Cascade Loop - Chelan Fire
Chelan Fire
This trip was taken in the midst of fire season. One of the
fires was started just a little north of Lake Chelan. As the road
leaves the Columbia River, it climbs towards Lake Chelan, and
passes Chelan Airport. I saw the cars in front pulling over, so
decided to follow suit. I had heard and seen the fire fighting
helicopters over the Columbia, and dipping down to fill up their
water buckets. Fortunately the Columbia is less than a mile away,
so that trip was a very short time. There was some quite incredible flying
of the helicopters, and frantic ground action too - there was a truck
driving around watering the grass of the airport. I heard nothing
about damage to planes or the airport, so I presume the fire was
stopped before it reached the facility.
The flames were dying out even as I watched - there's not exactly
a lot to burn, at least visible in this picture. I don't know what's
on the other side of the hill.
One of the helicopters is dropping its water.
The local TV stations (Seattle, I think in this case) were here
to record the details. I ate in Leavenworth, so did not see the
local TV news.
Lake Chelan
Continuing on a short distance takes you to Lake Chelan, which is
both a town and an actual lake. There is a small dam to control
the lake level. The lake is quite long, about 40 miles (65km!).
Access to the remote end is via ferry only.
Looking south across the lake.
Looking up the lake, towards the Cascade Range. There was actually
a little rain as I was riding around Lake Chelan. It was rather
pleasant, as it wasn't anything like enough to get wet, but did
have that pleasant smell of rain after a long dry spell.
The consequences of irrigation! They're probably apple trees heading
up the hill, then reverting to normal sparse, desert vegetation
where the watering stops.
From here, I rode on to Leavenworth for dinner, then home
over Stevens Pass.
Wells Dam