Lake Chelan July 2022: July 14 Boat Ride to Stehekin

After a light breakfast from the cooler, we left at 7:30 for the short ride to the dock to board the Lady Liberty, a sleek double hulled fast boat up the lake to Stehekin. It only took about 1.25 hrs; we arrived a little after 9:00. There are three passenger boats that ply the lake on a regular schedule. We'll return on the much slower "Lady Express". The ride up the lake is very scenic, indeed. The farther "up" you go, the bigger the mountains get. Still some snow on the high spots. The lake is said to be the deepest in North America. The water is unbelievably clear. The lake is 51.5 miles long.

The weather today continues to be spectacular. Not a cloud all day and not too hot.

We didn't know what to expect at Stehekin. We had heard about the famous "bakery". Our boat was to return to Chelan at 2:30 so we had about 3 hours to "kill". So, we signed up for 2 hour guided bus tour of the valley called "Glimpses of Stehekin". It was awesome! You can also rent bikes, e-bikes and even 4 wheelers.

Our tour guide was great! We learned all about the history of the area, dating back to the late 1800s, when there was mining activity in the area. We saw Rainbow Falls, the still active Buckner apple orchard. historic irrigation ditches, the old (and the new) one room schoolhouse. There are about 70 people who live here year-round, it "swells" to over 200 during the busy summer season. Our guide made sure that our trip began and ended at the "bakery". It deserves its accolades. We enjoyed coffee and pastry at the start and picked up a sandwich to eat on the boat on our way back.

The Pacific Crest Trail passes through here, too. So there are many heavily laden hikers here.

There are no roads to Stehekin, so everything you see comes by the once-a-week barge.

We returned to our room about 3:30. After a brief rest, we drove around to the east/north side of the lake up to an area called "Manson". We had a fine dinner at a beer joint called "Sunset". From the boat it was obvious this side of the lake was where all the money was, so after dinner we drove around the neighborhoods. Some beautiful lake view properties, lots of apple/cherry/peach (?) orchards. Some new subdivisions with very unusual architectures. Many wineries.

Listened to the Mariners on the radio late this afternoon; enjoyed their 11th win in a row!

Tomorrow we drive south to Pullman, on our way home!