TRIP PLANNER: JOSEPH + THE WALLOWA VALLEY PG. 86
Summer Apricot Eats + Sips
An Otherworldly Idaho Adventure
Winemaking Trailblazer Christophe Baron
OREGON’S
LIGHTHOUSES HISTORIC (+ PICTURE-PERFECT) DESTINATIONS FOR YOUR NEXT COAST ROAD TRIP
YOUR NORTHWEST
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AN ICONIC BIKE TOUR THROUGH GLACIER NATIONAL PARK LIVE
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July | August
volume 87
Discover yourself here. The secret is out! Announcing Strada, the first-of-its-kind collection of custom homesites in Discovery West, available to the public. Generous homesites offer ample space and privacy and a serene natural setting — all close to nature, trails, bike paths, schools, parks, shops, restaurants and more. This rare opportunity is just waiting for you to customize your next life’s move. Learn more about your custom home build journey in Strada. Visit DiscoveryWestBend.com/Strada for details or call Shelley Griffin at Harcourts the Garner Group Real Estate at (541) 280-3804.
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A s h l a n d / B e n d / C o rva l l i s / E u g e n e / M e d f o r d / P o r t l a n d / W e s t L i n n
Going to the Summit photography by Whitney Whitehouse Glacier National Park’s Going-to-the-Sun Road is one of the country’s top cycling adventures. (pg. 54) 2 1859 OREGON’S MAGAZINE JULY | AUGUST 2024
JULY | AUGUST 2024
1859 OREGON’S MAGAZINE 3
FEATURES
Daniel O’Neil
Winemaker Christophe Baron’s Horsepower project brings a centuries-old winegrowing tradition into the future.
JULY | AUGUST 2024 • volume 87
54
70
Going to the Sun
Puffin Project
A journey to the summit of Glacier National Park’s spectacular Going-tothe-Sun Road on bike and e-bike.
This photo collection captures this majestic migratory bird at its yearly arrival at Haystack Rock.
written by Kevin Max
written by Kerry Newberry
60 The Stones Frenchman Christophe Baron had a vision for Châteauneuf-du-Pape terroir in Oregon. He found it in Milton-Freewater and planted Cailloux Vineyard. Accolades, and more vineyards, have followed. written by Daniel O’Neil
4
1859 OREGON’S MAGAZINE JULY | AUGUST 2024
Your future in nursing begins at OHSU.
Explore our undergraduate and graduate degree programs online and in six locations across Oregon: Ashland, Bend, La Grande, Monmouth, Klamath Falls, and Portland. ohsu.edu/son
DEPARTMENTS Sascha Rettig/Travel Oregon
JULY | AUGUST 2024 • volume 87
LIVE 14 NOTEBOOK
Julian Morris’ pain and sorrow; James Westby’s Oh, Denise!; wine-infused chocolate truffles.
20 FOOD + DRINK
Stoller BBQ?; scenic s’mores; road trippin’ farm stands.
24 FARM TO TABLE
The unusual Oregon apricot.
32 HOME + DESIGN
Going vertical in Cape Meares.
40 ARTIST IN RESIDENCE
Duncan Berry’s coastal consumption.
Ty Milford
Tambi Lane
86
THINK 46 STARTUP
A Bend accelerator goes outside.
48 WHAT I’M WORKING ON Every Child Oregon.
50 MY WORKSPACE
Rankin Renwick’s film career.
52 GAME CHANGER
Pendleton’s Main Street Cowboys.
EXPLORE 78 TRAVEL SPOTLIGHT
The Alibi Tiki Lounge in Portland.
80 ADVENTURE
Exploring Oregon’s iconic lighthouses.
30
32 10 Editor’s Letter 11 1859 Online 94 Map of Oregon 96 Until Next Time
COVER
photo by Grant Ordelheide/TandemStock.com Cape Arago Lighthouse (see Adventure, pg. 80)
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1859 OREGON’S MAGAZINE JULY | AUGUST 2024
84 LODGING
The newly renovated Surfsand Resort.
86 TRIP PLANNER
Joseph and the Wallowa Valley.
92 NW DESTINATION
Craters of the Moon, Idaho.
