KV Living Q2 2018

KITTITAS VALLEY

From the Cascades to the Columbia | Q2 2018

INSIDE: Q Goats on the trail Q Behind the BBQ Q Ellensburg on fire

Living in Kittitas Valley just got better.

2018

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2018 201 8

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Goats on the trail pg

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Pack goats can be a sure-footed alternative to horses or mules.

TABLE of

Ellensburg on fire pg

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A look at fires that shaped downtown Ellensburg in the 20th century 4

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Behind the

BBQ

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The stones behind some of Kittitas County’s barebecue establishments.

Around the County pg

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AROUND THE

County

John Wayne Trail / Iron Horse State Park

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hether you are interested in a 20-minute power walk, a bicycle ride through old railroad tunnels or a leisurely horseback ride, the Iron Horse State Park has something for everyone.

Here are several ideas for outings on the John Wayne Pioneer Trail and Iron Horse State Park in Kittitas County: • Take a quick walk or bicycle ride on the trail inside Ellensburg. There’s a trailhead on Water Street that offers easy access.

The city of Ellensburg and Central Washington University are working to re-connect the trail through the city.

• Visit the old railroad depot in Kittitas, and explore the trail.

• Try bicycling through the old railroad tunnels in Upper Kittitas County this summer. The crown jewel of the Iron Horse tunnels is the Snoqualmie Tunnel, a 2.3-mile-long pathway underneath the pass. Trains passed through the tunnel on the route called the Milwaukee Road from the time it was completed in 1914 until 1980.

the county. This year’s cross-state ride is May 17 through June 2, and the wagons and horseback riders usually stop overnight in South Cle Elum, Thorp, Ellensburg and Vantage. The association is primarily horseback riders and teamsters, but cyclists and walkers sometimes make the journey, too.

• Stop by and say hello when the John Wayne Pioneer Wagons and Riders Association make their way through

The trail follows the former Milwaukee Railroad bed for about 300 miles across two-thirds of the state of Washington, from the Cascade Mountains to the

Western Art Show For those interested in Western art, the Ellensburg National Art Show and Auction from May 18-20 offers a diverse assortment of styles and media.

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The show takes place at the Kittitas Valley Event Center in Ellensburg, and includes quick draw demonstrations, a chance to meet the artists and a fine auction.

For more information and preview of the art, go to westernartassociation.org.

Idaho border. The 100-mile portion of the trail from near North Bend to the Columbia River south of Vantage has been developed and is managed as the Iron Horse State Park.

There’s been more attention on the park as of late. The state is providing funding to upgrade the Renslow trestle near Kittitas, and there’s discussion about whether to change the name of the trail.

Get Intimate with the Shrub-Steppe and Bird Fest This annual, free event organized by the Kittitas Environmental Education Network is a great opportunity to explore the Yakima River canyon as a family.

GISS from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. May 12 at the Umtanum Creek Recreation Area. It will include presentations about birds, geology, natural history, fish, river bugs and more, and educational booths will be set up in the parking area.

The event coincides with the Yakima River Bird Fest, which runs May 11-13. The weekend includes bird watching trips, a float trip, owling trip and marketplace. For tickets to the bird fest and more information, go to www.ycic.org.

Bares and Broncs Check out the bucking horses, cowboys, barrel racers, mounted shooters and live music at this year’s 11th annual Bares and Broncs event.

The event is at 6:30 May 19 at the Ellensburg Rodeo Arena.

Tickets are $15 at the gate and $10 presale.

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LETTER FROM The

Editor

O

ne popular outing this time of year among locals is a drive into the countryside to look for signs of spring.

The surrounding hillsides are verdant, and there are usually new calves and lambs to check on. The wildflowers are next to appear.

It was a mild winter in the lower Kittitas Valley, with smooth transition into spring. We got off easy on the snow shoveling front, though there’s a healthy snowpack in the Cascades to put minds at rest. While gardening season doesn’t really get underway until May, it’s time to start dreaming of sprouts and starts.

