Stehekin's Trillium Festival --May 13th, 2017!

Stehekin's 33rd Annual Trillium Festival!

Saturday, May 13th

A Stehekin Community tradition 

celebrating spring's arrival

 Everyone Welcome!

*Good Food (Potluck 4pm)

*Local Performances (after fullness)

&

*A great time to visit neighbors and friends

after a long winter!

*At the School 

  And while a festive community is gathered inside to share music, laughter and thoughts on stage, the more exceptional performances can be discovered outside in Stehekin’s woodland theater. 

Find an abundant array of Western Trillium as soon as the snow melts—singing and dancing their hearts out to welcome the return of the sunshine!

Trillium Trio in full song

After their brilliant white debut, Trillium fade to beautiful pinks and purples

A heartfelt solo!

A stunning evening performance

                Stehekin Hint: 

An excellent hike for finding spring Trillium!

 




               Join us at stehekinheritage.com!
                     ~L.C.

Early morning stroll to the Pastry Company...

Eagle ready to fly

Eagle hunting close to the water

 If you are out and about you might just see some of the many types of birds that come and go in the valley. Great early morning stroll up the road to the Pastry Company for coffee and a cinnamon roll will afford you a glimpse for many types not in this post. Swans, Canada Geese, several types of ducks, Loons and ,one of my favorites, the Kingfisher to name a few. 

Blue Heron at the head of the lake

Heron taking flight

Hummingbirds returning to the valley

They can be quite aggressive at times 

Peregrine falcon - coming to her nest
along the Lake Shore Trail

"Low Tide" and High Water

Spring is in the air with a lot of cold winds blowing off the high mountain snow lately. These can create huge dust clouds that blow off the mud flats and through the Stehekin Landing where the boat docks. These are not the most pleasant moments but they are a harbinger of warmer days.

View of the mud flats looking down-lake

Mud flats in the moonlight
The "Mud Flats" are sometimes mistaken for "low-tide" in the spring when the lake is down.

Mud flats in the winter

Snow melting creates the water run off in the spring

High-water creek

hearty soul keeping her shoes dry

These warmer days melt the snow and we usually have a few worrisome days, as we did last week when a thunder and lightning storm came through and caused a few creeks to spill over their banks.

Old log on the mud flats growing currants~ determined to bloom

Hikers waiting for the boat after hiking the Lake Shore Trail

It all works out in the end.

~rc

Biking in Stehekin

a lovely view after a Sunday evening ride along the lake.

Stehekin Discovery Bikes 

http://www.stehekindiscoverybikes.com/

 See the Stehekin Valley at your own pace. 

The Stehekin Valley offers extraordinary biking experiences for the whole family. Riding a bike is one of the healthiest and personally independent ways of traveling in the Stehekin Valley.  Discovery Bikes' personnel are dedicated to two principles of service. One, providing safe, well maintained bikes and equipment for a all ages and riding abilities. Two, the ability to knowledgeably assist guests concerning the upcoming ride. All Discovery Bike employees ride their own bikes in the valley and are able to offer bicycling tips and suggestions. 

Family of six ready to ride up the Stehekin Valley Road towards Karl's Garden, Stehekin Pastry Co. ("Bakery"), old one-room school, Rainbow Falls, Harlequin Bridge, Stehekin Valley Ranch and High Bridge.  


Some riders travel no further than the Bakery; others will spend the entire day exploring the Stehekin Valley.

Loaded and ready for the Ranch Breakfast Ride

Each morning energetic riders travel in our van nine miles up the road to the Stehekin Valley Ranch where a delicious breakfast awaits. Breakfast is followed by a leisurely ride back down the road visiting the sites, or two miles up the road for a hike beginning at High Bridge. 

 Bikes require constant maintenance and fine tuning. We're happy when guests finish the ride exclaiming,"This bike works much better than my bike at home!" 

We also rent bike trailers for precious cargo.

This is the spot where the riding adventure begins - the Log Office - 300 yards up valley from the boat dock.

a good time is had by all!

For all biking options and tours please visit: 

http://www.stehekindiscoverybikes.com/

We look forward to seeing you in STEHEKIN!

Summer Preparation

After a long and heavy winter, the Spring sun is melting most of the snow, and bringing everything back to life.  As the warmer weather, emerging flowers, and baby geese and ducks mark the beginning of spring, we here in Stehekin start to prepare for the busy summer season.  Here are some pictures of what things look like before the visitors get here.

Stehekin Pastry Company (AKA "The Bakery") buried in snow http://stehekinpastry.com/

"The Bakery" emerging from the snow with windows boarded up for protection

Getting the first batch ready

Pre Season cinnamon rolls.

Stehekin Valley Ranch under several feet of snow  http://stehekinvalleyranch.com/

Tent Cabins before being "tarped"

Arriving in Stehekin (Below-Nancy Davis of Stehekin Outfitters getting the horses loaded on the barge in Chelan and getting ready to head up lake to Stehekin http://stehekinoutfitters.com/)

The horses aren't always sure about the ramp.

Happy to be home

 

Heading up the road to the corrals

A couple of fawns curious about the water

Mallard Hen and her duckings

Geese and their goslings

Growing up Stehekin Style: Spring

Kids grow up fast.  But, thankfully, in Stehekin, the wonders of childhood last a little longer.  Someone smart said of motherhood: "The days are long, the years are short". True.

Spring has sprung and graduation is just around the corner.  This little spring beauty will be graduating from 8th grade this year. As a mother of an 8th grader, I am working on the traditional scrapbook.  To tell you the truth, I am just getting started. Putting together a scrapbook over 14 years of growing up puts the blessings of living in Stehekin right before my teary eyes.  I thought I would share some of our springtime views of childhood in our beautiful and unique valley in the mountains.

 

Spring beauties....2 kinds!

Spring is just around the corner

"Fun Beach" as we named it that day. Stehekin River

 Finding some sun, sand and water is a favorite spring activity. This year we actually shoveled 2' of snow off the sand pile in order get some outside play going! Hose in the sand pile provides many hours of fun and a beach at the river is a special day outing.

Hours of fun

School class at play.

Channel water play

The mudflats is one of the favorite places to play in spring.  We can leave our yard of snow and in less than a mile we have sun, miles of playground, channels of water to play in, and gooey mud to bring home on our boots.  




 

Muddy.  That is the goal.

Mud fights, mud slides, mud pies, mud birthday parties, kite flying, golf ball driving, channel jumping, and footprint tracking!



These mudflat meetings...they are not always planned, such as the picture below with "the girls". I am sure I did NOT say that day "Hey, how about you put on the favorite dress your grandma made and go wallow in the mud?" No, I don't think that is how it happened, but there she is and I am smiling about it now.

The girls

Friends

plw