Pool Table Road

Yesterday we drove out towards the small town of Creede.  About seven or eight miles before getting into town we spotted a sign that simply said "Pool Table."  Curious we followed the small brown sign with the arrow to the right and quickly found ourselves amidst some spectacular scenery.  No pool table though, and we still don't know why they call it that.  The view from Pool Table Road for the first 7 miles or so looks like this:

We had to get out and get a better look at this!  We didn't do much hiking today though since it's hunting season.  We saw a lot of hunters and talked to a few of them.  Not one of them had even seen an elk and they reported hearing not one shot on opening day.  We didn't see any animals either.  Wonder if they went to Aspen for the winter?

We were WAY up here!  We started at around 8100 ft but were well over 10,000 rather quickly.

 Simon made us nervous.

He seemed quite sure of his footing though.

There are so many volcanic rock formations here that this area has become an incredibly interesting geological wonderland.  To read about some of the cool things you can find here like fossils and geodes, check out this interesting site:  Creede Geology

We got back into the Sub and little did we know but we were about to put it to the test.  The next 20+ miles or so we were on some of the roughest road, if you can call it a road, that either of us have ever been on for that long.  It's actually what they call a 4WD Jeep Trail.  In the winter it's a well-maintained snowmobile trail and there are lots of places up there to ski and snowshoe.  Yesterday it was just one really long and REALLY ROCKY ROAD.  Check this out:

Unfortunately this is the sign we saw when we were coming out the other side at Adler Creek.

This pic does a good job of showing you just how NARROW the road got in some places.  I gotta say, Ken did a fantastic job driving over this difficult terrain, but it was really tough for me to be in the passenger side without any control at all.  By the time we got out of here my legs and my jaws were sore!

Focus Ken.  

I put the camera on timer so it would snap a picture every once in awhile.  It was pretty fun to get home and find these:

When we finally got back on the road and into town again we went to the Malt Shop and had buffalo burgers, free fries, and the best vanilla malts we've had in a long time.  It was Free Day!  Yeah!  That means we get to eat whatever we want, for those of you who don't know about Free Day.  The rest of the week we are on/in The Zone.

We got these pictures on the way home from the Malt Shop.  It was getting late so they are kind of dark but I think you can still get another view of what it looks like near our new home.

This is the Rio Grande, one the longest rivers in the US. Fourth or fifth longest, I think.

I want to learn how to catch the fish that I know are in there.  :)

Interesting shot of Simon looking out the window at me posing in the Aspens.  :)

This little Catholic church is stunning when the light hits it just right.  People sometimes pull over and park so they can take pictures of it.  Yesterday that's what we did too.

Thanks for coming along with us on yesterday's adventure! On our next day off we are going to take the drive across Wolf Creek Pass.  Scott says the colors over there are mind-blowing and we want to see that for ourselves!  Check back soon!

The Ruins

They aren't really ruins but from afar that's what they look like so that's what we call them.  We packed a lunch and went on a good hike up to these rocks and climbed around on them.  The view from up there was amazing!

You can see kinda South Fork down there in the valley behind me.

Ooo!  Whoa!  :)

Ken takes a moment to absorb the beauty, and the contrasting devastation from past fires.

 Simon, of course, loved this hike since he loves climbing around on rocks.  He couldn't get up on the big ones by himself, though, so we had to carry him part of the time.  

Back by the truck we sat down and rested a bit in this fabulous stand of Aspens before heading back down into town and going home.  Speaking of home, I can't find my HOME sign.  :(  I sure hope it's in one of our bags and that I didn't leave it somewhere.  :(

Million Reservoir and Jen's New Hat

The fire damage you see here happened many years ago.  You can see the Aspens making a comeback, though.  This is because Aspens are all connected - they are actually all one giant organism with many branches. This means the root systems are underground so they are able to recover from fire where other trees are not.  The bark of the Aspen is also believed to have healing properties.  I know it heals my soul to walk among them.

 My new hat is 100% hemp and was handmade by women in a village in Nepal. Profits from the sales of items made by these women goes back to their village.  We got it at the VERY groovy store near us called, The Organic Peddler.  We love shopping/eating there.  They are ordering us some Oat Groats too!

This was a short but enjoyable hike.  Might want to try fishing here sometime but I don't know how to catch fish in Colorado.  We live right on the Rio Grande River so maybe we will learn how to fly fish while we are here.  There is such an art to that.  I always pause to watch someone who is really good at it.

Going For a Drive

We started working yesterday and since our hours were 8-1 we went for a drive after work.  Learning what's around here is so much fun... especially when the scenery looks like this:

 We were going to hike around Lost Lake, but we couldn't find it.  Snicker.

Welcome to Colorado!

Hello everyone, and welcome to our new home in South Fork, Colorado!!

Our first hike on Fox Mountain.  And we saw a fox!

The Aspens are changing!