Getting Here From There

We Can't Get Here From There...

--- at least not by driving - which is one of the reasons Holden is a place apart. To get here, you either walk through the mountains and over passes, or take a boat. If you take the passenger ferry up Lake Chelan, and get off at Lucerne, the Village will meet you with transportation. Or you can walk from Lucerne, at least most years; just not this year with so much construction due to the mine remediation effort.

Uplake Passenger Ferry Lady of the Lake II

Fields Point, Lake Chelan  2013.04.21

 The lake at Chelan is at about 1,100 feet above sea level - at least in the summer. It is about twenty feet lower in winter, drained such that the spring runoff will not overflow the basin. The lake is about 1,400 feet deep, so it is deeper than sea level. The road from Lucerne to Holden is about ten miles long (it used to be twelve or so; the road is the same length, but the measurement got better). The road gains about one thousand feet in first two miles, up nine switchbacks. Another thousand feet is added over the next eight miles, so the village is at about 3,200 feet elevation.
Once here, the village is pretty much a pedestrian environment - vehicles are needed for some aspects of work, but for the most part folks walk wherever they need to or want to go.