Pool Table Road

One day, while visiting the area around Creede, Colorado, we decided to explore the back road called Pool Table Road.  I thought that was a rather unusual name for a road, but we soon discovered the reason for the name!

We started the drive on a road that was! in really good condition and offered up a beautiful view of the Rio Grande River!  We were climbing from the elevation of our campground, about 8400 feet.  As we drove, I loved how clear the air was – and kind of chilly, being up that high!!

We saw some wonderful mountain meadow views, and discovered the reason for the name of the road – there’s a mountain up there named Pool Table Mountain!  We decided that perhaps the reason for the name was the flat top of the mountain, rather like a pool table.  I guess the person who named the mountain may have had playing pool as a hobby!! Oh, and as an aside, the brownness of the pine trees didn’t seem to be from fire.  It may have been from beetles.  Colorado has been hit hard by them over the past several years.

We drove through a few stands of aspen, and I took several photos of them.  I then thought it might be nice to display them with a variety of techniques and effects.  Hopefully, you’ll enjoy the different views of these picturesque trees.

There were also a number of wildflowers that we saw along our explorations!  Dandelions, a variety of daisy (I believe) and a beautiful white bloom that I think might be called a Bear’s Breeches.  Whatever they all are, I thoroughly enjoyed them!!

What an amazing bird!!  When we first saw it, we wondered if it was a very large hawk, but then the closer we got to it, the more we could see that it looked more like a young golden eagle.  I was lucky enough to capture him perched on a tree, then taking off and flying out of my camera’s view!!

And, then the road got rough, and that’s easily the understatement of the past several years!!  We saw a sign that said “Road Damage Ahead” and we thought, ok, it may be a bit rough, like you see in this photo.  However, this was what one could call “very good shape” compared to how bad the road got!  I’m a lapsed Catholic, but I admit, I did offer up a couple of prayers as we traveled further down the road.  If we could have turned around, we would have!! 

Finally, toward the bottom of the mountain and lower portion of the road, we got a beautiful view of the area around the town of South Fork.  It is a small town, and not nearly as built up with shops as the town of Creede is.  Still, a welcome sight, after that rough road!!!

Enjoy!