In The Shadow of Longs Peak
Tuesday 15 August 2017
We have an uneventful hike out and off to the Dam Brewery in Dillon for refreshments. Then home and get ready for the next phase of our vacation.
Williams' Fork
13 August 2017 - 15 August 2017
The first of 3 summer vacation outings!
The summer is flying by. But here we are, backpacking! We left my house around 8 AM and got to the trailhead around 10:30.
This is a new area and destination for us: North of Silverthorne, there is a paved access road to the Henderson Mill; beyond the mill, a good forest service gravel road headed south along the Willams Fork Creek. At the end are a couple of campgrounds and trailheads.
A sign mentions that horse trailer should part at the Darling Creek Trailhead. Our jumping off point is the Williams Fork Trailhead.
This is an interesting place: A meandering creek obscured by willows along a wide flat valley…a perfect place to see a moose! But, alas, there are no moose but there is a system of boardwalks which keeps us out of the bogs. It is really boggy!
Soon after, we are beyond the bog and have turned up creek along a really nice trail…not too steep and the trail is in very good shape. I wonder if there are outfitters that come back here as there is a lot of downed timber but it is evident that the path has been cleared with a chainsaw.
This is a good trail for my worn out body, which is finding strenuous exercise to be a challenge and the heat and higher altitudes make it even more so. I seem to want to rest every 15 minutes or so (which I do). Gary is far ahead but eventually I do catch up and we rest a bit then move on.
Trail Time Today: 11:30 AM – 3:00 PM and I estimate the distance to be about 3 miles.
Monday 14 August 2017
We got up at a reasonable hour, 7:45 or so, made breakfast then packed up for our day hike.
I forgot my stow-able day back so used the top of my backpack which worked out quite nicely, not at all like I remembered it.
We hike up creek. The trail stayed way above the creek the whole way; there are several streams coming down the side, a very tight-packed forest in a narrow valley.
After about 2 hours, I opt to turn around and Gary continued. We had a nice long rain shower on the way back but no lightening which was good.