Lake Chelan NRA and North Cascades NP

With two full days ahead of us, we had some time to explore Stehekin, Lake Chelan, and North Cascades.

The National Park operates the “Red Bus” ($8 each way, bring cash!) which drives 12 miles to the end of the road 4 times a day. Riding the red bus is the easiest way to access hiking trails and other sites further down the road.

We hopped on the 8am bus both days to get an early start on the hiking trail.

The Stehekin Pastry Company is about 2 miles down the road and the bus stops there for about 10 minutes in both directions, which is long enough to run in for a snack. They have a great selection of baked goods for breakfast and soup, salad, and sandwiches for lunch.

There is a good variety of hiking available with easy (along the lake) to hard (straight up a mountain) trails. We opted for a moderate hike on the Rainbow Loop Trail, which goes up to a viewpoint over the lake and then back down.

The trail ended about 1/2 mile from the bakery, so we walked there for lunch.

After lunch, we walked to the Stehekin School, a one room schoolhouse that is now just a museum (they recently built a bigger, fancier school, down the road) and Rainbow Falls.

The other interesting site nearby to the falls and school is the Buckner Orchard, a historic homestead and orchard that still produces apples. It has a short self-guided tour.

The next day, we rode the red bus all the way to the end of the road at High Bridge and hiked a loop to Howard Lake. This was first time we were actually in North Cascades National Park. And we ran into a bear! Luckily it was more interested in the blueberries that us.

Agnes Gorge also starts from there, which is a popular and easy hike.

Following the hike to the lake, we waited for the noon bus to come pick us up. We rode back to the bakery for a late lunch and then strolled the two miles back to the Lodge along the lake, stopping for a walk around “The Garden”, the local veggie garden.