Out and About Stehekin

A few things to keep in mind when planning your trip:

• Make round-trip reservations in advance. The boat only runs on certain days at certain times. • If visiting the Stehekin Pastry

Company is high on your list (which it should be), make certain to visit on the weekend. • There are no services available unless you visit in the summer months. You must bring all your own food, toiletries, and supplies for the duration of your stay. • There is no cell phone reception. The cabin we stayed at had Wi-Fi but check before you book. • Bring cash if you want to tip tour operators.

The journey to Stehekin is almost as grand as the destination itself. Within three hours you will arrive at the east end of Lake Chelan, far away from the hustle and bustle of the city. The boat ride is a glorious journey past waterfalls and waterfront homes with mountain peaks looming in the distance.

Stehekin is located deep in the North Cascades and is a Salishian word meaning “the way through.” The Stehekin Valley serves as a passageway for travelers as it links Washington’s interior wilderness to the rugged Cascade Mountains.

Stehekin: A Boat Ride Away From It All

WRITTEN AND PHOTOGRAPHED BY LISETTE WOLTER-MCKINLEY

MANY OF YOU have probably visited Lake Chelan a time or two, but did you know there is a spectacularly quaint town called Stehekin only a boat ride away? Visiting Stehekin is much like stepping back in time; there are no stoplights, traffic, or sit-down restaurants, and for the most part, you will have the place to yourself.

Your first question might be how one gets to such a lovely place. There are no roads into Stehekin, but you may reach it one of three ways: on foot, by boat, or by plane. The simplest way to arrive is by boat.

Once our boat docked in Stehekin, we were greeted by Patty, the co-owner of the Stehekin Cedar Cabins. Patty was both warm and eager to help. One of the biggest perks of staying at the Stehekin Cedar Cabin is it comes with a loaner car for the duration of your stay. After we made the one-mile drive to our cabin, we were delighted to see every modern convenience as well as a few extras. A wood-burning stove to keep us warm, an outdoor screened-in porch for bug-free nights, and a full kitchen with a coffee maker and microwave.

Throughout our stay, Patty was kind and attentive like a long-time neighbor would be. She was helpful with ideas for hikes with little ones, offered any spices I might have forgotten, and provided me with eggs when I forgot to pack them. Initially, you come to Stehekin for the beauty — but in my experience, the warmth of the community is what takes hold of your heart.

Traveling with little ones can be chaotic, so we were eager to get outside and explore the area upon arrival. We didn’t have to travel far before we were standing in front of the 312-foot Rainbow Falls. It was easy to tell where the falls got their name since on that particular day the sun was shining and a rainbow appeared across them. Once back at our cabin, we enjoyed the serenity of our surroundings as we felt hidden away from the world.

Each day we were eager to get outside but had to remind ourselves there was no rush. After years of living in Seattle, we are used to getting up early on the weekends, jockeying for parking spots, and battling crowds when we want to get outside. Being able to hike any time of day with no one else around felt like a total luxury. It also meant we did not have to choose between a leisurely breakfast and a spectacular hike — we could do both! Having the space and time to do what we wanted when we wanted left a smile on my face for the duration of our stay.

It did not take long to notice the stress of the city leaving our bodies as we embraced this simpler way of life. One day we visited both Agnes Gorge and Howard Lake, the other day we played by the river and hiked Rainbow Loop. The sound of a crackling fire served as the soundtrack to our evenings as we reveled in the slower pace of life in Stehekin. If you are interested in fishing, kayaking, horseback riding, hiking, or seeing a star-filled evening sky, Stehekin is the place to go. 

The Artistry of Mapmaking

Sarah Bell

WRITTEN BY COCOA LANEY | IMAGES COURTESY OF SARAH BELL

“The folks who really claim this word ‘cartographer’ as an identity, we tend to be very creative, but also really enjoy the science side of it.”

Sarah Bell

WHEN SARAH BELL began working as a ranger in the North Cascades National Park, she found that she loved the position — except for one small problem. Park ranger jobs are seasonal, but Bell knew she’d like to do it year-round.

Many continual park employees use something called Geographic Information Systems Mapping (GIS), which is both a science and a software. Noticing this, Bell enrolled in the University of Wisconsin-Madison to obtain a postgraduate certification in GIS.

“I got really intrigued with the cartography side of mapmaking, not just the analysis side,” Bell says. “And so I was hooked. Ever since then, I’ve not looked back.”

Bell now holds an M.S. in geography and has worked for independent mapmaking companies as well as Western Washington University’s Resilience Institute. Her current position is as a cartographer and data visualization designer for Esri, an international geospatial company.

Science Meets Creativity

Bell notes that cartography falls under the broader geospatial field. This term can be applied to almost any job that aims to understand the space in which we live, including NASA employees who work to understand Earth from above. While the field is undoubtedly technical, Bell also points out that cartography overlaps with art.

“The folks who really claim this word ‘cartographer’ as an identity, we tend to be very creative, but also really enjoy the science side of it,” Bell says. “So you don’t have to give up one for the other. You can be a scientist, but you also get the opportunity to be creative as well.”

While some professionals in the geospatial field work on-location, Bell’s job is to synthesize and map this pre-collected data. She has made a variety of maps for private clients as well as the U.S. Forest Service, the National Park Service.

The length of time needed for each map varies, and some projects require more than a year. However, maps with pre-existing frameworks — such as city maps for news media — can be done in a day.

Claiming Space

While Bell is both knowledgeable and passionate about mapmaking traditions, she is also interested in pushing the boundaries of what a map can be.

“[Maps are] also just a timestamp of how we thought the truth was at that time, because space is always changing, and things are always changing,” she says.

Mapmaking has been around for thousands of years, but the professionalization of cartography is a relatively new phenomenon. While added rules have led to precision