Domke Lake -- Picture Perfect

What's the formula for a perfect Northwest backpack trip? An overnight to Domke Lake had almost all the ingredients:

-- A low-elevation lakeside camp all to ourselves, with views across the water to forests, 8,000-foot peaks, even glaciers.

-- In summer months, water warm enough to swim in - and almost no bugs.

-- Plenty of fish, including one that practically jumped into the creel.

-- A night so clear and starry we almost regretted falling asleep.

Best of all, Domke's resident horses didn't try to eat our lunch this time.

Domke Lake sits in a saddle above Lake Chelan, about three-quarters of the way up that 50-mile long lake. It isn't wilderness. There's a rustic fishing resort, accessible only by trail and float plane, at Domke's north end. You might hear a boat's motor or a kid's shout, but during our stay such interruptions were infrequent and brief.

It is primarily a summer place, but you can still enjoy it a few weeks more, or until the snow comes. Call the Chelan Ranger District (509-682-2576) if you have doubts about the weather.

The only real difficulty with Domke is getting there. You can't drive anywhere near the place.

The easiest access is by boat: board the Lady of the Lake II at Chelan or Fields Point in the morning for the trip up Lake Chelan, then disembark at the tiny port of Lucerne (a dock and a handful of cabins) around lunchtime.

From Lucerne it's about a 3 1/2-mile hike to Domke.

Most of the folks who get off the Lady at Lucerne are bound for Holden Village, the Lutheran retreat and renewal center 11 miles up Railroad Creek. Be sure you're one of the first off the boat to grab your gear before the Holden people load it onto their luggage truck.

It was during a weeklong stay at Holden with friends in 1997 that I discovered Domke. Geoff Hart and I rode the bus down from the village to Lucerne one morning, hiked up to Domke, ate lunch, then hiked back down to Lucerne to catch the afternoon bus back to Holden.

We shared Domke with three horses who arrived riderless and unsupervised, invited themselves to our picnic and proved as persistent as chipmunks. We learned later they belonged to the resort owner, who holds a Forest Service grazing permit.

On the way back, we started talking about an overnight trip to Domke as a prelude to our next week at Holden. Over the winter the notion took root, gained converts.

When Geoff, his dad Gerry, Larry Johnson, Garry Telford and I shouldered our packs at Lucerne in late July, the temperature was close to 100 degrees. The trail's first 1.6 miles gained 1,100 feet. And the sparse Ponderosa pine forest offered only intermittent shade. We sweated and puffed.

But several turns of the trail opened onto dramatic views: across Lake Chelan to the Sawtooths, up the lake toward Stehekin and North Cascades National Park, across the chasm of lower Railroad Creek.

The best campsites at Domke Lake Camp were occupied when we arrived, a disappointment. But campers told us of an even better spot a half mile down the lake at Stuart Camp, so we pressed on.

They were right. We pitched our tents on a rocky outcrop about 30 feet above the lake. Getting to the water was an easy scramble.

Our view across the lake and into the Glacier Peak Wilderness was memorable. To our right, the Railroad Creek valley and North Star Mountain. To our left, jagged Bearcat Ridge rose above the steep gully of Emerald Park Creek. A trail from Domke follows that creek five miles and more than 4,000 feet up to meadows and 6,700-foot Milham Pass, then drops into the Entiat country.

Not this trip, we agreed. Not ever, some of us vowed.

Stuart Camp is isolated, but its campsites came complete with picnic tables and an outhouse. Someone had even constructed a stone fireplace.

The fishermen in our party waded into the lake and caught a half-dozen plump rainbow trout, a welcome supplement to our freeze-dried provisions. Garry hooked one without even trying, while he was untangling his line. All he had to do was net it.

We saw some lizards and a toad, but no critters, large or small, came after our food. The horses never showed. We ate well, told stories, laughed a lot.

We watched the moon set behind North Star Mountain. We watched shadows climb the forested mountainside across the lake at dusk, then recede down the same slope early next morning.

We left Stuart Camp and Domke with some regret, and talked of returning another time. But we weren't certain we really wanted to. Could it ever be so perfect again?

Eric Pryne's phone message number is 206-464-2231. His e-mail address is: epryne@seattletimes.com

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IF YOU GO.

Getting to the trailhead: The Lady of the Lake II leaves Chelan at 8:30 a.m. and Fields Point at 9:45 a.m. each day through Oct. 31, arriving at Lucerne around 11:45 a.m. From Nov. 2 through April 30 boat service is provided by the Lady Express, which leaves Chelan at 10 a.m. and arrives at Lucerne at noon. Roundtrip fare is $19 per person.

The trail: Starts amid a confusion of dirt roads and trails by the Lucerne dock. Follow signs to Domke Lake Trail 1280. Domke Lake, elevation 2,200 feet, is about 3 1/2 miles by trail from Lucerne, with a 1,100-foot elevation gain. The grade is steep at first, but levels out into a series of ups and downs after about 1 1/2 miles.

Information: Chelan Ranger District, Wenatchee National Forest, 425 W. Woodin Ave., Chelan, WA 98816. Phone (509) 682-2576. This time of year, check weather conditions.