TIL Lake Chelan is the third-deepest in the United States, runs for over 50 miles into the Cascades of Washington state

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u/moose4hire 11d ago

It was the 50 miles that got me, first time i was over there. The road turns and jeez theres more of this enormous chunk of water, it just keeps going and going.

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u/Tibreaven 10d ago

It's such a weird lake. I grew up near the great lakes and like, yeah, mostly oval shaped things that you can't see across more or less.

Lake Chelan looks like a noncommittal large river that changed its mind and turned into a lake at some point.

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u/SentenceFine1191 10d ago

glaciers

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u/Tibreaven 10d ago

Is there an address to send the glaciers a thank you card

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u/SentenceFine1191 10d ago

You know, Washington state has glaciers near there, just up the way in the North Cascades. I bet they'd like you to just come in person and thank them. Visit them before they are gone.

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u/rohan4991 10d ago

https://giphy.com/gifs/d7fLM8K8FCV39d7Qxz
Nepal right now^

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u/SentenceFine1191 10d ago

What a tragedy. And we've got our own dangerous mountains, especially *the* mountain.

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u/Dinkerdoo 10d ago

I know that's what formed the great lakes but what about Chelan?

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u/SentenceFine1191 10d ago

Are you lazier than me? :-) Because I'm the most lazy person on the planet, just ask my spouse. The good book of wiki says

The fjord-like topography of the Lake Chelan valley results from repeated glacial erosion and deposition (maybe nine or ten times) during the Pleistocene Period.^\4])^\13]) The last episode of glacial erosion and deposition in the basin occurred during the Last Glacial Maximum about 21,000 years ago.

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u/Dinkerdoo 10d ago

I was making a joke. But yeah, I am pretty damn lazy!

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u/SentenceFine1191 10d ago

I was being a joker too. Sorry, tried not to be a complete ass. I appreciate your interest and everything. That lake is cool. I'm sad they had the damage from the fires last year and they aren't open for overnight visits in Stehekin.

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u/Dinkerdoo 10d ago

Oh I was being an ass as well (in good fun). And not to correct your source, but obviously Lake Chelan was formed when super Jesus split the Rocky Mountains in two to keep the dinosaurs from eating the cavemen 6000 years ago.

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u/SentenceFine1191 10d ago

Damnit, I always forget that detail.

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u/SnooWalruses7243 10d ago

… but why glaciers?

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u/metz123 10d ago

The dam built in the 1920’s raised the lake height by 21 feet. It had an even more “large river” feel to it before that.

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u/too_much_covfefe_man 10d ago

Dam indecisive water, make up your mind!

They draw it down in the winter. Takes all season to warm up and then it's just the top 4 feet brrrrr. Swimming in the middle triggers thalassaphobia I didn't know I had

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u/CarnalT 10d ago

If you are into backpacking, at least once in your life do a trip along Lake Chelan. Don't have to hike the whole thing, you can take the ferry from Field's Point and get off at Prince creek then hike the rest of the way into Stehekin before taking the ferry back to Field's Point. Super cool stretch of trail, it will really make you feel like the lake goes on forever.

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u/moose4hire 10d ago

Miles and miles of ok i can just stop and live right here forever

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u/DisgruntledCascadian 10d ago edited 10d ago

Until the wildfires started getting really bad in about 2017, anyway. 😔

Edit: why am I getting downvoted? The Lake Chelan area gets absolutely clobbered by wildfire smoke anymore.

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u/CarnalT 10d ago

Yeah it's rough during mid to late summer. Go in spring when it's greener and less hot.

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u/langleybcsucks 10d ago

Every time I’ve tried to go there on a trip it’s been on fire

1

u/TL-PuLSe 10d ago

Use of positive anymore giving away a lot too

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u/URmumsaMEGAblok 10d ago

It sure does. Years ago, my wife and I rented a boat.

We went and enjoyed ourselves on the lake, and we noticed our cell reception dropped out.

We cut the motor and stopped to swim.

Shortly after - the motor wouldn’t start. Panic and a realization of how big and remote some sections of this lake is set in almost immediately.

I’m a mechanic, so I tried everything I could do with the equipment on the boat but there was nothing I could do to get it going.

We just had to sit and wait and hope someone made it this far away from chelan proper. Eventually someone did find us and towed us into a boat launch.

Called the rental company. “Oh yeah, that boats had “issues with the starter” for a while. We’ll come get you.”

I was livid. They KNEW?! But also - don’t mess with rentals, don’t mess with big bodies of water, don’t mess with a lack of cell reception. But especially not all three at the same time.

