Camping @ Farish

The Farish Rec Area — formally, the Williams Stamps Farish Jr. Memorial Recreational Area — is a USAFA operated military facility that is described as a mountain resort in Pike National Forest. It is situated on property donated by the Farishes to honor their son, who was in the Army Air Corps during WWII. I’m not sure when Farish was built, but according to the plaque near the office, it was “dedicated to the cadet wing of the United States Air Force Academy … August 27, 1959.”

What attracted us to Farish was the promise of peace and quiet to enjoy, as well as mountains, meadows, trees and lakes … and plenty of hiking opportunities … even if the trails were at some 9,000+ feet … 2,000 or so feet higher than where we live in Colorado Springs.

Since Farish sounded so delightful, we decided to see if we could go there for our second camping outing with the Cruiser. Easier said than done during these pandemic times! We almost gave up on camping there since it took so long to get a call back for a reservation. Glad we didn’t as the place is as lovely as described … even if the luster of the resort facilities could do with a good polishing.

When we made our reservation last week, the weather forecast was good. With each passing day, however, that started to change. Suddenly, there was snow in the forecast for Monday night into today. Oh my! Oh well!

Indeed, when we turned on the TV this morning, the weather-heads were showing pictures of snow in Woodland Park. The small accumulation was on the grassy areas and the roads were clear, however, so we decided to keep our reservation. Sure it was only 39F when we left the house around 10:00a. Sure the wind was still blowing strong. But the day was quickly improving.

From Woodland Park, which is about five miles from Farish, we had to drive on FSR 309 ... unpaved and incredibly washboardy. I thought that we would surely shake everything out of the cabinets. But we made it OK. The bonus … with all the aspens we saw along the way, we now know where to come within easy driving distance to enjoy the fall foliage.

It didn’t take Mui long to check-in once we pulled up by the Farish office. Only one person allowed into the office — mask mandatory. No problem … we were the only ones there.

Odd is probably the best way to describe our site at the Lake Grace Pavilion, one of only three 15A electric sites here. (The other two are over by the office and nowhere near us. It’s the closest we’ve come to feeling like we’re boondocking … but with some facilities. There is nothing marking our site … except perhaps the electric pedestal … outlet actually. We found the least uneven area to be next to the picnic shelter and parked parallel to it. Even then, it took us a while to get level.

Behind us is the “barn.” A peek through the windows uncovered that it is a dormitory that can sleep 12. The only reason we were able to get the RV site is because no one has reserved the barn for a group event. Down the road from us are two camper cabins … very basic, very rustic. Both are empty at the moment. No weekday reservations are currently being accepted except for tents and RVs, so I expect they will remain unoccupied until Friday, which is when we’ll be leaving. So we have this whole area to ourselves. It’s quiet, it’s peaceful, and we’re at one with mother nature. We’re more than happy with our site and our surroundings.

After lunch, a quick vacuum and swiffer took care of our chores for today. We were then free to go exploring. So, we set off to check out Lake Grace. One of the three Farish lakes — reservoirs, actually — LG is just down the road from our site. Maybe a few hundred yards. With the sun out and the temp comfortable despite the occasional wind gusts, we enjoyed the beautiful scenery as we strolled towards the far end of the lake to check out the lodge and the cottage — unoccupied at present. Likewise, the day use area was also deserted. The Lake Grace area of Farish was all ours to enjoy.

Pine trees and aspens were reflected on the calm water … huge boulders protruded out of the surface of the lake. Birds flitted about … many more chirping away unseen in the trees. Ground squirrels were running about … standing upright to scan the area when something caught their attention. A pair of mallards came out of the water to see if we had a handout for them … no we didn’t. Peaceful … quiet. Gorgeous landscape.

When we left the Cruiser to check-out Lake Grace, we intended to just reconnoiter the immediate area. Well, one thing led to another and before we knew it we had hiked to Lake Leo, where we took a break and sat down to watch the swallows. From their metallic blue-green feathers and white fronts, I am guessing they were tree swallows. No way to photograph them as they were flying about at lightning speed. But it was delightful to just sit and enjoy the peace and quiet. The bonus for taking the time to chill? We saw a mama mallard escorting her brood — I counted six ducklings.

From Lake Leo, we followed the road to Lake Sapphire. And that’s where we got lost. Well, not really. But we did get a bit discombobulated. So, we decided to follow the trail to the office as we knew we’d find our way to Lake Grace from there. This worked out in our favor when we left the path to climb a hill — which turned out to be Wedding Ridge. It was from this high spot that we enjoyed the beautiful sight of the snow-frosted Front Range of the Rockies and the north face of Pikes Peak … with trees, trees, trees everywhere, both pine and aspen, and ofcourse Lake Sapphire as well. This was also the spot where we caught a single-bar phone signal that was just strong enough for texting family that we were OK and would be incommunicado for a bit.

Once we made it up the hill and got to the road, we followed it back to Lake Grace. It was then that we wondered if the Wilson signal booster we’d installed in the CR-V when we were full-timing would help us get a cell signal. Nope. You need to have a signal to be able to boost it. And we had nothing … zip … nada. No matter.

Having driven to Wedding Ridge to test out the signal booster, we swung by the office to ask for a trail map. The bonus for making the detour … broad-tailed hummingbirds were flitting around two feeders. And they were not shy about posing.

Once we returned to our site, we sat outside in the sun for a while. But with the wind blowing it grew too cool after a while, so we sought refuge in the Cruiser. It was 7:00p by then … time for dinner … a light salad tonight.

Not only is there no cell signal way up here at 9,100 feet — thus no Netflix to watch — there are no over-the-air TV channels either. We are totally unplugged. Next time, we’ll download a couple of movies to entertain us. In the meantime, Mui put on the DVD of our 2007 trip to Banff in Alberta, Canada. It’s nice to re-live our travels this way. Tomorrow night we’ll go to Jasper 😉

Mui went to bed around 9:00p. It’s now getting on towards 11:00p. I’m all caught up with today’s story. Time to get some rest. With no one around, all the window shades are open and I’m hoping I can see the stars from bed.Read more