A Self-Imposed Long Weekend: Camping in Stehekin

I only have 12 more work days before I'm all done with my internship with the UW, so I decided to take advantage of another paid vacation day and take a random long weekend before I leave. Kris took Monday off, too, so we decided to go camping! Two of his good friends were already planning a trip, so we tagged along and wound up spending the weekend in Stehekin, WA on Lake Chelan. 

What an amazing place! I had never been to Lake Chelan before, and this was a great introduction. I had no idea the lake was so HUGE! It's 55 miles long and is the third-deepest lake in the USA. Whoa. The four of us drove over together on Friday night and had a drink at a local bar, owned by one of Kris' friend's friends, called "Chelanigans". I love that name, haha! They had some great dance music going and we wound up with a pizza, so it was a successful night.

We camped near Fields Point Landing, woke up, and then hopped on the Lady of the Lake ferry the next morning just before 10am. The ride there was about four hours long - taking a ferry, hiking, or flying in are the only ways to access Stehekin; no roads go all the way there! It was a beautiful day, though, so we all enjoyed the scenery as the boat chugged along. Stehekin itself is beautiful. I felt like I was in Switzerland! You have a beautiful lake right next to you, steep, tall, snow-capped mountains all around you, and some of the cutest 'lodge'-style houses you've ever seen. 

We found a sweet campsite not too far from the small 'main drag' of town (all five buildings). We set our tent up, got settled in, and then walked around a bit. We headed north on the road and mosey'd past several really cute homes. One of the ones we saw was the most beautiful and ideal home I have ever seen! Whoever owned it must have had a lot of time on their hands, because the house and garden were immaculate!  I would have moved there in a heartbeat. 

Further down the road, we stumbled upon "The Garden", an organic farm maintained by the most awesome old hippie new-age farmer ever! We bought fresh dill & onion goat cheese and fresh, local maple syrup from him and then headed back to camp for a nap. We all woke up after 7pm, so it was time for a warm fire and fire-cooked hot dogs! This was super laid-back camping. The fire pits had grilling grates on them, there was running water and a flush toilet, and there was a lodge not too far away serving food. Quite the nice way to camp, I must say. :-)

On Sunday, after cooking up some eggs for breakfast burritos, we walked back to the boat landing and checked out the lodge and general store. The store had stuff to make s'mores, which we bought, of course! Then we all rented bikes for a few hours and we rode down the road as far as we could go. We stopped by Rainbow Falls, which was flowing like crazy with all of the spring snow melt, and we went by the old Stehekin airstrip before heading back and buying a couple of freshly-picked green onions and more goat cheese from The Garden on our way back (that stuff is addicting!). Dinner was hot dogs (again- they bought a Costco-sized package!), and then s'mores after the sun set for dessert. It was a beautiful sunset, and our camp spot was perfectly situated for great views of the lake. We also played a lot of Euchre and Hearts with a deck of cards before bed.

 

 

We slept in on Monday, had a big breakfast at the lodge, and then packed up all our things and waited for the once-daily boat back to Fields Point Landing and the rest of civilization! All in all, we had a fantastic, relaxing weekend. I would love to return to Stehekin someday and explore the hiking trails around the area. It's so remote, but it's a great access point for a lot of amazing hikes! I'm glad Kris and I were able to escape for a weekend and experience such a cool new place!