Hi, I'm Eric.

I’m an avid world traveler, photographer, software developer, and digital storyteller.

I help implement the Content Authenticity Initiative at Adobe.

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108
Lake Chelan State Park
108

Lake Chelan State Park

west of Chelan, Washington
visited 16 July 2022
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Wanna know where the cool kids go to stay cool? In central Washington, it’s Lake Chelan State Park!

When I arrived in mid-afternoon, it was already well into the 90s and the park was bursting at the seams with people enjoying the sandy lake shore and campgrounds.

Two personal watercraft, one lime green and one blue, floating in the clear blue water of a lake near a shoreline shaded by overhanging trees, with docks holding several motorboats in the middle distance and dry, rolling mountains under a deep blue sky beyond.
A busy lakeside beach on a clear summer day, with people wading and floating on inflatable rafts in the clear water, a person on a red-and-black jet ski at left, and colorful inflatable tubes resting on the sandy shore in the foreground. Forested hills rise across the far side of the lake beneath a bright blue sky.
A view across the deep blue water of Lake Chelan under a clear violet-blue sky, with tall evergreen and leafy trees framing the left shore and dry, tan-colored hills and scattered lakeside development along the far shore. A small boat sits on the water and a floating log drifts near the right foreground.

There are a few hiking trails around the perimiter of the campground if you want to get away from the crowds.

A tree-lined shoreline at Lake Chelan under a clear blue sky, with shallow clear water in the foreground, a fallen log lying at the water’s edge, and distant hills across the lake.
A tall pine tree with reddish, flaky bark rises through a green, leafy forest, with a small rocky creek trickling past its base and a dirt trail scattered with leaves and stones in the foreground. Glimpses of blue lake water are visible through the trees on the right, lit by midday summer sun.

The sprinklers were working overtime to keep people and plants cool.

A shaded gravel road winds through a stand of tall conifers and leafy trees at a wooded campground, with sprinklers spraying arcs of water that catch the afternoon sunlight, and green grass, flowering shrubs, and a wooden fence enclosure along the roadside.

Be forewarned: On a hot summer day, this park may stop accepting drive-in traffic. There may or may not be some on-the-road parking nearby; it may or may not be OK to park there and walk into the park. I may or may not have done so myself …

(In fairness, I did have a friendly chat with the park ranger who was trying desperately to stay cool himself while shooing non-camping traffic away from the park.)

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