Since I had to work Labor Day weekend, my wife, daughter and the family dog made a quick overnight trip to visit my 83 year old grandmother in Kelso, Washington. In the past, she had mentioned that she had wanted to drive up the Rose Valley Road and the Coweeman River out of Kelso to see the area she grew up in, but no one has offered to take her for the 20 mile drive from her house. Once I mentioned the idea, she was quick to say yes.
My Grandmother was one of two people who exposed me to road trips to me at an early age (the other was my Father). I guess I never got it out of my blood.
When I was very young, we traveled all over the western United States and Canada - with my Grandmother driving, my Great Grandmother in the back seat and with me riding shotgun and following along with a map.
We always made a large loop ending in Kamiah, Idaho to visit my great-grandmother’s brother Uncle Joe. Highlights I remember include several trips to Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park, Lake Louise in Alberta, Virginia City in Nevada, the real Ponderosa Ranch, Wildlife Safari on Oregon and many other places.
Now back to the Coweeman River story. My Grandmother grew up on a farm along the Coweeman River off the Rose Valley Road. As far as I knew, they had the last house up the river. While I was in elementary school, I was able to spend what seemed to be the summer (it was probably much less time that that) at was known as “Grandma Kathy’s house” (my great-grandmother mentioned above). That was the experience that I’ll never forget. For most of her life, my Great Grandma lived what is now called “off-the-grid”. There was electricity. No propane. No running water (unless you count the water gravity fed through a pipe from a waterfall from the creek on the property into the back yard). Kerosene lamps provided light at night. Food was cooked on a wood cook stove/oven. Heat was provided from a separate wood stove. If you were cold, you either put more clothing on or you made a fire. No TV. Only a radio powered radio. I could go on and on but I’ll have to save that for another time.
To get to the Rose Valley Road, you travel south on I-5 from Kelso. You take the Carrols exit and follow the old highway (formally Highway 99) until you reach the Rose Valley Rd. The lower Rose Valley Rd. is a nice drive past old farms and like in most areas, some newer homes. No major sub-divisions yet. All along the way, my grandmother was amazed about all the new houses that have been built in past twelve years since she last traveled the road. She pointed out the homes of people she knew growing up and places she would go (swimming holes, community dances, etc).
Once the road crossed the Coweeman River, the road narrows down to a paved single lane road with turn outs. Here the road follows the river rather closely. Eventually the road comes to a group of homes known as Elk Meadows. There a few permanent residents as well as a few vacation homes and RV lots. A few of the full-time homes are rather nice, considering that there is no utilities (truly living off-the-grid). Even with the lack of electricity, most homes had satellite dishes. Some had solar panels, one had a small windmill for power. Most all of them had propane.
The road eventually climbs up and over a bluff (with a steep drop off into the river below). When I was really little, the road was gravel and I would cry every time I passed through this section of road (good thing I got over that). Today, it doesn’t seem that bad at all. There are a couple of old mine shafts visible into the rock face from earlier mining attempts.
We finally reached where where my Grandma Kathy lived. It had been 30 years since I last seen the property. Even though the area where the house stood was a little overgrown, I could still see the pasture that was behind here home. The creek that ran through the property looked the same as when I was younger.
We drove up the road past the old place. My grandmother pointed out where an old ranger station was located. She lived in a house next to ranger station for a while with my Grandfather while he staffed a nearby fire lookout.
She pointed out where one of two CCC camps was located along the Coweeman River.
At about 16 miles from old 99, the road enters into Weyerhaeuser lands and turns to gravel. The gate was open, but we turned around. If one was able to continue (during hunting season?), you could follow the river up to Coweeman Lake and also visit the Elk Mountain lookout site (my great grandfather used to staff the lookout and it would take all day to pack in and out with a horse from the house on the Coweeman).
Just inside the gate was the location of the old dam. My grandmother said that they would back up the water and fill it full of logs. When filled, they would release the floodgates and allow the logs to flow downstream to mills in Longview or Kelso below. Through all the years, my great grandmother only lost one cow to this.
A little further down was the site of old waterfalls on the Coweeman River. A fish ladder was constructed at the site (which is still visible today). At some point in the past, the falls were blasted out to make passage easier.
After a few stops, we made out way back to my Grandmothers place. At 83 years of age, it’s been a while since I had seen her so excited. She can still drive fine, but she doesn’t venture too far from around the Kelso-Longview area unless she has to. I was glad I was able to give back a little of one of the many gifts that she instilled in me.
Overall, its a nice drive up the Rose Valley road. The views are primarily from the valley floor of the surrounding hills and forest as well as the river. It was more of a sentimental back road trip for me and especially for my Grandmother.
You can view more photos of this trip at Coweeman River Photos.
by Tony Huegel for some of my planning. The most likely route was to use Tour 43 - Quartz Mountain as a starting point for our weekend adventure.