Skip to main content

Chelan Butte, Chelan Washington




























I have to confess, I work so close to this trail that it is almost embarrassing to admit that this is the first time I have ever hiked it. I have for years watched the seasons change on this Butte as I come and go to work, had big plans to some day tackle the trail after work....Right, not going to happen. To tired, to lazy, didn't bring the proper clothing all the good excuses. So when my niece called me and let me know that she was on her way up from Oregon and her and my nephew wanted to join us on a hike. Preferably close, due to activities they had planned for later in the day. I threw out a few options, this being the hike with the most elevation gain, but with the nicest views and flowers blooming, she jumped all over it. So one of the only hikes that some how I managed to squeeze in to a extremely busy April, we left the house at a fairly descent time. With only a 20 minute drive ahead of us, we only had to make one stop for a morning coffee and off we were. The trail starts to climb very shortly after crossing the road and heading up the jeep trail. After gaining some elevation you finally get to a spot where even though you are still heading up hill you can begin to breath easier. The kids just blew up the trail past me, I had flowers to admire and views to take pictures of. Didn't have anything to do with the fact I needed a break every now and then to breath. The views are really pretty awesome of Lake Chelan, and the town it self. You get a great view of the Lake from Chelan all the Way to Stormy, and a nice view of the Chelan Sawtooths. As you reach higher elevation you get a pretty good view up and down the Columbia River and the Waterville Plateau. Lots of flowers were blooming when we took this hike, pretty amazing that you can't see the color spots from down below. Some years you can really tell when the balsam roots are blooming from road level as you head into town. We did not reach the top, after figuring our time frame and looking at the next two very steep sections of trail we took lunch on a beautiful mound of rocks and admired the views. Very enjoyable hike, gives you a descent work out going up and down, lots of flowers blooming in April. When the Butte dry's up it would be a really hot hike.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Echo Basin, Eastern Washington

Echo Basin was our last early spring hike in the Eastern Washington area. We were planning to hike the Frenchman Coulee side that heads toward the waterfall but changed our mind due to the amount of cars parked at the trail head. So down the road just a little ways we went to hike the Echo Basin trail. Even with a early start the sun was way too bright, not hot, just bright. We hiked up the jeep trail that starts on the left hand side of the road as your facing the Columbia River. Didn't seem like a real exciting trail till we reached the sand dunes, which put us closer to the rock walls. Up and over the sand dunes and on up a goat trail to get above the walls. Without really knowing were we were going we just winged it. Lots of faint trails and trails in the sand, hard to know which was the true trail. The rock walls are huge and fascinating, the columns are even more interesting up close. We hiked until we had a view looking down into Echo Basin, and a nice look at th
Post a Comment
Read more

Cutthroat Trail.......Snowshoeing North Cascades Highway

I have a confession to make, I have been having some winter blues. Not sure if they can be officially called winter blues due to we have had little to no winter. I have been very impatiently waiting for the snow to arrive, it comes, blows through, makes the ground white, then its gone. The last few days we have been sitting at temperatures in the 40's. What is up with winter. One thing I can say for sure is I am very thankful for the few trips we made up highway 20 before the silver star gate was closed. Our trip to Cutthroat Trail was back in November, when we had visions of winter coming to the valley very soon. The snow was nice and fluffy and deep. Pleasant day to get out and enjoy it, one of those days where your not sure if the clouds where going to allow the blue sky to show it self or not. We parked right off the highway with a couple of other cars and Snowshoed up the road to the trail head. Wasn't very long and more hikers, cross country skiers, and furry
3 comments
Read more

Looking For Mountain Views....................

Since I couldn't get anybody to go snowshoeing with me this last weekend....I went on a drive and took pictures.....It was a lovely day...lots of variation in the clouds...started down on the Columbia River in Pateros and continued on down towards Chelan...stopped at the park...which has a great view of the mountains...then on up around Manson...drove as many roads as I could looking for the best view of the mountains....drove a couple of roads I have never been on....what a festive little town Manson is right now....Drove on up towards Echo Ridge trail area...roads got a little on the icy side up in that area....then found my way back home....now I have a camera card or two loaded with pictures...plus basketball pictures.....lots of computer time...The season is moving right along...lots of new snow in the mountains...Can't wait to get out there and play.
Post a Comment
Read more