SPEND THE WEEKEND
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CONTRIBUTORS
ALIYA DOMASH Illustrator Home + Design DIY
TRACI BUCK Photographer Farm to Table
SOPHIE BARLOW Illustrator Beerlandia
JONI KABANA Writer My Workspace
“My illustration career started when I was 6. During recess, I would spend hours drawing on the school’s leftover printer paper. What was initially a compulsion to draw became a tool I used to understand and engage with the world. Now I find my work is inspired by all the drama, color and subtlety of nature. I love collaborating with creative people who are passionate about telling stories through illustration.” (pg. 36)
“As I drove into the winding foothills of Ashland, I found my way to Valley View Orchard. It was a stunning landscape of fruit orchards, a farm store, a vineyard and a beautiful tasting room. Roaming the property with the O’Learys was fascinating. Not only were they the loveliest of people, they were a wealth of knowledge. They told me about the timeline of the fruit, from buds to blooms, from ripening to the final products. The care and hard work the O’Learys put into their orchard was apparent, but, in my opinion, so was their beautiful and peaceful life.” (pg. 24)
“As an illustrator, I love the process of working with a story to visually represent it in new and inspiring ways. For this illustration, I drew from my own experiences to capture what makes an Oregon brewery unique: mountainous views, random outdoor gear stickers, a few patio dogs and, of course, the feeling of a hot summer night and a good beer.” (pg. 20)
“They came at me like they were on a mission. Long braids graced the front of their shirt, balanced by pixie bangs on their forehead. I had always been a bit intimidated by notable artists, avoiding them at my own cost. But they were different. Approachable. Humble. Not in the least smug. After chatting for a while, I left and promptly pulled up their website. Holy! I had just engaged with a bona fide, prominent radical artist, and they were more curious about what I had to say rather than what they had to say. And that is Rankin Renwick. Artist, friend and curiosity monger.” (pg. 50)
Aliya Domash is a freelance illustrator and designer based in Boston, Massachusetts. She spends her free time at the beach looking for horseshoe crabs and migrating birds.
Freelance photographer Traci Buck has worked for several publications and owned her own photography business for the past twenty-five years.
8 1859 OREGON’S MAGAZINE JULY | AUGUST 2024
Sophie Barlow is a freelance illustrator with a love for editorial work. As a born-andraised Oregonian, she loves to be outside enjoying nature whenever she can.
When not working on programming and restoration of the Spray General Store in Oregon, you can find Joni Kabana out on backroads digging up stories and visuals of small-town rural America.
EDITOR
Kevin Max
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Allison Bye
WEB MANAGER
Aaron Opsahl
SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER
Joni Kabana
OFFICE MANAGER
Cindy Miskowiec
DIRECTOR OF SALES
Jenny Kamprath
HOMEGROWN CHEF
Thor Erickson
BEERLANDIA COLUMNIST
Jeremy Storton
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Cathy Carroll, Melissa Dalton, Joni Kabana, Julie Lee, Kerry Newberry, Daniel O’Neil, Ben Salmon, James Sinks, Grant Stringer
CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS
Traci Buck, Wayne Bund, Tambi Lane, Ty Milford, Kamrin Nielsen, Daniel O’Neil, Grant Ordelheide, Susan Seubert, Kerry Wetzel, Whitney Whitehouse
CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS
Cate Andrews, Sophie Barlow, Aliya Domash
Headquarters
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1627 NE 3rd St. Suite 300 Bend, OR 97701
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JULY | AUGUST 2024
1859 OREGON’S MAGAZINE 9
FROM THE
EDITOR
TWO OF Oregon’s top summer pastimes are duly noted herein—hitting the Oregon Coast and sipping Oregon wine. Our special insert goes right to the heart of the matter of Oregon (and Washington) wine. As an adult trying to learn how to slow down and mimic what others my age are doing, I’m auditing behavior on how to embody gratitude. There may be nothing more compelling in that realm than living among the world’s best winemakers who create extra-terrestrial vintages from rich soils and challenging weather profiles every year. Summer is when many of us find time to visit wineries due to busy schedules the other three seasons. However, all of these venues are far better beginning in September, when parents of school-age kids probably emit actual gratitude. Tear out our wine publication and find the late summer and fall wine events to put on your calendar this year. One small region in the northeast corner of Oregon is gaining recognition for good, distinct wines, in no small part due to Frenchman Christophe Baron. Baron had been involved in the wine industry in several countries before coming to Oregon. He wistfully sought a plantable area that looked like that of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, France. A friend of his made the connection
10 1859 OREGON’S MAGAZINE JULY | AUGUST 2024
and immediately brought him to the fledgling winegrowing area in Milton-Freewater in the northeast corner of Oregon. Bionic Wines was born. Read about Mssr. Baron’s challenges and triumphs on page 60. More French illuminati live on top of Oregon coastal lighthouses in the form of beautiful Fresnel lenses. No fewer than four Oregon Coast lighthouses harbor the Fresnel (fray-nel) lens today—Cape Meares Lighthouse outside of Oceanside, Heceta Head Lighthouse south of Yachats, Umpqua River Lighthouse in Reedsport and Cape Blanco Lighthouse in Port Orford. Turn to Adventure on page 80 to inspire your Oregon Coast lighthouse road trip. Another phenomenon I can learn to exhibit gratitude for are the beautiful tufted puffins that return to Cannon Beach’s Haystack Rock every summer. In our Gallery on page 70, your heart will be warmed and your curiosity piqued as you see and read about these majestic birds. Make a weekend out of it and book the renovated Surfsand Resort, a coast classic and the subject of our Lodging profile on page 84. If gratitude can be found anywhere, it’s in life’s nectar. Slow down and appreciate the smooth rye and apricot cocktail from Amaterra in Portland (recipe, page 29) called Golden Nectar. Cheers!
