Making New Memories at Williams Fork
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Relaxing at the Southfork Campground, Williams Fork
If you read David’s last Blue View, you’ll know he hasn’t visited Williams Fork in Colorado’s Arapaho National Forest since about 1965… ~55 years ago… his last visit was just before he entered the Navy as a 17-year old young recruit. I, on the other hand, had never visited this out-of-the-way, memory-making place, so when we were looking for our next campsite, it didn’t take long to make a decision. Williams Fork, it was. We consulted the National Forest website to insure that the campground was open and off we went.
In actuality, only the Southfork Campground was open though David was pretty sure the family used to camp at Sugarloaf, a short distance away. No matter, we found a vacant site in South Fork and decided it would be a perfect place to celebrate our 35th anniversary… and make some new memories of our own.
Named for the Southfork of the Williams Fork River, the campground is well-laid out with spacious, well-maintained sites, clean vault toilets, picnic tables, fire rings and fresh water. Everything we needed for a pleasant camping experience. Compared to the hot weather in the Denver area, the air here was cool and fresh with just a faint hint of evergreen... and a little camp smoke.
Wild roses around the campground and along the Boardwalk trail.
We explored the campground a bit and found a ¾ mile trail leading to the Boardwalk. We followed the pleasant path, finding a few dispersed campsites en route. The Boardwalk was quite lovely, lined with willows and wild roses and turn-outs for fishing access. It was pleasant, that is, until we reached the end quite abruptly. It obviously had had some rough times over the past few years and no maintenance or repairs had been made. We wondered if this was a lack of funds, lack of time or lack of interest on the part of the Forest Service.
End of the line!
We celebrated our anniversary in a low-key, romantic fashion. Grilled salmon and corn on the cob on the grill, dining under the stars and a full moon, huddling together beside a blazing campfire to ward off the night chill. It really doesn’t get much better for us.
Mother Nature’s anniversary gift to us… a beautiful full moon.
The new day dawned bright, sunny and chilly. We’d only paid for one night at the campground. At 9,000’, we didn’t know how well we’d tolerate the altitude here, but we were still breathing in the morning and no gasping during the night, so we figured we were fine and paid for a couple more nights.
Early morning exercise … pumping water
David filled up our water jugs with fresh well water. We initially thought the water pump was out of order, but the camp host explained that the Archimedes screw device used to pump water, took 20-30 turns to prime and bring water from its 80’ depth to the surface. In other words, some morning exercise before we went hiking.
Ground squirrels and birds darted through the campground as we sipped our morning coffee while deciding on our plans for the day.
The Darling Creek Trail was steep and rocky, but worth the effort.
We chose the Darling Creek Trail thinking it would meander along the creek. In actuality, it wandered up, up, up… above and over the Henderson Mine Tunnel. The trail was rough and rocky and we were a bit winded, but the views were superb. Huge stands of aspen quivered in the breeze. Birds flitted from tree to tree and we could hear woodpeckers nearby, but never saw them. We caught a quick glimpse of a fat marmot on the rocks above us.
Wildflowers were in abundance… purple asters, yellow cinquefoil, white yarrow. I was thrilled to find one of my Colorado favorites, a cluster of blue columbine sunning themselves in the filtered light provided by tall evergreens.
My favorite Colorado flower… the blue columbine.
We returned to the campground via the Southfork Trail and quite accidentally discovered the other end of the Boardwalk. It appears spring flooding at some point in time might have been responsible for the damage we’d seen. We managed to pick our way on a muddy path and maneuvered along part of the damaged walk to get back to the little path leading back to camp.
Southfork River view
Something had changed along the path, however. Logs and debris had been dragged onto the path in a barricade-fashion, obviously discouraging walkers from using the trail. We saw no one around, but one of the dispersed campsites seemed larger and a log was smoldering in a recently dug fire pit.
We really didn’t think much more about it until we returned to the path the following day. More and more debris had been dragged onto the trail and when we reached the dispersed campsite along the way, a makeshift archery range had been set up right in the middle of the path. Several arrows pierced nearby trees, obviously the archer needed more practice… preferably not on the trail.
Bow-hunting practice in the middle of a well-used trail?
Somewhat angered, David found and confronted the camp owner about his actions, but the fellow denied any knowledge of the barricades and didn’t find any problem whatsoever with practicing his bow-hunting skills in the middle of a well-used public path. We methodically removed all the logs. limbs and debris from the path on our way out and found later that several folks had reported the ‘inconsiderate’ fellow to the authorities.
We methodically removed the limbs, logs and debris from the Boardwalk footpath.
Each afternoon, as is usual in Colorado, the thunder-boomers moved in and provided some noise and a dousing of rain between 2-4pm. Our last day in camp, the rain was quite heavy and the temperature plummeted from the pleasant 70s to mid-50s in a matter of an hour. We had an early dinner and retired to Blue without dawdling by the fire… it was just too cold and wet. Blue was warm and dry and a cozy respite.
After four days, it was time to break camp and head out. Though we have no schedule, it always seems incumbent upon us to move on and get to the next place… wherever it might be. I think we’re heading to Wyoming. Why not join us and find out.
And, Virginia… glad you enjoyed your summer romance with David at Williams Fork and then returned to Kansas. Just sayin’.