Lester, WA: the Ghost Town’s Latest
Now just a glimpse of its former self, the ghost town of Lester, Washington was once a thriving community located in a picturesque spot in the Cascade Mountains near Stampede Pass.
Lester, Washington was born and prospered at the hand of the Northern Pacific Railroad which began traveling over Stampede Pass in the 1880’s-1890’s. The town was named after the first telegrapher at the station. In the 1950’s when railroad activity began to decline, Lester’s population also embarked on a downward spiral. Finally, in the 1980’s, all railroad activity across Stampede Pass ceased. That along with legislation by the City of Tacoma (the town was located in Tacoma’s watershed) forced the eventual death of Lester. The road was closed, the residents were asked to leave, and Lester, WA became a ghost town

Gertrude Murphy, last living resident of Lester, WA
There was one woman, however, who refused to sell her land to the watershed. Gertrude Murphy, a former school teacher of Lester, lived out the hundred year lease on her house, unwilling to leave her home. Gertrude fought in vain to save some of Lester’s buildings as historical relics and, when her own house burned down, relocated to a cabin outside the center of Lester, spending summers there until her health prevented it. She died on October 2, 2002 at the age of 99. She was the last living resident of Lester, and was celebrated as such, receiving former students, reporters, and welcoming visitors who came to see Lester. Some feel that the last remaining bit of Lester died with Gertrude, but the children and grandchildren of its late residents still remember the stories of a school, library, train depot, tavern, ranger station, and houses that were at one time occupied by over 1,000 residents! Indeed, many people remember their grandfathers working for the railroad to Lester, their grandmothers living in cabins among the trees, their parents attending dances on Saturday nights, and the town lives on on their memories.
In recent years, rails through Lester are being used again by the Burlington Northern. Tacoma watershed authorities have reluctantly agreed to allow foot traffic into Lester, and the children and grandchildren of former residents can hike into this memory-filled ghost town to remember the people whose lives began and ended there. I, too, was interested in this mysterious little spot in the forest along the Upper Green River. My first and second attempts to visit it were ill-timed and wholly unsuccessful, but I persevered. Lester, WA was my ghost town obsession.
In August of 2009, I was at a turning point in my existence, about to make a decision that would change the trajectory of my life forever, and I needed time alone to think, to just be. A pause before a leap. I knew that the solitude of Lester would be the perfect place for such a thing, and the way it called to me with a voice of adventure made it impossible to resist. I jumped into my less-than-trustworthy car on a Saturday night and drove the 4 hours to Lester, arriving after dark. I turned left at the fork in the forest service road before reaching the Lester gate and then turned left again and bumped down a barely used set of tracks between trees into the forest, inadvertently subjecting my car to a couple of large rocks hidden between the ruts by long grass. I drove until I reached a dead end at a small stream. I crossed the stream and pitched my small, borrowed tent in a clearing that almost appeared to be meant for such a thing. I cooked dinner in my lonely campsite using the crudest of utensils and crawled into my sleeping bag. It was my first time camping alone (and in a ghost town, no less) and I felt small in the empty forest. At least I hoped it was empty. I drifted off into an uneasy sleep before hearing a sound, a loud disturbing sound that grew louder and louder every second and shook the ground underneath my prone body until I felt that I must ask myself a question that I SHOULD already know the answer to: DID I pitch my tent on the railroad tracks?!?
I don’t know how late I slept in the morning, but after my frightening experience with the too-close-for-comfort trains during the night, I felt I might have needed the extra rest… Reloading my car and retracing (more carefully this time) my tracks from the previous night, I made my way to the Lester gate, feeling incredibly satisfied that at last I was going to give Lester my undivided attention and the time I knew it deserved. Armed with my camera and a backpack of snacks and water, I slipped through the gate and hiked down the dusty dirt road…

The first two times I made it to the Lester gate, there was a trailer parked here on the right-hand side.
I spent the rest of the day exploring every nook and cranny of Lester- imagining what the town must have once looked like, searching for clues as to what the residents may have left behind. The only remaining buildings (besides the new warehouse, which I didn’t try to enter) are a couple houses close to the south side of the tracks, the nearly tumbled outbuildings of those houses, and a house, trailer, and shed which are obviously more recently occupied though now given over to mice and decay. I spent hours tromping through the woods searching for anything the might be missed from the road, but all I really found were a few masses of twisted metal. The ground in the trees undulates in a curiously rippled sort of way and I believe it is due to the way the town was bulldozed to the ground. I wonder what one would find if they dug down. I did find an interesting old car along the road on the way to Lester in a spot that appeared to be an old dump of sorts.

