Pool Table Mountain -- Search for antlers

Yesterday, I drove my neighbor Darvin and myself up Pool Table Road and back over the top of the mountain where we parked and hiked around the mountainside in search of Elk antlers -- or some wildlife.  We hiked for some 2-1/2 hours over meadows and into some thick woods on the top of one ridge where Darvin had previously found a shed (last year).  We originally had hoped to get to the bottom of the area by way of another road we passed by earlier but, the gate and the road was still closed.

The scenery and views from various spots on the road and the mountain proved to be really spectacular as usual.  As we hiked and searched for signs (chews and rubs) that might lead us to some sheds, the snow fell occasionally and later some sleet too.  The signs were there but, we had no luck in finding any sheds or big game.  We did however, certainly get our exercise for the day as we ended up in the meadow below where we saw the closed road.  Then, we headed back up the drainage area next to a little creek and through the gulch below some cliffs we had passed by previously while walking the woods above -- pretty strenuous climbing back up to the top when it came time to head back to the Jeep.  As they say, it takes about twice as long to climb back up and we needed a short break for snacks and water after getting above the top level of the cliffs.

 



 

Search Area

After making our way back to the Jeep, we continued east over the top of the mountain on FSR 610 toward Alder road at the other end of the valley (came out not far from our campground).  The roads along the top of the mountain were in pretty good shape but, the road down was really rocky and very narrow with a steep drop into the canyon below.  Not a ride I will ever take again and one that I will caution no one to take with their Jeep or truck -- only a road for ATVs or OHVs.  We fortunately didn't encounter any vehicles coming up the rough road and that is really good because there were very few turnouts (if any) along some 4 or 5 miles of the toughest parts of the road (and that steep drop looming to the right).  That had Darvin pretty scared most of the way down while I was distracted by keeping my attention on the road and avoiding the many rocks along the way (must have hit the bottom of the Jeep at least a dozen times).

So glad to get off that road and passed the golf course on our way back to route 149 where we connected just beyond the bridge over the Rio Grande river (near our campground).  Cooked four more of those lovely, pink meat trout (nearly the color of Salmon) and four Elk burgers.  Finished cooking on the grille just before a good rain hit here.  Nice to enjoy one of those burgers and one of the trout.  Glad too that the rain didn't hit while we were on that road.