I am in Stehekin, Washington this very moment.

Outside this cabin, a barred owl calls out to us, breaking the stillness of the night. And, yes, I have WiFi and so I can blog!

I’ve been coming to Stehekin annually since 2003 with Leslie and Rick.  Well, there were three years when we did not make our annual pilgrimage to this spellbound wilderness of the Cascade Mountains.  We did not come here during the Covid-19 Pandemic Year 2020. And we did not come here in 2022 when Leslie’s dog, our dear hiking champion Winnie, started failing and eventually died.  Lastly, we did not come here last year 2024, when forest fires nearly engulfed this sweet cabin and destroyed acres and acres of forests in this area.

So you can imagine how wonderful it is to be here. Leslie and I always do our welcome hike to Rainbow Falls upon our arrival and every day we set out on a different hike. This year we have Leslie’s new dog Willow. She is another great hiking buddy! While we hike, Rick goes fly fishing.

I thought to include my favorite Stehekin photos from the past years in this blog post.

We used to come by float plane.  The company that operated the float plane went out of business so now we take The Lady of the Lake Ferry round trip to from Chelan to Stehekin:

Leslie’s family cabin is super simple and rustic. I love it! This is the first time we have come here in September. We used to always come in June, July, or August. After last year’s forest fires, we decided it might be better to come after fire season has passed. Luckily, we have a wood stove because it gets cold at night this time of year. It’s going to be 42 degrees tonight! We are in the mountains, after all:

Fishing creels in the cabin (I think they may have belonged to Leslie’s grandfather):

The Stehekin River:

There are about 100 people who make this wilderness home year-round. Must be really hard because they get snowed in. If a resident has to get to the ferry landing to pick up supplies brought in by ferry or pick up mail, they have to snowshoe their way in and out. One of the people who lives here year round is Karl from The Garden. He runs a large organic garden/farm and sells fruit, vegetables, honey from his hives, and goat cheese from his goats.  I love to buy his fresh produce for our meals here! He also grows dahlias, but does not sell them.

Truly,I think Karl’s dahlias are more beautiful every year.

Rick chatting with Karl in The Garden.

There is no way to drive here as there are no roads connecting Stehekin to Chelan. The Cascades make this a remote destination. There are trails galore. (The hiking is amazing!) The only way in, as mentioned above, is by float plane (no longer operating) or by ferry boat. However, the residents have vehicles brought over by barge and there is a partial road from the ferry landing to to the famous Stehekin bakery and to the hiking trails beyond. You’ll sometimes see rusted out dinosaur-like vehicles, no longer in operation:

And here are Leslie’s wheels… and yes, it still runs!:

Some breathtaking images from some of my various hikes in Stehekin:

…an ode to Winnie:

Hiking-feet, free of boots, love a dip in the ice-cold river:

Always ready for an outdoor adventure in Stehekin:

Well, if you managed to get all the way to the end of this blog post, I want to let you know that I will be back to teaching my regular schedule on Tuesday, September 30. Until then…a few more hikes are planned this weekend.

Namaste,

Fran