Jump to content


Photo
- - - - -

Mid spring foray into Washington’s Okanogan.


  • Please log in to reply
21 replies to this topic

#1 clikrf8

clikrf8

    Senior Member

  • Members
  • 494 posts
  • LocationBellingham, WA

Posted 04 July 2022 - 06:43 PM

Due the price of fuel, we limited our spring trip to the northern central part of the state. The Okanogan area has state and federal forests and abundant lakes and rivers/creeks. There are many campgrounds and dispersed sites are available throughout the forests. 
 

We began by driving Highway 20 into the North Cascades which is a stunning drive especially that long switchback where you can view the Kangaroo Ridge. The highway had just opened less than 2 weeks before so there was much snow on the mountains and along the highway especially at both passes. We usually stop at Rockport State Park, Diablo Powerhouse and the Diablo Overlook before camping at Klipchuck, a USFS Campground. This campground is a favorite because of the spacious sites and lots of room between them. It is set amongst large pines trees along Early Winters Creek. 
 

The next morning we headed east through Winthrop and Twisp continuing eastbound on 20. The highway is very curvy and changes altitude as it winds it’s way to Omak/Okanogan. We drove north on a few backroads to Conconully Lake which is basically a fishing resort. We stopped at the site of Ruby, a ghost town which only had rocky foundations to remind us of its past. 
 

Once past Conconully Lake, we drove  north on USFS road 38 through burned out areas to camp at Salmon Meadows in the Okanogan NF. We were unaware that this was a staging area for ORVs so there was some noise and parties but they were mostly respectful so we slept well. We had heard that wild turkeys would frequent the several meadows but not with all the campers present. The road is paved but has innumerable potholes. We are always astounded that the big rigs don’t fall apart while driving here. 
 

Day 3 saw us pack up and move out to a quieter spot. We drove to Conconully Lake then turned north on the graveled Sinlahekin Road through the Chain of Lakes area (Fish Lake, Blue Lake, Forde Lake) to find a sweet little lake off the road a ways. Conners Lake would be our home for the next 4 days. There were 4 sites along the lake and we had first choice. There was one prime site somewhat more secluded but we chose to have a more open view of the lake. 
 

While there, we watched the red winged blackbirds and an eagle family nested in the small stand of pines across the small lake. The parents were busy feeding two eaglets and at one time fought off an osprey. I did some drawings of the marshes and trees while my husband watched the hills for bighorn sheep. A few folks with boats tried fishing but came up empty. The Sinlahekin Valley was carved by glaciers creating a beautiful area for wildlife in the Loomis State Forest. It was a very relaxing stress free four days. 

 

I will continue in another post about the next 6 days. 
 


Edited by clikrf8, 04 July 2022 - 06:44 PM.

  • 0
2008 Ford F250 diesel 4x4 off road pkg 2013 Hallmark Ute http://www.clikrf8images.com/ http://clikrf8.wordp...com/2010/09/01/

#2 Casa Escarlata Robles Too

Casa Escarlata Robles Too

    C'est la vie

  • Site Team
  • 9,267 posts
  • Locationmonterey bay area

Posted 04 July 2022 - 07:50 PM

Thanks for the post.Do you have some photos?

 Frank


  • 0

2002 Tundra AC TRD 4WD Limited 2009 ATC Bobcat loaded http://sharychic.blogspot.com/


#3 clikrf8

clikrf8

    Senior Member

  • Members
  • 494 posts
  • LocationBellingham, WA

Posted 04 July 2022 - 08:36 PM

Thanks for the post.Do you have some photos?

 Frank

Photos are uploading now. Sorry, we only have DSL in our rural area. I will continue with narrative after iPad gets recharged. 


  • 0
2008 Ford F250 diesel 4x4 off road pkg 2013 Hallmark Ute http://www.clikrf8images.com/ http://clikrf8.wordp...com/2010/09/01/

#4 Casa Escarlata Robles Too

Casa Escarlata Robles Too

    C'est la vie

  • Site Team
  • 9,267 posts
  • Locationmonterey bay area

Posted 04 July 2022 - 09:37 PM

Thank you.Appreciate the postings.

Frank


  • 0

2002 Tundra AC TRD 4WD Limited 2009 ATC Bobcat loaded http://sharychic.blogspot.com/


#5 clikrf8

clikrf8

    Senior Member

  • Members
  • 494 posts
  • LocationBellingham, WA

Posted 04 July 2022 - 09:44 PM

Photos are up in this gallery: https://www.wanderth.../1534-okanogan/

 

I will finish the narrative tonight. I need to pick peas and beans. 


