Exploring the Washington Okanogan – 07.09.2009
Day Three – Thursday, July 9, 2009
After breakfast, my cousin Frank and I decided a little road trip was in order. So we loaded up the Land Cruiser with our two dogs headed out to do a little exploring in the Okanogan area. Using Tour 12 in the book Washington Byways as guide, we took off for Lone Frank Pass.
From the town of Conconully, Washington we drove up the North Fork Salmon Creek Road (FS-38) to Salmon Meadows and FS-3820. FS-3820 climbs steadily from the valley, through forest, aspen groves and open grassland and clear cuts. On this section of FS-3820, there are great views of dry steppe lands to the East.
Eventually, FS-3820 enters the Loomis State Forest and passes over Lone Frank Pass (elevation +6300 feet). Near Lone Frank Pass, you enter into a vast area that I believe burned in the Tiffany Springs Fire in 2006 (if anybody can confirm this, I will update this post). From Lone Frank Pass, it’s a short descent to FS-39 where we stopped and were eaten alive by mosquitos in a just a few minutes time.
Once we were on FS-39, we followed it North towards Long Swamp. Most of this section of FS-39 is within area burned in the Tiffany Springs fire. Along the way, we passed by a expansive views of the Washington Cascades, Thunder Mountain, and overlook of the Twentymile Meadows below. A little further up FS-39, the road goes right through the middle of Thirtymile Meadows where there is a shelter along the side of the road built and maintained by one of the local snowmobile groups.
After Thirtymile Meadows, FS-39 passes by Corral Butte and descends to Long Swamp. From Long Swamp (which looks like a mosquito haven), FS-39 becomes a paved road descends in an Easterly direction and turns into the Toats Coulee Road as it follows Toats Coulee down into the Sinlahekin Valley just South of Palmer Lake, near Loomis, Washington.
After quick stop for a snack at the store in Loomis, we headed South on the Sinlahekin Road – County Road 4015 (Tour 16 in the book Washington Byways) for the approximately 22 mile trip back to Conconully.
The Sinlahekin Valley is a deep, approximately 17 mile North-South glacial valley that extends from Loomis on the North to Fish Lake on the South. The Sinlahekin Road is a well maintained gravel road that passes through the Sinlahekin Wildlife Area passing farmlands and multiple lakes (including Stadium Lake, Conners lake, Forde Lake and Blue Lake). At Fish Lake, we continued South on Road 4015 as it climbed to Sugarloaf Lake and then to Conconully Lake and the town of Conconully.
After a day on the road, the spaghetti dinner we had sure tasted good. After dinner, it was a time for relaxation and a little fishing. Again, all I caught were small bass, but at least I was catching fish. Small fish on a light action pole is fun any day.
Note: This is the third installment of a five part series on our family trip to Conconully, Washington in July 2009.
Part 1: Exploring the Washington Okanogan – 07.07.2009
Part 2: Exploring the Washington Okanogan – 07.08.2009
Part 3: Exploring the Washington Okanogan – 07.09.2009
Part 4: Exploring the Washington Okanogan – 07.10.2009
Part 5: Exploring the Washington Okanogan – 07.11.2009
Categories: Adventures Tags: aspen, bass, blue lake, conconully, conners lake, corral butte, dry steppe, farmlands, fire, fish lake, forde lake, forest, grassland, lakes, land cruiser, landcruiser, lands, lone frank pass, long swamp, loomis, loomis state forest, meadows, mosquitos, okanogan, palmer lake, salmon meadows, shelter, sinlahekin, sinlahekin valley, sinlahekin wildlife area, snowmobile, stadium lake, sugarloaf lake, thirtymile meadows, thunder mountain, tiffany springs, toats coulee, twentymile meadows, washington, washington cascades, wildland fire
Burley Mountain to Mt St Helens Tour 10.13.07
Each time I venture to the Gifford Pinchot National Forest in the South Cascades of Washington state, I am simply amazed at the beauty of the country. In this region, not only are you are surrounded by four major peaks of the Cascade Mountains (Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Adams, and Mt. Hood), there is an extensive variety of terrain ranging from deep valleys and canyons to exposed buttes and cliffs, alpine meadows to old growth forests, and of course, the Mt. St. Helens blast zone. I could easily spend days or even weeks just exploring the region.
With that in mind, I decided to host a Backroad Drivers Northwest tour in the area just south of Randle, Washington. This region is an area which I am fairly familiar with having spent a lot of time hunting, camping and exploring with my father while growing up. The tour would follow one of my favorite routes in the area, Forest Road 77 from the Burley Mountain Lookout along the ridge past Pinto Rock and Mosquito Meadows. From Mosquito Meadows, we would would take FS 99 to the Windy Ridge Viewpoint at Mt. St. Helens and follow FS 26 back to Randle.
