2024 E. Washington Road Trip 05 - Spokane

I continued my September 2024 road trip through eastern Washington with a stopover in Spokane.

Spokane is the big city of eastern Washington. It has a beautiful setting on the Spokane River, with waterfalls and a riverfront park. It is a major rail and road junction serving eastern Washington and eastern Idaho. Decades ago, I drove past Spokane several times on Interstate-90 but do not recall pulling off and visiting the downtown. 

For my 2024 trip, an old college friend generously offered me a place to stay in his house. He lives in a turn of the century house near Gonzaga University. But where to eat breakfast? Why, at the Hillside Inn Cafe. 

Morning at the Hillside Inn Cafe (digital file)

The cafe is a cheerful place with friendly staff and patrons, and good eggs and bacon. The checked tablecloths reminded me of Durgin Park Restaurant in Boston, now sadly gone forever. 

My friend's house is only a block from the Spokane River Centennial Trail, which follows the river for over 30 miles. I did not have a bicycle, so I walked downtown along the river. 

Iron Bridge over the Spokane River

Nice VW bus, Gonzaga University

Upper Falls of the Spokane River, downtown Spokane

Monroe Street Bridge over the Spokane River (Samsung digital file)

The Falls downtown are spectacular, especially on a cheerful sunny day. I did not know that Spokane had such a scenic geologic setting. The Monroe Street concrete arch bridge is an impressive edifice.

Construction of Monroe Street bridge, August 3, 1911 (from the Library of Congress) (click to enlarge)

Rear of Monroe Street commercial buildings

Monroe Street commercial buildings

A few old-time commercial buildings remain. But the city looks prosperous and clean. I could not find grunge. 

Health lunch

By midday, I was hungry. Where to eat healthy food? Why, at the Method Juice Cafe. Mmmm, veggies and nuts. And a bottle of green health juice, that thick liquid made from squashed kale and anything else they can find to toss into the blender. By the time I was done, I felt like a goat, and walked back along the river past Gonzaga University (with a stopover at a coffee shop).

Next update: heading west into central Washington.

2024 E. Washington Road Trip 04 - Republic, Jared, and Cusick

Continuing my trip through eastern Washington, I rolled into the city of Republic, the county seat of Ferry County. The city has an early 1900s appearance, appropriate considerings its heritage of mining and logging. I checked into the Northern Inn, which was clean, reasonable, and comfortable. The motorcycle guys admired my 42-year-old car. Each of their big bikes produces more horsepower than my little 1800 cc engine. 

Waiting for riders, Rte 20 near Republic

How did that tractor get up there? Feed Store, Clarke Avenue, Republic.

Prospector Inn, Clark Avenue, Republic (135mm ƒ/3.5 SMC Takumar lens)

This a nice little town. Grouse hunting is a popular tourist activity in the area. But after a sound sleep, it was time to move on. Time for a coffee!

Welcome Coffee House & Cafe, Republic

Quick repair at WR Tires (Samsung digital file)

Great choice, good coffee and pastries. I filled up (both the car and me), had a flat repaired, and continued east on the Sherman Pass Scenic Highway. What beautiful terrain, with minimal traffic and excellent roads. 

My car felt like it was losing power. Was something wrong? Oh, I had ascended to Sherman Pass at 5575 ft. With no turbocharger, this little car feels the altitude. But descending east down to the Columbia River was an easy cruise. I left the gearshift in 4th and let the engine do the braking. 

Kettle Falls Bridge over the Columbia River near Barney's Junction

I crossed the Columbia and stopped in Kettle Falls for a snack and to take some black and white photos (I will show them later). 

Barn, Rte 20, Jared, Washington

Rte 20, Cusick, Washington

Cheerful paint, Cusick

Detroit iron, Cusick

Empty house, Cusick

Cusick is a small town on the Pend Oreille River. It occupies the former site of a main village of the Pend d'Oreilles tribe. Today, it looks like a rather sad town with some economic issues. From here, it was a short run south on Rte 211 and US 2 into Spokane.  

Fixer-upper house, Rte 211, Deer Valley, Washington

After a fun few days in northern Washington, I visited a friend in the big city of Spokane. To be continued....

Most of these photographs are from Kodak Portra 160 film. I used my mid-1970s Pentax Spotmatic F camera, all handheld.

2024 E. Washington Road Trip 03 - Chesaw, Brodie, and Wauconda

This is Part 3 of my September 2024 Eastern Washington Road Trip. 

Reaching Chesaw Road south of Molson, I turned east and drove through beautiful mountainous terrain.  Scattered about on the farmlands and hillsides, I saw an occasional abandoned house or barn. Some were a distance from the road, and I could see silhouettes against the sky. 

House, Chesaw Road

These are handsome old houses - how many families lived here over the years? Why did they leave? Where did they go? Are they happier now somewhere else? Did they move to a city?

Unoccupied house, Chesaw

Chesaw is an unincorporated community in Okanogan County. It thrived during a brief gold rush from 1896 to 1900.

Beaver Lake from Chesaw Road, southeast of Chesaw

Continuing south and east from Chesaw, I drove through the beautiful Okanogan National Forest. This is quiet country with infrequent traffic (and only intermittent cell phone coverage).

 

Brodie house

Log cabin, Brodie

Bodie fixer-upper house

Bodie was another gold-mining town that thrived for about 20 years starting in 1888. The mines played out, and the town finally closed completely in 1934. I arrived late afternoon and wish I had more time to explore.

Serious driveway, Toroda Creek Road, Wauconda (135mm ƒ/3.5 SMC Takumar lens)

Wauconda Cafe & Store, 2423 State Rte 20 - closed for good?

