Contact Information
215 Melody Lane
Wenatchee, WA 98801
509-662-4335
The Wenatchee, situated in the heart of Washington state, is the Pacific Northwest at its most raw. The 8,000-foot volcanic peaks of basalt, pumice, and ash allude to the violent geologic past of the Cascade Range. And yet these mountains simultaneously shelter secluded alpine lakes and glacier cirques that resemble giant cathedrals of granite and ice. Fishermen who fish for solitude as well as trout can angle alone in remote reaches of the forest. Rock and ice climbers from all over the country test their mettle on the granite walls and volcanic basalt formations that dominate the Wenatchee. The Wenatchee is a forest of transition. Its shrub-steppe habitat bridges the lush ecosystem of Puget Sound with the rugged high desert of eastern Washington state. Sagebrush at lower elevations surrenders to pine-covered slopes and eventually to the sparse vegetation atop the Cascade's volcanic summits. It is also a landscape of intricate canyons: Icicle Creek Canyon, at over 8,000 feet from floor to rim, is easily one of the deepest canyons in the Pacific Northwest. Hikers can explore thousands of miles of trail that snakes its way through this rugged Martian-like landscape. The Yakima, Chinook, and Wenatchi Indians inhabited the forest before they were forced off the land by the gold rush of the 1880s and 1890s. For thousands of years, these tribes walked lightly on the land, leading a life of subsistence that included salmon fishing and hunting deer and elk.
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