St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-09-03
REALMS OF ROMANCE.
BEAUTIFUL LAKE HIDDEN AWAY I'M
TIE MOUNTAINS or WASHINGTON.
HETMED By GRANITE CLIFFS.

N EIh4hA>D E1 GSAN1EE CLIFFS.
Chelan Lake and Its Picturesque
surroundings, Reaching From
the Region of Perpetual Shows
TO a Land OF Fruit and Flowers
Some Good Fish Stories Told
by Sojourners on Its Shores.
"Pretty water hidden away in the
mountains iSssid to be the meaning,
IN liberal sense, of the Indian word
Chelan, as applied to this lake in Cen
tral Washington, whose head rests amid
the perpetual SHOWS of the Cascade
mountains, but around whose foot
strawberries, peaches and watermelons
Flpeh III the summer air, and grapes
grow with all the luXuriance of Malaga.
1t Is, indeed, situation of striking con-
trasts. The little towns of Chelan and
Lakeside on the lake, and CheIan Falls
on the Columbia, are speckS of civiliZa-
lion dropped upon an illtmitable waste
OF grandeur. From the shining waters
the shore of the lower part of the
lake rises in series of terraces,
and from one point of view no less than
seventeen of these level pateaus can be
counted, each with width enough for a
farm or vineyard. There are three
steamers in service and good hotels
along the lake. 1t is a pastoral scene
tor many miles. Dut the steamer bears
the traveller into wilderness of frown-
ing crags and tower-shaped peaks
patched with bedS of snow. Bright
hued flowers cling to the crevices, and
pine and fir trees make heroic efforts for
existence along the high cliffs. Here
and there the wall is almost vertical,
hundreds aad thousands of feet in
helght, with no sand Or wave beach, and
water of unknown depth. The way is
tortuOus, and every turn reveals to the
wandering eye new scenes and new
glOries. Rounded cones and buttressed
columns carved by mighty agencies dot
The landscape. Rocks are piled upon
rocks.
Eye pyramids OF God around whose bases
The lake foams noteless in its narrow cup,
And the unseen movements of the earth
send up
a murmur which your lulling snow effaces
Like the deer's footsteps"
Springs gush out from snowy fields,
and look like ribbons of silver i'll their
rush of thousands OF feet down to the
quiet lage.
Torrent streams, with headlong shock,
Come bawling down on beds of rock.''
An Enhancing Picture.
Through the cleft granite glimpses of
wooded hills are 10 be had, and far be-
You'd the mountains whose white
peaks pierce the thin air of eternal
winter. The CLASSY surface of the
water reflects with wonderful distinct
ness the towering cliffs and granite
eragS, their images reversed as in
camera, but, strange to say, the wave
Bet in motion by the steamer catches
the reflection fright side up with
rare," and furnishes picture as beau
liful as it is true to life. Trout which
look to be as long as your arm leisurely
move about in the clear waters. Wild
ducks linger here all the year, for the
lake never freezes, and singly and
In pairs they skim along the
surface in front of the steamer. White
goats with shaggy coats and thin, sharp
horns as black as ink are to be seen up
nmong the rocks and sparse vegetation,
and an occasional deer shows itself for
moment, and each huntsman ON the
boat eagerly reaches for his rife. Vari-
DuS kinds of grouse are abundant. At
one landing one man shot three fool
hens and killed the fourth with a stone.
The popularity of these members of the
grouse family is curiosity to see what is
going on, which usually proves fatal,
for they Will sit and allow person to
come near enough TO hit them with
sticks or stones, and sportsmen are not
disposed to use a cartridge unless the
birds roost high.
At many places along the shore the
smooth white rock is covered with rude
pictures of men and animals and odd
characters, supposed to have been put
oil years ago by Indians, who used a
pigment or paint which deties the action
of the elements, for 10 change or fading
away has been noticeable in quarter
of century since the first pioneer pene-
trated these solitudes. The mountain
walls grow higher as we near the head
of the lake, until suddenly around a
bend the forests of the Stehekin valley
intercept further progress by our boat,
which, running up a narrow lagoon,
lands its passengers in the midst of foil.
age as dense and moss as green as along
river of the gulf states. Off in little
clearing among the tall trees is most in
Viting place refreshing andrest, known
as Fields hotel, built last year by q
young man, who. berett of wife and
child, wandered here to find Solace In
the wilderness. He is not alone now
homesteaders are taking up claims all
through the valley. In tramp OF
three miles along a trail to Rainbow
falls we passed a half-doZen or more
claim cabins. These falls have sheer
drop of nearly 200 feet. coming right
down over mountain wall, and with
ont any preliminary gorge or canyon
the waters flow off to the Stehekin anC
the lake. One can approach quite close
to the column Of seething water and
look into the bowl which receives it
but from which the spray rises IL
clouds, to be carried hither and thithel
at the sport of the wind. may be Il
drench the visitor. 1t is well named
Rainbow falls, for whenever the SUI
shines the arch of prismatic colors ha,
all the magnifcence of one of Old Sol.
best efforts.
Horseshoe Basin.
From the head of the lake prospector
and miners set out for the Hotsesho
basin, ealready noted for its rich min
eral discoveries, and in which thu
Stehekin has its source. and whose deen
emerald flow is increasingly refreshed
from SHOWS falling ever in the solitude
OF their Alpine homes. The Horseshoe
basin is set with snowy ranges, risiny
from 10000 10 $4,000 feet above the leye
of the sea. This region has properl
been termed "the Alps of America.
In their foundation walls. however, ar
1,,.nnia,,s 81. In, g.