July 6, 2018 - Travel to Stehekin in the Lake Chelan National Recreation Area

We got up early, then drove to Chelan to board the Lady Express speedboat at 8:30AM to Stehekin.  There are only two ways to reach Stehekin. One is to take Lady Express ferry or hiking over 11 hours from North Cascade National Park’s trail.  It is one of the most remote area we had ever visited.  There is no cell phone or TV connections.  The only thing one can do there is exploring the nature and relaxing.  The North Cascade Lodge we booked 6 months ago is located next to the ferry dock, so we just walked across the street to get to the hotel.  In front of the hotel there are decks with many chairs for people just to sit and glaze at this beautiful Lake Chelan.  The types of transportation in Shehekin are either taking shuttle bus provided by the hotel, or renting bicycles.  There are many hiking trails in this areas for visitors.

After we checked into the hotel, we got on a shuttle bus to visit Rainbow Fall.  The shuttle bus took us through the only road in this area and it is right next to Lake Chelan. The  scenery is beautiful.  Periodically, we saw deers eating grass next to the road.  The shuttle bus stopped at Rainbow Fall area for just 20 minutes.  There are short walks to see the fall from the bottom or from a little bit higher ground.  The Rainbow Fall is pretty impressive. 

After we got back to the hotel, we decided to take a short hike on Imus Creek Trail which is circled around our hotel.  From many points, you can see the beautiful Chelan Lake from higher up.  It was very interesting toward the end of the trail where we spotted a mama deer with a baby deer just wondering around next to the trail.  Since there were campers next to the trail in the area, we believed these deers may be trying to find food.

The hotel also has one of the two restaurants in the area.  Therefore, we just had our dinner at this hotel restaurant.