  • 0
2008 Ford F250 diesel 4x4 off road pkg 2013 Hallmark Ute http://www.clikrf8images.com/ http://clikrf8.wordp...com/2010/09/01/

#6 clikrf8

clikrf8

    Senior Member

  • Members
  • 494 posts
  • LocationBellingham, WA

Posted 05 July 2022 - 02:26 AM

Part 2:

We reluctantly left our peaceful campsite on Conners Lake to travel north then west to our next campsite on Toat’s Coulee Road. It is a very road through pine forests with a smattering wildflowers along the sides. Just before we turned onto this road, near Loomis, we could see a long climbing shelf road scarring the side of a mountain. This is the road to Chopaka Lake which is supposed to be one of the loveliest lakes in this area. No way! Some rangers told us of a rescue this past spring involving a truck hauling a trailer which encountered snow along the road. It was a complicated rescue. We stopped before a one lane bridge to take photos of the raging Toat’s Coulee Creek. The view from the bridge framed the creek between a rock wall and an outcropping studded with low growing penstemon. 
 

Stopping at Toat’s Coulee campground, we saw a few campfires that were very smoky. We ventured further up the road to North Fork Nine Mile but there were bear signs and it didn’t have the beautiful wildflowers. Returning to Toat’s Coulee campground, we arrived to find the campers gone but with smoldering fire pits which we extinguished. Camping here, as at Conners Lake was free with our Discover Pass ($30/year) as we were still in the Loomis State Forest. 
 

We met a group of young people hired by the state to do cleanup in state facilities. They were camping in donated REI tents and sleeping bags. They were quiet and left early the next morning to clean the campgrounds further up the road. 
 

Our next destination was a bit more luxurious: Osoyoos Lake Veterans Memorial campground. We were driving few miles each day to stretch out our time. We drove along the Loomis-Oroville Road passing by Palmer Lake. This road then swung to the east following the Similkameen River until we reached Oroville. We had stopped at Nighthawk a few trips ago but never really found the abandoned ghost town, just the pine board homes we passed by. Going up a dirt road found us facing a threatening sign somewhat like this: W3 have guns and a front end loader and lots of land. We turned around. 
 

The campground had tent or non service sites right along the lake. It had an infestation of large carp that were chewing the vegetation along the lake. It was a peaceful setting by the huge old cottonwoods. Oroville had a large post office, I suppose, for international mail. We stopped for fuel and a few groceries on the way out of town the next morning. 
 

We had seen an info sign at the kiosk at Conners Lake about bighorn sheep being relocated to this area, specifically McLaughlin Canyon. We drove down 97 to Tonasket the headed east again on highway 20. We took Talkire Road, a graded gravel road, that looped around to become McLaughlin Canyon road before dropping down just before 97 south of Tonasket. This was a very scenic drive by ranches, the second homes then several large older ranch spreads. Once, we arrived in the canyon, we felt like we were in Colorado with sheer cliffs on either side. No sightings of sheep, however, but the vistas were beautiful. Most of the area is private land but we could have camped on some smaller parcels of BLM land. 
 

I will post part 3, the final installment, later. 


  • 0
2008 Ford F250 diesel 4x4 off road pkg 2013 Hallmark Ute http://www.clikrf8images.com/ http://clikrf8.wordp...com/2010/09/01/

#7 LuckyDan

LuckyDan

    Senior Member

  • Members
  • 644 posts
  • LocationBased in Eastern, NOW CENTRAL Oregon

Posted 05 July 2022 - 05:31 AM

I for one look forward to your third installment.  I lived and worked in the Methow Valley for a few years back in the late 80’s/early 90’s.  It’s nice to look at your photos and think back to when I was there.  I owned a little Ford Ranger then, read about FWC campers through Gary Wescott articles in Four Wheeler magazine, and realized I really did like tour or semi tour style woods camping, what’s now called Overlanding I suppose. I spent a lot of my free time wandering the USFS and County back roads around there and into southern BC.

 

Thanks for sharing and facilitating my little trip down memory lane.


  • 0

Old, bum around in Ford and an even older FWC Grandby

New Mantra: "Everyday camping is just making up for lost time"


#8 clikrf8

clikrf8

    Senior Member

  • Members
  • 494 posts
  • LocationBellingham, WA

Posted 05 July 2022 - 02:50 PM

Part 3:

 

From highway 97 southbound, we turned right onto the Riverside Cutoff Road toward Conconully. Lake. My grandparents used to drive over from Bellingham long ago to fish the lakes east of the Cascades. This was one of them. They would fish all morning then they would smoke and can trout in the afternoon. We are not a big fan of resorts where they would camp so opted for the state park. It has two parts: one that was quite a bit larger with a playground and full hookup sites and another with 6 primitive sites. Guess which one we chose? We had the place to ourselves except for the occasional boat launch. The restroom even had flush toilets. From our site, we watched the Canada Geese families swim around the shore. 
 

The next day, we headed back toward Twisp to camp along the Twisp River. There are quite a few campgrounds along the Twisp River Road so checked out a few along the road delighting in all the wildflowers: lupine, Indian Paintbrush, Balsamroot and the mock orange bushes. We had stayed at Poplar Flat a few years back so chose Mystery campground this time. We were the only ones there at this 4 site USFS campground. We were surrounded by more wildflowers and pine trees along the roaring Twisp River.

