Wednesday, August 18, 2021

Westward, Ho! Day 21: Sunrise at Clinton Lake, KS and Sunset at Wilson Lake, KS

I woke before dawn and couldn't get back to sleep, so I figured I might as well go see what kind of a sunrise I'd get today.

I walked down to the swim beach, paused to get the branches of the trees in the pre-sunrise light:


No clouds in the sky so the sunrise was not great, though the haze/smoke did make the sun appear to be a big reddish ball slowly rising from the east.  I was in a good position to capture the following shots involving the sun and the local flock of seagulls.





I returned to my campsite once the sun was well up from the horizon and too bright to shoot.  Got some coffee, breakfast, and finished breaking down camp and getting ready for the road.

I think I was on the road by 9:15 or so, drove on county roads till finally getting to the I-70 super slab and heading east towards Topeka, KS.  It was about a four hour day, including three stops.  

First stop was to try and visit the U.S. Cavalry Museum in Fort Riley, KS but the guard at the gate informed me the museum was closed due to the pandemic.

Second stop was for groceries at the nearby Walmart and finally the third stop was for gas before once again getting back on I-70 and continuing west.

I'm now camping at Sylvan Park, near Wilson Lake, another COE campground and the last one  it seems for people heading further west.  It's BLM country from this point on, along with Bureau of Reclamation in terms of water resources.


Having actually done a good map and google satellite image recce, the spot I had reserved was perfect!  As you can see, bushes and trees isolate me from nearest neighbor; and the campground is really not even a third full!  HHJJ.

I went exploring with the Sammy and took this view of the dam from the scenic overlook on the other side of Wilson Lake:


Returning to camp, I finished setting up and cooked dinner.  I relaxed till it was time for sunset pictures and headed out once again in the Sammy.

Found a spot at the Spillway Boat Ramp suitable for framing the Sammy with the setting sun:




The plan is to stay here tonight and tomorrow night, and then head home on Friday.  I'm about six hours from home, but today's drive left me exhausted.  We'll see how I feel in the morning.

2 comments:

SonjaM said...

Wow, the sunrise shot with the two seagulls in the center of the sun is amazing, Dom. Again, wow!

redlegsrides said...

Danke Schöne SonjaM!