[Kirbinator]

I've been summering at Lake Chelan my whole life and I have heard about Domky Lake... I was thinking of hiking in there this year, but someone mentioned needing a permit or something? Is that true?

[lightnfast]

Having spent many a night sleeping outside the old cabin along the Entiat, and hiking in the metal box full of the newspaper clippings and copy of the book that was removed when Pot Peak fire was ripping through Snow Brushy Meadow etc., I can say that I wish I could have met the man and heard what, if anything, he had to say. It's pretty crazy to wake up in the morning, walk inside the cabin, sit down on his bed and just pause for a moment, things aren't that different inside there, perhaps a bit messier, talk about taking a step back. Wonder how hard it would be to get a special use permit to live there for the winter and try and pull it off...even if you brought in food with a sled or something, it would still be something.

[509]

[Leafguy]

Kirb, Sounds like someone has been "summering" in the cabin too long at Lk. Chelan if you never heard of "Domky" (Domke). I used to call it "Donkey" before I first went there too LOL. If you haven't already, hike from Lucerne or take Chelan Seaplanes in.

[Dale Wick]

Gordon Stuart's "new" home was built not long before he died in the early 80s. That beautiful log home burned this summer (2015) in the Wolverine fire. Sid took over the home and resort after Gordon's death. Sid survived the burn by taking a boat into the middle of Domky Lake (resort guests had been evacuated earlier). AL Cool and later Gordon Stuart spent the winter in the Entiat Valley trapping martin. Gordon's cabin at Snow Brushy Meadow and Lake Creek probably burned this summer (no one has gotten in there to check). Gordon stopped trapping around 1964 which was the same year I first met him after we did a backpacking fishing trip to Mirror Lake and exited down to Domky Lake and took the Lady of the Lake home. Mountain Air by Sandy Bryant is a hard book to find but is a good read for the content. Love to see the movie if it is ever made.

[lookout bob]

very sadly...Sid was totally burned out of his concession this year by the Wolverine fire. His cabins and house burned down and his horses were killed. It is uncertain whether or not he will rebuild. I suspect no. Domke will not be an attractive location for many years now. eta will not be returning there to work the trails so they will likely be impassable for years to come. Everything is charred. I worked there in June and it is sad that all our trail clearing cross cutting went for naught. But, sh*t happens....

[Leafguy]

[lightnfast]

Damn. I just googled "Gordon Stuart Cabin Burned" hoping to not see this news. Like I said, 6 years ago or so I was asked by the USFS to hike in the memorabilia and artifacts that were saved during the Pot Peak fire. I've always felt like that cabin was a physical link between the past and present. The Entiat was my patrol, along with the Lake-Chelan Sawtooth, and I loved it and cared for it with everything I had. The entire area provided me with some of the most impactful experiences of my life. I'm very sorry to hear the structures at Domke were affected as well, and thank everyone who ever had a hand in protecting and preserving these structures and the legacy of those who built them.

[BdCast]

Just read this thread from beginning to end, really sad to hear of the outcome. Wish there was more a guy could have done to preserve/protect the cabins from the fire.

[Wordsbehindme]

Hello found this site when checking up on Gordon Stuart ... Yes yes to both queastions. I read the book as well knew of the man .. When I was a wee girl knee high I thought he was just a friend of my dads... But today Iknow better. He is a cousin to my father. My father had pictures of him from the many hunting and fishing trips up to Domke Lake dad use to even talk about Lucerne Valley even after moving to Wyoming. Gordon was relations to my fathers grandfather's side. Sadly my father passed on in 1995 so I can not get any more information on Gordon...other than what I recall. As a wee girl I was my dads girl he had no other kids in the house. Rumors he was married and had 5 kids but yet to confirm...so as an only child other thsn my much older half brother I got a bit spoiled but yet I got information on how to do certain things that my baby brother born some 6 years after I was... Such as how to tie a fly wrap up the eyes on the poles.. String a bow... But as well for such a wee one accidents happen.. Had a bow in my face ...ouch yea... On a fly fishing trip got a hook in my lip-chin... No not one of the trips at Domke but I do recall going close... There is the small village near by. Holden Village that is....I recall being there in the early 1960's and leaving with my mom after I belive a week there.. All that was stored for many years in my early memories... Now I wish I had the pictures... There were many others that had gone up with my dad...and my half brother... From old drinking buddys ...work partners... One was that ol famous heavy weight boxer Max Bear. A old friend of my dads.yeap he was in hiding... See my dad grew up in Calif between Visalia and Ventura Calif... And besides that there is the Indian ties that bound them all together... The Stuarts were of Missouri and Tennessee...then further back. Have you ever heard of James Robert Stuart the man whom stuck a gun to the head of a captains head as he was claiming he was pulling ship out of port with out a certain man.... James uncle was running late.. Then they went around the horn and up the coast line and got off at Astoria Oregon with the rest of the party whom were of the fur traders outfit. Gordon would of known much more of the family stories. The ship went on up the coast ending up nothing but shattered wood as it had wrecked. The party ended up going over land and there they found South Pass which is now known as being in Wyoming. A small ghost town which as a Girl Scout is where Ihad gotten my hiking with a back pack start... Just love adding other family information to other family history. Now we see why he was a trapper and loved hiking just as much. It was in the family genes.

[Leafguy]

Steve and I went up to Domke this past summer. Steve, Lloyd and I were there the previous summer. Not much green left up there. Only one cabin survived. Sid lost everything else. He is still there nearing 70. Still getting around good and lots of area history to share. Always very good stuff to listen to. He is now able to rent rowboats after clearing some of the red tape the FS has thrown at him. It would seem they would be happy to have a man who has spent most of his life there being a steward of the area. But we all know they would rather dick around and manage from their desks. There are signs everywhere at the trailhead and on the way up saying the campgrounds are closed. But we have been able to manage in “dispersed” areas. Don’t know if anything will ever be done to recover a part of what was there. The fishing is still good. Not like it gets any pressure. We used to fish where Hatchery Creek emptied into the lake. We went down toward the end the creek used to run into. No creek! WTH. We asked Sid if I was losing my marbles or what? He didn’t answer that question but told us the creek runs into the ground now. We went and found it. It is still a good size creek and we could here it. It was about 100 yards up in the brush. And there were small fish in it with plenty of good water. We plan to go again this summer. I’m looking forward to it. Ahhh , the memories.