North Cascades

From Wikipedia – This complex includes two geographically distinct units of the national park, as well as Ross Lake and Lake Chelan National Recreation Areas. The highly glaciated mountains are spectacular examples of Cascade geology. Popular hiking and climbing areas include Cascade Pass, Mount Shuksan, Mount Triumph, and Eldorado Peak.

• Established: 10/2/1968
• Annual Visitors: 30,085
• Size: 504,781 acres

North Cascades National Park

4/20/2021

We are on our way to North Cascades National Park! We have been looking forward to this excursion since way before we left. Warning: this entry is L…o…n…g! Lots of awesome photos and details of this incredibly remote, semi-off-the grind lakeside town accessible only by water or air!

We stayed one night in Chelan, WA (shaw-lan, like in land) where we will catch the ferry to Stehekin, WA, (Stau-He-kin) at the end of Lake Chelan, in the morning. The drive from Sumner, WA to Chelan was enjoyable. We drove by a Ski area, enjoyed snow covered mountains reflecting in lakes, a nicely done, large wildlife crossing bridge over I90, a several hundred-foot snow melt waterfall and many apple orchards in full bloom.

A random thought as we are driving: Our snack basket at my feet consists of

freshly made bread from our friends we visited with, fruit, food bars, cashews, pistachios, carrots and chocolate covered espresso beans…in case you wanted some road trip ideas! We both have reusable water bottles and carry a 7-gallon water jug in the van.

We got off the Interstate 90 to US Route 2 and continued on the US97, the Cascade Scenic Route. We found ourselves riding along the Columbia River. The landscape suddenly turned to desert looking, granite knolls on the west side of the river and irrigated, tree lined properties on the east side. Strangely, we didn’t see a bridge to get cross the river in 30 miles! Maybe they all own boats to visit family and friends on the other side!?

There were lots of vineyards coming into Chelan and we saw the Lakeside Lodging right on Lake Chelan. It shares a large city park with a beach as its backyard.

When checking in to the motel style nice lodge, they are slow tonight (off season and a Tuesday) we were upgraded to a two-room suite with a kitchen, and a balcony with lake and mountain views. Rangeley’s 1st Birthday dream come true… a hotel room with a large balcony, grass to play on and water to swim in!

We drove to downtown Chelan just s couple miles away and I had fish tacos and a chocolate stout at Stormy Mountain Brewery. The weather has been unseasonably warm for these northern states… sunny, 64 degrees and clear. We have been so grateful for the literally perfect weather this whole trip (hopefully I didn’t just jinx us!).

We met an 83 and 85-year-old couple while lunching and engaged in a wonderful conversation about her 40th birthday climb up Mt Rainier, the Appalachian Trail and travel in general. Great day!

4/21/2021

We boarded the ferry in Chelan, to Stehekin, WA at 9AM. The ferry carries up to 150 passengers, no vehicles. The crew announced that if you do not want to wear a mask and are uncomfortable with lack of social distancing, this boat might not be for you. Loading in Chelan, we were one of two passengers accompanied by a dog and not many people got on. We read and were told, when booking over a month ago, we would have to crate/kennel Rangeley on the ferry. Luckily, when boarding, the fabulously friendly, efficient and personable crew on the Lady of the Lake Express told us that as long as he was well behaved, he could be “loose”, on-lead.

We hunkered down on the lower, outdoor covered deck where the luggage is loaded and stored. The other passengers wanted to be inside on benches or on the upper deck in the sun so this gave us more space. There were boxes of veggies, fruit, coolers full of food, cases of other supplies, all to be dropped at one of the two stops up the lake and in Stehekin. The ferry doesn’t run on Tuesdays or Thursdays so you need to plan your needed supplies or your transportation to and from Stehekin carefully. As people boarded, their luggage, backpacks and the like where piled on that lower deck. We then took the folding chairs they provided, opened them up by the railing of the ferry and started our Gilligan’s Island “three-hour tour” 50 miles up Lake Chelan.

We hope you enjoy the fabulous pictures, if I do say so myself : ), of the 3 hours on the ferry. You will see that we truly did have tremendous weather. It was chilly on the boat while moving but as soon as we got off in Stehekin it was sunny and 65! Rangeley did really well on the ferry, aside from wanting to be in the water not on it!

Upon arrival in Stehekin, we loaded our cooler, backpacks, a Rubbermaid full of food and supplies for two days onto a large cart they provide and a wonderful woman named Mary greeted us on the dock. We went into the General Store where Tom and the others checked us in. Tom walked us up to the cabin we rented and made sure all was satisfactory. The cabin has a full view of the lake and mountains and we were “home”!

