[AROUND OLYMPIA, OUR CAPITAL CITY.]

Descending, the road leads southeast along the headwaters of the Yakima, and skirts the eastern banks of beautiful Lake Keechelus, where the government is building a huge dam for storing water to irrigate the Kittitas and Yakima valleys. Passing the southern extremity of Lake Kachees, another deep mountain lake, it soon passes Cle Elum, a coal shipping center, enters the broad Kittitas valley and reaches the cultured city of Ellensburg, mistress of the section and home of one of the state normals.

The route is now northeastward over Table Mountain by a 5,200-foot pass, permitting an excellent view of Mounts Rainier and Hood. The banks of the Columbia are followed to Wenatchee, the metropolis of north central Washington and the famous red apple district. Crossing the Columbia it proceeds along its east bank to Orondo, whence, plunging through a winding canyon, it rises rapidly to the great wheat plateau of the Big Bend, which bursts suddenly upon the view. Leaving Waterville, the county seat of Douglas county, it turns abruptly eastward to continue in an almost unbroken line through expansive wheat fields towards Spokane, the metropolitan city of the Inland Empire, over a hundred miles away.

At Coulee City, forty miles from Waterville, it would be worth while to linger long enough to explore the Grand Coulee, said to be the old bed of the Columbia. Full of strange features, it has attracted attention from geographers of international reputation. Wilbur, Davenport, the county seat of Lincoln county, and Reardan, besides many smaller settlements, almost lost in the midst of the great wheat fields, appear before the thin woods shading the approach into Spokane are reached.

INLAND EMPIRE HIGHWAY.

At Ellensburg the Sunset Highway connects with the Inland Empire Road, a southern route to Spokane via Walla Walla. Following the Wenas Valley to North Yakima, it continues southeast through the Union Gap and along the Sunnyside Canal, the largest irrigation ditch in the state, where a splendid view of the valley, with Mount Hood in the distance appears. From Prosser, county seat of Benton county and entrance to the Horse Heaven country, the road drops toward the Columbia river and soon reaches Kennewick, the home of early strawberries, and Pasco, county seat of Franklin county.

[LOWER SPOKANE FALLS, AND BRIDGE WITH SECOND LARGEST CONCRETE ARCH IN THE WORLD.]
Photo by Frank Palmer.