Seattle :: Vancouver // Devil’s Tower // day 23

So we had a slow start getting out of Seattle (what a surprise) but it worked out perfectly. Between Seattle and Vancouver (and off the highway driving east for about an hour) is a town named Concrete. Jerry had been looking at different places to explore and this town used to have a large cement factory that is now abandoned. We decided to make a pit stop on our way to Vancouver. The specific site we wanted to visit was called Devils Tower and was a facility responsible for separating, crushing, and storing the lime rock close to the quarry. It was the first cement plant in Washington and was built in 1906. People said that in the 60s during plant operation, you would know you were close to the town because concrete dust would cover the trees along the highway.

We followed the directions through the town of Concrete and took a turn on a dirt road up into the hills surrounding the town. The road wound high above a river that you could barely make out through the trees. There were a number of forks in the road and each time we passed one, we became less and less confident that we were going the right way. We turned down a promising road and came across a large fence and a big cement dam. I bet I know where they got all that cement from…

Anyways, that wasn’t right so we went down the other fork and finally reached a parking lot with a few other cars. A few people were sitting by their cars and we asked them about the building. We were in the right spot. Judging from the four or so cars, it’s a pretty popular place. We met a guy with his eight year old son who were going to spend some time in the factory. The kid seemed real excited to climb on the ladders. Apparently the guy and his friends have been coming here ever since they were kids. A few people have died here after drinking and slipping, he told us.

No Trespassing

We walked up the hill past the no trespassing sign and somehow avoided the prosecution that was promised. When we turned the corner we saw the building looming in front of us, two to three stories, built on a hill dropping down into a lake. We were up in the mountains and across the lake you could see some snow capped peaks. It was a really nice view for a cement factory. The father and son explained to us that the only way into the factory, besides scaling the walls, was down the hill on the left side. We made our way down the steep slope, in awe the whole time. It’s beautiful to see such an industrial looking building covered in color and in slight disarray.

We entered through a doorway without a door and climbed up through one of the many giant holes in the floor. It quickly became apparent that there were more people than the father and son. We caught a glimpse of a group of teenagers, and met a few separate older people. It seemed like a place people just came to hang out, which is understandable.

father and son, minding the gap…

We spent the next few hours exploring the different rooms and different floors, trying to figure out what the old equipment would have been used for. A blog we had read about this place said to come here at dusk. Since we planned on leaving Seattle in the morning, we thought we would be here much earlier. Luckily for us, it took us so long to leave town and we got here at the perfect time to catch the sunset. It’s nice how things keep working out for us.

Charlotte relaxing on the second floor

engineeering

I dig these face wheatpastes

 

right before the stairs stopped existing and we had to jump the rest of the way down

The sunset was beautiful and we made our way down to the water before heading out. Feeling really grateful for the dope building, cool water, big mountains and beautiful sky.

factory behind the camera

Before crossing the border to Canada we figured we would fill up, since Canadians don’t subsidize the shit out of their gas prices like we do. This guy (below) approached us while we were pumping gas, “Massachusetts, you don’t see those plates around here very much”. We started talking to him and he expressed his sympathy for us living in a state without recreational marijuana. After sharing a bit of hope in the younger generation to help make the world a better place, we got in the car and began the drive back to the highway. It’s funny, because for all we know, this guy is voting for Trump, but I think that both Bernie and Trump’s popularity is due to people being sick of the way things have been going and wanting something different. I can definitely relate to that. It’s just all the hate and fear and racism that I have a hard time with…

 

 

Idaho :: Portland // Lime, Oregon // day 17

I’ve gone most of my life thinking that Iowa and Idaho were the same places. Apparently, they’re not. Idaho actually has some beautiful national parks, and is in a very different part of the country. Unfortunately for this trip, we didn’t have the time to stop in Idaho. After leaving the Airbnb in Parma, we continued onward to Portland.

A little while after crossing the Idaho-Oregon border, we turned a corner to find a huge cement structure covered in graffiti against the backdrop of some gnarly looking mountains. Some of you may know that I have a soft spot in my heart for graffiti. I also love climbing. Abandoned buildings tend to have a lot of things to climb, and all sorts of graffiti. This spot had all of that with a bonus mountain view.

our first view from the highway

We got off the highway at the next exit and navigated our way back towards the building on side roads. We found a road leading up to the hill. Now, the sign at the beginning of the road did say “construction vehicles only” but come on, define construction…

It makes sense why the town doesn’t want people to go here. Like a blogger who visited wrote “There are many, many ways to get dead here. The most obvious are gravity-assisted: sudden pits, false floors, collapsing beams. But there are also many serrated edges, rusty pointed pipes that reek of lockjaw and gangrene; ragged glass and naked edges of sheet metal.” Honestly though, you just have to be cautious and not jump down any cliffs or onto serrated metal.

We spent the next hour climbing on, over, and around the old structures and trying not to “get dead” but to still have fun. When a sheriff drove by we decided that was our queue to go and ran up the hill back to the car. We were half expecting the sheriff to be waiting for us by our car. Luckily this wasn’t the case, and we drove back to the road to Portland.

We later learned that it was an old cement factory that closed in the 70s after the limestone dried up. We decided that were going to make visiting abandoned buildings a priority for the rest of the trip. Buildings with people just don’t have the same charm… #urbexeverywhere

(–@beenrukavin)