This spring season I’m looking forward to exploring old and new hikes in the Yakima Canyon and Blewett Pass (with a careful eye out for ticks, of course).

This edition of Kittitas Valley Living offers a diverse cross section of life in Central Washington. While many people are familiar with using horses or mules to pack gear in the backcountry, Shanai

KITTITAS VALLEY

Bemis shares a story about one hiker’s use of goats for the same purpose.

Daily Record history columnist Monica Mersinger shares some history about fires in downtown Ellensburg in the 20th century. These weren’t as big as the Great Fire of 1889, which destroyed a good portion of the downtown business district, but each had a significant impact on the town. As efforts move forward to build a new hotel in downtown Ellensburg, it’s worth remembering the role the old Webster and Antlers hotels used to play in the community.

Karl Holappa checked in with barbecue establishments in the county, each with its own approach and Northwest flavor.

I hope you are planning a summer of adventures in our region, whether it’s camping, hiking, fishing or getting off the beaten path.

Happy reading.

Q2 | 2018

Editor: Joanna Markell Writers: Shanai Bemis, Monica Mersinger, Karl Holappa Photos by: Brian Myrick, Karl Holappa Designer: Matt Carstens Publication of the Daily Record 401 N. Main St. Ellensburg WA 98926 509-925-1414 To submit a story idea or upcoming event, email newsroom@kvnews.com.

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Goats on the Trail Four-legged friends help carry the load during hiking trips

By SHA HANA NAII BE NA BEMI MIS MI S sttaff ff wr writ itter

H

ikers venturing out in the Kittitas Valley might encounter familiar landscape — canyons, hills, sagebrush and shrub steppe.

They might also Únd something unexpected: Úve goats with pack saddles following docilely behind Dick Carkner.

Stitches, Inky, Lightning, Rambo and Thor are pack goats

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Phot Ph otos ot os by Bria Br ian ia n My Myri rick ri ck

raised by Carkner to help carry gear during hiking trips. They follow behind Carkner, over trails and across country, hopping over gullies and displaying the athleticism their species is known for.

Carkner raised all Úve by hand, bottle-feeding them as kids, which is an important step in raising a pack goat, he said.

Continued on page 12

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Dick Carkner walks with his pack goats through the sagebrush dotted landscape near Vantage.

“It doesn’t take much training, the main thing is to have them properly socialized,” he said. “It’d be hard to Únd adult goats that have what you need.”

A good pack goat is well socialized and comfortable around people, which allows a pack goat handler to strap the saddles on to them without much fuss.

“You’re their mother, parent, dad, whatever,” he said.

Goats are naturally inclined to herd and will stay grouped together and follow their handler by instinct. Well socialized goats will be comfortable around humans. It can be a bit of a challenge when Carkner runs into other people out on the trail, though.

“I’ll stop and get talking to some 12

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people and then we go to move on, I look back and I’ve lost a goat,” he said, laughing.

Carkner began raising and working with pack goats a decade ago after being introduced the practice by his son.

Since then, he’s had a number of goats. Inky, Lightning, Rambo and Thor are his newest group. The four are 3 years old, born in the same year and have just reached their prime.

Stitches is an older goat, 10 years old, and is the boss of the group.

“It’s a very distinct pecking order,” Carkner said, with the hierarchy being decided by the goats themselves.

When out hiking, the goats will typically follow in the same order every

time, with the boss goat in front and the rest falling into their spots behind.

Besides their natural inclination to stay grouped together and follow their handler, goats are well suited as pack animals due to their natural athleticism.

“They can go places that wouldn’t be safe for a horse,” Carkner said.

Goats are also similar to deer and can graze on more plants than a horse could and don’t require as much water. Each adult goat can carry up to 25 percent of its body weight, which usually is around 50 pounds. However, Carkner usually keeps the loads to about 30 pounds.

