Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 160, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 July 1914 — WONDERFUL LAKE CHELAN [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

WONDERFUL LAKE CHELAN

by E. W. Pickard

Have you ever heard of Lake Chelan? Do you know where it is or what it is? Unless you have lived or traveled In the northwestern part of the United States, it is ten to one that you must answer no. Yet Lake - Chelan is one of the most picturesque bodies of water in America, and one of the' most interesting, and its shores are being dotted with the pretty summer homes of scores of wealthy residents of Washington and Oregon. Situated almost in the center of the state of Washington, this lake is sixty miles long and of an average width of, one mile and a half —so long and narrow and winding that it has more the appearance of a big river. Its depth is. almost incredible, and its waters, replenished by glacial streams, are icy cold and as clear as crystal. Almost straight up from its surface its shores rise to mountain height, and so steep is the slope below the water that seldom is any beach to be found. To the present time Lake Chelan has not been easy of access, which

largely accounts for the fact that It is «o little known. is the nearest railjvky station, and from there one must go some forty miles up the Columbia, either on one of the etern-wheel steamers which carry pasangers and freight up and down that river, or in an automobile. The steamer trip is rather slow but decidedly Interesting. Several times .the vessel must be pulled through rapids by means of a cable anchored to the shore, and the stops are frequent —wherever, indeed, a white rag on a stick is discerned on the bank. Your landing is made at Chelan Falls, an inconsequential hainlet, and there you take a seat in a four-horse coach. It is a ramshackle old vehicle which seems on the point of breaking down, which it really does on occasion, but in it you will have a ride to remember. Slowly it creeps up the steep road over the hills, skirting tremendous ravines, rounding huge boulders, much of the way following the Chelan river, a turbulent stream which in its short course of three miles from lake to river has a fall of 376 feet. From the summit the old stage driver makes quick time down to the town of Chelan, so quick that often your heart is in your mouth, as the vehicle whirls around sharp turns while the pebbles

thrown from the horses' hoofs rattle on the rocks a couple of hundred feet below. Chelan, a progressive little city, lies at the south end of the lake, and the peacefully beautiful scenery gives you no hint of the rugged grandeur that characterizes the body of water farther up. Early In the morning you board a neat little steamer or gasoline launch and start on the voyage of exploration. Gilding swiftly over water that is as beautifully blue as that of the Bay of Naples, you boon come to a bend, and there the prospect opens up. On the right the land Is still comparatively low lying and Is being planted

with fruit trees, but on the left the hills quickly grow into mountains, here tree-clad and beautiful. Again a turn, and again the scene changes, for now the heights become rugged and steep, and immense clefts, straight as though , cut with a gigantic knife, separate them. Down each of these clefts tumbles a sparkling, roistering little cataract that from a distance looks like a thread of frosted silver. During centuries of earnest effort the larger of these streams have deposited at their mouths little triangular patches of gravelly soil, and on almost every patch some wise man has built an attractive summer residence and surrounded it with pretty trees and shrubs. To be sure, his front yard is usually a series of steps, and his kitchen garden is made on shelves, but that only adds to the charm. The boat now approaches the Narrows, where the mountains on each shore seem to lean toward each other and their giant reflections almost fljl the lake. For the right bank now has become as precipitous as the left, and for some miles is an almost bare, steep slope of peculiar formation having the appearance of a bubbly, billowy cascade of mud suddenly hardened into stone.

In the background snow capped peaks now appear, and the nearer summits are tortured Into fantastic shapes ever changing and so fascinating that one never tires of looking at them. At Twenty-five Mlle creek Nature gives you a respite, for there the mountains recede a bit and permit a large circular opening of bench land, a spot, of exquisite beauty. But at once the steamer carries you on to scenes that are unrivalled fdt grandeur, sliding along under the walls of Round mountain. This is a bare bluff rising from an imposing precipice, its dry face gashed by chasms and crossed, by great rock terraces. Here the lake bottom is at its deepest—l,4l9 feet below the surface, or 340 feet below sea level.

Next Black Cap claims your attention and admiration, a towering, rounded rock faced into a bald bluff and boldly fronting the lake, and after it a dozen more heights as grand and Imposing. Where Fish creek flows in from the east is a long point of sandy soil where an edtlcing fishing resort has been built, but the boat stops only a moment, and soon after you come to the north end of this wonderful lake and to Stehekin. Really Stehekln consists only of a hotel —and a very good one—and the home of a park ranger. Whether you want to or not, you must remain there over night, and you do not regret it. After a bountiful and well cooked dinner you are ready for the walk to Rainbow Falls, several miles up the lovely little Stehekln river that flows from the glaciers which are always in' sight glistening on the mountains miles away up the canyon. Through beautiful forests of pine and beech and fir you wander until a musical rumbling tells you that the cascade is near at ..hand. Rainbow Falls is as pretty a waterfall as one would wish to see. Straight down from the brow of a cliff 300 feet high plunges a little mountain stream, into a self-made basin from which it overflows in another fall to its rocky bed in the Stehekin valley. If you chance to see it in the dry season, as I did, the cataract is the more beau-

?’ .. " * 4 tlful, for then its thin stream so shattered by projecting rocks pear the top that it comes down like a stream of Sunlit mist filled with glittering pearls. jAnd when the afternoon sun strikes on it, there is thrown, across the fall thejgorgeous rainbow that gives it its name. ■ Absolutely unspoiled by tourists and preserved from exploitation by the wisdom of Unde Sam who has made this a national forest reservation, Rainbow Falls is such a spot that ione can scarcely tear himself away. But you must return to the hotel, for one more interesting sight awaits. As the sun is sinking toward the ice-topped mountains you dimb into a skiff anfi ln ten mlnutes row over to the Painted Rocks. On the face of a sheer bluff are several groups of fantastic human figures, painted in imperishable pigments by Indians of some prehistoric time. They are so far above the surface of the water and the cliff is so unclimbable that the wonder is how the primitive artists managed to get to the place. Probably their comrades let them down from above, or possibly in that long gone day the lake level was much higher than nqw. “When you go to Lake Chelan, be sure to see the petrified deer,” said a friend in Seattle. “It stands on the bottom in about twenty feet of water and can be seen clearly when the lake is calm. It is supposed to have been killed and to have fallen into the lake, where it was petrified.”

This sounded interesting, so the first thing I asked the skipper of the little steamer was: “Do we go where we can see the petrified deer?” “No, I’m afraid not,” he replied with a grin. “The truth iff* I hain’t never seen it myself, though I’ve heard tell of it. Anyhow, some folks say they have seen something that looks like a deer.” “How about that petrified deer?” I asked, the proprietor of the hotel at Stehekin who made the return trip with me. “Petrified deer? Go on! Some ope has been telling you fairy tales,” he

said. “Do you suppose if there had been any such thing here it would have been left undisturbed? Why, I’d have had it up myself long ago.” , So I did not see the wonderful petrified deer, but Lake Chelan needs no such marvel to make it one of the most attractive places in this country of ours. Soon it will be easy to reach, too, for the branch of the Great Northern railway from Wenatchee to Oroville will be completed this year and will run through Chelan Falls, and the road from there to Chelan is to be greatly Improved.

The Little Lake Steamer.

Rainbow Falls.

Summer Home on Lake Chelan.