 

The next morning we left this area and took a short cut through Elbow Canyon to Winthrop  where we stopped to watch a pair of Bald Eagles catching the thermals near a hill. Soon, we passed through the second homes area and the quiet road became crowded with hikers and bikers. Diesel in Winthrop was $6.39 a gallon and organic bananas were $1.59 a pound. This is a fairly isolated community so it is pricier. It doesn’t help that the wealthy from Seattle have vacation homes here. 
 

We took the West Chewuch River Road north from Winthrop to find one of campgrounds to spend the night. Unfortunately, the entire area had suffered a devastating forest fire last year especially along USFS Road 5130 where we wanted to camp. A few years back, we had wanted to camp along this same road but were turned back due to set fires by the USFS to burn the highly flammable forest litter. We drive further up the road but turned around as the burn area continued north. We drove all the way to the a few years ago to the Thirty Mile Fire Memorial to the four firefighters who were killed in that fire. 
 

Our next move was to drive back home so we opted for our favorite campground along highway 20: Klipchuck. We stayed for two days just relaxing and enjoying the quiet. Even though it was the weekend, very few people camped there. There were no campers to be seen from our site #22. This campground also had the wildflowers and pine trees, some 3-4 feet in diameter. A few deer visited but no bears or rattlesnakes that the kiosk warns about. 
 

Monday morning, we drove from one side of the Cascades to the other. The snow was still along the sides of the road as did the mountains. There were few people on the road until the Diablo Vista overlook. We had a surprise rainbow cross the highway after the two passes. It is always anticlimactic to arrive hone and for days afterwards, I dream of wandering sand camping. The east side was more lush than usual due to all the rain we had this spring. Our own rural acreage had exploded with growth while we were away. 
 

Later, in late August, we again drive this route for our fall trip. I never tire of the views, watching the maples, alders, firs, cedars and hemlock yield to aspens and pines. It’s a beautiful drive, way more enjoyable than driving through the madness of I5 through Seattle/Tacoma. 


  • 2
2008 Ford F250 diesel 4x4 off road pkg 2013 Hallmark Ute http://www.clikrf8images.com/ http://clikrf8.wordp...com/2010/09/01/

#9 Casa Escarlata Robles Too

Casa Escarlata Robles Too

    C'est la vie

  • Site Team
  • 9,267 posts
  • Locationmonterey bay area

Posted 05 July 2022 - 05:08 PM

Thank you for the story and the photo gallery.

What a beautiful area.The last photo of the rainbow with the snow

is very nice.

I appreciate the work you did to post the photos.

Frank


  • 0

2002 Tundra AC TRD 4WD Limited 2009 ATC Bobcat loaded http://sharychic.blogspot.com/


#10 clikrf8

clikrf8

    Senior Member

  • Members
  • 494 posts
  • LocationBellingham, WA

Posted 05 July 2022 - 05:34 PM

I for one look forward to your third installment.  I lived and worked in the Methow Valley for a few years back in the late 80’s/early 90’s.  It’s nice to look at your photos and think back to when I was there.  I owned a little Ford Ranger then, read about FWC campers through Gary Wescott articles in Four Wheeler magazine, and realized I really did like tour or semi tour style woods camping, what’s now called Overlanding I suppose. I spent a lot of my free time wandering the USFS and County back roads around there and into southern BC.

 

Thanks for sharing and facilitating my little trip down memory lane.

Hi Dan,

Yes, there are many roads throughout the Okanogan area but so much of the land is now infested with second homes. It has become a tourist and biking Mecca in the summer, fall and spring and cross country and snowmobile use in the winter. Much of the area has suffered large burns since you have been there. It is still very scenic and we encountered few campers during mid week. Even during the Memorial Day Holiday there weren’t lots of people, mostly on ORVs or hiking. The campgrounds weren’t overflowing. There are wilderness areas there, the Stehekin area, Pasayten, Steven Mather where you can hike to avoid the crowds. 
 

Our favorite places were McLaughlin Canyon and Toat’s Coulee area. In the summer and fall, the hillsides will be brown, but during our trip, all the valleys and hillsides were green. 
 

We didn’t really plan the trip before leaving but just wandered our way around, checking our camping apps and USFS and state lands websites for info. Some of the campgrounds were on roads still covered in snow. As you know, opening up 20 is a major undertaking, checking for avalanche chutes and repairing winter damaged areas. There is a beautiful meadow and Tiffany lake off USFS roads 37/39 where the wildflowers are colorful but the road was still snowed in while we were there. It is a roundabout way to get to Conconully Lake. Maybe next year. 
 

You were fortunate to explore there before the crowds and wildfires. We did some exploring but only camped in the back of our Tacoma. I wish we had done more at the time but this was pre-Internet. 


  • 0
2008 Ford F250 diesel 4x4 off road pkg 2013 Hallmark Ute http://www.clikrf8images.com/ http://clikrf8.wordp...com/2010/09/01/




0 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users