Stories About Stehekin, in North Cascades National Park: Chapter Two
Find Chapter One here.
As a substitute for solo hiking the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT), the plan was that I would begin hiking it in sections this year. I was part of a group of women from North Idaho Backpacking Babes (NIBB) who were working all year to do Section K of the PCT, which ends at Stehekin. What a great motivator, right? Well, I’ve spent more time sick this year than not, which has significantly decreased my strength and endurance. Between that and the required frequency of my oncology appointments, hiking over 100 miles in one attempt was not responsible or realistic.
Enter Plan B: meet the Section K group of friends at Stehekin. Again, you can only get to Stehekin by hiking, boating, or flying. Last year I completed the Lakeshore Trail, and my partner and some friends were inspired to do it this year. However, last year I hiked the trail in May. This year, we were going in August. Why does that matter? Heat. Heat = snakes. Rattlesnakes. My hiking companions were not about the extreme heat or spicy noodles. Between me being unwell and rattlesnakes likely being unwelcoming, I had to continue brainstorming a realistic and responsible adventure.
So, I presented the following agenda: we take the ferry straight to Stehekin. Taking the ferry all the way meant we could take all the creature comforts – I had my colossal camping tent and my queen-size air mattress. It was a great new plan!
Enter Plan C
Day One:
1. Drive 3 hours to Chelan, Washington
2. Take the ferry down Lake Chelan to Stehekin.
3. Set up camp.
4. Take the shuttle to Highbridge Camp.
5. Stop at the world-famous bakery for 6,000 calories of heaven.
6. Hike Agnes Gorge Trail in the Glacier Peak Wilderness.
7. Take the shuttle back to Stehekin to settle for the night.
Day 2:
1. Take the shuttle to the bakery to renew our carbohydrates overload.
2. Hike Rainbow Loop Trail in the Lake Chelan National Recreation Area.
3. Obviously, go to the bakery again.
4. See Karl in his garden and fall in love with him all over since I first met him 15 months ago.
5. Do drugs, but not crime.
This is the day our friends arrived at Stehekin after hiking Section K. After over 100 miles on trail they were so proud of themselves and one another (and hungry and very excited for cold drinks!). Two women did not complete the section and went home early, only to return to Stehekin to welcome our group back and celebrate their successes. Those dirty faces were the most beautiful, and their stories were the best.
It was hard to know that it was supposed to be me, too, and I had to take some time to process the unexpected sadness at the adventure being taken from me. I am glad I could be there in my own way; I know I was not forgotten. My great friend, the owner and leader of NIBB, carried a flat paper doll of me with her on the trail. This isn’t the only paper doll of me that she got on the trail. There was one that she sent with another thru-hiker to do the entire PCT (a story I will write about separately), and due to some mail delivery mishaps, his partner in the midwest ended up with a THIRD paper doll of me to take hiking. I still lack the vocabulary to express how meaningful that is to me.
Day 3:
Bicycle 27 miles around the Stehekin Valley. Biking is not in my wheelhouse, but my hiking companions love biking and suggested that I begin exploring it as a non-impact way to get out still and be in nature, especially on days when my symptoms are high.
1. The bakery. Again.
2. The Stehekin School: a fully operational and in-service one-room schoolhouse for the handful of kids here.
4. Rainbow Falls: a 312’ waterfall
5. Buckner Orchard: this is an intact example of early farming in the PNW that is now owned and operated by the National Park Service.
7. The. Bakery. Again.
8. The Garden to see the bees and goats.
9. Sunset on Lake Chelan
The last day of 2022 Stehekin Shenanigans:
1. Pack camp up and leave at the ferry dock
2. Hike to…guess where? The bakery.
3. Give the bakery all our money and eat everything.
4. Take the very long ferry ride home with a bunch of people I’m pretty crazy about and dream about the next adventure.
5. Drive 3.5 hours back to Coeur d’Alene and reality.
I remain in love with Stehekin. Writing about my first trip there makes me long to do the thru-hike again, but this was fun in a different way, and I’d rather have to do plan C than not go at all. If I do take the ferry all the way in again, I’d still bring my huge camping tent and mattress, but also a cooler for food and drinks.