Continued on page 15

Dick Carkner loads up one of his pack goats prior to a hike through the sagebrush dotted landscape near Vantage.

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“We don’t want to push it,” he said.

The loads are put into specially designed saddle bags that attach to goatspeciÚc saddles that are strapped into place on the goat’s back. They are designed to stay in place when going over steep terrain.

The saddles and bags can be found online for purchase through a number of pack goat websites.

The practice of using pack goats, while not widelyknown, has been around for a number of years and has a strong community.

The National Pack Goat Association was founded in 1999 and works to spread education about pack goats and keep public land open to pack goat use.

A pack goat will typically cost about $200 to purchase from a breeder, Carkner said.

In a year, they will typically go through anywhere from $500 to $700 worth of feed and the saddles and gear can cost several hundred dollars as well.

The investment is worth it though, as each goat can continue to hike into its teens, as evidenced by Stitches, who is still going strong at 10 years old.

Goats, like dogs, wiggle their tails when they’re happy, Carkner said, and he sees it often when he’s out on the trail with his goats.

“This is what they like to do,” he said. Q

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Ellensburg on fire

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s ’ g r u b s n e l l E n i y r s e u t r i n f e c th 0 2 Major e h t n i n w o t down R MERSINGE A IC N O M By D ILY RECOR For the DA

Kittitas County History Museum Firefighters attack the stubborn blaze which consumed the Webster Hotel, January 29, 1980, no lives were lost, but 35 hotel guests and staff had to be evacuated.

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Ellensburg on fire

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hose who know of the history of Ellensburg are familiar with the Great Fire of 1889, which gutted much of the downtown business district at a time when Ellensburg was under consideration to be the state capital — but it’s not the only Úre that changed the community.

The 20th century has also been marked with major Úres which reduced historic buildings to

Antlers Hotel Southwest corner of Third Avenue and main Street — Oct. 24, 1967 18

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charred skeletons, involved the resources of the entire Úre department, changed the look of Ellensburg’s downtown business district and some resulted in loss of life.

Here’s a look at some, with information from the Daily Record archives:

T

he Antlers Hotel was a grand hotel — a 77 year-old landmark in the community with its own bus which conveyed visitors from the train depot to its doors. Originally named the Horton House, it featured steamed heat and electric lights and 95 rooms. It was the terminal for the Greyhound bus, the Western Union telegraph ofÚce, the Global Travel Service, the Chamber of

Commerce, Rotary meetings and the Ellensburg Rodeo ofÚces. The Antlers and its posh interiors was the crossroads of the community and its loss changed the look of downtown Ellensburg to this day.

The blaze began at 2:30 a.m. and was reported by an off-duty policeman. Owner Al Stevens was present, closing the hotel bar at the time and was alerted by the smell of smoke in one of

the hotel rooms. A false ceiling in the hotel allowed the Úre to spread as the Stevens family and 25 guests evacuated the building via Úre escapes assisted by Úre department personnel rescuing the Stevens children and guests in the upper Ûoors by ladders.

The Úre was on the second and third Ûoors on the Sixth Avenue side.

It destroyed the chamber ofÚce on the front of the building, but the Rodeo OfÚce staff had time to remove records ahead of the Ûames.

By the time the evacuations were complete, the entire hotel was engulfed in Ûames. Despite the efforts, four people lost their lives, and one person suffered serious injuries from trying to jump from the second story to avoid the Ûames. The entire Ellensburg Fire Department fought the Úre and an ambulance was on hand to transport the injured.

The cause of the Úre, which may have started in a rented room, isn’t deÚnitively known, based on available

Kittitas County Historical Museum The Antlers Hotel, a local landmark, was built after the great fire of 1889 and opened its doors in 1890, only to be lost in a fatal fire claiming four lives on October 24, 1967.

records. The Antlers Hotel location is now a city parking lot next to the Sears parking lot, going back to the alley next to the UPS Store.

