Fall in Creede, Colorado

For our fall trip, we are traveling the Southwest US starting in Colorado. Already cold here with nights in the high 30's. What a shock for us!!! This area has 29 of the 54 Fourteeners (mountains over 14,000 feet---the tallest in Colorado.) It is also the headwaters of the Rio Grande River. We started out at a guest ranch outside of Creede. The river ran through the ranch---here Tex and I are getting our first look at the Rio Grande. We moved after 2 nights---because of no internet, no TV (even our satellite wouldn't work), and no cell phone. We really do like our comforts.



On our second day, we drove the Silver Thread Scenic Byway running through the Rio Grande Valley up to Lake City and then drove the Alpine Loop (a 47 mile 4-wheel drive national road).
WORDS CANNOT DESCRIBE HOW TERRIFIED I WAS--Fred loved every minute of it and it was the most beautiful scenery ever. Our jeep was going straight up or straight down in some spots and the rocks sticking up in the road bumped on the bottom of the jeep. We had to stop sometimes to figure at what angle to try to get the jeep over the rocks!!! The road was not wide enough for 2 cars to pass but they did have some turnouts. If you met someone, you had to back up to a wide enough space so you both could pass while hanging off the side of a mountain!!(And you can guess who was on the side looking down---ME!!) See what I mean---it was unbelievable!!! (I even had nightmares about falling off the mountain last night) But it was just such a new experience and I think I am ready to go again on some other 4-wheel drives. I don't think many of them could be as nerve-wrecking as the Alpine Loop. We only traveled 8 MILES PER HOUR!!!

This is just the beginning of the road near town. They maintain it there.



San Cristobal Lake near Lake City



On the Alpine Loop--this is good road here--you couldn't get out to take any pictures of the nerve-wrecking parts!!! We climbed up through 2 mountain passes that were at 12,00-13,000 ft.--up above the tree line. We saw a great many elk and mule deer.