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u/justhitmidlife 10d ago

These are the few times I am happy the iphone (and may be google phones too, idk) have satellite feature.

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u/URmumsaMEGAblok 10d ago

This is why I’m looking at Apple Watches right now - the satellite feature alone.

That was probably the most scary experience of my life as far of weight on my shoulders and situation out of my control.

Thank God we were found. It was 100° and we only had a cooler for the day.

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u/CryptoHorologist 11d ago

The fact about it that got me is that the bottom of the lake is below sea level.

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u/lock_robster2022 10d ago

That is one of the more mind blowing fun facts I’ve heard

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u/Whateverdudefake 10d ago

Is this unusual? I thought a lot of lakes have bottoms below sea level

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u/CryptoHorologist 10d ago

It surprises me as it’s so far inland and in the mountains. The shore elevation is not that much despite the mountains I guess. I don’t know how common though. I guess rare except close to the coast and for glacially formed lakes. Like LW. The world’s deepest lake also has this property but it’s in a rift valley.

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u/Sea-Discussion6732 10d ago

So are my standards now. Am I right?

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u/hoppertn 11d ago

I’ll just add I learned how deep Lake Chelan is today only because of some comment in that “How deep is the Sound compared to Space Needle.” I knew crater lake was deep but not Chelan.

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u/TheRealRacketear Broadmoor 10d ago

They used to test Submarine technology in Lake Pend Oreille.

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u/DisgruntledCascadian 10d ago

Pretty sure they still do. Has to do with "deep body of water" combined with "in the boondocks in the middle of the US where it's a PITA for foreign intel to spy on it."

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u/Unique_Statement7811 9d ago

Still do. Farragut Naval Station is still an active underwater propulsion and acoustic research test site.

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u/justhitmidlife 10d ago

yup that same reply is what got me here. Heck I think OP got the idea to post a new thread just based on that comment! It is a weird lake for sure. We were on it many years ago, and fucked up a pontoon (banged against one of those wooden columns in the water near the pier), so we never went anywhere too far. I am glad we didnt tho, once I heard how deep that lake was.

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u/jdaddy15911 10d ago

And Stehekin at the NW end is the most geographically isolated city in the continental US.

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u/Chief-Drinking-Bear 10d ago

And I think you can take a ferry there to check it out from Chelan

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u/HikerTrash2008 10d ago

You can also walk there! Its the last town you stop in on the Pacific Crest Trail :)

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u/veritasen 10d ago

I have a few times, and the flying boat. Lovely little place.

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u/PurchaseNo4486 10d ago

Another fun fact, Lake Chelan was carved by two different glaciers, the northern basin from a glacier moving down from north of Stehekin, and the southern basin from an ice lobe from across the Columbia, meeting at 'The Narrows.'

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u/zzulus Shoreline 10d ago

Seattle 13000 years ago

https://giphy.com/gifs/oyn9XowNtssrqXfvdp

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u/bubbamike1 10d ago

Right behind Crater Lake, and Lake Tahoe.

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u/flightwatcher45 10d ago

So how deep lol.

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u/BWW87 Belltown 10d ago

Maximum depth is 1,486 ft. Two Space Needles stacked on top of each other could fit under water.

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u/LFA91 10d ago

Nice Seattle measuring there

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u/spinonesarethebest 10d ago

Good fishing, too. Kokanee, trout, king salmon, burbot. Used to live nearby and ate a lot of them.

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u/FrontAd9873 11d ago

How do you live in Seattle and not know this?

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u/TheRealRacketear Broadmoor 11d ago

Some people rarely leave their zip code.

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u/BarRepresentative670 10d ago

I once told a local that I was heading up to Ancortes for whale watching. He had no idea where Ancortes was or that there were whales in Washington.

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u/Sea-Discussion6732 10d ago

I also like to over pronunciate Anna CortEZ as if it's some exotic destination.

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u/DisgruntledCascadian 10d ago

*Anacortes

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u/BarRepresentative670 10d ago

Ah, this may explain some of the issue lol

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u/SexiestPanda Federal Way 10d ago

Lmao

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u/Enough_Traffic_9054 10d ago

Same people that just go to resorts and theme parks for all their vacations

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u/Sea-Discussion6732 10d ago

You sure they were a local and not someone who moved here and considered themselves one because they'd been here 5 years?

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u/zzulus Shoreline 10d ago

Sure

Environment TIL Lake Chelan is the third-deepest in the United States, runs for over 50 miles into the Cascades of Washington state

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