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Categories: Adventures Tags: adventure, burley mountain, buttes, camping, canyons, cascade mountains, cascades, cispus, cowlitz, fishing, forest, gifford pinchot, glenoma, goat rocks, hunting, iron creek, jeep, lake scanewa, lookout, meadows, mosquito meadows, mt adams, mt hood, mt rainier, mt st helens, national forest, norway pass, outdoors, pinto rock, quartz creek, randle, spirit lake, tour, travel, trips, washington, windy ridge, woods creek
Trip Report: Washington Cascades Overland Tour 2007 – Day Four (08.13.07)
Todays goal is to drive from Cooper Mountain Lookout (near Chelan, Washington) to Chopaka (border with British Columbia).
Categories: Adventures Tags: baldy pass, bavarian, big twin lake, black pine lake, border, boulder creek, british columbia, buttermilk creek, camp, camping, campsite, cascades, chelan, chewuch river, chopaka, columbia basin, conconully, cooper mountain, cooper ridge, dog creek, elbow coulee, expedition, fish, forest, forest service, gold creek, gold ridge, leavenworth, libby creek, lone frank pass, long swamp, lookout, loomis, meadows, methow, national forest, nighthawk, okanogan, okanogan national forest, oroville, overland, palmer lake, salmon creek, salmon meadows, sawtooth ridge, snowmobile, thirtymile meadows, tour, touring, trip, twenty mile meadows, twisp river, washington, washington cascades, wildlife, wildlife area, winthrop
Trip Report: Washington Cascades Overland Tour 2007 – Day One (08.10.07)
Today was going to be a very long day. Not only would I be attempting to reach my destination in Packwood, I would also have to include the drive from my home in the middle of Washington state to the southern border near Oregon to start the tour of the Washington Cascade Mountains. My goal was to complete the drive from the Oregon border to the British Columbia in four days.
Categories: Adventures Tags: adventure, babyshoe pass, babyshoe ridge, bear creek, big lava bed, camp, campground, camping, carson, cascade mountains, cascades, columbia river, dualsport, expedition, fishing, forest, forlorn lakes, gifford pinchot, goose lake, huckleberries, indian heaven, lake, lewis river, lookout, meadows, motorcycle, mt adams, mt hood, national forest, oregon, overland, packwood, red mountain, routes, sawtooth berry fields, south prairie, steamboat lake, suv, tour, triangle pass, trip, twin buttes, twin falls, washington, washington cascades, wilderness, wind river
Clover Springs and Little Bald Mountain Backroads Tour – 06.09.07
After nearly a year of lurking on the Backroad Drivers Northwest group mail list, last Saturday (June 9, 2007), I was finally able to attend one of the organized gatherings of the group.
The planned destination was the Clover Springs and Little Bald Mountain areas off SR 410, near Cliffdell, Washington. I had been to this area before, during the 2005 Pacific Northwest Four Wheel Drive Association (PNW4WDA) annual trail jamboree, but never from the direction we were coming in from. Also, this time of year, there was bound to be snow, which places a whole new twist on the adventure.
Categories: Adventures Tags: backroads, boulder cave, bronco, bumping river, chinook pass, cliffdell, clover springs, discovery, econoline, fj80, ford, forest, gold creek, jeep, land cruiser, land rover, little bald mountain, little naches river, lookout, meadows, naches, naches river, nile, northwest, old river road, pnw4wda, river, snow, snowmobile, tour, toyota, washington, wrangler
Cascade Overland Adventure – August 2006
Our first goal was to travel from I-90 near Cle Elum, Washington to Highway 410 near Cliffdell, Washington via logging roads. Our second goal was to travel from Highway 410 to Highway 12 over logging roads. We would then travel Highway 12 over White Pass to Packwood. From Packwood, we would head South on logging roads towards Mt. Adams and locate a campsite for the night.
Categories: Adventures Tags: 4wd, 4x4, 80-series, Adventures, bethel ridge, buck meadows, burley mountain, camp, campground, camping, campsite, cascade mountains, cascades, chain of lakes, cispus river, cle elum, cliffdell, crow creek, crow creek campground, ellensburg, expedition, forest, four wheel drive, french butte, goat rocks, gps, green river, horseshoe lake, huckleberries, hunting, jeep, johnson creek, killen creek, land cruiser, landcruiser, little naches river, lookout, manastash, meadows, meta lake, milk creek road, mt adams, mt hood, mt st helens, national forest, nile road, olallie lake, oregon, overland, packwood, pinto rock, quartz creek, quartz mountain, rattlesnake creek, rimrock lake, ryan lake, snoqualmie pass, south cle elum ridge road, spirit lake, strawberry mountain, takhlakh lake, taneum, taneum campground, tieton river, timberwolf mountain, tower rock, trail, travel, tripod flats, walupt lake, washington, washington cascades, wenatchee national forest, white pass, windy ridge, wrangler, yakima, yj
