Day 11: Touring Lake Chelan

August 26, 2011

I got up at 6:45 and on the road with the fully loaded bike at 8, trying my best to not be mad at the State Park for making me pack up today.

Map of today's pedal and ferry excursions.

I continued north along the lake shore to Fields Point. The entire distance has houses along the shoreline, with the road usually 100 or more vertical feet above the shore. The road passes the Narrows but I didn't notice it.

Carved by glaciers 17,000 years ago, Lake Chelan is actually two separate but connected basins. The southern 12 miles of the lake is the Wapato Basin which is only 400 feet deep. This part of the lake warms up during summer and is popular for summer water recreation. The northern 40 miles of the lake is the Lucerne Basin which is 1486 feet deep and much colder. The bottom is 385 feet below sea level! The two basins meet at the Narrows, where the lake is only 1/4 mile wide and 150 feet deep. In most places the lake is about 1 mile wide.

Lake Chelan is the 25th deepest lake in the world and the 3rd deepest lake in the United States. The deepest lake in the U.S. is Crater Lake in Oregon, which I will see later during this tour. The second deepest is Lake Tahoe in California.

After 8 miles I took the Fields Point turnoff and descended steeply for half a mile to a huge parking lot and visitor center. This is the main access point and long term parking for visiting Lake Chelan National Recreation Area at the opposite end of the lake.

I arrived 35 minutes before the boat departed and asked where is a good place to store my bike for the day. An employee let me park the bike out of sight in a storage room.

I had a ticket for the $59 combo tour which gives the maximum possible time at Stehekin, going to Stehekin on the fast Lady Express and returning on the slower Lady of the Lake. The combination gives 3 hours in Stehekin instead of 2 hours when going both directions on the same boat.

Departing Fields Point on the Lady Express. 1 hour and 40 minutes to Stehekin.

The environment changes dramatically from one end of Lake Chelan to the other. At the south end the town of Chelan is in semi-arid hills that get 9 inches of rain per year. At the north end the village of Stehekin is in a forested valley that gets 34 inches of rain per year.

The mountains get bigger and greener as the boat travels northwest into the Cascades.

The change in environment gives visitors the impression that the north end is higher elevation than the south end. To reinforce that notion, literature uses the terms "uplake" and "downlake". Of course Lake Chelan is actually level at 1099 feet elevation.

Remote cabin in an area that burned in 2007.

Approaching Stehekin, at the north end of Lake Chelan.

The Lady Express departed Fields Point at 9:20 and arrived at Stehekin at 11. An hour and 40 minutes with no stops along the way.

Most day visitors to Stehekin take the $6 bus tour of the area. But I rented a bike for $8, allowing me to go more places with no entourage.

Stehekin is more than just a resort, it's a small town. It has dozens of houses, a school, fire department, and its own hydro power plant. Near the boat dock is the Stehekin Landing resort which has cabins, a restaurant, and gift shop. Also near the resort is a grand and seldom-visited visitor center and administrative office for Lake Chelan National Recreation Area. The building uses giant timbers reclaimed from a previous waterfront lodge that was torn down before the dam raised the lake level 21 feet.

The area has several bed and breakfasts, and perhaps the most popular business is the bakery which is out of town, about 2 miles down the road from the boat dock. Near the bakery is the present school and the old school museum.

The original Stehekin school is now a museum.

Not far beyond the school is Rainbow Falls. Visitors have to walk only 200 yards from the parking lot to the lower falls. A bit farther to the bottom of the upper falls.

Rainbow Falls drops a total of 312 feet (95 m).

The bus tour turns around at Rainbow Falls, but I continued another 4 miles up the Stehekin river. The last 2 miles are gravel.

Looking up the Stehekin river towards North Cascades National Park.

At my turnaround point I was 9 miles due south of Rainy Pass. It took me 4 days to go 9 miles!

Near my turnaround point along the Stehekin river.

Riding back to Stehekin was a bit easier, going downstream to the lake. Then the last mile is flat along the shore of the lake. The rental bike had no computer, but I think I pedaled the bike 16 miles.

Pedaling back to Stehekin, now along the lake.

The departure was delayed 35 minutes, giving me extra time to walk around Stehekin. The Lady of the Lake departed at 2:35 PM. This boat is larger and slower than the Lady Express.

I will return to Fields Point on the larger but slower Lady of the Lake.

Stehekin Landing Resort is accessible only by boat or seaplane.

Leaving Stehekin on the Lady of the Lake. Travel time is 2.5 hours to Fields Point, or 3+ hours to Chelan.

The return trip included a stop at Lucerne Landing to exchange a few passengers and unload many crates of food. 2000 feet up the mountain is Holden Village, a former copper mining town that is now a Lutheran retreat center.

Crates of food were unloaded at Lucerne Landing, the gateway to Holden Village retreat center which is far up the mountain from this dock.

Cabins at Lucerne Landing. The name suggests a resemblance to Lake Lucerne in Switzerland.

The Lady of the Lake took 2.5 hours to get from Stehekin to Fields Point with one stop along the way. I'm glad I didn't have to stay on the boat all the way to Chelan.

Near Field's Point, back to the dry end of Lake Chelan.

After a steep half mile climb from Fields Point to the main road, the cycling was very easy for 8 miles back to Lake Chelan State Park. I arrived at 6:15 PM, allowing me to set up my tent right away.

I had a great evening watching the twilight across Lake Chelan. The park was buzzing with activity on a Friday night.

Today was sunny all day with a high of about 90F in Stehekin. The state park was probably warmer but I wasn't there during the peak of the day.

Having never done the Lake Chelan boat tour, I had no idea what to expect. Stehekin is in a spectacular fjord-like setting, but it isn't uniquely beautiful or charming. Much of Stehekin's appeal is simply the isolation, fulfilling the desire to go someplace off the map.

The main attraction is Lake Chelan, not Stehekin. There's only one place where you can travel the length of a glacial lake that starts in desert and gouges a canyon deep into the Cascade range. It's an awesome trip.

Distance: 31 mi. (50 km)
Climbing: 1133 ft. (343 m)
Average Speed: 10.5 mph (16.8 km/h)
Hiking: 2 mi. (3.2 km)

Today's ride: 31 miles (50 km)
Total: 512 miles (824 km)

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