To set up the trip, I relied on Internet links to the local chamber of commerce, to various services companies, and for historic information. It went pretty smoothly, too, and there was still enough of a spirit of discovery to stop at local wineries, fruit stands, and viewpoints to keep my partner interested.
Figure 1. Map showing the route through several northern Washington gold districts.
One good link to use when planning a trip to Washington is www.experiencewa.com. You can use the links on this page to to run down activities, lodging, dining, and other tourism-related topics. If you know the state, you probably don’t need this much information, but if you’re new to the Pacific Northwest, these folks can help. Their Travel Planner “catalog” is thick and impressive.
History
The name Stehekin is taken from the Skagit Indian word, which means “the way through.” Crossing the North Cascades proved a challenge for Indians and trappers alike, but it was possible to track up Lake Chelan, follow the Stehekin to its source basin, and drop back over to the western side of the Cascades.
Once mineralization was discovered at the headwaters of the Stehekin River, there were immense challenges in getting any ore to the smelter at Tacoma. According to the Northwest Underground Explorers, “The majority of the Stehekin mining area is underlain by pre-Upper Jurassic gneisses, many migmatic in nature. To the northeast of the Stehekin River lies an exposed, narrow band of pre-Upper Jurassic metamorphic rocks, running from southeast to northwest. The headwaters of Bridge Creek rise in Tertiary-Cretaceous, intrusive, igneous, granitic rock that contacts the gneisses along a broad zone in the region of the McGregor Mountain ridge. The mineral bearing zones were found throughout the gneisses and along the contacts between dissimilar rocks. The area is not heavily mineralized, and with few exceptions, mining never really gained a foothold there. Several of the properties assay highest in gold or silver, but by far the majority assay highest in lead.” (vol. 2, p. 35)
At the Skagit River journal site, found at http://www.skagitriverjournal.com/Portal/MiningSec.html you can get an overview of the history of North Cascades mining, and in particular the Skagit district, which was the first big rush to the area. “Jack and George Rouse [actually Jack C. Rouse and George L. Rowse] were among the first prospectors in the district and located the Boston mine. The district also had its lost mine like other places. A company of solders came over the pass in the early days and one of them found some rock that reportedly showed much gold. It was later searched for and the Soldier Boy claim was located on what was thought to be the place the gold-bearing rock came from. The only ore I took [from] there showed only iron pyrite. . . .”
Although the Rouse was happy mining in Washington, he, too, felt the call of the Yukon:
“…George decided to follow gold seekers to the Klondike river region of southeast Alaska in 1898. He initially staked a claim on Seventy-mile creek and then in the fall, he returned to Dawson to work in a claim on Bonanza Creek. But in 1899 he went first to Nome and then returned to Seattle via Dutch Harbor, deciding that Washington mines were more promising. He missed the Nome gold rush by a year. From then on, according to the 1904 book, he invested ‘his entire time and energy to the development of the properties above mentioned’ at the Boston Mine.”
According to Roy Mayo, in his book Washington State Gold Mines, “Placer gold has been found on beaches in several places on Lake Chelan. Many creeks along the upper part of the lake will produce some gold. Railroad Creek has had several good placers. The Stehekin River has produced placer gold for several miles above it’s mouth.” (p. 58) It was Mayo’s information that first spurred me to explore the upper area of Lake Chelan.
Getting there
The route we took was circuitous, to say the least. We drove up I-5 to Sedro-Woolley and turned east on WA 20, going through Concrete and Marblemount to reach Ross Lake National Recreation Area and the North Cascades National Park. Here’s a link for the North Cascades park complex: http://www.nps.gov/noca. The first night, we camped at Goodell Campground. You can find a map of the site at http://www.nps.gov/noca/planyourvisit/upload/Goodell.pdf. This campground has great access to the river, but it’s close to the highway, and a better choice would probably have been Newhalem, only another mile up the road. Here’s the map: http://www.nps.gov/noca/planyourvisit/upload/newhalem%20loops.pdf.
In fact, the campgrounds are so close together that a National Park Service ranger came through in the morning and invited us over to Newhalem for coffee and cobbler. I poked my nose into the gift shop to see if any of my rockhounding books were on sale there (they weren’t) and picked up an annual parking pass.
For day 2, I did some exploring for an upcoming book on gold prospecting in the Pacific Northwest. There’s no contract and no schedule, so mostly it was a great excuse to check out a couple of spots in Washington’s obscure North Cascades area. Plus, it’s a very scenic route. First, we checked around the Ruby Arm of Ross Lake. We parked at the Canyon Creek trail head, then hiked past the cabin and sampled a few spots up Canyon Creek. Thanks to my membership in the Washington Prospectors Mining Association, I was there by permission. You can check them out at http://www.washingtonprospectors.org.
Figure 2. Scenic Diablo Lake, part of the North Cascades National Park.
This low on Canyon Creek, I didn’t find much coarse gold. There was good black sand, plenty of moss on most of the boulders, and nice exposures of bedrock right in the water. The concentrates also contain beautiful, if small, purple-red garnets. Even this late in the summer, the water was numbingly cold.
After that we drove over Washington Pass and stopped at the scenic viewpoint. The Golden Horn Batholith juts out here, and rockhounds have pecked at the edges of the granite pluton for years, searching for quartz crystals and other specimens. Lanny Ream’s book Gems and Minerals of Washington is a great source of information if you’re interested.
We continued on to Mazama, turned north by northwest, and set our sights on Hart’s Pass. The road is steep and narrow in places, and definitely gets your attention, but the views of the Methow River valley are amazing. I thought the slate outcrops were pretty nice, too. We reached the pass and turned off to the southwest to access Slate Creek. This area is claimed up pretty well, but again I was there by permission, and I did very well. In just under an hour of panning and picking at crevices, I was able to recover some coarse flakes very quickly. I found a spot right on bedrock, with moss, crevices, crooks and crannies, and I came away very impressed. I would definitely go back to Slate Creek.
