union Pacific Railroad financiers who envisioned a transcontinental railroad.  The Parcels passed by this monument in 1888 while it was still the highest point in the Union Pacific track.  The railroad has since been relocated twice to lower elevations, leaving the monument with no train track in sight.







From the monument we went through Laramie and onto a road that passed through the Medicine Bow Mountains.  What a beautiful trip.  The Parcels traveled on Rattlesnake Pass, which a park ranger informed us still existed and had been close to (if not part of) the Overland Trail north of the mountains.

The Parcels crossed the North Platte River for the last time in Saratoga (just west of the Medicine Bow Mts.) and having read part of the diary to the park ranger, we are now reasonably sure that they continued from Saratoga on the Overland Trail for the next few days.  We stopped in Saratoga take a picture of the river and to tour the local museum.

Doing our best to duplicate the Parcel’s 1888 trip, we headed north and then east to just to drive west again on the gravel road used as a pass north of the Medicine Bow Mts.  Along this route, which was also very pretty, we saw many antelope.  These sightings are certainly something most travelers miss on I-80.