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.
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| 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?
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| Unoccupied house, Chesaw |
Chesaw is an unincorporated community in Okanogan County. It thrived during a brief gold rush from 1896 to 1900.
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| 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).
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| Brodie house |
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| Log cabin, Brodie |
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| 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.
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| Serious driveway, Toroda Creek Road, Wauconda (135mm ƒ/3.5 SMC Takumar lens) |
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| Wauconda Cafe & Store, 2423 State Rte 20 - closed for good? |
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| Wauconda Cafe & Store |
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| 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.