Wauconda Cafe & Store

A pay phone! Alas, kaput.

I thought I'd buy a snack, but the Wauconda Store & Cafe appears to be closed permanently. The buildings looked recently renovated with fresh paint. In this lonely terrain, these wayside stores are far apart. To be cautious, I always made sure I had plenty of gasoline in the car because stations can be far apart. From Wauconda, I headed east on State Route 20 towards Republic. To be continued....

I took these photographs on Kodak Portra 160 film with a Pentax Spotmatic F camera and various lenses. 

2024 E. Washington Road Trip 02 - Molson

 Molson was another mining town that went through a rapid boom and bust.  It is at 3700 ft elevation about 2 miles south of the Canadian border. The town was founded in 1900 and soon had 300 residents. At its peak, it featured a saloon, general store, dance hall, hotel, and blacksmith shop - the normal bits and pieces of a remote mining town. Mines extracted copper, antimony, lead, silver, and gold. Mining in the area ended around 1938, and today, Molson is an agricultural area. 

Empty farmhouse, Molson Road south of Molson (50mm ƒ/1.4 SMC Takumar lens)

Molson's historic buildings are now clustered together in the Old Molson Ghost Town Museum. A local man, Harry Sherling, formed the museum in 1960 in remembrance of the rich pioneering history of the town.

Walker & Odell office, 1906

1896 Poland China & Molson Gold Mines assay office

Molson Post Office or bank? (35mm Super-Takumar lens, 1 sec exposure)

I usually prefer to visit historic structures in their original locations, but in this case, they were preserved at the museum. The air is so dry here, the wood seems to last for decades. This is a dramatic contrast to where I lived before in Mississippi, where rain and humidity quickly destroyed any building whose roof had failed. 

After walking around for a couple of hours (and changing a flat tire), I headed south on Molson Road and caught up to Chesaw Road again. I love this dry high altitude terrain with the pure brilliant light.

Lonely barn, Molson Road

I used KR1.5 skylight or polarizing filters for these frames. But I over-polarized, a mistake I often make. Look through the viewfinder at maximum polarization and then back off about 50%. This is especially valid in dry high altitude air like this. 

I took these photographs on Kodak Portra 160 film with my Pentax Spotmatic F camera. 

2024 E. Washington Road Trip 01 - Tonakset, Nighthawk, and Oroville

Dear Readers, Happy and Prosperous New Year to you all!  

Thank you for reading my blog. I started this blog in 2010, so this is the 16th year of trying to find and photograph the detritus, decay, and abandoned remnants of our modern world. We will start the new year with a series on eastern Washington. Later, we will see Greece, Turkey, New York City, Olympia, and more. Comments and suggestions are always welcome.

Packing enough stuff? (No, never!)

Background

By late summer (2024), my wife and I had spent months remodeling, cleaning out junk, sorting paperwork, and setting up life in a new home in the Pacific Northwest. I was restless and wiggly. She wanted me out of the house. And I had not driven through eastern Washington in 49 years. My 1981 car needed some serious highway miles and exercise. Time for a ROAD TRIP!

With a week-long itinerary and a generous offer to stay with an old college friend in Spokane, it was time to pack and set off. Traveling by car, I could take a tripod and both medium format (Hasselblad plus 4 lenses) and 35mm (Pentax Spotmatic F with 5 lenses). And I stashed spare water, tools, motor oil, munchies, a battery jump device, and car parts. Pack heavy? Who cares with a car. 

For the next few articles, I will show some of the 35mm Kodak Portra 160 frames in the order of my trip. They progress through small towns, so look at a map of Washington if you are interested in the exact locations. I learned about some ghost towns from web pages that list such oddities and places to see. And I stopped when I saw a lonely farm or other interesting urban decay feature. Click any picture to see it expanded to 1600 pixels wide. 

Tonasket

Aussie Antiques, Tonakset

Wow, old time Jerry Cans

Good stuff! I love these home-grown antique/junk stores full of treasures. I don't need any in my life, but it is great that someone recycles these remnants of an older age.

Tonakset is a quiet town north of Omak, where I spent the night. Tonasket had a very nice coffee shop right across the street from the Aussie Antiques. 

Trailer with a view, Loomis-Oroville Highway (50mm ƒ/1.4 SMC Takumar lens)

Heading west on the Loomis-Oroville Road toward Loomis, and you get into rolling hills with some agriculture mixed with cattle pasture. It was dry in late summer, the grasslands brown.  

Nighthawk

Former Nighthawk general store (?)

Nighthawk is a ghost town, but there are homes and residents, so it is not truly deserted. At the turn of the 20th century, Nighthawk was a booming mining town as well as a supply center for other mines in the area. The Great Northern Railroad came through this valley. Companies extracted copper, gold, lead, silver, zinc, and antimony from the surrounding area, but most mining ended in the 1950s. There is not much to see here any more, but the scenery is sublime.

Similkameen River northeast of Nighthawk (35mm ƒ/3.5 Super-Takumar lens)

Oroville

Similkameen River west of Oroville

The Girder Bridge (built 2010) carries the Similkameen Trail, a rail-to-trail conversion. The Great Northern Railroad once carried ore and minerals along this line into Oroville and further. 

Chevrolet truck looking good on Central Avenue, Oroville

Skeleton Man on patrol duty on Chesaw Road, Oroville

From Oroville, I continued east on Chesaw Road towards the ghost town of Molson. To be continued...

These photographs are from Kodak Portra 160 film exposed with my Pentax Spotmatic F camera with various lenses, but mostly the 50mm ƒ/1.4 and the 35mm ƒ/3.5. I scanned the film with a Nikon Coolscan 5000 film scanner.