Days 11 and 12

Chopaka Lake Campground and Crawfish Lake Campground

PCT Backpacking Ladies Trip

I know it has been awhile since my last blog post. We took a little break from RTT camping so that I could go on a ladies adventure with some of my girlfriends last weekend. Jeff and I had backpacked once before, but this was just me and the girls, all on our own, on the Pacific Crest Trail, for 3 days and 19 miles. I'm pretty proud of us all, as three of us were totally unexperienced. Thank goodness we had our fearless leader, Kiki to share all her knowledge. Oh, and we also met up with two bears on the trail. That was exciting! Check out the perfect campsite we had on night two. I had creek front property right outside my tent door, and we slept under giant cedar trees. Can't get much better than that.

I wasn't home for more than two or three days when I started getting the itch to get outside again. It MIGHT have had something to do with the painting of the kitchen, which is turning out to be a slow and tedious summer chore. Jeff had the next spot already picked out...Chopaka Lake Campground, about an hour and a half northwest of us, close to the Canadian border. We have been to Palmer Lake several times, and every time we go, I see this steep dirt road that leads to Chopaka Lake. Today was the day to drive it in 4-wheel drive. If you look closely, you'll see the road up on the hillside. Quite the climb.

The road in on the hillside ahead leads to Chopaka Lake.

Once we arrived at the lake, we were quite surprised to see so many trailers and RVs were up there. That was not an easy drive. The lake was serene and calm, and the campground was dotted with campers from one end to the other, but one perfect spot was calling our name. We chose a small area with water access, and just enough room to park and pop the tent for the night.

Our home for the night, with lots of tall grass and trees around the lake (lots of birds too)!

We discovered on this trip that we LOVE having our rain fly off and the window open to the lake view.

Chopaka Lake - named after the legend of a hunter by the name of Chopaka who was turned to stone by Coyote

Quick and easy cleanup dinner tonight - haystacks (chips, turkey chili, heirloom tomatoes, feta cheese, and cabbage)

For my birthday this year, my thoughtful daughter got me a travel journal and an incredible set of gel pens and carry case for me to sketch and write in on our adventures. It was fun to sit in the sun and doodle about the day. I also kept track of birds this day. We saw some good ones, including a mystery bird which sat on top of a tree the entire time "fitz bew"ing at us non stop. I FINALLY figured out what it was by clicking through sounds on my bird app (iBird, highly recommended). He was a Willow Flycatcher. I wish I had a picture, but I failed to bring my zoom camera on this trip, and the phone just wouldn't do. Darn it. ALWAYS BRING THE CAMERA! Here's his annoying call that taunted me for hours.

One aspect of going to Chopaka that intrigued Jeff was that it is a fly-fishing only lake. Jeff is not a fly-fisherman, but he sure wanted to try it out. He even has a fly pole that our good friend Baran once gave him. We stopped at North 40 on the way out of town and picked out a few fun flies to use. It was like shopping for candy in a candy store...so many colors and choices.

Jeff giving fly-fishing a go. He had to wade out to have room. We watched other fishermen in their float tubes way out in the middle of the lake, and I think I may know what Jeff wants for Christmas this year. 

The temperature at night was perfect! We slept well, listening to the various nature sounds all around us. I heard hoofing around, right outside our tent a couple times. It could have been cows, as Chopaka is a free-range area and there were lots of cows around. I am also quite sure I heard a rattle snake at one point during the day, and there were many rodents and critters around. It is so comforting to know that we are up off the ground and safe from intruders in the night. I love it!

Next Day

We had planned on making our way home, and, if we felt like it, stopping one more night at a favorite little mountain lake of ours - Crawfish Lake. Jeff had planned our driving route to bring us up to the border to go through the little mining town of Nighthawk. I've been living in Okanogan County for 24 years, and had never been. Well...Nighthawk is pretty small; about 3 houses and an old, decrepit, but cool building on the corner of the one intersection. I had Jeff drop me off at one end of town so I could take pictures, and then he picked me up on the other end of town, about 100 yards down the road. I did a little research when we got home and discovered that the house on the corner was actually a bordello, house of ill repute, whatever you want to call it. Apparently, at one time, there was a tent boom town with up to 3,000 people staying in Nighthawk hoping to become rich off of silver and gold. I bet this place has a lot of stories to tell. Here are more pictures of the old ghost town along with a little history.

Similkameen River and Enloe Dam

Continuing east on the Loomis-Oroville road, we meandered along the beautiful Similkameen River towards a favorite spot, Enloe Dam. Across the river is an old railroad bed (rails to trails) walking path which leads past the dam and up to an old tunnel through the side of the mountain. We've walked the Similkameen Trail before, and remembered that it ends with "WARNING" and "KEEP OUT!" signs at the west entrance of the tunnel. We wondered if we could see the tunnel entrance and exit from this side of the river. We found it! Next, we drove the more difficult road down to Enloe Dam, which has quite a history itself. One year when we visited, we saw dozens of red-headed, beat up salmon trying to make way up the river. After the dam and power plant were built in the early 1900s, this is as far as the determined fish can go on the Similkameen.

Parking to look at the tunnel across the river

The west entrance of the tunnel up on the hillside (surrounded in trees) and someone camping along the river looking for the elusive gold flakes that are rumored to still be around (we saw lots of people trying with their dredging machines)

Enloe Dam and the Similkameen Trail on the other side of the river

The Enloe Power Plant

McLoughlin Canyon

After stopping for a quick lunch and restock of the cooler in Oroville, we headed up McLoughlin Canyon, another historical spot that we had never visited. The canyon is near the Tonasket caves that everyone always talks about. In fact, Max and his buddies had just been out crawling through the caves the day before. The history of the deep canyon is an interesting, but sad story that involves Native American loss of land, ambush, and death. Nonetheless, it was a captivating and scorching hot drive through the canyon. We stopped to take a couple pictures. 

Crawfish Lake

It had been a long, hot day, so when we arrived at Crawfish Lake, we pretty much just set up camp and chilled out the rest of the evening. This is a favorite spot that we have been to several times before. It never disappoints with the loons on the lake and the calm water (no motor boats allowed). I didn't take many pictures, but here is one of our evening ambiance. Lovely!

Quick Recap of Days 11 and 12

Chopaka Lake Campground: This is definitely a different kind of camping for us. Rather than forested lake, the area is grassy and open. I can imagine the mosquitoes are bad most years, but this summer we've been lucky. Fly fishing was fun for Jeff to try out, but he needs some more equipment. The camping was free, which was a nice surprise.

Crawfish Lake Campground: Also free camping, but the sites were filling up quick. We will be going back here at least once this fall when things cool off a bit and the popularity of camping wears off a little. We have spent nights here in the past where it was pretty much just us and the loons in the campground and no one else.

Lessons Learned: We love sleeping with the rainfly off and the window facing the lake. Jeff would love to borrow a float tube to try fly fishing again (anyone have one?). We also used our leveling blocks under the FJ to level the tent both nights, which was a first (you can see them in the picture above). One big revelation for me on this trip is that I want my old camping stove back. Zoe and Nick? Just kidding, but I will probably buy another Coleman some day because our new stove stinks! Until next time...