1859 ONLINE More ways to connect with your favorite Oregon content www.1859oregonmagazine.com | #1859oregon | @1859oregon
HAVE A PHOTO THAT SHOWS OFF YOUR OREGON EXPERIENCE? Share it with us by filling out the Oregon Postcard form on our website. If chosen, you’ll be published here. www.1859oregon magazine.com/postcard photo by Ross Steensland Roseburg’s Fourth of July fireworks display fills the sky last summer.
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JULY | AUGUST 2024
1859 OREGON’S MAGAZINE
11
Daniel O’Neil
NOTEBOOK 14 FOOD + DRINK 20 FARM TO TABLE 24 HOME + DESIGN 32 ARTIST IN RESIDENCE 40
pg. 40 Duncan Berry focuses on his art and connections with the Oregon Coast.
A Riverside Paradise Between Portland & Salem This magical place has served as a cultural crossroads since long before Oregon was even Oregon. Its quiet locale was easily accessible by boat or by trail, drawing people together for centuries. Today, we know this spot as Champoeg State Park.
History Preserved Champoeg holds a unique place in Oregon history. It was here that white settlers came together and, in 1849, established Oregon’s first provisional government. While the historic village of Champoeg is gone, the story of the area and its importance are preserved and on display in Champoeg’s Visitor Center. Exhibits honor the people and cultures that have shaped this landscape, from the Kalapuya Indians to fur trappers to the settlers who built the town.
Champoeg Transformed But it’s not just history that makes Champoeg shine — so many activities and attractions await! Campers can pitch a tent, park an RV, or treat themselves to a stay in a yurt. Visitors can enjoy a riverside stroll or bike the park’s many paved trails. A worldclass disc golf course has a fan base all its own. And no trip to Champoeg would be complete without a stop at the nearby historic Butteville Store (also operated by Oregon State Parks) for their famous ice cream.
Lottery Play Helps Support Our State Parks Thanks to funds generated by Oregon Lottery play, along with user and RV license fees, the Oregon State Park system operates without tax dollars. Whether you visit Champoeg or any of the more than 250 parks, historic sites or recreation areas managed by Oregon State Parks, your lottery play helps support your outdoor play!
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Tidbits + To-dos written by Cathy Carroll Nancy’s Yogurt The new organic yogurt pouches from Nancy’s Yogurt are great for summer jaunts with kids. They’re from probiotic food pioneers Sue and Chuck Kesey, who opened Springfield Creamery in 1960. The cultured yogurt is linked to local hippie culture, too. Chuck once asked the Grateful Dead, old friends of his brother, author Ken Kesey, to help keep Springfield Creamery afloat. The Grateful Dead did, playing to 20,000 in tiny Veneta for a 1972 show memorialized in the film Sunshine Daydream.
Little Bees Candles
www.nancysyogurt.com
www.littlebeeswaxcandles.com
It may be difficult to go ahead and burn that candle of a laughing Buddha, but Little Bees Candles of Eugene ensures it’s good karma. The candles are designed to be long lasting and clean burning. Owners Katie and Matt Glyer make the hand-poured creations using only beeswax from Northwest family farms. Any aroma comes from the flowers the bees frequent. The morel mushroom and howling wolf candles are two of the other most popular creations.
