Eastern Washington is topographically and climatologically so different than the Puget Lowlands of western Washington. It is so much fun to head east of the Cascades and explore farm roads and byways. In June 2026, a friend and I took a road trip to look at the Channeled Scablands, the geological remains of the immense floods from glacial Lake Missoula. But here, we will look at farms and cultural features.
We started our trip in Hood River, Oregon, and proceeded east along the south bank of the Columbia River. This was the route that my dad took in 1949 when he stopped at the famous Celilo Falls. We drove through the Wallula Gap and emerged in eastern Washington.
Umatilla
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| The cowboy of 6th Street |
Lamar
Lamar is a farming community on the Touchet River. This is wheat-growing country, so there are silos to store the produce.
Palouse Falls State Park
Palouse Falls is in one of the coulees gouged out to the basalt by the great floods. The Palouse Falls State Park Heritage Site is on Palouse Falls Road in LaCrosse. It is a drive but really worthwhile. You need a Washington State Discover Pass for entry. We saw marmots everywhere, quite tame. But that means tourists feed them. Don't do that!
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2025 view SW of the Palouse River (Portra 160 film, Pentax MG, 50mm ƒ/2 Rikenon lens) |
Washtucna
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| Forgotten farmhouse, Rte 261 north of Washtucna |
Washtucna is pretty quiet. I stopped in town during my 2025 road trip. For this 2026 trip, we continued north. I want to return to this area with B&W film, maybe with a 4×5" camera.
Ritzville
Ritzville is in the heart of wheat farm country. I remember when a college roomate and I stayed with his family in Ritzville in the early 1970s. US farmers had just begun to sell wheat to the Soviet Union, and Washington farmers were happy and buying new combines and other farm machinery. These wheat sales were an admission by the Soviet regime that they were unable to feed their own people. The sales started trade in other commodities with the Soviet Union. They were an element of Richard Nixon's program of détente during the height of the cold war.
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| North Division Street |
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| North Division Street |
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| The Top Hat, 210 East 1st Avenue |
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| No more food here, 509 West 1st Avenue |
I am really enjoying eastern Washington. It reminds me of my road trips through west Texas or other farm areas in the Southwest. The big sky dominates the scene, and lonely houses or silos pop up as you round a bend in a road. The people you meet are friendly, but it is a lonely terrain.
I took these photographs on Kodak Gold 200 film with a Rolleiflex 3.5E twin lens reflex camera. It has a 75mm ƒ/3.5 Xenotar lens (5 element version). Glazer's Camera in Seattle developed the film and scanned the negatives with a Noritsu system.
