I have done many of the things discussed here including abusing rental cars, going off road with a Ford Taurus, learning the hard way that 4x4 isn't much help in mud, etc. It can be a lot of fun, but John Bush makes the point that trying to drive into that fragile wildness is not particularly environmentally friendly....and the pristine, remote environment is a key to the railroad's attraction. An alternative is....hiking. If you are taking photographs "chasing" often results in a bunch of mediocre pictures constrained by time and where your wheels could get you. Hiking is not only good exercise, but it gives you the freedom to reach a lot of neat places that wheels won't take you. That is especially true between Sublette and Osier, as well as Osier and Los Pinos. And Sublette, Osier, and Los Pinos are points that can be easily reached over decent roads. And most importantly hiking kind of forces you to focus on getting one or two really good photographs, and not a bunch of very average pix that everyone else already has. A lot of really neat spots can be reached by pleasant walks along the right of way, including Cascade bridge, a beautiful overlook of the canyon west of Rock Tunnel, and Whiplash. Back in 1964 Gordon Chappell and I hike east from Osier to get these pictures. We almost didn't make it out, but that is another story.
JBWX
Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 07/21/2020 04:01PM by John West.