Off the Grid

55 miles by car, then 32 miles by ferry

Since we thought that our food options might be limited later today, we wanted to make sure that we at least started off with full bellies this morning. The Holiday Inn Express served the typical hotel hot breakfast items - biscuits and gravy, oatmeal, eggs, and pancakes. Sufficient to accomplish the goal!

After checking out, the four of us drove to Chelan and stopped first at the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest Ranger Station so that I could get the passport stamps for Lake Chelan National Recreation Area and North Cascades National Park. But sadly, the office was CLOSED - boo!

We spent the rest of the morning walking around Chelan. It's a cute, touristy town with lots of restaurants and shops, which reminded us of Lake Geneva, WI.

As his college roomie, RH is unphased by R's weirdness

Still full from breakfast, we picked up some pastries from Lake Chelan Artisan Bakery to eat later (they were delicious!) and then headed up to Fields Point Landing to wait for our 1:00PM ferry to Stehekin. There is a gated parking lot here where we left our cars for $7/day. We made reservations for the Stehekin Ferry instead of with Lake Chelan Boat Company because their departure time was better suited to our schedule. In addition, leaving from Fields Point instead of Chelan meant that we shaved 18 miles off the ferry ride. For someone like me who is prone to motion sickness, the shorter time on the water was a no-brainer.

Lake Chelan was carved by glaciers, so the mountains rise straight up out of the lake. At 1486 feet, it's the third deepest lake in the United States, behind Crater Lake in Oregon (1949 ft) and Lake Tahoe in California/Nevada (1645 ft). From Chelan at the southern end to Stehekin in the north, Lake Chelan stretches over 50.5 miles.

Lake Chelan from Stehekin (left) to Chelan (right)

It was a beautiful afternoon out on the lake! The skies were hazy from the smoke from wildfires in the region, so my pics are a little disappointing. But you can take my word that the view was gorgeous!

A little clearer further north

After arriving in Stehekin, we checked into our room at the North Cascades Lodge, which sits right next to the ferry dock. Then we headed straight for the Lake Chelan NRA Golden West Visitor Center so that I could get my passport stamps and we could get some info on things to do in the area. The ranger recommended an easy hike on the Imus Creek Trail, which started out just behind the visitor center. RH, R, and I decided to check it out, while C went back to the room to enjoy the view and some time to herself.

When we got back from the hike, we found out that the restaurant at the lodge was going to be open for dinner. So we decided to take advantage of the unexpected food availability and eat an early meal. However, RH's entree wasn't cooked well, so he fixed himself a grilled cheese sandwich later over the propane burner they brought.

Winner, winner! Chicken (butt) dinner!

For some reason R and C have had a ongoing "chicken butt" war, um, exchange since college. So I wasn't surprised that R bought a card game he found on Amazon, Chicken Time Warp, for us to play while we're up here together in Stehekin, off the grid with no cell service or internet access. It was actually pretty entertaining once we figured out a strategy. We played multiple games, and C won every time. Coincidence?! I think not...

So, why did we come to Stehekin? To "count" a unit as visited, I feel that I should actually set foot inside the park. With no direct access by car, the only way to get to Lake Chelan NRA and North Cascades NP are either to hike 25+ miles in or to fly or boat in to Stehekin. 

Lake Chelan NRA - check! North Cascades NP tomorrow!