25 April 2018
I have to confess there were two parts to my cross country trip over which I had anxiety. The first part was the trip to Stehekin. It was difficult to arrange. Every time I tried to get reservations – first at the campground – then the lodge – then anything that was available – I kept running into a wall.
There are other national parks that I cannot get reservations for the campgrounds but that doesn’t bother me. I figure there is a town near enough I can find a motel room somewhere. Stehekin is different. It’s a 50 mile boat ride up a lake. You have to make reservations for the boat. Then, I was faced with finding any kind of accommodations.
Finally, I found two groups who each had log cabins available year round. The first one I called said they were full up for the three nights I needed. The second was available but it was expensive. I had to rent a cabin with sleeping facilities for 6. In the end, it worked out and I made the down payment and finished the payment when I arrived.
I have to admit, the woman and daughter who ran the accommodations were not the friendliest. She was more than friendly with the townspeople as I saw her interact with them. However, I don’t think she said more than two words to me after the initial check in. She had rented the larger cabin next to mine, and she didn’t interact with them either. You would think someone who is in that business would be a little more outgoing but I suspect the cabins are a major source of income that allows them to live the life they want. Guests are just an inconvenience.
In any case, I loved my stay at Stehekin. I got in four good hikes during my stay and saw some magnificent scenery and photographed some wildflowers I have been trying to find since forever. I kind of hated to leave.
I left the cabin at 9:30 am, drove the Ford Explorer into Stehekin and waited until someone showed up to turn on the gas pump so I could leave the Explorer with a full tank – a request of the hostess. I was the only person in town except for the day workers for the NPS. Finally, around 12 noon, people started showing up at the dock to off load the supplies brought in by the Lady Express. It reminded me of that scene in The Music Man where everyone goes ga-ga for the Wells Fargo wagon.
The Lady Express was right on time at 12:30 pm but packed to the gills. There were probably 12 people on the boat when it dropped me at Stehekin. This boat had 84 people. Even the park personnel were stunned at the crowd. They kept saying “it’s Wednesday – why are they here today?”
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The red tour bus takes people to Rainbow Falls and back within an hours time in order to make the sailing of the Lady Express back to Chelan at 1:30 pm. There were so many people trying to get on the bus, it was delayed and the captain told us as we boarded we would be 30 minutes late departing in order to accommodate everyone.
In the end, the captain made up the time and we docked at Chelan a little after 4 pm which is our scheduled time.
Anyway, the second part of my trip that has me worried is Isle Royale National Park. I had two options: boat or sea plane. Originally, the sea plane looked the better of the two options as their published schedule on their website would allow me 2 nights at Isle Royale. Their schedule was in error and I am now down to one night with passage on the sea plane.
The problem is that the National Park Service has facilities to stay over night (lodge and cabins) but it’s out of season for both. My only option is to camp out in a tent. Normally, that’s not a problem but since it is out of season, you cannot reserve any space in any campground. It’s first come, first serve for one tent each. However, the campgrounds are scattered all over the island and if I don’t get one close, I may have to backpack into the back country and then hurry back to catch the sea plane out.
Additionally, if it is bad weather – always a possibility on the peninsula of Michigan – the sea plane may return early to pick me up and I would have no way of knowing since there is no phone or internet service on the island.
Since my anxiety of Stehekin was assuaged, I’ll hope for the best on the Isle Royale Trip.
Tonight I’m in the Lakeside Lodge & Suites in Chelan. I’ll head to Coeur D’Alene, Idaho tomorrow for one more night in a motel and then 3 nights of camping (hopefully) at Craters of the Moon National Monument. I’ll also try to see about tires tomorrow before I leave in Chelan and if I can’t find what I want, I’ll try Coeur D’Alene by calling ahead to the jeep dealership.
