A Road Trip to Lake Chelan, Sept. 2012

 Lake Chelan from Campbell's Hotel in Chelan, Washington.

In the northern part of Eastern Washington there is a lake that is probably the most beautiful lake in the state: Lake Chelan (pronounced ‘she-laen’).

Eastern Washington is different in many ways from Western Washington. It is more desert-like, and it has a much drier climate than the western part of the state. It gets hotter and sunnier in the summer, and colder and snowier in the winter.

The Cascade Mountains are rather high, and the mountains create a rain shadow, making Eastern Washington dry.

There are two main highways that cross the mountains east to west: Interstate 90 and U.S. 2. 

 

 Interstate 90 about 30 miles west of Snoqualmie Pass. On the other side of the mountains the hills turn from green to brown. Photo taken in 2011.

I-90 is used the most. It goes over Snoqualmie Pass, and about 50 km east of Snoqualmie Pass the trees begin to thin out, and the dry grass and sagebrush takes over. Green hills turn into brown hills. The brown hills are crossed by river valleys with trees bordering the rivers. There are cattle ranches and apple orchards.

People from Western Washington -- where it rains a lot – often go east to “dry out”.

In mid-September, 2012, I was asked by my boss to drive to Lake Chelan to do a job helping his law partner. The law partner had a small office in Chelan, a town of maybe 5000 people located on the southern tip of the lake. At the time, I only had a $20 digital snapshot camera, but I took it with me anyway.

My bosses paid for my stay at a large hotel located right on the lake – it's a hotel with its own beach. My job was to interview a client, so I was there for two days. At that time, I hadn’t been in Eastern Washington for a few years, so it was a great road trip for me. Seeing the sun and sagebrush was a refreshing change.

To get to Chelan from my home in Renton I had to cross two mountain passes, Snoqualmie Pass and Blewett Pass.

Going up the western slope of Snoqualmie Pass. Photo taken in 2011.

 

Snoqualmie Pass is one of the least scenic mountain passes in Washington state. But it is still a nice drive. Going up the western slope of the Pass you can see Guye Peak, one of the prettiest mountains in the state.

Guye Peak from the Snoqualmie Pass Summit area. Pic taken in 2011.

 

During my road trip, the Blewett Pass highway (about 80 km east of Snoqualmie Pass) had just been re-opened. It had been closed for a few days, because of forest fires.

 Going north on the Blewett Pass Highway. The smoke and haze are from forest fires.

As I drove up Blewett Pass, the air was grey from smoke. The smoke became thicker as I drove deeper and deeper into the mountains.

Heading in to Wenatchee on U.S. 2 Eastbound. The haze was from several large forest fires and wildfires.

 Coming into Wenatchee, one of the largest cities in Eastern Washington, I could see smoke and haze over the freeway. It reminded me of photos of Los Angeles when the smog was bad.

Northbound from Wenatchee on U.S. 97 -- the road goes alongside the Columbia River, the largest river in the NW U.S. The haze in the picture is from wildfires.

 

On the way north from Wenatchee to Lake Chelan, I drove alongside the Columbia River.

Another view of Lake Chelan from the hotel. The beach was maybe 200 ft. (80 meters?) from my hotel room door. Looking west.

The view from the hotel at Chelan was awesome. Unfortunately, my only digital camera at that time was a cheap $25 snapshot camera. But even these pictures show the natural beauty of Lake Chelan.

Lake Chelan from the hotel patio. Looking west.

As you can tell from the pictures, the hills around Lake Chelan are mostly barren and brown. On the opposite side of the lake (hard to see in my grainy photographs) are houses and apple orchards.

Houses and apple orchards across the lake. Taken on a real cheap snapshot camera.

Lake Chelan from a park on the south shore of the lake. Sometimes the lake looks like an inland fjord. Lake Chelan is over 1000 feet (300 meters) deep.

On the way back home I crossed the Columbia River, and drove through Wenatchee. In Wenatchee I stopped by their main radio station (KPQ) to take a picture.

KPQ radio, located on Wenatchee's main street, Wenatchee Avenue.

On the way back over the mountains towards Seattle it was night time out -- and I saw a green fireball. 

The whole time I was Eastern Washington, even though it was mid-September, the outside temperature was 70-80F (25-28C), and the nights were warm enough to wear a T-shirt.

When I got back home, it was 55-60F (10C) – cool and crisp. Immediately, I missed the summery weather I had experienced East of the mountains.

I hope to go back over there some time soon – with a much better camera – so I can take more photographs of the Chelan area. Lake Chelan, and the northern Columbia River area, are definitely one of my state’s highlights.