Figure 3. Methow Valley, from the road to Hart's Pass.
From there we backtracked to Mazama and continued east on WA 20 to Winthrop, a very fun little town that was really hopping for the Labor Day weekend. We skipped several more gold districts on the Twisp River and on the Methow River so that we could get to a motel in Pateros. Just a warning: just about every motel and resort in Chelan wanted a three-night minimum for the Labor Day weekend, and most were completely full.
The third day, we got up early and drove to the ferry by 8:30 a.m., then settled in for a long boat ride up Lake Chelan. You’ll find complete schedule and passenger information at http://www.ladyofthelake.com. We opted for a combo of fast ride up, three-hour layover, and then a slow ride back. It was a warm day, and it felt very relaxing to nod off and feel the heavy sound of the straining diesel engines.
Figure 4. The only way to get to the mouth of the Stehekin River is by float plane or ferry.
One side note – the boat does stop at Railroad Creek, which is a known gold producer. I opted to skip that prospect, but it’s there for another time. Most of the old guides and atlases mention Railroad Creek and the Holden Mine, so if anyone ever checks it out, I’d sure like to hear about it.
Once at Stehekin, we quickly rented bicycles at Discovery Rentals. These folks were fantastic, getting us on the road in no time. Here’s their website: http://stehekindiscoverybikes.com. Next, we headed north on nice 18-speed mountain bikes. We stopped for a box lunch at the bakery, officially called The Stehekin Pastry Company (http://www.stehekinpastry.com). Their sandwiches are hearty and their service is fast. In no time we were headed up river. About four miles from the boat, around the Company Creek Campground, we were finally out of most of the private land. At about five miles up, there was a nice big bend in the river, with plenty of exposed gravel. If you go too far north, at about 10 miles from the boat dock, you’re into National Park land. As most of us know, there’s no panning in any national park or national monument. So we got above the private land and stayed below the park service boundary. I found a fairly decent spot near the bridge to the campground, too, and since the water was low, I could work in and around some big boulders.
Note that this is one of those perfect opportunities for a fold-up sluice. I had recently purchased the Jobe fold-up sluice, which you can see at http://www.jobewholesale.com/jobe-folding-sluice.htm. I bought mine at Blue Bucket Mining Supplies in Bend, Oregon. Their link is http://www.bluebucketmining.com. My contact there is Tina Vickers, who maintains an active Facebook presence.
I have to confess, that water is COLD! It was hard to stay in for very long. I made some pretty good concentrates, panned occasionally to see how I was doing, and was rewarded with lots of black sand and many very small colors. I can officially report that there is decent color in the Stehekin, and I added my concentrates to the “collection.”
On the way back down from the river, we stopped at Rainbow Falls and checked that off the list – it’s beautiful. The trip back on the lake was relaxing, and I got in a good nap. We reached the dock at a decent time and drove south to Entiat, then up the Entiat River to the Pine Flats campground on the Mad River. The link to check it out is at http://www.us-parks.com/camping/wa/pine-flats-campground.html. There was plenty of room, and we enjoyed a good bonfire that night.
The final day, I got up and sampled the Mad River at several places. The campground had a great access point, but with several big mossy boulders to scratch at. Lower down, below Pine Flats, I found some excellent bedrock exposures where the cracks were lined up perfectly to act as riffles. I sampled them quickly, and found excellent black sand and some decent colors. Next, I sampled some claims on Indian Creek, and the concentrates there were not as promising as I would have liked. But to make up for it, I found several small, gray flakes that are probably platinum.
On the way down, we detoured up Crum Canyon, but there is very little water in this area by late summer. Also, there was lots of private land to negotiate. I ran out of time to check the abandoned mine there.
Figure 5. Overview map of North Cascades in Washington, from Gold Diggers Atlas. Click to make it bigger and more clear.
We came home via Blewett Pass, Liberty, Swauk Creek, and Peshastin. I’ve checked many of the creeks up there in the past, and written up the area for these pages. If you’ve never visited Liberty, or tried your hand in the open recreational area along the Swauk, you’re in for a treat.
Summary
This area is fun to explore in late summer. The temperatures still get hot during the day, but you’ll cool off by night-time. There are many, many old districts to explore, and it’s hard to pick one as “best.” I’ve explored up here several times, but I still have a lot of work to do. But that’s the fun part about this hobby, right?
Additional readings
Mayo, Roy F., Washington State Gold Mines, Nugget Enterprises, Enumclaw, WA. 1983. 80 pgs.
Johnson, Robert Neil, Gold Diggers Atlas, Cy Johnson & Son, Susanville, WA. 1971. 64 pgs.
Koschmann, A. H., and Bergendahl, M. H., Principal Gold-Producting Districts of the United States. U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 610. 1968. 283 pgs.
Northwest Underground Explorations, Discovering Washington’s Historic Mines, Volume 2: The East Central Cascade Mountains and the Wenatchee Mountains. Oso Publishing Co., Hamilton, MT. 2002. 336 pgs.
Northwest Underground Explorations, Discovering Washington’s Historic Mines, Volume 3: The Northern Cascade Mountains. Oso Publishing Co., Hamilton, MT. 2006. 315 pgs.
Ream, Lanny, Gems and Minerals of Washington, 3rd Ed., Jackson Mountain Press, Renton, WA. 1994. 217 pgs.
Smith, Jerry, Boom Towns and Relic Hunters of Northeastern Washington. Elfin Cove Press, Bellevue, WA. 124 pgs.
Garret Romaine writes from Portland, Oregon. You can find him online through his Facebook page.
