NORTH CASCADES TRIP

Tampa Bay Cool Weather Hikers (TBCWH).

Sept. 19-28, 2009

PHOTOS BELOW

I just returned from a Sierra Club hiking trip to the North Cascades in Washington, September 19-28, 2009. The North Cascades encompasses an area of nearly 10,000 square miles in the U.S. and Canada. Most of the area is Federal or State Preserves and includes the North Cascades National Park. Large portions of the area have no motorized access and about 40 percent is designated wilderness. Much of the region is evergreen forest, but it also contains a lot of deciduous forest, particularly along river drainages, and alpine meadows. Numerous glaciers are found on the higher peaks. Large mammals that inhabit the area include black bear, a few grizzle bear, mountain sheep and goats, deer, elk, wolverine, and several packs of wolves.

The TBCWH Founder and CEO was pleased with my selection of this hiking destination and felt I would be representing the group with honor, as I hiked through the cold and rainy conditions of this northern environment. But I have to report that I spent the entire week under bright, sunny skies of an “Indian Summer”. Temperatures ranged from the 40’s to high 80’s.

I flew to Seattle on September 19 and met our group (16 people from around the U.S. and from as far away as Hong Kong) in Chelan, Washington in the drier eastern foothills of the Cascades. The town of Chelan is at the eastern end of Lake Chelan, a 55 mile long, narrow, glacier carved lake that reaches depths of more than 1,400 feet. At the town we boarded a ferry boat that travels the length of the lake to a small village called Stehekin. From the dock at Stehekin we were transported by bus about 8 miles upriver to Stehekin Valley Ranch which would serve as our base for exploring this part of the North Cascades. We stayed in small, primitive cabins, but ate meals and showered in the nearby lodge. Each day we hiked trails into the mountains over distances that ranged from about 5 to 14 miles; some hikes had elevation gains of several 1000 feet. There was also the opportunity to fish, kayak, or horseback ride, but I stuck with the hiking. Many of the trails were in evergreen forests, but autumn colors were bright in the understory and in more open areas.

On the last day we visited rainbow falls, an apple orchid, and the original two-room school for the village, and then boarded the ferry for the 4 hour ride back to the town of Chelan, where we went our separate ways. After long flights, I arrived back in Tampa on September 28.

On the last day we visited rainbow falls, an apple orchid, and the original two-room school for the village, and then boarded the ferry for the 4 hour ride back to the town of Chelan, where we went our separate ways. After long flights, I arrived back in Tampa on September 28.

The west end of Lake Chelan at Stehekin from the ferry

Ben- On the trail above Lake Chelan.

The group above the Lake.

The ranch lodge and a cabin.

The Stehekin River