Chelan Lakeshore Trail — Saturday, Apr. 10, 1999

Central Cascades > Entiat Mountains/Lake Chelan

My wife and I hiked the Chelan Lakeshore about 3 miles south from Stehekin. Trail is in excellent condition, no blowdowns, snow or difficult creeks in that span. We met a very friendly Golden Retriever named Clare as we were leaving the edge of Stehekin who invited us along in a very doggy way to join in on ""her"" hike. We were unsure about how much her human would approve, but it was irrelevent as there seemed to be no discouraging her. She was a very lively and enjoyable hiking companion and made our trip even more enjoyable. The views from the trail up to 8100' Castle Peak, southeast to the Pyramid peak formation, and NW to McGregor, Booker, Buckner and Boston Peaks were fantastic. These peaks rise to 8000+ feet from the shore of 1100' high Lake Chelan, which makes for about 7000' feet in local relief, base to peaks. Very impressive. All the major peaks had significant snow which added to the majesty. The lake was a beautiful deep blue and on this fine Sunday morning reflected the peaks very nicely. The lake is a bit low right now, but not so much as to detract. The trail has a few minor ups and downs, in several places cresting rock outcroppings from which you could almost drop a rock straight down a couple of hundered feet to the water. It was a very nice trip, though the way to the trailhead is a bit involved. Marmot