Moxie Mom On Life and Kids

Stehekin

Every summer, my husband has been saying for years now we need to work in a trip to Stehekin. I always associated the tiny community with hiking over Cascade Pass. A little place at the north end of Lake Chelan that is the ends of the Earth, whether approached by hiking over a pass or taking a 4-hour boat ride.

Well, it’s true, you have to hike or take a long boat ride (or the Express boat, a two and a half hour ride, or you can fly in on a float plane in 25 minutes, I learned). Whichever way you get there, and I do recommend the longer boat ride at least one way, it’s worth it. I’m in love with Stehekin.

Kind of funny to me because I grew up on Lummi Island, remote enough when you’re 12 and you can’t drive, and you’re surrounded by water, and the only entertainment is the fun you cook up yourself. I fled as soon as I could (and then rebounded back to the Northwest as so many of us do).

But maybe that’s why Stehekin felt kind of like home.

Stehekin is a not a town, per se, but a valley with one road about a dozen miles long and few spurs and a population of 85. It’s also one of the gateways to the North Cascades National Park. The only cars there are those brought in by barge. Visitors can bring bikes, rent bikes, walk,  or take the shuttle bus up and down the valley for a small fee. The pedestrian-only access forces you to slow down. Your cell phone doesn’t have coverage so you might as well turn it off, and you won’t be able to check email. As cliche as it sounds, you do feel like you’re taking a step back in time.

Instead of checking email,  you’ll visit the most excellent North Cascades Visitor Center at Stehekin Landing, where the boats come in, which feels like town central but in reality is only a small part of Stehekin. You’ll ride your bike to the Stehekin Pastry Company for breakfast, lunch, or snacks in between, just a couple miles up from the Landing. You might even run into one of your neighbors from home — we did.

You’ll stop by the old Stehekin school and marvel that it was closed as recently as 1988 (to make way for the new, larger school just down the road) because it feels so 1910-ish.You’ll hike the short trail to Rainbow Falls and be as impressed as you are with Snoqualmie Falls, if you’ve been there.

You’ll ride your bike up-valley and notice the blue quality of the Stehekin River, and you’ll be charmed by Stehekin Valley Ranch, where you can rent cabins.  You might make reservations to have dinner even if you’re not staying there. We did, and it was excellent — a family-style dinner served in a dining room with a sawdust floor, broad beams, and a fireplace that holds tall coffeepots of cowboy coffee.

You might buy veggies from the organic garden near the bakery because the general store carries only soda pop, a few cans of soup, and lots of T-shirts (and hauling food for several days from Chelan is kind of a pain).

If you stay at the lodge at Stehekin Landing, you’ll notice that every day brings a flurry of daytrippers between 11am and 2pm, when the boats arrive and then take off. The visitors hit the Landing, rent bikes, ride around, and then are gone as quickly as they arrived. It’s the main action of the day and kind of fun. And then Stehekin is suddenly quiet, and you’ll remember you came to get away from it all.

Stehekin is a fascinating blend of national park service employees, backpackers hiking in from the other side, tourists from down-lake, and locals eking out a living in a remote location that cuts them off from just about everything and suits them just fine.

Summer is beautiful — we  hit the sunny weather just right — but you can visit year-round, albeit on a more limited boat schedule. I’m guessing the fall colors are spectacular.

Note: the park offers camping, but if you’re looking for a family of four or more, I would talk to rangers in advance. We camped and found the sites to be abysmally small for a family-sized tent.