​​In The Shadow of Longs Peak

Williams' Fork

04 June 2021

Williams Fork Car Camping

Our 2nd official trip of retirement, this time to the Williams Fork Area, accessed by the Ute Pass Road, north of Silverthorne, and past the Henderson Mill.  We did take a road trip here a week ago to be sure it was not snowed in.

We got site #11, right by the creek, in the Southfork Campground.  It has a nice open area by the car where it will be good for looking at stars.

We left my place at 10:15, reaching the Silverthorne Exit at 12:15, so about normal time.

But before heading to camp, we needed to get sushi at Whole Foods in Frisco which turned out to be an adventure.  I remembered it being in the same shopping center with the Safeway.  It turns out to be a bit to the west and not on Gary’s car navigation system.  My cell phone Google search was incredibly slow!  But we did find it, about ½ mile past the Safeway.

We supplied up and headed back to Silverthorne, north on CO 9 to the Ute Pass Road, pass Henderson Mill, then right on Forest Service Road 30 and on to the Southfork Campground. 

It’s opening day today.  There are a couple of parties here already but we really scored with this primo site.

First is to pay the fee. $19 this year (with our senior pass, we pay 1/2 of the regular fee) for 2 nights.  Such a deal.   Then setup camp.  Gary has the tent almost upright when I return from the fee station.  We finish that in a jiffy, then we put in pads, bags, pillows and clothes.

I take a break, have some lunch then back to setup.  Next the sunshade.  Next the cooler.  Then a beer.  Then the remaining tasks:  BAB, stove, water, luminades; we take out the sunshade.  It is surprisingly warm. 

I need to mention that we are at the south/west edge of the Willams Fork Fire of October 2020.  The campground does not show signs of burn but evidence is not too far away. 

Now, time to write.  It is nice to not have to squeeze in writing.  Next some sketching, with the creek, trees, and hillside as my subject. Next, a couple of sketches of the creek with trees.  I am happy with them as sketches but how do I bring this work to a new level?  I guess just keep doing them.

Then I took some photos of the creek, starting with the highest f-stop, changing the ISO as needed and keeping the shutter speed to 1/2000.  Then one last photo as a low shutter speed and adjusting the f-stop and ISO as needed.