Eastern Washington Expeditions
Naneum Ridge State Forest
Camp Out & Clean Up
Hosted by Eastern Washington Off Road
Report & photos by Clay Graham / CegPics.com
In the evening of Thursday July 21st 2022 we headed up to set up camp in the Naneum Ridge State Forest. I found a great spot in the forest to get the sun to shine on my camper solar panels.
Friday morning was nice and warm. Volunteers started showing up in the afternoon to set up camp. Rick’s spare tire carrier broke off at camp. Better than I-90!
Saturday morning the weather was great. At 9:30 AM we met at the Orchard on Coleman Road to sign up for the Clean Up. We had eight rigs and ten volunteers. We signed in with the DNR and started the clean up there at the Orchard.
We moved up Coleman Road picking up trash. We stopped at another area people trashed. We got the bigger stuff and loaded bags of trash in a DNR truck.
We followed Coleman Road then turned up Rue Road picking up trash. We stopped at one of the new restrooms for a break.
After the break we turned east on East Fork Road and ran it to the end picking up trash. We stopped at a shaded campsite for lunch. Steve’s CJ3B died as he backed in. It started right up when it was time to leave. My YJ didn’t. There was a bad wire running to the starter so we had to push and roll start it the rest of the weekend.
After lunch we backtracked and ran East Fork Road all the way to Coleman Road. At Coleman Road we headed up picking up trash a long the way.<
We past a herd of sheep on the way up Coleman Road. I saw the big dog out with them so I looked back to grab Shelby’s (our Black Lab) leash to make sure she didn’t get to close to the side of the Jeep. As I did, the big dog charged at me like it was going to rip me from the Jeep. Not sure it even saw Shelby. All I could do was hammer the throttle to get out of there. Not a good place to be with a doorless Jeep.
We turned east on Swift Creek Road. At Naneum Ridge Road we regrouped. We ran Naneum Ridge all the way to Wenatchee Mountain and took a break for the view.
After the break we drop down off of the top of Naneum Ridge and regrouped down on Swift Creek Road. At the west end of Swift Creek Road we stopped for a break at Naneum Creek. Shelby was happy to get to go swimming.
After the break at Naneum Creek we headed back to camp by the way of Boulder Road and then down Dawson Road. Shelby was cooled down from her swim and enjoyed the Jeep ride.
Sunday morning the weather was again great. That made it hard to leave.
The DNR took some of the trash with them and told us to leave the rest at The Orchard, so we did on the way out. There were people there looking at us as if we were doing something wrong. They didn’t seem to want to talk to us.
What a great weekend in the mountains!
Thank you to all the volunteers that came out. If you would like to Volunteer on DNR managed Land, there is info on the DNR website under the Volunteer Calendar.
Here are some photos of the EWE Naneum Ridge State Forest Camp Out & Clean Up:
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
SUNDAY
