Weekend getaway

Do you ever run across that place where in the back of your head you think, maybe I should never tell anyone about this place? You don’t want the secret to get out and have your little discovery get ruined. Well we found one of those places this past weekend and I have to share.

Shortly after we moved here I was surfing around the internet searching for cabins to rent. Growing up my family always went to a cool little cabin in a Georgia state park and I was searching for something similar in this area. Well I happened to run across a little place called Scottish Lakes Highcamp. This place was much more rustic than where I went as a kid but I was instantly in love with the place just from the website and vowed we would make it up there.

Two years later (last weekend) Natalie and I loaded up after work and headed out to the parking lot below Highcamp. I say we headed to the parking lot because it is a little involved (in a great way) getting to the cabins. First we drove about 2 hours, due to Seattle traffic, up I5 and over on highway 2. We passed over Stevens Pass, with the ski slopes all lit up for night skiing, and after a few more miles we arrived at our parking lot. We parked the car, did a little gear inventory to make sure we had everything and shortly our first shuttle arrived. We hopped in an old 4runner and were driven 4 miles up into the mountains, thru a forest service gate, way back in the woods where we transferred all of our stuff into a sled behind a snowmobile. There was only one other passenger for the 8pm shuttle and he took up a bobsledders position on the back of the sled while Natalie and I rode behind our driver on the snowmobile. We motored another 4-5 miles up a snow covered road way up into the mountains where we were driven past a few cabins and to the front door of our home for the weekend.

We were staying the weekend in the Larkspur cabin. The cabin was a simple A frame design and was perfect! There was no power or water in our cabin. We had a little propane light, a few oil lanterns, a two burner stove, and best of all a little wood stove that heated the whole place. A fire was already burning away and our cabin was all lit up when we arrived. We could not have been happier.

We quickly settled into the silence…. Ahhhh the silence was so nice… I broke out a beer while Natalie poured herself a glass of wine and we just took it all in. What a place.

In the morning we woke up to cloudy skies and after making a little starbucks instant coffee (surprisingly good), and having a few scones I picked up the day before, we decided to go for a little snowshoe. We stopped by the lodge to pickup a map and see who was in. Nobody was around so we picked up a map, decided on our route, and headed out. The trails were fairly straight forward and after altering our plan a little we ended up at picnic point. After a little snack break, it was picnic point after all, we headed back to the cabin.

Saturday night it is a tradition at highcamp that the lodge has a potluck and everyone brings something to eat and drink along. We were not so sure about it but decided why not check it out. What a great time! We got to meet the owners, several of the employees, quite a few guests, and chatted the night away. After the festivities wound down (we all ran out of wine) we headed out into the cold. We had thought ahead however and instead of going back to our cabin we headed to the wood fired (that’s right, no power so wood fired) hot tub. The water was 110 degrees and felt great. Now this is living!!

Sunday we woke up a little earlier so that we could take advantage of the day. We were both a little bummed that it was Sunday already since we had decided we never wanted to leave. We made some coffee that turned out a little soapy due to our water container having some dish soap in it, made bagels with salmon and cream cheese, stoked up the fire, and read our books for a while. A little later on we figured we still had time to sneak in one more snowshoe so we headed out to wedding point. The clouds and fog were still with us which limited visibility but it was an amazing view all the same. We slowly headed back to our little cabin paradise to clean up and get our gear packed up for the ride back to the car.

After a return snowmobile and 4x4 drive down the snowy road we arrived at the car and headed back into town. We will certainly be back. Hopefully we can get back later on this winter and get in some backcountry skiing. If not then the mountain biking in the summer is supposed to be great too. Either way, I can’t wait to see our little cabin again.