Weekender: Plain, Washington
Just Plain Beautiful
By Rebecca Agiewich
Photo at right: Skiing at Lake Wenatchee. Photo by David Taylor
Plain, Wash. is a no-frills kind of place. With one market, one hardware store, and two restaurants, this unpretentious town in the heart of the Wenatchee River Valley offers tranquility and outstanding wilderness access as its calling cards.
You’ll find mountain recreation in almost every direction. The Chiwaukum Mountains, the Glacier Peak Wilderness, Stevens Pass, and the Alpine Lakes Wilderness are all just a stone’s throw away.
Plain’s real draw, however, is Lake Wenatchee State Park just a few miles from town. With the spectacular, glacier-fed Lake Wenatchee as its centerpiece, this park is a recreational gem year round.
It’s especially spectacular in winter, when the cross-country ski trails have been set, the summer crowds have thinned, and the snowy reflections of Dirtyface Peak, Nason Ridge, and Labyrinth Mountain create a dazzling mosaic in the serene water.
When Maui is not an option…
Mountain Springs Lodge. Photo courtesy of Mountain Springs Lodge
On a recent trip to Plain, my husband Dave and I arrived on the kind of bone-chillingly cold, wet November day that makes you want to pack up and go to Maui. Or, if that’s not an option, to curl up in front of a fire with a hot chocolate.
Luckily, our home for the weekend—the Mountain Springs Lodge—featured plenty of opportunity for the latter. The staff at the family-owned lodge exuded warmth and friendliness, speeding our transition from rain-buffeted travelers to relaxed guests.
Our spacious room featured a fireplace and a jetted tub, both of which helped us forget almost entirely about the wretched weather outside. Had we been with a group, we could have rented one of several roomy standalone lodges, which boast kitchens and private hot tubs.
Skis or bust
The next day dawned bright and delightfully sunny, with the previous day’s stormy weather a distant memory. After a generous breakfast that was delivered to our room, we drove 10 minutes to Lake Wenatchee State Park, praying there would be enough snow to do our first Nordic ski of the year.
In years’ past, we enjoyed skiing along the shores of Lake Wenatchee on groomed trails. I remembered open vistas, gentle terrain – and a lack of crowds.
But there wasn’t enough snow on the ground yet for the groomers to set the trails, so we headed to a hiking trail on the south shore of the lake. When we arrived at the Hidden Lake trailhead, though, we faced a typical shoulder season dilemma. We both doubted there would be enough snow to ski the trail all the way.
So, what kind of gear to use?
Hiking gear? My husband Dave had left his hiking boots at home. Snowshoes? I’d been too lazy to drag them out of storage before we left Seattle.
It was skis or bust. We put on our well-loved old Nordic gear, and pointed the tips into a forest of fragrant ponderosa pines.
Intrepid trailblazers
A smile immediately lit up my face.
There is nothing quite like the sensation of gliding through a hushed, snowy forest on skis as you breathe in the crisp air and feel your blood start to flow after weeks of being sequestered indoors.
With euphoria setting in, we followed the trail on a short, uphill climb through pines and old-growth cedar. Then the forest thinned enough that we could see the formidable ridges of Dirtyface Peak looming above Lake Wenatchee.
“I can’t believe we can actually ski!” I exclaimed to Dave as we admired the view. I was grateful now that he had left his hiking boots at home.
We finished the gentle, three-quarter-mile ski to the lake in a haze of well-being. Hidden Lake wore a thin layer of ice that gleamed in the sun. Lunching on the shore, we admired the view of the surrounding, snow-dusted peaks, which clustered around the Lake like protective relatives.
As we skied back down, we encountered several families on their way up. They exclaimed over our adventurousness. “You must be the first skiers out here this year!” one woman said to us. We nodded modestly.
On our first ski of the year, we felt like intrepid trailblazers.
If you go
Mountain Springs Lodge: www.mtsprings.com
Offers snowmobile tours and sleigh rides in winter; trail riding and wagon rides in summer.
Lake Wenatchee State Park: www.lakewenatcheeinfo.com/state-park-main
Features a sledding hill and groomed ski trails in winter, snow permitting. Discover Pass required year round; SnoPark-park pass required when trails have been groomed.
South Restaurant: www.southleavenworth.com
Hidden Lake Trail: www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/hidden-lake
Rebecca Agiewich is a Seattle-based freelance writer and the author of BreakupBabe: A Novel.
