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Ten EHS classmates met at Lake Chelan in mid-September of 2011, for a boat trip "uplake" to the isolated, historic settlement of Stehekin. Those who chose to participate were:      Larry & Rose Campbell, Jim Nopson & Helen Gregory-Nopson, Edith Campbell Clarke, Paula Miller McClanahan, Sandy Forsgren Konikson & Nick Konikson, and Mike & Nettie (EHS'59) Jungers.

(Read across columns --->>, row by row)      Paula and Edith invited us all into their room at the Best Western Lakeside Lodge & Suites for snacks and conversation on Tuesday evening, prior to the excursion. (Thank you, Ladies) Conveniently, the lodge had assigned eight of us to four consecutive rooms. Two others were in another building.

Wednesday morning, after a complimentary breakfast at the lodge, we board the Lady Express, faster of the two boats, as the larger but slower Lady of the Lake II pulls away from the dock in Chelan.

We soon leave the "Lady" behind as we travel toward Field's Point and Stehekin landings on our two-and-a-half-hour cruise up this fifty-five-mile long lake. The Lady of the Lake II will arrive about an hour and a half after we do.

The sun is hot and the tourists anxious to disembark as the Lady Express snuggles up to the pilings of the Stehekin Landing. We fall in line, exit the boat, and locate one another on the crowded landing to discuss what's next. Edith, Paula, Sandy, Nick, Mike and Nettie choose to affirm their overnight accommodations and stow their luggage, then enjoy a leisurely lunch. They will return to Chelan the following day.

Rose, Larry, Helen and Jim opt to climb aboard one of the red shuttle buses that makes stops at the old school house, the renowned bakery, High Bridge, Stekehin Valley Ranch and other sites of note including Rainbow Falls along one-lane dirt roads that access the Stehekin valley. The ride is bumpy and noisy, and the bus barely misses scraping against rugged mountain boulders stacked wall-high here and there along the roadside.

Our driver, Bill, stops when a dust-covered pickup truck approaches head-on. He throws the bus into reverse and backs up the curvy chuck-holed road for a hundred feet or so to a spot where the pickup can squeeze by, then drives forward again. It happens more than once. He also expertly times his turn-around at the Stehekin Valley Ranch so that the nearby sprinkler sloshes water through the open bus windows onto the passengers. On his second try we are smarter and duck, but the water misses the window and his riders laugh with him!      Bill's running commentary on points of interest along the way is interesting. We stop at High Bridge to view the cold glacial water rush over the riverbed below.

On the other side of the bridge, we lean over the railing to watch the crimson salmon spawn in the quiet sand at the river's edge.      Bill assures us we'll return to Stehekin in time to board the Lady of the Lake II for our trip back to Chelan. He is correct.      It's a long four-hour boat ride back to the comfort and air-conditioning of our Best Western room.

Page Top      Photos courtesy of Helen Gregory-Nopson © 2011