Stehekin, Washington is at the northern tip of Lake Chelan in eastern Washington. You can only get to it by boat or float plane. It is considered to be “off the grid” and holds an aura of a place you need to experience.  We had never been there so I guess I can say it has been on my bucket list since 1963 when we first came to Washington.

Our son, Steve’s wife (Julie) has an Aunt (Judy & Jim Jensen) who have a summer home on Lake Chelan and they suggested we spend a few days in Stehekin followed by a couple of days at their home on Lake Chelan. What made it even more fun was Judy’s baby brother and his wife (Ted & Judy Dengler) would be visiting from North Carolina and would join us. We first met the Denglers at Steve & Julie’s wedding 21 years ago but had not seen them since, so it would be a nice reunion.

Judy Jensen acted as the trip planner for this excursion so all we had to do was show up. It is a leisurely 3.5 hour drive through the mountains to Lake Chelan from the Seattle ferry terminal. We were to be at the Fields Point Landing( #2 on map) by noon for a planned boat departure at 1 PM. Several boats provide ferry service to Stehekin. Although listed as separate companies the two companies are owned by members of the Courtney family, a famous local pioneer family who date back to the early 1900s. Our trip “up lake” would be on a boat owned by the Stehekin Ferry Company. As promised, the “Sunny Jo”, a 32 passenger, 57 foot catamaran showed up and the 6 of us boarded the boat for a leisurely 2 hour ride to Stehekin. Our gracious hostess, Judy Jensen, had even provided box lunches to keep us happy as we headed into the wilderness.

By 2:45PM we pulled into the Stehekin dock where we were met by a “vintage” old white school bus that would take us to our ultimate destination, the Stehekin Valley Ranch, located 9 miles from the ferry landing. I was somewhat perplexed when I read the 9 mile trip would take one hour. How could that be?  Are the roads that bad?  I soon found out. The only other passenger on the bus besides the 6 of us was a delightful young lady (one of many we later got to meet) who we learned was one of the workers at that ranch. It was her day off and she had ventured to Stehekin to visit a friend. Two miles up the road the bus pulled into the parking lot of the famous “Bakery” for a 15 minute stop. The bakery is famous in the state of Washington (and probably elsewhere) for its home baked goods-pies, huge cinnamon rolls and sticky buns, and cookies of various types.   This would be the first of multiple stops there while we were in Stehekin, for which we were thankful! We left the bakery after having snacks and continued on our journey to the ranch.

A few more miles up the road we made another planned, 15 minute stop at the “Garden”, a local pea patch of sorts run by a barefooted gentleman who grows vegetables, raises flowers, sells honey from his hives and makes/sells goat cheese. We were offered a third stop at Rainbow Falls, but passed as we knew we would be seeing it the next day and we were eager to get to the ranch. So now you know the “rest of the story”, as Paul Harvey used to say:  Why it takes one hour to make the 9 mile trip from the ferry terminal to the ranch. The bus stops at each of these locations on every trip down the road-going and coming.

The Stehekin Valley Ranch was started in 1983 by one of the Courtney boys (Cliff) whose father, Ray, had purchased the 20 acres in the 1950s. It is only one of two “hotel” opportunities in the Stehekin area. They are only open from June-October as winter brings 4-6 feet of snow to the area. By the way about 85 people live in Stehekin year round-obviously a hearty bunch! Judy had arranged for us to have the larger (sleeps 6) cabins, while they slept in the newer (but smaller) “wagons”, basically tiny houses on wheels. There was indoor plumbing in all units and lighting but we were asked to limit electrical use (no hair dryers) as the entire ranch runs on solar power. There was no AC, but Stehikin is at 1,220 ft elevation and the nights were pleasant.  Fans were available in the units and we found sleeping was not a problem even though daytime temperatures were near 90 degrees..

Wine and cocktails (we were told to bring our own as none are sold there) on the porch was enjoyed before dinner. Then at 5:30, the dinner bell was sounded and we experienced the next fun activity-eating homemade meals in the “cookhouse”, a sawdust covered floor with picnic benches and a roaring fire where huge coffee pots were brewing.  Meals are served cafeteria style. Each night there is a set menu but with an option for several other items if you did not like the main course of the evening. There is always salad makings, a hot vegetable, a starch and heavenly homemade bread or biscuits. But you had to be careful to not overdo dinner as the dessert table beckoned! Tonight there was a choice of at least 6 different freshly made pies and a couple of cakes. and of course, the ladies serving them offered you a side of Tillamook ice cream and/or whip cream. Who could resist?

Our day started very early so everyone was eager to call it a day. Thus ended our travels to the wilderness area called Stehekin. Tomorrow we are touring the area.