Fire Chief Oliver Mountjoy is quoted as saying this was the worst

Úre since the Great Fire of 1889 and the biggest disaster in his 31 years with the department. The winds were light and damage to adjacent businesses was averted. Damages were estimated at $300,000.

Kittitas County Historical Museum The posh furnishings of the Antlers Hotel, its steam heat, electric lights and 95 rooms as well as being the terminal for the Greyhound Bus Company, Western Union Telegraph Co., the Chamber of Commerce, Rodeo office, and Rotary meetings made this hotel a landmark in the community.

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Kleinberg Building/ Owl Drug Store Northwest corner of Third Avenue and Pearl Street — Dec. 14, 1935

A

faulty boiler, a 46 year-old building and a series of a patchwork of repairs caused this major Úre and damaged Owl Drug Store, C. J. Breier Company, the Hub Clothing Store, a barber shop, the Valley Cafe, a beauty shop and six rooms of the Palace Hotel until the blaze was stopped after a Úve-hour ÚreÚght.

It was a Úght to save the second story, which housed the Palace Hotel.

The blaze began around 1:30 a.m. in the basement under Owl Drug Store which housed the boiler which heated the entire Brier block at Third and Pearl streets. It reduced to skeletons the two buildings on the Brier block which had been quickly built right after the major Úre of 1889. The blaze then raced to the alley between Third Avenue and Main Street, damaging the Valley Cafe and a barber shop.

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The Úre also leaped to the second story of the Palace Hotel via a stairway which had no Úre door and threatened to gut the entire block before it was stopped. Hotel guests were evacuated in various stages of undress from the hotel. There was no loss of life, although several ÚreÚghters were injured due to fumes and heat.

The Úre had smoldered under the Ûoorboards of the Owl Drug Store and the Breier store for hours until it was discovered at 3 a.m. by a milkman, who saw the smoke. The Úre destroyed the two buildings. The loss due to the Úre was estimated to be $50,000 at the time.

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Kittitas County Historical Museum The Kleinberg building in 1925 housed the Owl Drug Store and C. J. Breier Company.

The taller building is the Palace Hotel which lost six rooms in the fire, injured firefighters but spared lives. The building was located at NW corner of Third Avenue and Pearl Street.

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he Olympia block was built in 1889 after the Great Fire.

It led a charmed life until 1943, when a fire burned the second story to cinders. It was later rebuilt, but the fire foreshadowed its demise some 35 years later due to arson.

A fire at 3:13 a.m. on June 17, 1979, took more than six hours to control and destroyed or damaged nine businesses.

It apparently ignited in the basement of the Hayloft Tavern, which faces Fourth Avenue between Pearl and Main Streets. The fire roared upward to the second floor of the large building and then burned east and north. The entire second story was gutted. Pautzke Bait Co. owned the Olympia block at the time of the fire, and damage was estimated at $1 million. Two firefighters were injured while fighting the fire, but there were no fatalities.

It was a stubborn fire which would slow its build up and then re-flame higher than ever. Smoke filled the downtown area, firefighting was hampered by years of remodeling, false ceilings and dead spaces which allowed the fire to spread. The wind came up at dawn, sending showers of sparks and ash to many blocks to the east.

The Hayloft and Carpet World

businesses were a total loss. Ground level businesses were damaged by water and smoke were B.J.’s Pawn shop, Capital Finance, Montgomery Ward’s, DHS Lighting and Interiors, Sports’ Boutique and Shapiros, which was scheduled to open the next week. During the fire, B.J.’s Pawn shop staff and community volunteers removed all the guns they could and then volunteers helped move electronics from Dean’s T.V. Both businesses were threatened by the fire.

During the fire, firefighters had just repositioned the aerial truck when they had to leap for safety to escape injury when the upper brick wall of the Hayloft Tavern collapsed into Fourth. The next day, the interior brick walls of the Hayloft swayed in the wind. The entire second story of the building was lost.

