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June 28, 2014
The rain had eased off until about 2 am. By 6 in the morning it had returned to its previous intensity. It was hard to decide: stay another day to try for a dry hike, or pack up and head home, and wait for dry weather to hike in the Cascades and Olympics. We waited for the rain to let up for more than an hour. We finally decided to pack up and head home. We headed for St. Mary and a Goodbye Breakfast at The Park Cafe (our favorite pie place). We met an interesting couple, Christian and Birgitte Aabye (christian@aabye.com), who live in Redwood City, CA. Christian was a librarian. He now works for VISA credit card company. They are originally from Denmark. We enjoyed talking with them and invited them to visit us and see Seattle and Mt. Rainier. Continued homeward bound. Heading south for Maria's Pass (elevation 5220 ft.) at the Continental Divide on Hwy 2, and on to Sandpoint, Idaho.
Sandpoint was fully booked, so we moved on to Newport, WA, had some Mexican dinner, then searched, and searched, for a campground.
It was getting drk after our meals at a local Mexican restaurant. The Pend Oreille area, and northern Idaho in particular, is a tough place to locate camping. Naturally, we were looking for a spot on a weekend. In t he gathering gloom, the campground was choked with beginning of summer camping families. It was completely filled.
OK, down the road some more. The GPS thought there was a camping possibility called Bear Camp just up the road. We turned down a dirt road and wobbled along to a dead end in what looked like a campground, but not exactly like a bona fide one. There was a human crossing the parking area. He said that we were in a camp run as a religious retreat, and we were not allowed to camp there. But just 4.5 miles up the road was Skookum Creek, a DNR camping area. We sailed north the 4.5 miles and saw a dirt road, they love dirt roads in Pend Oreille county not far from the small timber town of Usk. Nosing down the road, it was now very dark, we came to a totally vacant campground! Lack of roadside signage was our friend. No camping crowds had discovered it. I don't know where all the people who left the packed Forest Service site went, but it was not up the road to Skookum. We saw deer in the meadow. We were serenaded by frogs in the stream. The latrine was in good shape. We were alone with nature..
We found a Dept. Natural Resources campground and set up our tent (in the dark...hate that, but we're good at it).
June 29, 2014
Awoke to find our DNR campground, Skookum Creek, was the most beautiful we've seen on this trip, and maybe ever. Lots of green, lots of trees, a lake, roomy tent spots, and we were the only ones there, except for some deer, adults and fawns, and a goldfinch.
Broke camp and moved on to Usk, near the Kalispell Indian Reservation. A bit north on US 20 is Manresa Grotto, cave-like structures in a cliff wall. Trails have been built to help people climb up to the grotto.
Back to Usk, west to Chewelah, north to Colville and Kettle Falls, west again to Republic, a surprisingly interesting town. Heard its name for years...never been there. A fossil museum, Stonerose Interpretive Center, shows stunning fossil collections, and will sponsor you (for only $10) to dig in their nearby beds. Republic also has a brewery (Republic Brewing Co) creating, developing and selling brews of many types and flavors. It is a small brew pub but very popular.
On to Tonasket, and quickly through there as we turn south on Hwy 20 to Omak and Okanogan, then east to Winthrop on our way through North Cascades National Park to I-5 and home. We stop near Twisp so Jim can take some photos in the late afternoon sun. A woman who chances by helps us by suggesting a place to camp. We follow her directions to an unnamed Wilderness Area campsite that is no longer maintained. Two other campsites are already occupied. We set up camp, visit a neighboring site...their dog introduced us. Jim fixes dinner, and we turn in for the night.
Back to Usk, west to Chewelah, north to Colville and Kettle Falls, west again to Republic, a surprisingly interesting town. Heard its name for years...never been there. A fossil museum, Stonerose Interpretive Center, shows stunning fossil collections, and will sponsor you (for only $10) to dig in their nearby beds. Republic also has a brewery (Republic Brewing Co) creating, developing and selling brews of many types and flavors. It is a small brew pub but very popular.
On to Tonasket, and quickly through there as we turn south on Hwy 20 to Omak and Okanogan, then east to Winthrop on our way through North Cascades National Park to I-5 and home. We stop near Twisp so Jim can take some photos in the late afternoon sun.
A woman who chances by helps us by suggesting a place to camp. We follow her directions to an unnamed Wilderness Area campsite that is no longer maintained.
This was another unknown camp site. This time it was established by the Department of Wildlife as the Bear Creek campsite in the Methow Wildlife area. This department has a number of free campgrounds scattered around the state. See this link: http://wdfw.wa.gov/lands/water_access/30335/ for this and the other sites.
Two other campsites are already occupied. We set up camp, visit a neighboring site...their dog introduced us and they had extra trout for our dinner. Now that is the way to fish. Jim fixes dinner, and we turn in for the night.
June 30, 2014
Spent last night in an unofficial camping "Methow Fish and Wildlife Area." It is above and to the east of Winthrop, just off Bear Creek Rd, above Bear Creek Golf Course. The state doesn't spend any money on it (although it does have a pit toilet), and doesn't require a fee to stay. It takes about 8 or 9 miles to get there from Hwy 20. The additional treat is a morning stop for coffee and pastry in Winthrop. We strolled through the town, stopping to talk to the Visitors’ Center host, as well as browsing some of the shops. Jim has a new pair of hiking shoes; Dianne has a new
water-resistant jacket…Purple!
We visited Falls Creek, an attractive falls up the Chewack Road out of Winthrop. Jim climbed up alongside the Falls to take photos. There is a much longer trail up some steep terrain, but we skipped it. We had fun chatting with a couple we met from Florida, Chris and Jean, who were exploring Eastern Washington before heading west to Kitsap to visit friends, then north to Vancouver Island.
We wanted to spend another night in the Methow before heading home, and Jim wanted to see a lecture in Mazama about mushrooms, so we headed west to check out the overnight possibilities. We stopped at three motels/hotels, but decided on another night or two in the tent, and opted for Klip Chuck Campground. Only $6 per night, compared to Freestone Inn, $274. The Freestone has a nice restaurant, but Jim’s camp dinners are pretty hard to beat.
July 1, 2014
Klipchuck Campground has streamside hiking trails within its grounds. Wandering through the woods was a great way to loosen up from driving.
The next day, We found a nearby trailhead to Cedar Falls, with the river heard through the trees on your ascent for about two miles, then, when the trail is ready for your viewing, a dramatic explosion of water, pours over an enormous wall of rock, spraying into a rainbow of color below. We took photos and enjoyed some lunch, then continued another couple of miles, enjoyed the wildflowers, paintbrush, lavender penstemon decorating the trail, then turned around to return to the campground, our tent and our dinner.
Cedar Falls
Cedar Falls rainbow
Penstemon blooming early in the season.
July 2, 2014
We woke up, breakfasted, and broke camp, packing up to head home. It was hard to tear ourselves away from the beautiful Methow Valley and the amazingly beautiful North Cascades, but as we headed west, the scenery just got more and more beautiful, highlighted by memories of our experiences of years of climbing and hiking in those peaks.
Early Winters spire and Liberty Bell mountain
Early boat on Ross Lake
We stopped at our favorite Hwy 20 snack bar west of Marblemount, The Cascade Farms for some ice cream and coffee, then continued on home, where we arrived at 1 pm. Then the big chore began of unpacking the car and trying to remember where everything went. Aahh...home at last.
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