Wenatchee, Apple Capital of the World

That’s right — it’s the Apple Capital of the World. It says so in big letters everywhere you look in Wenatchee. As we approached, and while we were there, and as we left, and then later as we came back through on the way home, we saw orchards, fruit stands, and all sorts of evidence of a healthy apple industry.

We did not, however, sample the apples. We did other stuff. The first of which was to park in this campsite the size of Lichtenstein, located at Wenatchee Confluence State Park.

Spacious campsites along the outside of the loops. These pull-through sites have extra-long pads that would accommodate some mightily large rigs. We were able to roll around the site until Toto was completely level — no levelers and no unhooking required.

We didn’t want to unhook because (a) we were only staying two days and felt we didn’t need to stray far from the site, (b) we had bicycles we planned to use anyway, and (c) unhooking and re-hooking causes unsightly perspiration (see future post on an upcoming power-tongue-hitch upgrade).

Our campsite had some welcome afternoon shade. Some sites around the campground are more shaded (more trees)… these pull-throughs on the edge, not so much. But most have a nearby tree where you can park a chair and contemplate.

We stayed two nights here. Originally we had planned to stay for one night only, but then someone told us about the Apple Capital Recreation Loop Trail, which we will presently discuss at length. From our campsite, here is how you get to it:

Our campsite was right next to a path ‘trailhead.’ This multipurpose path headed off to a swimming beach, a launch ramp, some day use areas and, ultimately, to a connection with the mighty Apple Capital Recreation Loop Trail.

This trail, which several locals called The Loop, is about 11 miles long, and forms (wait for it) a loop around part of the Columbia River. Half the trail is on the west shore, half on the east; there’s a pedestrian bridge (or at least a pedestrian path along a bigger bridge) at both the north and south ends.

If you had recently acquired bicycles and someone told you “flat trail, really nice, fun, scenic,” etc., you would change your booking at the state park to two nights, so you could try this trail. At least that’s what you would do if you were us.

As you cruise (in our case, poke) along the campground trail, you can, if you want, look across the river. That’s East Wenatchee over there.

The Columbia River. East Wenatchee… beckons.

The path wound through the park and, eventually, we found the Loop Trail and headed southbound (Confluence Park is near the north end of the Loop).

Once on the westside Loop trail, one encounters a string of shoreline parks. Somebody put a lot of thought and money into these. There’s something for everyone, and it all looks lovingly maintained. See that lightpost on the left side? The entire west side of the Loop is similarly lighted, so you may cruise, or poke, even when it’s dark outside, and you might be fine. But don’t go alone, okay? You could get hit by a falling apple and maybe no one will be there to help you. At night, I mean.

There is a native American legend about a coyote and his adventures helping salmon, yearning to spawn, upriver past a beaver dam. There’s no information on how the beavers felt about all this, but local sculptors know a healthy commission when they see one. There’s lots of art like this along the Loop. Pretty cool.

Did I mention apples? The place is crawling with them, and with all sorts of apple-focused businesses. You can’t even ride The Loop without being assaulted by apple paraphernalia, apple industry, apple lore.

More art along The Loop. Hey, we found something moving more slowly than us!

I dunno, you see one mighty river, you’ve seen ’em all, right?

At the south end of The Loop there’s a 100+-year-old bridge, originally built to carry water to the then non-existent East Wenatchee. The idea was to make the area cultivable, by making water available. The bridge carried a pair of 12-inch pipes across (still does), and the scheme worked: orchards, houses, Walmarts, the whole thing — it all cropped up and eventually someone (Captain Obvious?) called it East Wenatchee. In the 90s, or maybe the 80s, the bridge was refurbished and a pedestrian walkway was added. So now the bridge transports both water and Loop enthusiasts across the Columbia. What doesn’t this bridge transport? Sooz. She’s not really into bridges. Yet.

Yeah, it’s just a big old bridge.

And then we rode back. At some point our sitting apparati got a little tender and we realized maybe an 8 mile ride would have been just the ticket. Rookie mistake! A fun day, though. We relaxed with a glass of real wine (NOT apple wine) and (of course) a Repose Fire Log fire.

Relaxing after a long day of sitting on bicycles.

You will want to know every detail of our fire-enjoying, including a visit from local wildlife. I will provide, soon.