Later, the cause of the fire was determined to be arson. A special meeting by Ellensburg City Council was convened to consider determinations for public safety of the upper story of the Olympia building and how to get a roof back on the remaining building so businesses could return.

The Olympia building is the present day site of the Rotary Pavilion and bull statue landmarks in downtown Ellensburg.

Kittitas County Historical Museum Volunteers assist business owners remove property from smoke-filled stores during the height of the Olympia block fire, June 17, 1979.

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l e t o H r e t s b We

Kittitas County Historical Museum Webster Hotel fire at the Southwest corner of Third Avenue and Pearl Street in 1980. This stubborn fire resulted in the evacuation of 35 hotel guests and staff, but no loss of life. The fire turned the Webster Hotel into an ice palace due to freezing temperatures and fire hose run off.

Southwest corner of Third Avenue and Pearl Street — Jan. 29, 1980 24

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t began as the Ellensburg Brewing and Malting Company, became the Majestic Hotel, was renamed the St. Regis Hotel and ended as the Webster Hotel, an ice palace of charred timbers covered in ice that many will never forget.

The smell of smoke caused the hotel staff to sound the alarm at 10:30 a.m. and 35 hotel guests and staff were

evacuated from the 71-yearold, three-story building.

Businesses including Charlton Realty Co. and Olympic Credit Service Co., which occupied ground Ûoor ofÚce space in the building with the aid of volunteers, were able to remove records and some furniture before the blaze got to the ofÚces.

Today the location houses the current Caldwell Banker

The Ûames started in a bathroom area just left of the hotel’s south entrance on the ground Ûoor and spread to the roof, bursting through on the east side. Volunteers rallied to the adjacent building housing the Horseshoe Tavern and carried out bar stools, a huge elk rack and anything else movable to be stacked on the sidewalk across Third Avenue.

The Úre was so rapid that ÚreÚghters couldn’t get ahead of the Ûames and were battling the Úre in freezing weather which froze ladders in extended positions, Úre engine radiators, air masks and gauges on trucks. Due to the freezing temperatures, spectators watched from inside the post ofÚce lobby to stay warm. No through trafÚc on Main Street, Pearl Street and Third Avenue was allowed due to the massive amounts of ice from Úre hose runoff, turning the charred hotel into an ice palace. The next morning after the Úre, Úre hoses were still aimed and dowsing the structure for potential hot spots.

There were no major injuries or lives lost. The cause of the Úre wasn’t clear based on

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By the time the Úrst Úre equipment arrived one minute after the alarm sounded, Ûames were already shooting out of the downstairs windows. As with the Olympia Úre just six months earlier, Úre crews were hampered by the Úre entering the building’s attic. There were many false ceilings and Úre spread quickly along plumbing onto the rooftop.

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Behind the BBQ

The art and craft of smoke in Kittitas County

By KARL HOLAPPA staff writer Photos by Brian Myrick and Karl Holappa

W

Karl Holappa Owner James Jones checks the smoker at Smokey’s Bar-B-Que in South Cle Elum.

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hile Central Washington might not be the Úrst place one thinks of when it comes to traditional barbecue, several local restaurants have a carved out a niche for themselves. Each takes a different approach to the art and craft of barbecue, and over the years, they’ve found loyal followings.

SMOKEY’S BAR-B-QUE AT THE SOUTH CLE ELUM DEPOT South Cle Elum is a bit off the beaten path, but being removed from the main drag creates a certain cachet for Smokey’s Bar-B-Que. The restaurant has been operating in the historic South Cle Elum Depot building since 2013.

“Most barbecue restaurants, like the good ones, a lot of times they’ll be destination barbecue experiences,” owner James Jones said. “Like back South where they’ll be in the middle of nowhere and there will be a parking lot full of people. When I started this place, I kind of played off the idea that barbecue brings people in. They’ll seek it out and Únd it.”

