In 2007, I wrote an article about Stehekin that started with, “You can’t drive to Stehekin. Go by boat, hike a trail, fly in by float plane, or ride a horse.” Since this article was published by “The Trail Rider” magazine, I wrote about riding my horse to the Stehekin Valley Ranch, a distance of 20 miles down the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT).
As the crow flies — or more accurately in the Methow, a raven — Stehekin is a nearby community, only 24 to 28 miles from Winthrop, southwest over the Chelan Sawtooth Mountains. Indeed, during the Pioneer fire in 2024, helicopters carried water buckets to this fire along the shore of Lake Chelan via the Methow Valley State Airport.
Five of us, aged 68 to 77, left for the Stehekin Valley Ranch from the Bridge Creek trailhead last week. Our first snafu was a closed trailhead parking lot, forcing us to park three trucks with trailers in pullouts on the side of State Route 20 and hand-walk the horses down the busy highway. Just as we prepared to mount up, Colleen’s mare, young and inexperienced, spooked over who knows what, bucking and knocking her down, before taking off down the trail. While I tended to Colleen’s wounds with horse bandaging supplies, Paula took off after her horse. “Do you think you’re good to go?” I asked a dazed Colleen.
The PCT from Highway 20 south descends gradually alongside Bridge Creek, crossing bridges, avalanche chutes, and rocky scree slopes. We had eight hours to travel 20 miles to arrive at the ranch in time for dinner, one of the highlights of this accommodation, and not to be missed. Along the way, we encountered numerous hikers — through-hikers with eyes downcast, in a flow, not even noticing approaching horses until I called out — and young couples who looked freshly outfitted in the latest recreational clothing and gear. All were friendly and kindly moved to the downside of the trail to let us pass. However, the uber-fit through-hikers, traveling the same direction, passed us, moving at least 4 miles an hour on legs of steel.
We reached the new North Fork Bridge, dropped in by helicopter this spring, at around noon, and took a lunch break. Because the bridge had been out for at least three years, horse travel along this section of PCT was not possible, and travel to the ranch with horses had been curtailed — until this summer. We were the second and last group on horseback to visit the ranch this season.
At 12 miles, we hit the Stehekin River Road and Bridge Creek Camp, the only horse camp in the Stehekin River Valley. I’ve stayed at this well-appointed camp multiple times in the past, but now, the corrals were tumbling down, and the water spigot was dry, a sad testament to lack of maintenance and a certain indifference to backcountry riders. A common theme discussed among the five of us was how lucky we were to have enjoyed access to backcountry trails for most of our riding lives, and how sad to see those opportunities diminish, unlikely to be available to future generations.
Sweaty and tired after eight hours in the saddle, we arrived at the ranch with plenty of time before dinner to put our horses up, unload gear, and get situated in our accommodations. Two of our husbands, who had come via the Chelan Ferry, greeted us, and we all checked out Colleen’s wounds — multiple, flowering bruises, and a deep puncture wound near her left elbow that had bled through the bandage. Not many women would have continued on a 20-mile trail ride in her condition. But Colleen, an Alaskan salmon fisherperson/occupational therapist, drily remarked, “When you’re out at sea and the fish are running, you learn to tough it out if you’re injured.”
Staying at the Stehekin Valley Ranch, where our horses were securely ensconced in corrals, the surroundings peaceful and scenic, and the meals fabulous, was heavenly. All too soon, we headed back up the trail. On arrival home, we checked in with each other, confirming that we all made it back safely. But a text from Colleen reported, “I went to Urgent Care after getting back, and it turns out my elbow is fractured. Not sure whether I’ll make the next ride in two weeks.”