Upstairs in one of the houses- notice all the mouse droppings. The smell of mouse urine up here was overpowering! Gross!
When my curiosity was finally sated, my skin sun burnt, and my clothing filthy, I walked back the way I came, triumphantly bearing a few stalks of persistent rhubarb harvested from a long-abandoned garden (I cooked and ate them with strawberries and they were delicious!)
I hope you enjoy this sampling of the pictures I took. I feel that Lester is definitely worth the trip. I found the area beautiful, peaceful, and a wonderful place for the imagination. Oh, and I returned home relaxed, renewed, and ready to make my decision. Thank you, Lester!
© Travelnole and Travelchick-girl unstoppable, 2010. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Travelnole and Travelchick-girl unstoppable with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
Cooking Carob Cake and Granola in Michigan
Well, friends, after arriving in Michigan and giving myself about a month to settle in, I am again turning my attention to blogging. I must say that the trip here (more on that later) and the initial adjustment period have been surprisingly smooth and, dare I say, easy? The sky will probably fall now that I’ve said that, but really I doubt it. Life (no, God) seems to have touched everything around me and turned it to gold. I’ve never been happier!
Yesterday was The Boyfriend’s birthday. I’m a traditional, occasion-observing sort of girl, so I wanted to give him something. Easier said than done for a guy who readily admits he already has everything he wants and wears a large corresponding smile at all times. Nevertheless, I had a few ideas and set about making them happen. Being the penniless, jobless loser that I am, I thought it would be perhaps a bit more economical to give a gift of homemade food (and, let’s face it, even the man who has everything still needs to eat). Granola (which he’s obsessed with) and carob cake (he loves carob so much it’s almost disturbing) were on the menu. And here’s where the link to travel comes in (you were wondering, weren’t you?): when you uproot yourself and move across country, sometimes you really miss the places you used to buy food!
Back in Walla Walla, Washington, we had a store called Andy’s Market. If I could be back there at this very moment, I’d kneel down and kiss the ground it stands on. Andy’s Market had all the fresh local produce, all the inexpensive bulk everything, all the vege and vegan alternatives that I could ever ask for. It’s not a chain and it’s not to be surpassed, apparently. I needed all these nuts and dried fruit and carob and I had no idea where to get them! Everyone here shops for food at Meijer, which is the Michigan version of Wal-Mart (not considered “The Devil” because it’s not nationwide?….). Besides that, there are a few other familiar and not-familiar stores. I finally found carob at both Hillers Market and Whole Foods Market. Whole Foods also has a very small bulk section where I was thankfully able to find the nuts I needed. They also had a bit of cheaper price on the carob goods. That, coupled with the fact that they carry Vegenaise and liquid aminos, means that I’ll cross Hillers off the list and rely on Whole Foods as my substitute (albeit a poor one) for Andy’s. Whole Foods in no way measures up to the variety or price of the bulk foods section in Andy’s Market. Sigh.
All in all, I’m not sure that making homemade granola and carob cake are the most economical ways to go, but they are definitely the most fun! I found the cake recipe in the April 2010 issue of Better Homes and Gardens. Dorothy Olsen of Provo, Utah won the $25,000 grand prize for her Whole Wheat Chocolate-Blueberry Cake. Being all at the same time a fan of chocolate, dessert, and healthy eating (hypocritical maybe?), I had to try it out. The only change I made was to substitute unsweetened carob powder for unsweetened cocoa powder and vegan carob pieces for semisweet chocolate pieces.
This cake is rich and decadent. The Boyfriend and I love the way the whole wheat flour tastes in it! Very wholesome.
Whole Wheat Chocolate-Blueberry Cake
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 cup sugar
- 6 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder (or carob powder)
- 3/4 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 3/4 cup water
- 1/2 cup fresh blueberries
- 1 egg
- 1 cup frozen light whipped dessert topping, thawed
- 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate pieces (or carob pieces)
- fresh blueberries or Blueberry Sauce (see recipe below)
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In medium bowl combine flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In blender combine water, blueberries, and the egg. Cover and blend until smooth. Add to flour mixture. Whisk until well combine. Pour into greased 8x8x2-inch baking pan.
- Bake 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely on wire rack. Invert onto serving platter.
- In small microwave-safe bowl combine dessert topping and chocolate pieces. Micro-cook, covered, on 50% power (medium) 1 minute. Stir until smooth. Let stand 5 minutes. Pour onto cooled cake, spreading evenly.
- Cut cake into squares to serve. Top with fresh blueberries. Serve with Blueberry Sauce. Makes 9 servings.
Blueberry Sauce: In blender combine 1/2 cup frozen light whipped dessert topping, thawed, and 1/2 cup fresh blueberries. Cover and blend until smooth.
I found the granola recipe, Easy Homemade Granola, on this website. I slightly modified it by also adding 1/3 cup walnuts (LOVE walnuts!) and cutting the brown sugar to 1/8 cup. The granola turned out REALLY SALTY! so I’d recommend cutting down on the salt as well. Maybe 1/2 tsp. in instead of 1? Otherwise, it was delicious. The Boyfriend adds some plains oats to his granola anyway, so that probably helps with the salt factor.
Easy Homemade Granola (from “Baked: New Frontiers in Baking” by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito)
- 2 cups rolled oats
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup whole almonds
- 1/3 cup whole hazelnuts
- 1/3 cup golden raisins
- 1/3 cup dried cherries
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment or wax paper.
- In a large bowl, toss the oats with the cinnamon and salt.
- In a medium bowl, stir together the oil, honey, brown sugar, and vanilla. Whisk until completely combined.
- Pour the honey mixture over the oats mixture and use your hands to combine them: Gather up some of the mixture in each hand and make a fist. Repeat until all of the oats are coated with the honey mixture.
- Pour the mixture onto the prepared baking sheet. Spread it out evenly, but leave a few clumps here and there for texture.
- Bake for 10 min, then remove from the oven and use a metal spatula to lift and flip the granola. Sprinkle the almonds over the granola and return the baking sheet to the oven.
- Bake for 5 min, then remove from the oven and use a metal spatula to lift and flip the granola. Sprinkle the hazelnuts over the granola and return the baking sheet to the oven.
- Bake for 10 min, then remove from the oven. Let cool completely. Sprinkle the raisins and cherries over the granola.
- Transfer it to an airtight container, where it will keep for one week.
I noticed on the Andy’s Market website that you can order things online…. Hmmmm…. I may try that. Until then, I’ll be crying on the inside every time I walk out of Whole Foods.
© Travelnole and Travelchick-girl unstoppable, 2010. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Travelnole and Travelchick-girl unstoppable with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.