We made our way down Boyd and stopped and got a cache that I DNF'd the month before, Lakeview (GCMXN4). This time I found it. Then we tried finding I Like Big Buttes (GC1EJH4) but couldn't pinpoint it. There were just too many rocks and piles to look under, besides I was on a hillside and didn't trust the snakes. We moved on.
We planned to drive up to Chelan Butte before we left town. I had downloaded the caches a few days prior and hoped that they were all there. We made our way towards the road that took us up the hill. Part of it was going to be paved and the rest would be a compacted dirt road. It was going to be a warm sunny day so we were dressed appropriately.
The first cache we encountered on the butte, Movin' On Up (GC176T9) should have been easy to find but alas, there had been a bulldozer in the area recently and most likely buried it underneath all of the rubble we saw. Crap. We continued onto Farther Along (GC1QACW). It was an ammo can with a bullet hole in it. Never have seen one of those.
I let Ben find the next one, Keith Ross Cache-Chelan Butte of Course (GC4BANA). It was nestled in a hole of a rock outcrop. It was a great view from here. We could see Lake Chelan in all its glory!
Sunrise-Sunset Chelan Butte (GC3A2W7) was hidden in the Discover Pass parking lot. I was very glad they had a porta potty up here. We found the cache, it was hidden in a gnarly tree that had fallen at one point in an Altoid can and then we went potty before grabbing the last cache up here.
The view was stunning! An entire 360 degree view from this location. We got back in the car and drove to the last cache, Chelan Butte Lookout Site (GCM4PZ) and it has been here since 11/25/2004, another old cache still around. Our elevation was roughly 3835. Chelan Butte is the site where once stood a fire lookout tower at 3835’ elevation. Here is an archived photo of the original Lookout. The first tower built was a 40' pole L-4 in 1936. It burned down, replaced in 1939 by a 28' treated timber tower with L-4 cab. Staffed sporadically into the 1990's, the tower was moved to the Columbia Breaks Fire Interpretive Center one mile north of Entiat, Washington, alongside Highway 97, in 1995. That tower can be seen at Trail of Fire cache. We didn't have time to stop and get that cache on the way home. Maybe next visit.
We spent a good hour or so exploring the top of the butte. Some motorcycles drove up and admired the site for a while. This area is also great for hang gliding and paragliding. We saw some people the other day jumping off and floating down towards the Columbia. We got the GoPro out and took some pictures and videos. We got back in the car and sailed down the butte. We encountered a Jeep about half way down. When we got to the bottom the car smelled hot and I thought something was leaking or messed up with it. we couldn't see any visible damage or leaks. We left Chelan and went up the hill. Until next time Chelan!
We stopped one more time along the way at Almost There (GC1PC9F) it is intended to get it on your way to Chelan but we didn't have enough time or day light the last few times and we wanted to be different. It was a pull off on an old part of the highway and the cache kinda weirded us out because it had some sort of webby feeling to it. We found it, signed it and put it back as we found it. We put some miles behind us.
I wanted to get one more cache since we were in the area, WaStatePks100: Wenatchee Confluence (GC4BE6E). I should have remembered that we could have parked closer to the cache but we went into the park and parked in the lot. It was going to be almost a mile walk there and a mile back. As we walked down the trail a guy on a bike had his medium sized dog in his back pack the dog even had on sunglasses. We laughed and it was worth the walk down here just to see that. When we approached the bird house we had heard in previous logs that the house was vandalized but put back together the previous day. Another lucky break. It took us a while to figure out how it came apart. We just didn't pull on the one piece hard enough. We soon had the cache in hand, logged our names and took a few pictures before putting it back and walking back to the car.
We needed gas and some food so we found the nearest Safeway. We bought gas and decided to get some sandwiches, chips and a pack of Twizzlers Pull and Peel for the way home. It was hot so being inside the store felt awesome. Off towards home we go!
There was a lot of traffic up and down Blewett Pass. We had to follow several cars and semi trucks until we got an opportunity to pass them. Ben was slowly winding down but I needed him to make it to Cle Elum before we switched spots. At one point I had to yell at him because he was falling asleep at the wheel. We got to this area where there was a large pullout and a tiny restaurant so I had him pull over immediately so I could drive.
He slept as I drove through the rest of the pass. We had to stop a lot for really no reason. It was irritating me to no end. When we finally got through the dumb we made up some time after the summit. We got pass North Bend and up the hill towards our Auburn exit.
I was so excited to go home. We got onto Hwy 18 and followed it all the way to I-5. Traffic wasn't bad thankfully. We drove all the way to Rochester where I had left my car. I helped him unpack the car and took it inside his room. I grabbed my stuff and put it in my car. He was going to resume shift at the fire station after I left. He put his uniform on and we said our goodbyes and I went home. When I got home I unpacked the car and did a load of clothes. I had to make sure I had everything ready for the TriCities on Thursday.
Next Adventure: Driving to Yakima
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