Namaste Vineyards’ Truffles and Tasting Space What is more luscoius than a dark chocolatehazelnut truffle? Ones made with 2020 Reserve Cuvée pinot noir from Namaste Vineyards of Dallas. The vineyard also produces chardonnay, riesling and gewürztraminer as well as pinot noirs. Sip one while savoring a rich truffle at their new bar, an airy, barn-like space with a fireplace and views of the vineyards, established in the 1980s. www.namaste vineyards.com
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Summer Concerts in Bend Sunsets over the Cascade Range and the music of the Deschutes River meld with the sounds of major acts at the Hayden Homes Amphitheater in Bend’s Old Mill District. Summer shows include: The Avett Brothers, July 14; Neil Young & Crazy Horse, July 25; Stray Cats, July 28; Gipsy Kings featuring Nicolas Reyes, August 4; St. Vincent and Spoon, August 8; and Trampled by Turtles, August 9. www.bendconcerts.com
Old Mill District
CAmark LE you ND r AR
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Barista Warrior Unleash your inner barista with the pour-over kettle from Barista Warrior of Portland. While pouring, enjoy the aesthetics of copper-coated stainless steel and a gooseneck spout for precise water flow. The thermometer set in the lid lets you know when the water temperature reaches 195 to 205 degrees, the perfect brewing temperature to unlock the full depth of flavors from coffee, without burning it. www.baristawarrior.com
JULY | AUGUST 2024
1859 OREGON’S MAGAZINE
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Musician
Love and Loss
Yaara Valey
creativity and also typical “life gets in the way” kind of stuff—Morris wrote and reJulian Morris offers up corded in between work shifts and graduate school—the album’s content actually the catchy and melancholic evolved throughout its gestation process. Massive Leaning “It started as kind of a more conventional breakup record. And because I was written by Ben Salmon breaking up with a partner I’d been with for about six years, there’s plenty of the shock and grief of that on the album,” he said. “And, I mean, it took me four and a half years to make it, so there’s also kind of this other thing happening, which is what grows out of that place of loss.” Thematically, Massive Leaning is a nonlinear journey from frustration, pain and sorrow to clarity, renewal and hope for brighter days ahead. Sonically, it’s a collection of classic indie-pop earworms, shaded with an ever-present sense of melancholy and stuffed to the gills with interesting sounds (pedal steel guitar, clarinet) and irresistible hooks. Put it all together, and you end up with a sort of timeless songwriting style that recalls great pop artists like Paul Simon, Portland’s own Elliott Smith and contemporary West Coast underground hero Stephen Steinbrink. Morris moved to Portland in 2008 for college, eventually finding his way to the DIY music scene and playing in rock bands with other people. In 2015, he decided to medically transition—Morris is a trans man—and started taking hormones, which changed his voice and forced him to spend a year or two re-learning how to sing. After a series of EPs, the first Layperson fullJulian Morris finds hope and a musical place after loss. length, The Divide, came out in 2019. Massive Leaning is a more fully realized work, with more elaborate instrumental arrangements and rich, warm production, LAYPERSON’S Julian Morris doesn’t necessarily sit down to despite the fact that it was recorded largely by Morris, alone write a new record. Instead, he waits for a new record to form at home. around him. “It was a pretty solitary reListen on Spotify “I’m always writing songs, and the albums that I end up writ- cord for as big and full as it is,” ing are just collections of the ones that I feel like really want to he said. “I think I was making be put out and shared,” Morris said in an interview. “It’s not, the songs I needed to hear to get ‘This is the album, so let me find the songs that will fit in this through the things I was expenarrative.’ It’s more like, ‘This is a span of time in my life, and riencing, so I feel like it got big here are these various songs I’ve written during this time.’” because I wanted something big Sometimes, that span of time is particularly long. Take, for to play back and listen to. There example, Layperson’s latest: Massive Leaning, released last No- was something about it that was vember via the Portland-based independent labels Lung Re- comforting and fit what I was cords and Bud Tapes. Thanks to the natural ebb and flow of feeling at the time.” 16
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Kobold - The Vault Taphouse
AND STAY! Punctuate d with spectacula r places and surprises to uncover, Redmond is a hub of good times and unexpecte d finds in Central Oregon! Where to Stay
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Denise’s deep philosophical musings and hilarious malapropisms make her a very unique Oregonian documentary subject. John Cameron Mitchell (writer, director and star of the 2001 film Hedwig and the Angry Inch) recorded the narration for our film. We met him when he was in town filming (the TV series) Shrill. James Westby (left) aims his wickedly witty lens on an audacious local character, Oregon’s Denise Chanterelle DuBois (right).
