Forum Index > Trip Reports > Chelan Lakeshore Trail, May 3-6
 Reply to topic
Previous :: Next Topic
Author Message
CarriesNineFires
Member
Member


Joined: 03 Oct 2016
Posts: 134 | TRs | Pics
Location: Seattle
CarriesNineFires
Member
PostMon May 15, 2017 9:30 pm 
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
Lake Chelan
Chelan Lakeshore Trail
Chelan Lakeshore Trail
Chelan Lakeshore Trail
Chelan Lakeshore Trail
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
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
Lake Chelan

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Backpacker Joe
Blind Hiker



Joined: 16 Dec 2001
Posts: 23956 | TRs | Pics
Location: Cle Elum
Backpacker Joe
Blind Hiker
PostTue May 16, 2017 8:49 am 
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
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
CarriesNineFires
Member
Member


Joined: 03 Oct 2016
Posts: 134 | TRs | Pics
Location: Seattle
CarriesNineFires
Member
PostTue May 16, 2017 10:31 am 
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.

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
olderthanIusedtobe
Member
Member


Joined: 05 Sep 2011
Posts: 7687 | TRs | Pics
Location: Shoreline
olderthanIusedtobe
Member
PostTue May 16, 2017 10:39 am 
Welcome to the site. up.gif 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.

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
HitTheTrail
Member
Member


Joined: 30 Oct 2007
Posts: 5452 | TRs | Pics
Location: 509
HitTheTrail
Member
PostTue May 16, 2017 11:43 am 
Nice shots (from a cell phone??) Great first TR. up.gif 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?

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
CarriesNineFires
Member
Member


Joined: 03 Oct 2016
Posts: 134 | TRs | Pics
Location: Seattle
CarriesNineFires
Member
PostTue May 16, 2017 3:25 pm 
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.

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
Brushbuffalo
Member
Member


Joined: 17 Sep 2015
Posts: 1887 | TRs | Pics
Location: there earlier, here now, somewhere later... Bellingham in between
Brushbuffalo
Member
PostWed May 17, 2017 5:19 pm 
Good job! Welcome to NWHIKERS. smile.gif 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. chow.gif

Passing rocks and trees like they were standing still
Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
RichP
Member
Member


Joined: 13 Jul 2006
Posts: 5628 | TRs | Pics
Location: here
RichP
Member
PostWed May 17, 2017 5:33 pm 
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." up.gif

Back to top Reply to topic Reply with quote Send private message
   All times are GMT - 8 Hours
 Reply to topic
Forum Index > Trip Reports > Chelan Lakeshore Trail, May 3-6
  Happy Birthday noahk!
Jump to:   
Search this topic:

You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum