The mountains leading to Republic, WA were filled with an astonishing number of golden larch trees
When Amanda recently accepted a new job offer, we suddenly found ourselves with five totally unplanned days on our calendar. With no obligations at home, we decided to take a spontaneous fall road trip.
Our only criteria: 1. We wanted to visit places we’d never seen before 2. No planning allowed (we’ve learned that our best travel memories come when we stumbled upon wonderful destinations. It helps to have no expectations about a place and you can be pleasantly surprised!) 3. Our starting point would be Lake Chelan where we’d already arranged a weekend of wine tasting with friends.
We set out Sunday afternoon. Since we were already half way across the state, we figured we’d just keep driving east.
With no tourism literature, internet or cell phone reception, our only guide was Jeff’s old road atlas from his Trek America tour leading days. It did a pretty good job of showing where the mountains were, and had dotted lines next to the scenic roads. The far northeast corner of Washington State had plenty of both, so we pointed our car in that direction.
By late afternoon, we were starting to get a tiny bit worried. Not that the scenery was bad – central Washington has lots of rolling hills and reservoirs to break up the brown – it’s just that the wildfire damage was depressing and the landscape grew monotonous after several hours.
Past the town of Tonasket, things grew interesting when we started seeing larches. This being October, they were at the height of their transformation (larches are pine trees that drop their needles after briefly turning a blazing shade of orange). Soon we were driving through whole valleys lit in color and dotted with occasional scenic ranches.
Just before nightfall we rolled into the town of Republic. Not knowing anything about this town, we were surprised to discover a charming little community with a western mining theme. The place is strewn with early 1900s artifacts and buildings (admittedly some recreated to look authentic). But nevertheless it was a quaint little treasure to discover.
The nice thing about traveling during shoulder season is that it isn’t hard to find accommodations at the last minute. Behind The Prospector hotel, we found a nature trail that took us on a journey into the past.
An old foundation or outhouse? Let your imagination decide
We scrambled down a steep ravine keeping our eyes open for deer and old homestead cabins, junk and discolored glass that speckled the valley. Every few feet we would stop to examine some rusty piece of metal or try to figure out if the hole was an old foundation or outhouse.
Just the possibility that the stuff was over a hundred years old made the experience spark our imaginations and soon we were making up back stories about the people who once lived in the derelict cabins. While much of what we saw probably wasn’t antique, it just goes to show that things don’t have to be super old to be interesting.
Amanda explores the ruins of an old cabin on the nature trail in town
We ended the day with a hearty steak and euphoria. The thrill of discovering a cool new place simply by following our noses had paid off again.
We were in new territory and surrounded by possibilities. And it was just day #1.
Aspen and larch trees light up the mountains west of Republic, WA