2025 E. Washington Road Trip 05 - Farms and Basalt Country in B&W

The big open country of Eastern Washington invites black and white photography. It is a relatively new photographic terrain for me, although long-term readers may remember that I took a September 2024 trip to eastern Washington. Here are some scenes from my 2025 trip.

Spokane 

Centennial Mill (50mm ƒ/1.8 Canon lens, dark yellow filter, 1/125 ƒ/8)

This immense concrete monolith is the former Centennial Mills on East Trent Avenue, built in 1940. After several mergers, Centennial became part of part of the Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) corporation. The mill is now unused. It dominates the skyline east of downtown. What a view you would have from that tower.

Reardan

Reardan (50mm ƒ/1.8 Canon lens, dark yellow filter)

Here are more of the silos that dot the skyline throughout eastern Washington. Most now are made of concrete or steel. The wood silos from the early 20th century have mostly succumbed to fire. 

Davenport

Farm off Rte. 2, Davenport (Canon 50mm ƒ/1.8 lens, dark yellow filter, 1/125 ƒ/5.6)

Davenport is in open farm country. This farm still had a traditional wood barn with shingle roof. But many farms now have modern steel buildings, which I find are not nearly as picturesque.

 

Grand Coulee

Midway Avenue, Grand Coulee (Canon 50mm ƒ/1.8 lens, 1/250 ƒ/8)

Beer store, Coulee Boulevard, Electric City (Canon 50mm ƒ/1.8 lens)

The towns near Grand Coulee still have a bit of company town appearance. The dam certainly is a monumental engineering achievement. 

Ancient Lakes 

The Ancient Lakes occupy one of the huge coulees created during the great floods. They are near Quincy, Washington, just east of the Columbia River. The trails are easy to walk. As you enter the valley from the west, the basalt cliffs loom over you. The coulee feels lonely and remote, although the surrounding plateau is farmland and vineyard.

Basalt boulder that tumbled from the nearby cliff, Ancient Lakes Trail (Canon 50mm ƒ/1.8 lens, yellow-green filter)

Ancient Lakes Trail, near Quincy, Washington (Canon 50mm ƒ/1,8 lens, med. yellow filter)

Basalt columns near Deep Lake, Dry Falls State Park

Mabton

Grain silos, Rte 22, Mabton (Canon 50mm ƒ/1.8 lens, orange filter, 1/250 ƒ/5.6)

This ends our short tour through eastern Washington in farm and basalt country. I took these pictures on Kodak T400CN film. The film was expired, and Photoland at The Evergreen State College grossly underdeveloped it. Therefore, some of the frames do not have the full tonal range and are grainy. I like C-41 film because the ICE tool in my Nikon Coolscan 5000 scanner can clean up most scratches and chemical blobs. But for 35mm film, I will return to using fresh black and white film (such as Tri-X or Acros).

Technical Note

I took most of these photographs with my 1960s Canon 50mm ƒ/1.8 Leica thread-mount lens. This is a nice example of 1960s Japanese optical and mechanical excellence. The one had intact coating (rare) and no internal haze (even more rare). When I bought it, the seller disclosed some fungus. Don Goldberg (DAG Camera) cleaned it and reported that it was intact. Unfortunately, many (most?) of these 1.8s are ruined. Some lubricant internally outgassed and etched/hazed the inner elements permanently. Such a pity. The Canon ƒ/1.4 thread mount lenses seem to have survived in better condition. 

2024 E. Washington Road Trip 06 - Central Washington

Heading west on US 2 out of Spokane, you enter farming country with gentle rolling hills. This is part of the Great Northern, the northernmost highway crossing the USA. A section go 2 in the Great Lakes region diverts into Ontario and Quebec and re-enters New England. 

Airway Heights

A 1957-1965 Jeep FC-150 “Forward Control” pickup truck and less unusual Chevrolet van, Airway Heights

It is a treat (if you like this type of arcana) to see one of these old Jeep FC-150 trucks. This one is ready for snow duty.  

Somewhat rough strip shopping building, West Sunset Highway (Rte 2), Airway Heights (50 ƒ/1.4 SMC Takumar lens)

Deep Creek

Traditional barn, Rte 2, Deep Creek, Washington (35mm ƒ/3.5 Super-Takumar lens)

Sherman

Barn, Sherman Road, Sherman

I like to look for old fashioned wood barns. Many new ones are steel sheds with less charm than these true wood classics. Sherman is the site of a ghost town, but other than a pretty and well-maintained church, I did not find much to record.

Wilbur

Flower Bar of Wilbur (35mm f/3.5 Super-Takumar lens)

Abandoned farm, Rte US 2, Wilbur (35mm ƒ/3.5 Super-Takumar lens)

It is sad to see these old homesteads left to decay. Are the families happier where they live now?

Govan

Govan schoolhouse (1905 or 1906)

Farmhouse, Govan

Govan is another so-called "ghost town." The town started as railway station on the Central Washington Railway in 1889. It expanded when large local deposits of sand became useful to the railroad. Several murders made the town somewhat interesting, but in 1927, a fire wiped out most of the business district. Today, there is not much to see. 

From Govan, I turned south on Kinder Road and drove lonely rural highways through gorgeous geologic terrain en route to Richland. This is the geological wonderland known as the Channeled Scablands. They were shaped by the greatest flood ever documented, when Glacial Lake Missoula burst through an ice dam and drained rapidly, scouring the land west and south of the former lake. 

Scablands of eastern Washington (From the US Geological Survey) 

I want to return to this fascinating topography and explore in more leisure. This sounds like another road trip!

Store, Marlin, Washington (35mm ƒ/3.5 Super-Takumar lens)

Marlin was tiny. I wonder how it got the name of a big game fish?

Former motel, Warden (135mm ƒ/3.5 SMC Takumar lens, polarizer)

Finally, approaching Richland, I encountered more traffic, farm warehouses, and commercial activity. 

My next goal on this trip: the Manhattan Project National Historical Site at the Hanford Reach. Stand by.