Our last day at Lake Wenatchee State Park

This is the last post to our Lake Wenatchee journal. The time here has flown by so fast.  Waking up under pine trees to blue skies and sunshine most everyday with lots of physical activity has given us great satisfaction. We have looked forward to trying the campground host experience for years and it's turned out to be wonderful.  Our Rangers have been most supportive and made sure we felt our volunteering was appreciated.

 

Campers are usually slow leaving on Sundays, especially on nice days.  It was after 10 AM before we had any sites to clean.  At 1 PM, we took a break to go over to Plain to see the Civil War Encampment.  Quite impressive.  Union and Confederate camps, a small town, period clothing sales at the mercantile, cannon and a battle.  There must have been nearly 200 folks in period costumes ready to tell us their stories.  We talked to the camp doctor, the "Sanitation Mission" women, a sharp shooter, a few upper middle class Southern ladies who explained about the many petty coats they wore (as many as 7!) and wives of the soldiers who cooked for the camp.  We learned that the drummers, buglers, color guard and officers were the soldiers that the sharp shooters aimed for. Most commands were given by the bugle music and drum cadences. Each unit had its own flag so if the bearer went down or the drummer was down, it added more confusion to the battle.  The sharp shooter we talked to was from Canada.  He told us that 50,000 Canadians fought in the Civil War and of the 50K, 10,000 fought for the Confederate side.  Who knew?!

We learned that these reinactments take place around the state 4-7 times a year. Another time, we would plan to get there earlier to take it all in.



Fall Color

There's a white headed woodpecker on this pine.  Can you see him?



Fall color



The cannon sometimes actually blew smoke rings!





Living quarters for the weekend



Opportunities for musicians

Upper class ladies with Abe Lincoln coming along.

The "duck mask" I wore while I was raking the grounds. 



Fish Lake helio pad about a half mile from our
campsite.  There are 5 jet helicopters here. 
One just lifted off.  You can see the smoke from
the Sears Creek fire at the head of the lake in the distance.


 

Wednesday September 26th

Today, is our regular day off but we decided to stay around instead of driving to Seattle since we'll be doing that soon enough. We had two campers last night, one in each loop.  Only one reservation signed up to come in.  We checked that campsite and cleaned up the over nighter before heading off the Leavenworth so Sonny could get a round of golf in.  The smoke was much lighter but still present.  I wandered around town, had a latte and read up on the Autumn Leaf Festival happening this weekend.  Big parade including the 133D US Army Band and the Cornucopia Concert Band.  Both are also putting on concerts after the parade. 

One day, while I was raking, I
found a metal piece with a
spring in it.  We wondered what it was
till I saw this toy in Leavenworth. Our toy
was missing the tail piece. 

On our way back to camp, we stopped at the Lake Wenatchee Air Strip
to check out the helicopters.  There were 5 lined up on the runway after
their day of running water. I was glad I didn't need a bathroom as this was
what was available.

 

We had lunch in town and then did the grocery shopping before heading back to camp.  We walked the two campground loops and went down to the lake to catch the amazing sunset over the mountains.  What a blessing to sit there by the quiet lake and watch the changing colors.



Rising smoke in the sky and smoke
in the lower valley.



Looking South at Emerald Island off the beach at South Park.



Sonny watching the sunset from the driftwood pile.



What an evening for a kayak though it would spoil that pretty
reflection.



We made our daily trip up to the head of the lake to check on the
Sears Creek fire.  Still burning....No wind today so the smoke mostly
sits in the valleys.

Smoke clearing

We can see  much more blue sky and mountain tops around us today.  A breeze came up this afternoon which helped to clear the smoke. We may even see a much needed rain shower tomorrow.

 

We saw a coyote in the park this morning.  Actually, Sonny saw the coyote, I only saw the tail.  Later this afternoon, we were riding on a back road when we saw a doe.  The rest of our wildlife sightings have been squirrels, chipmunks, bats, dead moles, nuthatches and stellar jays.  None of the animals seem to like the pumpkin seeds that are in the squirrel food mix.  Perhaps the crows will come around for those later.

 

We only had one campsite with an incoming reservation and one leaving so we spent the morning using the back pack blower to move the forever dropping pine needles from the road.  I didn't mind using the back pack once I got over the fear that the gas powered thing wouldn't burst into flame.

The resevervation site didn't show but a couple from New York State who dropped in are in the park tonight. We were hoping to talk with them on our evening rounds but they were are buttoned down for the night when we went by.  Folks don't sit outside much since there are no campfires.

Our little "GEM" developed an electrical problem.  The lights won't work so it is in the shop.  We now have the Washington State Official Sonoma to cruise around in. Parts are on order to get the GEM working.  The Sonoma has 187K on it and the windows must stay down since the door handles don't work. 

 

Later this afternoon, we took our daily ride up to the head of the lake to check on the Sears Creek fire.  With the wind blowing, we had much more visibility.  Though the fire looked closer, the wind seemed to be pushing it back to the ridge where it started.

After dinner this evening, a school bus pulled up to our site. The driver was looking for the "firefighters camp on the lake".  He had already looked along the Lake Wenatchee Road to the East of us but wasn't able to find the camp.  I gave him directions to the South Park where the Fish Lake group of firefighters are staying. The bus hasn't been back so I assume they found the site.  The firefighters are staying in tents and I'm betting they are pretty cold at 4 AM. We have our little heater on in the early morning to warm us up when it is 45* outside our rig. I hear they do have good meals and a hot shower.  The heliport is very close and we hear the helicopters several times a day coming in to refuel.

