As you drive north of the start by 1.6 miles on Highway 97, there is roadside kiosk on the east side of the road marking the site of the old ghost town of Blewett.

In 1860 gold was discovered in the nearby creeks. Soon 200 to 300 people lived and worked in the narrow valley. By early 1874 placer mining had played out, but veins of gold had been found. This brought a boom of hard rock mining with thousands of feet of tunnels burrowed into the hills. By 1879 the mining district was connected to the outside world via the Blewett Pass road.

The town (originally named Warner) tooks its name after Edward Blewett of Seattle, whose gold mining company controlled many of the claims. Buildings included a school, a two-story hotel and boarding house, stores, saloon, and a telegraph station. [Western Mining History]

This is the original pass and roadway connecting Cle Elum to Peshastin / Wenatchee. The summit of the old Blewett Pass highway was a popular stop for travellers in the 1920s. This 1922 photo shows the Top-O-the-Hill Lodge that offered ice cream and cold drinks. The old section of road (part of which you ride) has over 57 turns, steep hillsides, lack of guard rails and narrow width. [Sunset Highway]

Mt. Stuart is the second tallest non-volcanic peak in the state at 9,415 feet and said to be a solid chunk of granite. The combination of high elevation, good rock, and steep faces makes it one of the most popular multi-pitch rock climbs in the state. In the middle of the Stuart range is a high alpine plateau called the Enchantment Basin, home to about ten small lakes that are frozen most of the year. Surrounding these lakes are several high peaks, known as the Enchantment Peaks including Colchuck Peak, Dragontail Peak, Prusik Peak, and Little Annapurna. [Mountain Zone]

To your right you will see an open, high-alpine meadow with some mature aspen trees. Aspen is noted for its ability to regenerate vegetatively by shoots and suckers arising along its long lateral roots. Root sprouting results in many genetically identical trees, in aggregate called a “clone”. All the trees in a clone have identical characteristics and share a root structure. Aspen clones can be less than an acre and up to 100 acres in size. Even though the individual aspen trees may not very be old, aspen clones can be hundreds of years old. The oldest known aspen clone has lived more than 80,000 years on Utah’s Fishlake National Forest. [US Forest Service]

Diamond Head with its majestic western ledges and towers over Blewett Pass and is noted as the trademark of the pass. The north and south summit have amazing views of the Enchantments to the west and the more rounded Wenatchee Mountains to the east. In fall this is the ideal peak for fall colors because there are large amount of larch in the area that change in October. [Summit Post]

In the 1956, the old 1920s roadway highway was rerouted over Swauk Pass 4 ½ miles east of Blewett Pass. The pass was 30 feet higher, 4071 feet vs. 4102 feet, but the grade was much less. Thus, the highway no longer crossed Blewett Pass. From ~1960 on, the crossing was confusingly referred to in print, and in highway signage, as Swauk-Blewett Pass, or Blewett-Swauk Pass. In 1990, to end the confusion, WSDOT officially changed the name to Swauk Pass. That was when the U.S. Board on Geographic Names got involved and took formal action. In 1992 Swauk Pass was officially renamed Blewett Pass, and what had been Blewett Pass officially became Old Blewett Pass. [Kiro News Radio]

Along this sector of the route you will see a number of different mining claim signs tacked onto trees. Within the Blewett Mining District there are 96 nearby claims — 72 active and 24 closed — and 112 nearby mines. In the 1860s through the 1870s there was a gold rush to this area which first started as placer mining and eventually moved into tunneling and hard rock mining. Today, the area is mined by individuals and private mining clubs like the Bedrock Prospectors.

The historical legend most often told is that Pat King was providing supplies to the nearby miners via wagon. When the rear axle of the wagon broke, he jacked it up via long poles and propped it up by blocks to commence repairs. The wagon slipped off the blocks, pinning King underneath, crushing him to death. [Wenatchee Area Genealogy Society]