Stehekin is a charmer at any time of the year, but in the fall, with pleasant days and cool nights, a touch of snow on the mountain tops, and a wash of color in the avalanche chutes, it’s a gift.
At the North Cascades end of Lake Chelan, big-leaf maples in the Stehekin Valley turn bright gold, as do the larches at higher elevations. The avalanche paths, which have wiped a clearing among the evergreens, fill up with bright reds and yellows.
“It’s a good time of the year to see the kokanee in the Stehekin River,” said Nancy Holman, Stehekin Ranger District interpreter.
Lake Chelan Chamber: Call 800-424-3526 for lodging information and ways to get to Stehekin by boat or floatplane.
Visitors center: Call 360-856-5700, ext. 340, then ext. 14, for trail information.
Bus: A shuttle bus leaves four times a day through Sept. 26, twice a day from Sept. 27 to Oct. 10.
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The land-locked salmon flash bright red and are easily seen from Harlequin Bridge.
Here in the land of 9,000-foot peaks, gear-laden backcountry hikers mix with slow-paced sightseers walking to the bus for a ride to Rainbow Falls.
For more than 100 years, boats (and later floatplanes) from Chelan have brought visitors, many of whom head as far away from civilization as possible.
Recent rainfall has erased most of the summer fire danger in the area, and cleared and cooled the air, too. The first snow in the high country has already fallen.
The Golden West Visitor’s Center offers information and advice, both important since last fall’s record-setting floods wiped out a good portion of the Stehekin Road and comparatively easy access to many trailheads along its 23-mile route.
Several trails branch off from the visitor’s center, including the moderate 0.75-mile-long Imus Creek interpretive trail, the strenuous 7.5-mile climb to Purple Pass and the 17-mile Lakeshore Trail, but strollers often walk as far as they can and still make it back before the boat departs.
A shuttle can go only 9.5 miles of Stehekin Road, to just beyond Stehekin Valley Ranch, although portions beyond it can be walked, ridden on horseback or biked.
The first part, to Harlequin Bridge, is mostly level (with some grades) and paved, and passes the Buckner Orchard, Rainbow Falls, a one-room schoolhouse-museum, and the bakery.
Where the road ends, hikers can take the Bullion Loop Trail to reach upper valley trailheads and Bullion Camp. The shuttle goes this far.
It’s about 1.5 miles on Bullion Loop Trail to High Bridge, and the trail eventually turns into the Old Wagon Road Trail, with emphasis on trail.
Always check to see if your chosen hike is accessible.
Another way to see the countryside is by horse from Cascades Corral. Try the 2.5-hour sampler ride from the Stehekin Valley Ranch to Coon Lake.
No matter which route you take, the fall is a good time to stop at Buckner’s Orchard (now a park), first homesteaded in the late 1890s and now the oldest apple orchard in the country.
Walk to the orchard on a short trail and pick Red Delicious apples. But be aware, the bears really like apples too.
“This year there have been a lot of bears in the lower valley earlier than normal, and we’re not really sure why,” said Holman, who added twins and triplets have been spotted with their mothers.
Some bear-training has been going on with the use of bear dogs and other disincentives.
“They work in the orchard, helping the bears understand where it’s OK for them to be and where it’s not. We don’t want them to get habituated to the presence of two-leggeds.”
Columnist Sharon Wootton can be reached at 360-468-3964 or www.songandword.com.
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