 

We have been watching DVDs in the evening since there isn't any TV.  Tonight was the second half of "Gone With the Wind."  Sonny usually has the rock and roll channel on the radio though on Sunday, I got to listen to "Prairie Home Companion" during our work break.

Quiet Sunday in the Park

This morning, Roger, the park maintenance guy, came by with our work list.  21 campsites were being vacated but they were all slow getting started.  The last one didn't leave till 5 PM!  In the meantime, we raked pine needles off the streets and paths.  Sonny got out the back pack blower to work faster.

At break time, Sonny's buddy, the squirrel, enjoyed a
 mouthful of seeds.

Cleaning the streets with the blower

Lake Wenatchee Air Strip being used as a helio pad with Dirty
Face Mountain in the background.  We judge the amount of smoke
each  day by how clearly we can see the mountain.  The wind came up
on Friday and we could see the mountain much clearer.  Socked
in again today, though. These helicopters are dumping water and fire retardant
on the Sears Creek and Basalt fires about 10 miles north of us, when
they can see to fly.

Saturday activity

There were no lightening strikes over night in spite of thunder storms that were forecasted.  The woods were much clearer of smoke this morning.  We got our Arrival/Departure list to see only 3 incoming and 1 outgoing.  After all was said and done, only 2 left.  There are 21 on our side tonight.  We puttered around our campsite and at noon time, headed in to Leavenworth to check out the "Dances With Salmon" Festival at the fish hatchery.  Though the sky was overcast, it was with real clouds, not smoke.  The roadway was much clearer and we could see more of the mountain peaks along the way.

 

These peaks in Leavenworth weren't visible at all for the last week.
By the time we headed back to camp, we could see even more.

At the Salmon Festival, we listened to the Recycled  Rhythm Band.
We all had "instruments" to play including the grownups.

There was a Native American Encampment. Here, the
 Native dancers are having a "dance off "with the native salmon.

Oops, the salmon toppled over and needed a hand up.



 



 



Next, there was an invitation to join another salmon

dance.  The women made one line and the men another. 

We had to wave our arms like we were swimming and then

jumping over water falls.

 

This little boy never missed a beat and kept up
with the older boys. It was amazing to watch how the
music changed the steps the dancers did.



Then a little girl joined the tribal dancing.

 

In this dance, two circles were formed.  One moved to the right and one to the left in a dance step.  We began shaking hands as we passed someone inside the circle. I'm shaking hands with a tribe elder from a tribe near the Columbia River.  He and Two Bears,  his wife and the woman who lead the Salmon dance, happily live 5 miles up in the hills, off the grid.

 

After the dancing, we toured the "long house" and learned about the woven mats typically used to cover the pole frames.(Today, canvas was used.) They are layered one over another and keep the long house warm in winter, cool in summer and dry in the rainy season. Over the next year, the plan is for Native children in Washington State to weave enough mats to cover the long house in time for the Salmon Festival in September 2013.

 

We drove into Leavenworth, passing the helio pad where we saw several large helicopters outfitted with water buckets for fire fighting. As large as the water containers were, they were hardly more than spitting on the fire. In Leavenworth, we stopped for a little wine tasting at Pasek/Willow Winery, our favorite for being casual and in our budget.  At Safeway, we saw this poster with the locations of fires. Lake Wenatchee is the blue in the middle with Chelan near the top right.  There are two orange marks to the NE of Lake Wenatchee.  Those were the ones creating smoke for our area. They look pretty far away but the Ranger told us, the closest one is only 10 miles from us. The large orange at the bottom is the Wenatchee Fire  Complex.  42,000 acres burned in the last 2 weeks.

 

The smokey haze in Leavenworth has lifted with the breeze we
had today.  Last Thursday, we couldn't see any of these peaks.

Again, the sun was an orange orb setting over the mountains.

We took the Chumstick Highway back to Plain.  We passed the John Wayne Trail Riders weekend camp out along the way.  Many campers with horse trailers. Back at the campground, we did our walk around of the park after dinner.  There is a nice breeze blowing in the pines.  Campers are pretty quiet, especially since there are no camp fires.

 

Over to Seattle and Back

On Tuesday, we needed to clean only a few sites since there were just a handful of campers. We picked up litter on the trails and around the bathrooms for a few hours before heading back to Seattle in the late afternoon. 



Bob's new sun glasses.  Sonny found a large wine bottle
stuffed in a squirrel hole.  Did the owner really think
it could be hidden like that??




Pretty bird feathers




The vine maples are just beautiful.




Vine maples in the under brush.







Pudding at lunchtime














As we headed up Snoqualmie Pass,  we could

see the smoke line begin just beyond North

Bend. That was the end of a blue sky day.  Even

at Lake Wenatchee, there is a light haze.




Lake Nachess reflections in the smokey haze.





Firefighters encampment East of Cle Elum. 

We heard tonight that there is another encampment

at the South end of the State Park. 

\We'll check that out tomorrow.



Smoke rising from the Liberty fire East of
Cle Elum taken through the windshield, hence
the black dots.



Fires burning above Liberty.





The smoke begins to settle in on Blewett Pass.




The surrounding mountains can't be seen
in the smoke.

 

The sun was an orange orb in the smokey haze.

 

Beginning to see evidence of fire crews in the area.



Leavenworth haze seems thicker than when we were here
on Sunday.