Sue Frause

Winter in Stehekin, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, March 2, 2000

For 25 years the experience eluded me.

I was first introduced to Stehekin by National Geographic magazine in 1974. After reading about this tiny hamlet nestled in the North Cascades on the shore of Lake Chelan, my husband and I vowed to make the journey. There was something magical about this isolated mountain valley town -- something that spoke to us.

We made it to Stehekin several times -- by boat, seaplane and on foot. Those are the only ways to get there. But it was always in the summer. The "season of solitude" still eluded us.

That is, until a recent chilly Friday morning, when our mud-spattered Honda pulled up to the Lake Chelan Boat Co. dock. Along with dozens of other adventurous souls, our foursome was leaving worries behind for a snowshoe weekend at the North Cascades Stehekin Lodge.

As we board the Lady Express, one of three boats in the fleet, we're welcomed by Mona. She sets the tone for the weekend: warm, friendly and fun.

The trip "uplake" takes about 2 hours. The landscape I recall from summer sailings on 55-mile-long Lake Chelan has flip-flopped from boring brown to winter white -- is this the same body of water?

I go up top to chat with Nancy Clapp, one of the Lady Express pilots. A 10-year veteran of the boat company, she is also a Stehekin snowshoe guide, works as a cashier at the Stehekin Lodge store and slices the prime rib at Friday night's buffet. Stehekin is that kind of place.

Sixteen miles up at Fields Point, we pick up a few more passengers, the last car-access stop of the Lady Express. An elderly gentleman boards with his wife. "That's Mr. Buehler," says Mona Stockholm, a deck hand. "His suitcase is 100 years old."

We arrive at Stehekin at 12:30 p.m -- plenty of time to strap on the snowshoes. Our home for the weekend is a spacious A-frame cabin with two bedrooms, a bathroom, kitchen and a view. Electricity, too.

Stehekin Lodge is part of the North Cascades National Park complex, so you won't feel like you're bunking down at a Holiday Inn. And since it's a Park Service facility, it comes complete with rangers, including the husband-and-wife team of Ed and Kelly Pontbriand.

Stehekin's year-round population numbers around 70, and there's one public pay phone. Mail is delivered three days a week, and a barge hauls in the big stuff: building materials, cars, gasoline, furniture, hay, even trucks full of horses in the spring.

There's a small convenience store, but most residents shop in Chelan. If you can't handle the stress of the "big city," send a grocery list along with a blank check; the store in Chelan will fill your order!

Unlike most weekenders who haul grub up on the boat (the lodge's small store has limited food items), we go minimalist with a supply of trail gorp, bottled water and ample amounts of red wine.

Although we have a full kitchen, we eat in the restaurant, which turns out to be a good choice. The food is tasty and plentiful, our waitress Mary Hayhoe is delightful, and nobody can whine about cooking or cleanup duties.

Friday afternoon it's time to settle into the snow. Included in the two-day winter package at Stehekin Lodge are snowshoes. So if you don't have 'em, don't buy 'em. And if you've never been on snowshoes, don't worry. Walking is the only experience needed.

Buses depart Stehekin landing at various times during the weekend, providing connections to and from snow trails. Rick Rahn, the driver, doubles as Rick the tour guide and provides us with easy-to-read maps of the trails.

Our destination is Rainbow Falls, about three miles up the Stehekin Valley Road. Rahn points out landmarks along the way, including the resident trumpeter swans that are making their winter home at the head of Lake Chelan.

Off to the right is the old Stehekin School, a 1919 one-room schoolhouse with a roof heaped with snow. A new school for grades K-8 was built in 1988, complete with a library, gymnasium and indoor plumbing.

Rahn drops us off at Rainbow Falls and says he'll pick us up in a couple of hours. It's time to shuffle off to the snow.

You don't need a lot of gear to snowshoe. I have my own pair of purple fiberglass Tubbs, and prefer using Sorrels instead of hiking boots. Don't strap yourself in too tightly, or your toes will go numb.

Dress in layers, as you'll get plenty warm, and carry a day pack with water, trail snacks, compass and an extra pair of warm gloves. I use ski poles when I snowshoe, it helps with balance and when navigating tricky terrain.

Rainbow Falls is spectacular. At 312 feet, they're the highest falls in the Stehekin Valley. From there we proceed to the Buckner Orchard, the oldest common delicious apple orchard in the United States. These days, the Park Service maintains the orchard, and the apples are for the enjoyment of residents and visitors.

We do a 2-mile-or-so loop around the orchard, stopping for water or to gaze at the Stehekin River. The silence is marred only by the crunch, crunch, crunch of our snowshoes. I spot a patch of blue, but non-threatening clouds rule. We crunch our way back to the bus.

Saturday morning our destination is High Bridge. Rahn drops us off at the Courtney Ranch, the end of the plowed road, and assures us he'll be back at 2 p.m. The terrain differs from the day before, no flat walking this time, as the elevation rises and we puff our way up the hills. The Stehekin River is our peekaboo friend.

After about an hour we reach High Bridge, where Ranger Pontbriand holds forth in a cozy cabin. We sink down into the recycled couches and chairs and chew our sandwiches and chips. Pontbriand answers our questions about Stehekin and talks about his previous ranger gigs. Hard to imagine this outdoorsy guy was once assigned to the Statue of Liberty in New York City and Philadelphia's Liberty Bell.

Others in the group continue on to Coon Lake, a place I hiked to summers ago. I laugh when I tell my tale of swimming in the lake, only to find out it was filled with leeches. And of our Swiss exchange student whose English was such that he didn't understand he was taking a picture of a rattlesnake.

We tromp back down the trail to the Courtney Ranch and pile into the big blue bus. We're tired.

But Saturday is a two-snowshoe-trip day. Although we'd prefer to play a little four-handed cribbage back in our cabin, we can't miss the Moonlight Snowshoe Walk. OK, so there is no moon, but there is a festive flavor in the air as some 30 people fill the bus.

As we shove our boots into our snowshoes and turn on our headlamps, I'm 14 again. Clapp leads us onto the well-tromped trail and into the night while Missy Linsey brings up the rear.

No, they haven't lost anybody yet, but it's dark, real dark.

Looking back, all I can see are bobbing lamps and flashes of light in the snow. This is the best.

After 30 minutes or so, we arrive at a roaring campfire built by another lodge employee. We talk among ourselves, enjoying s'mores, cocoa and hot spiced wine. Tomorrow, we'll sadly say goodbye to each other and our newfound friend -- winter in Stehekin.

	Sue's words, images and commentary have appeared in the following:

	NEWSPAPERS Boston Herald Calgary Herald Edmonton Journal The Everett Herald The Oregonian Ottawa Citizen Regina Leader-Post Seattle Post-Intelligencer Seattle Weekly The (Vancouver) Province Victoria Times Colonist Windsor Star Winnipeg Free Press MAGAZINES Alaska Airlines Jewish Life & Style Northwest Business Monthly Northwest Palate Northwest Travel Seattle Bride Seattle Magazine SUN (Seattle University) TravelAge West VIA Virtuoso Life Washington Athletic Club INTERNET www.shermanstravel.com www.spas.about.com www.tangodiva.com www.vagablond.com BOOKS Northwest Best Places (Contributor) Good Food Guide to Oregon/Washington (Contributor) Fabulous Fairholme : Breakfasts & Brunches (Editor) PERSONAL BLOGS Closet Canuck Whidbey Island Life RADIO KSER, 90.7 FM, Everett, Washington (Weekly Correspondent) Around the World Travel Radio (Regular Contributor)