Jones moved his family over from the West Side looking for a break from West Side weather and trafÚc.

“In the last 10 years, if I had to guess, I’ve probably won over 100 awards,” Jones said.

buds of the area. Jones primarily uses a blend of cherry, apple and hickory in his smoker.

Competing has helped Jones create his speciÚc style of barbecue.

“In the PaciÚc Northwest what I’ve found is the customer here doesn’t want a lot of smoke,” Jones said. “They want to know the smoke was there, but they don’t want the Ûavor to be overwhelmingly smoky.”

“In order to be successful in competing, I have to learn the Ûavor proÚles of the area I’m competing in,” he said.

Jones calls his proprietary style a Northwest-inÛuenced barbecue.

“I would say that is an amalgamation of Memphis and Kansas City barbecue,” Jones said.

“Those two styles blended together, a little Cajun inÛuence melded into that.”

Jones said the wood used for smoking varies by region. The choice of wood is usually tied to availability, and caters to the taste

Jones says brisket and ribs are the big sellers at the restaurant. He said he has a hard time picking a personal favorite.

Jones has big plans for the summer. He is organizing a barbecue competition, beer festival and live music event. The event, aptly titled Brews, Blues and Barbecue will be take place the weekend of July 13 at a to-bedetermined location.

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“I just decided I was tired of the life over there,” Jones said.

Prior to opening his restaurant, Jones regularly competed in barbecue competitions around the nation, and catered events on the West Side. He still competes on a regular basis. Jones recently won multiple awards for his sauces and rubs at the National BBQ and Grilling Association’s national conference.

412 N Main St | Ellensburg, WA 509.834.7838 K V L I V I NG

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Karl Holappa New saddle seats and cowboy hats line a counter at Rodeo City Bar-B-Q on Main Street in downtown Ellensburg.

RODEO CITY BAR-B-Q Rodeo City Bar-B-Q on Main Street in Ellensburg is truly a family affair. Eight family members work there, spanning four generations.

Leanne Adams’ parents opened the restaurant in January 1994. Leanne’s father was a professor at Central Washington University and met his wife there.

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“I always tell people I’m homegrown,” she said.

said. “There are a lot of things we do differently now than when we started.”

Adams said the family decided to serve barbecue in the restaurant because they felt Ellensburg was missing that kind of dining experience at the time.

The family spent time in Oklahoma shadowing a barbecue establishment there to gain experience. They quickly found that the customers in Ellensburg sought a different experience than what they had seen elsewhere.

“Ellensburg is a western town,” Adams said. “We just thought it was a perfect Út.

It was hard to believe that there wasn’t barbecue in Ellensburg.”

The family had no experience with barbecue before starting the restaurant.

They originally had a man from Texas running the smoker, and after he departed Adams’ father took over the operation.

“It’s been trial and error,” Adams

“The Úrst couple of years we served real Texas barbecue,” Adams said. “When they serve it, it doesn’t have barbecue sauce. That was the biggest complaint.”

Over time, the family found that having a more diverse menu helped increase customers.

“When we Úrst opened in 1994, we were strictly barbecue,” Adams said.

Adams’ brother-in-law is beginning to take on the role of running the barbecue and smoking operations from her father, who is ready to retire. Her brother-in-law also will take over the restaurant’s mobile catering operations.

“After the Úrst year we realized that strictly barbecue limited us. There was usually somebody in groups that would come in and either didn’t like barbecue or had allergies. We closed for like three months and redid the whole menu and offered steaks and other non-barbecue items. That was a really good move.”

“That’s a lot of pulled pork,” Adams said.

Rodeo City makes all its rubs and sauces from scratch. The two types of sauces, original and spicy, are sold in both traditional-sized bottles and halfgallon glass jugs.

Karl Holappa A piece of meat cooks in a smoker at Rodeo City Bar-B-Q in downtown Ellensburg.