The restaurant and general store, during the pre-season, are only open on the days the ferry runs (closed Tues/Thurs) and only operational from 12-2pm. After settling into our room, we ordered lunch at 1:30pm, after the day trippers re-boarded the ferry, we bought beer at the store before they closed and the restaurant offered to put the beer in their fridge till we were done eating. The people are so accommodating and friendly. We chatted with Earl while eating on the patio. He was very helpful and we saw him several times during our stay. He was the “go to” guy for any questions. There are full time residents here (about 90 people in 30 residences around the end of the lake) and the rest are seasonal staff that come from all over the United States from May- early October. Many of whom have been working here for years.

There are a number of things you can do here in-season: horseback riding, kayaking, hiking, there’s an artist’s studio for classes and where the locals sell their art, massage, bicycles, boats and ATV rentals, and more. There’s a local that sells veggies and has an apiary and sells honey, a pastry shop, a place to do laundry and the list goes on!

There is no cell service, no TV, one public phone where you need a calling card and very slow Wi-Fi, if you purchase it and only if you sit on the Lodge’s front steps which doubles as the restaurant and general store! : ) We chose to go “off grid” re: the above but we did have a kitchen in our unit, electricity and hot water.

We talked to Mary at lunch about an ATV rental for the next day and she immediately arraigned an appointment with Nick, the only rental guy in town, via her email which all the employees have access to for written communication. If there’s an emergency, you go to the radio closet located below the general store and the staff person on-call will respond. It was a great tech break!

4/22/2021

The Park’s Golden West Visitor Center is closed for the season but we met Nick at 10AM at what is referred to as the The Log Office to pick up our ATV rental and he had a wealth of information and a great map. We took off in our Polaris, four-seater ATV for the day. The town of Stehekin (an Indian word meaning the way through) is very small, so if you stay by the ferry dock, the North Cascades Lodge, store, restaurant, post office, Nick’s rental cabin, and anything you need access to, is in walking distance. We decided to rent for 24 hours so we could head 11 miles up lake to the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail) and hike, go for an evening ride to see animals and take it out in the early AM for scenery pictures before taking our return ferry. Not to mention, since we didn’t have a car and the Red Bus transportation option is not running yet, we had freedom to check out all the spots in the Stehekin Valley at our own schedule.

The follow areas and adventures are all depicted in the photos below. You can read our captions under each photo and explore the area’s history with the interpretive placards I took pictures of for your educational pleasure! : )

We did so much today I am going to have you mostly enjoy the pictures with descriptive captions but here’s a summary: we started with a 3-mile drive to the over 300 ft. Rainbow Falls followed by a stop at the Old School House (1921-1988); we passed The Garden (in-season fresh veggies and local honey); Stehekin Pastry Company (opens in May : (  … Stehekin Valley Ranch (horseback riding and dinner events May-September-ish); took our traditional park picture at High Bridge – the dividing line between Lake Chelan National Recreation Area and North Cascades National Park, although, Stehekin Valley is considered by most around here, as part of the park. We hiked on two different sections of the PCT which is about 11 miles from in town Stehekin. We saw elk crossing the Stehekin River, deer beside and along the road and then started back toward town. We crossed the Historic Harlequin Bridge to get to the Stehekin Airport which is one, 2,500+ foot, grass air strip…that’s it! : ) At the Buckley Orchard there was a volunteer group trimming the 100 year old trees. Elizabeth toured the old homestead while Gary and Rangeley walked around. The “New” Stehekin School was build in 1988 which we passed on the way “home”. The 22-mile round trip drive was entirely along the Stehekin River which empties into Lake Chelan. Oh, did I mention, aside from two cars, we never saw another person the entire 5 hour adventure!?

There’s a lot of great history here and we cannot say enough nice things about the area. We chose to enter this Canadian border national park at its southern entrance. There are only 30,000 people that come to this park annually vs. Great Smoky Mountain NP who see 11.4 million visitors annually! The lake, river, streams, 8,000+-foot North Cascade Mountains, remote location and generous, laid back people made this our favorite location at a park to date!

4/23/2021

We drove the ATV the 11 miles back up to High Bridge for one last hike on the PCT. Rangeley loved the snow and again, we were all alone the entire time! Rangeley took one last dip in Lake Chelan (burr!) and we all enjoyed another short hike on the Imus Trail behind Stehekin Landing were the ferry and barges come in. After lunch on the restaurant’s patio we sadly boarded the ferry to glide along the crystal-clear waters 50 miles and 3 hours down lake. See pictures below.

We will visit The Columbia River Gorge area next posting that adventure on the Crater Lake National Park entry. Till the next entry, enjoy the outdoors!