R-pod Owners Forum Homepage

This site is free to use.
Donations benefit a non-profit Girls Softball organization

Forum Home Forum Home > R-pod Discussion Forums > Camping Adventures
  New Posts New Posts RSS Feed: Pleasant Valley Washington
  FAQ FAQ  Forum Search   Calendar   Register Register  Login Login

Topic ClosedPleasant Valley Washington

 Post Reply Post Reply
Author
Message
tcj View Drop Down
Senior Member
Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: 05 Jul 2018
Location: Central WA
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 140
Direct Link To This Post Topic: Pleasant Valley Washington
    Posted: 21 Sep 2018 at 9:54am

A couple weeks ago we stayed at the Pleasant Valley camp ground On the Naches Ranger District In Central Washington.  The campground is A USFS Fee Site located about 12 miles east of the summit of Chinook pass.  The fee is $16.00 per night.  We got 50% off that with our Lifetime Federal Recreation Lands Senior Pass.  Facilities are Pit toilets and a well with a hand pump for water.

I worked the first six years of my Forest Service career on the Naches District.  We made day trips taking hikes along the river and to a few places I remember hiking as a Kid over 50 years ago.

The American River in front of our campsite.


We were the only campers in this loop.


I remember these giant ant hills in the area.


Nurse Stump.


Tipsoo lake at the summit of Chinook Pass.


Log jam down river from our camp.


Sheep lake. A two mile hike from Chinook pass summit.


Naches Peak from the Sheep lake trail.


Looking east down the Chinook Pass Highway and the American River drainage from the Sheep lake trail.


Spruce trees reflected in the American River look like rock trees.




2018 R-pod 180 Hood River Edition
Back to Top
furpod View Drop Down
Moderator Group - pHp
Moderator Group - pHp
Avatar

Joined: 25 Jul 2011
Location: Central KY
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 6128
Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Sep 2018 at 10:15am
Very nice.. Thanks for sharing.
Back to Top
texman View Drop Down
Senior Member
Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: 24 Jul 2014
Location: TeXas
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 446
Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Sep 2018 at 10:45am
Thanks for sharing some very nice pics!
TexMan 2015 182g
2018 Sequoia
TexManMods
Back to Top
disputin View Drop Down
Newbie
Newbie
Avatar

Joined: 03 Jan 2018
Location: WA
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 27
Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Sep 2018 at 1:17pm
My wife and I stayed in this campground about 10 years ago in August and had the whole campsite to ourselves too.

Mainly because of the ants, they were everywhere.  We were tent camping and spent most of the time in the tent or on our lawn chairs in the American River.  Which was interesting because occasionally you would be bumped by a migrating salmon.

Even so, I have very fond memories of the place.  We renamed it Pleas"ant" Valley Campground.

So how were the ants in the campground?

Sean
Sean & Christine Whitney
2002 F150
2016 179HRE
Back to Top
tcj View Drop Down
Senior Member
Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: 05 Jul 2018
Location: Central WA
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 140
Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Sep 2018 at 2:03pm
Originally posted by disputin

My wife and I stayed in this campground about 10 years ago in August and had the whole campsite to ourselves too.

Mainly because of the ants, they were everywhere.  We were tent camping and spent most of the time in the tent or on our lawn chairs in the American River.  Which was interesting because occasionally you would be bumped by a migrating salmon.

Even so, I have very fond memories of the place.  We renamed it Pleas"ant" Valley Campground.

So how were the ants in the campground?

Sean


Very few ants in the campground.  We took a mile loop hike up river from the campground and saw quite a few of those large ant hills.  From each one there was an ant trail with hundreds of ants coming and going from the hill.  Those ants returning each were carrying a small twig or fir needle to add to the hill.

When we camped there 50-60 years ago my brothers and I had great fun kicking the tops off the ant hills.  After a few hours they would be all built back up.

We talked to two fish biologists that were walking up the river.  Thew were looking for "Reds".  nests in the gravel where the salmon had laid their eggs.  They said they had seen quite a few.  We also talked to a Local (Naches) couple that were hiking up Masatchee creek.  About 5 miles above the campground.  He said the salmon were having a hard time making their way through that large log jam below our camp.

I think these are sockeye salmon.  There are also Spring Chinook earlier in the year.
2018 R-pod 180 Hood River Edition
Back to Top
GlueGuy View Drop Down
Senior Member
Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: 15 May 2017
Location: N. California
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 2624
Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Sep 2018 at 2:58pm
All this talk about ants reminds me of a backpack trip we made many years ago in the upper reaches of Yosemite. We set camp at a place near a creek, only to discover that there were ants EVERYWHERE. We ended up making and eating our breakfast, lunch, and dinner on a giant boulder in the middle of the creek. We called it "ant camp".

bp
2017 R-Pod 179 Hood River
2015 Ford F150 SuperCrew 4WD 3.5L Ecoboost
Back to Top
OldNeumanntapr View Drop Down
Senior Member
Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: 23 May 2018
Location: CA
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 204
Direct Link To This Post Posted: 21 Sep 2018 at 6:43pm
Cool pics. The pit toilets and the ants would be a deal breaker for my wife however. Looks like good solitude.
Back to Top
fwunder View Drop Down
Senior Member
Senior Member
Avatar

Joined: 04 Oct 2013
Location: New Jersey
Online Status: Offline
Posts: 1676
Direct Link To This Post Posted: 28 Sep 2018 at 4:46pm
Beautiful area and pics! Sheep lake reminds me of lakes we saw around Mt. Rainier. Thanks!

fred
2014 RPod 178 => MyMods and Buying Habits
2008 4Runner Limited 4.0-liter V6
Yes, those are wild ponies dining on grass while dumping tanks!
Back to Top
 Post Reply Post Reply

Forum Jump Forum Permissions View Drop Down

Bulletin Board Software by Web Wiz Forums® version 9.64
Copyright ©2001-2009 Web Wiz