“We’ve shipped barbecue sauce as far as Australia by mail,” Adams said. “That barbecue sauce is good.”

Adams says the busiest times of the year for the restaurant are typically rodeo weekend, Spirit of the West, Father’s Day and Jazz in the Valley.

“We have like Úve weekends I have blocked out where people can’t take time off,” Adams said. “They have to be committed to working those weekends.”

Adams said she is looking forward to a busy season at the restaurant this year.

“It’s just really been busy,” Adams said.

“I can tell by the way the phone’s been ringing in March it’s going to be one heck of a summer.”

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Adams estimates barbecue to make up 80 percent of the restaurant’s sales. The restaurant has stuck with their original Texas-style barbecue, with brisket and pulled pork being the two best-sellers.

Adams said the restaurant sold 7,500 pulled pork sandwiches last year.

The restaurant reÛects the local clientele — rooms are often reserved for community meetings, and one is Úlled with photos of past Ellensburg Rodeo royalty. It’s also kept up with the times.

Adams recently added an area where people can sit on bar stools Útted with saddles and have their photos taken, with the idea it might help with marketing on social media.

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FIRE & SMOKE BARBECUE Fire and Smoke Barbecue coowner David Hull’s barbecue roots go back to his early years. Hull, a North Carolina native, was exposed to great barbecue growing up, he said.

“You go down to Texas or North Carolina where I’m from, there’s a big plate of food sitting on the table,” Hull said. “Everybody’s just grabbing out of it and enjoying it and talking. It’s family time.”

Hull bought his first smoker in 1989 and began to develop recipes in his backyard.

“I practiced for about 23 years on the family,” Hull said. “I have four children and a wife that were great guinea pigs in respect to my trial and error and all my recipes.”

Hull moved with his family to Ellensburg in 2005. He had spent time on the West Side prior to the move and decided this side of the mountains was a better fit for his family.

“We liked Eastern Washington,” Hull said. “The weather and a rural environment is something we are more accustomed to. That’s what I grew up with.”

Hull got his start selling barbecue to locals back in 2012. He sold pulled pork and barbecue chicken from a mobile smoker in the parking lot of a local real estate office on Friday nights to the college crowd.

“We tried it, got some good exposure, froze to death,” Hull said.

Brian Myrick David Hull, owner of Fire and Smoke Barbeque, prepares a beef brisket sandwich during lunch service at 213 W. Fourth Ave. in downtown Ellensburg.

From there, Hull and his wife began catering for large events, and began to set up at local events such as the rodeo.

Hull opened a restaurant on Fourth Avenue in downtown Ellensburg in April 2016.

In fall 2017, Hull made the tough decision to close the restaurant and focus entirely on catering. This decision was a temporary one, and the restaurant is slated to reopen on May 4. Hull said the plan is to keep it open year-round, while also still operating the catering business.

Hull focuses on two styles in the restaurant. His pulled pork is served Carolina-style, with a vinegar-based sauce. The brisket is cooked Texasstyle, and as with all the other meats at the restaurant, is served without sauce on it.

“We encourage people to try the meat without the sauce,” Hull said.

“That’s why we put the sauce in bottles on the table. We serve all our stuff dry. We don’t put sauce on

anything unless they ask for it.”

Hull looks at barbecue as both an art and a science which includes every aspect of the operation, from meat selection to the smoking technique. Hull exclusively uses locally-sourced apple wood in his smoker.

“We’re stick burners, that’s very key to our operation,” Hull said. “We burn with a wood fire and we stoke it all night long to get the product finished. There’s advantages with that, in that the smoke and the heat from the smoke and some other things like steam help the smoke flavor penetrate the meat and give you a good smoke profile.”

Hull said his favorite thing about owning the restaurant is being able to bring the barbecue culture he grew up with local residents.

“Bringing people into an environment that hopefully makes them feel like they’re in our backyard,” Hull said. “Hopefully they enjoy some good barbecue.”

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