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CarriesNineFires Member
Joined: 03 Oct 2016 Posts: 134 | TRs | Pics Location: Seattle |
First trip report on NWHikers. I'll be brief, as I figure out how to do this from my smartphone.
I got off the boat at Prince Creek Landing and headed up the Prince Creek Trail, wondering if I would be able to get somewhere around Cub Lake at around 5200'. Nah. The trail was in nice shape, complete with six rattlers, but a wicked blister that sublimated straight into gaping-wound mode, combined with a raging creek crossing at about mile three, sent me back down to camp at my starting point.
Lake Chelan Chelan Lakeshore Trail Chelan Lakeshore Trail Chelan Lakeshore Trail Chelan Lakeshore Trail
The next three days were spent in leisure, six or seven miles a day to camp at Cascade Creek and the orchard at Moore Point. A nice thunderstorm on day two, in the evening, brought the weather from hot and sunny to warm and mostly sunny. Perfect.
The trail is in great shape and the creek crossings were fine. The rain brought a couple of the later ones up to calf-level.
I encountered no hikers, as the three people who disembarked with me moved ahead while I headed up Prince Creek. There was a crew working on weed eradication, and they were camped at Moore Point. Nice work.
This trail is absolutely beautiful, an early-season delight.
Chelan Lakeshore Trail Chelan Lakeshore Trail Chelan Lakeshore Trail Chelan Lakeshore Trail Chelan Lakeshore Trail Chelan Lakeshore Trail Chelan Lakeshore Trail Chelan Lakeshore Trail Lake Chelan
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Backpacker Joe Blind Hiker
Joined: 16 Dec 2001 Posts: 23956 | TRs | Pics Location: Cle Elum |
I need to do that hike. Where does it start and stop?
"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide."
— Abraham Lincoln
"If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide."
— Abraham Lincoln
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CarriesNineFires Member
Joined: 03 Oct 2016 Posts: 134 | TRs | Pics Location: Seattle |
Lake Chelan. Catch the ferry at the town of Chelan, or further uplake at Field's Point Landing for a quicker ride. Get off at Prince Creek Landing, at the start of the trail. It closely follows, though rarely reaches, the lake shore for 18 miles to Stehekin. Catch the boat there to get back. Or reverse the trip, or shorten it with a pickup/drop-off at Moore Point.
A couple of connected trails access the high country of the Sawtooth.
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olderthanIusedtobe Member
Joined: 05 Sep 2011 Posts: 7687 | TRs | Pics Location: Shoreline |
Welcome to the site. Looks like a nice trip (other than the blister--ouch!). I finally made the boat trip up the lake a few years ago but still haven't done the lake shore trail. Maybe eventually.
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HitTheTrail Member
Joined: 30 Oct 2007 Posts: 5452 | TRs | Pics Location: 509 |
Nice shots (from a cell phone??) Great first TR. But you tried crossing Prince Creek at the 2715' level in mid May! Whoa, brave soul indeed. How was getting through the small washout ravine while going around the cliffs before the attempted creek crossing?
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CarriesNineFires Member
Joined: 03 Oct 2016 Posts: 134 | TRs | Pics Location: Seattle |
Thanks. The Samsung Galaxy S7 takes really nice photos.
No problems on the Prince Creek Trail before the crossing, which was rumbling but could have been forded had I felt the urge. But more crossings were to come and I knew nothing about any of it and was happy to bail.
There are some pretty mighty creeks coming down from on high: Cascade, Meadow and Fourmile Creeks would be stoppers without their respective bridges. The smaller creeks swelled up pretty heftily after a thunderstorm. One look at the extensive alluvial fans at the outlets tells a tale of many extreme events.
Overall, it's a nice leg-stretcher of a hike and a beautiful place in which to kill ticks.
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Brushbuffalo Member
Joined: 17 Sep 2015 Posts: 1887 | TRs | Pics Location: there earlier, here now, somewhere later... Bellingham in between |
Good job! Welcome to NWHIKERS.
A fun lazy variant is to be dropped off down-lake a half day's hike from Stehekin, such as at Moore Point, after asking the boat crew to drop your camping gear at the Stehekin landing. Hike leisurely to Stehekin, use one of the wheelbarrows to haul your gear the easy way the 1/4 mile or so to Purple Point campground, and enjoy. If that camp is full, there is an overflow camp near the Golden West Visitor Center. Or you can take the shuttle or hitchhike up valley to Harlequin Campground.
However, your camping arrangement is a very fine choice!
Another tip if you like to bike is to rent a bike for a day in Stehekin. The price is reasonable ( $25 for a nice bike, the same as transporting our own bikes on the boat in 2015). Riding the Stehekin Valley Road ( paved and flat as far as Harlequin Bridge) gets you easily to the old Stehekin school, Buckner's Orchard, close to Rainbow Falls, and of course to the famous bakery.
Passing rocks and trees like they were standing still
Passing rocks and trees like they were standing still
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RichP Member
Joined: 13 Jul 2006 Posts: 5628 | TRs | Pics Location: here |
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RichP
Member
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Wed May 17, 2017 5:33 pm
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Brushbuffalo wrote: | A fun lazy variant is to be dropped off down-lake a half day's hike from Stehekin, such as at Moore Point, after asking the boat crew to drop your camping gear at the Stehekin landing. Hike leisurely to Stehekin, use one of the wheelbarrows to haul your gear the easy way the 1/4 mile or so to Purple Point campground, and enjoy. If that camp is full, there is an overflow camp near the Golden West Visitor Center. Or you can take the shuttle or hitchhike up valley to Harlequin Campground. |
Nice plan for my "golden years."
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