Exploring the Washington Okanogan – 07.07.2009
A few months back, my cousin Frank invited my family to come over to Conconully, Washington for a few days in July. Every year for the approximately the past ten years, his family has been spending their summer vacation at the Shady Pines Resort on the shores of the Conconully Reservoir. Having only drove through the town a few years ago on my Washington Cascade Overland Adventure, I knew it would be a fun place to hang out and explore for a few days. Luckily, there was a cabin available for four nights so we booked it.
I spent the week prior to the trip getting prepared. My daughter had never been fishing and I hadn’t gone for a long time myself, so new fishing poles and tackle were in order. I also borrowed my son’s ARB Freezer/Fridge for the trip to keep the frozen goods nice and cold for the trip. I then had to figure out how to pack three people, a large dog crate, the freezer, tools, recovery gear, spare parts, fishing gear, food and personal stuff for three people for five days into the Land Cruiser. Good thing we were not camping (still have to figure that one out).
This trip also marked the first real test of my Toyota FJ80 Land Cruiser since I installed the rebuilt 3FE engine. The engine had just recently logged 2000 miles on the new rebuild and it was time to put it through the test.
Day One – Tuesday, July 7, 2009
My goal was to be out the door by 6:00 AM for the trip to Conconully. To my amazement, we actually were out the door five minutes early. I think my daughter was excited for the trip. We fueled up at the local coffee stand and headed East.
From our home in Edgewood, Washington, we headed East over SR-19 to I-90 to Cle Elum, Washington. We stopped at the Cottage Cafe in Cle Elum for a very large and delicious breakfast (as usual). From Cle Elum, we headed over US-97 Alt over Blewett Pass to US-2 to Wenatchee, Washington. From Wenatchee, we drove North on US-97 to Lincoln Rock for the first fuel stop. We drove a little further and stopped at the Beebe Bridge Park to let the dog out and to take a little break from the drive. Our next stop was in Omak, Washington were we topped off the fuel tank and picked up some perishable groceries for the week. From Omak, Conconully is about a twenty-something mile drive. We arrived at the Shady Pines Resort a little after 2:00 PM, said our hellos and checked in our cabin.
Shady Pines Resort is located on the West shore of the Conconully Reservoir. There are lake side RV spaces, a log cabin duplex (where we stayed) and then across the road, there are several individual cabins to rent. Our cabin was equipped with two queen beds, a trundle bed to sleep a few extra people, a dining table, a full size refrigerator, a full size range, a fully equipped kitchen, a 3/4 bathroom and an excellent view of Conconully Reservoir (if you look past the RVs down below you).
We spent our first day just visiting and relaxing. It had just cooled down to the mid-70’s from the weekend where the temperature was in the upper 90’s. That night we watched the nearly full moon rise over the lake.
Note: This is the first 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: beebe bridge park, blewett pass, cle elum, conconully, conconully reservoir, okanogan, omak, pacific northwest, shady pines resort, washington, washington state, wenatchee
Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest Travel Management Plan
The Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest (OWNF) is proposing changes to motor vehicle use on specific roads, trails and areas within the non-wilderness portion of the Forest.
Details of the proposed action, maps as well as a calendar of public meeting dates are available at http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/okawen/travel-management/
Comments will be acceptrd until May 7, 2009. See the above site for details.
Categories: Access Tags: Access, forest, forest service, land use, national forest, ohv, okanogan, recreation, travel management plan, usfs, washington, washington state, wenatchee
Trip Report: Washington Cascades Overland Tour 2007 – Day Three (08.12.07)
To Drive from near Blewett Pass (Cle Elum) to Chelan, Washington via as many forest roads as possible.
Categories: Adventures Tags: adventure, antilon lake, blewett pass, british columbia, camp, camping, campsite, cascade mountains, cascades, cashmere, chelan, chumstick, cle elum, columbia river, cooper mountain, cooper ridge, domke, durst creek, eagle creek, entiat, expedition, fj80, forest road, haney meadows, lake chelan, land cruiser, landcruiser, leavenworth, liberty, lookout, manson, mission creek, nahahum, national forest, okanogan, overland, shady pass, toyota, trip, upper joe creek, wapato lake, washington, wenatchee, wenatchee national forest, wenatchee river
Trip Report: Washington Cascades Overland Tour 2007 – Day Two (08.11.07)
Daily Goal: To Drive from Babyshoe Pass (on FS-23 near Mt. Adams) to Cle Elum, Washington (I-90) via Bethel Ridge and Manastash Ridge.
Categories: Adventures Tags: 4wd, 4x4, 80-series, adventure, arb, babyshoe pass, barber springs, bethel ridge, blewett pass, buck meadow, camp, camping, carson, cascade mountains, cascades, cle elum, expedition, fj80, forest, four wheel drive, gifford pinchot, hugo lake, jim sprick, land cruiser, landcruiser, liberty, manastash, mt adams, mt hood, mt rainier, naches, national forest, nile, oak creek, overland, packwood, park, Photos, quartz mountain, rattlesnake creek, rimrock lake, takhlakh lake, taneum creek, teanaway, tillman creek, tour, toyota, trip, washington, washington cascades, wenatchee, white pass, wildlife
