BIOGRAPHIES

As residents of Stehekin, Washington for many years, Mike and Nancy Barnhart have collected a wide selection of color and black and white images of the North Cascades. Most of their work is of the Stehekin area at the head of Lake Chelan. Their love of the mountains and the small remote community is apparent in the quality of the photographs.

Stehekin is an isolated village deep in the heart of the Cascade Range accessible only by passenger ferry, charter float plane or by trail. The 1,500 foot valley floor is dwarfed by peaks in excess of 9,000 feet with snow depths often reaching four to six feet. Because of this separation from mainstream America, the 100 residents enjoy a lifestyle reminiscent of the early pioneers that arrived around the turn of the century.

Mike Barnhart’s connection to the Stehekin valley goes back to 1888 when his great grandparents homesteaded a piece of land on the upper lake and built one of the first hotels. His mother was born in a log cabin near Stehekin. Mike has spent nearly all of his life roaming the mountains and developing a strong bond and sense of belonging to the high country and the Stehekin Valley.

Nancy Barnhart’s roots stem from an active outdoors family in New England. In the early 1970’s she came west to teach cross-country skiing at Stehekin, where she met Mike. Nancy added photography to her long list of creative pursuits soon after moving to the remote Cascades. Her attention to detail compliments her knitting, gardening and photography.