Cinephile
Oh, Westby! Indie-film master James Westby wraps up Oh, Denise! interview by Cathy Carroll
PORTLAND-BASED James Westby writes, directs and edits independent films that are laced with laughs and a dose of discomfort. His forthcoming Oh, Denise!, due out this fall, promises to be at once a quirky, raucous and heartfelt documentary following Oregon’s Denise Chanterelle DuBois on her outrageous path to womanhood. Westby’s features include the documentary At the Video Store starring Bill Hader and John Waters, as well as the narrative comedies Rid of Me, The Auteur and Film Geek. show people what a raconteur she Tell us about your upcoming film, is. When Denise retired to BrookOh, Denise!. ings after cannabis was legalized, I I met Denise Chanterelle DuBois in 2005 when she was a cannabis dealer decided to start filming her telling here in Portland (she delivered!) and these often tawdry stories to the she had just transitioned a few years little old ladies in her retirement earlier, at age 49. Whenever I would community, and see where that see Denise, she would share little tidwould lead. Soon after, Denise was bits from her past—just crazy stories cast in a local theater production of the off-Broadway musical from juvenile delinquency MORE ONLINE comedy Nunsense, which in Wisconsin to shootouts, Check out the Oh, Denise! tapped into her distant prison time, serial killers trailer at www.filmsbyjames past at Catholic school, so in early-’80s San Diego. westby.com/oh-denise I filmed the whole thing Denise is almost twenty behind the scenes, and that producyears older than me, but we hit it off tion became a big part of Oh, Denise! immediately and have remained very and so has the ridiculously quaint close friends. Back then, I cast her town of Brookings. in two of my narrative feature films, I am a meticulous—some would The Auteur and Rid of Me, which both say slow—editor, and this film, with premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. hundreds of hours of footage, has The impetus for Oh, Denise! was wanting to, at the very least, taken on a kind of ethereal, poetic quality—not to get too pretentious! archive these stories of hers and 18 1859 OREGON’S MAGAZINE JULY | AUGUST 2024
How does living in Portland influence your work? I like the mellow vibe of a lot of the people here, and participating in it. I enjoy planning movies and commercials around locations in Portland that I know or discover. Musician friends like Laura Gibson and Jim Brunberg and fellow filmmakers Mischa Webley and Alberta Poon are particular inspirations, although those two are both moving to L.A.. I am a member of Desert Island Studios, an exciting new outfit that facilitates independent filmmaking probably better than any other local entity before. Pretty much all the things I obsess over are here: 35mm presentations at the Hollywood Theatre, physical media (such as VHS tapes) at Movie Madness. Did I tell you I like movies? Ground Kontrol and QuarterWorld (vintage arcade bars) are my other top haunts. I spend a lot of time hanging out with my three daughters, and over the years, we’ve made many silly comedies here together. My 9-yearold, Cleo, is probably the funniest person I know. We go grocery shopping together a lot and people-watching at the Clackamas Town Center and Lloyd Center mall—yes, I love malls. And the parks! Laurelhurst, Tabor, Leach Botanical Garden. I live east of the 205 and am particularly inspired by Kelly Butte, a perfect example of an urban neighborhood with immediate access to hiking and trees. Finally, the food here in Portland is very good—duh—and that just might inspire me more than anything.
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Beerlandia
Oregon Culture and the Beer That Fuels It written by Jeremy Storton | illustration by Sophie Barlow
Photo: Carter Hiyama
IN THE FALL of 1993, I walked into Deschutes Brewery for the first time. Bend was a sleepy mountain town of about 15,000 people with a well-known ski mountain. The microbrewing fad had traction, but momentum was a few years off. Still, I was intrigued that Deschutes was a place where one could get beer with color and flavor, and not some giant factory pumping out industrial liquid widgets. In the early 1980s, Widmer, Bridgeport, Portland and McMenamins brewing companies pushed the legislation that would allow breweries to sell beer directly to consumers, thus breaking down the barrier between artisan and consumer. In doing so, they also showed us how to redefine ourselves through better beer experiences. In California, circa 1976, when the seeds that would grow into the craft beer movement were sprouting roots, the
Cocktail Card recipe courtesy of Quintin Scalfaro, The Love Shack / PORTLAND
Somewhere Over the Rainbow
“Judgement of Paris” informed the world that the American West Coast was a force to reckon with. The ideas started rippling northward—if we could make world class wine, then why not beer? And why not bread, cheese or chocolate? Oregon wines now occupy the upper shelves. Blue cheese made in Southern Oregon recently won best cheese in the world … again. Oregon beer and breweries routinely take home medals from the World Beer Cup. We may not see it, but we live in the center of the cutting edge of global craft beer culture. It seems to me that who we are informs our sense of culture. In return, our culture helps influence who we are. But how should we define this culture? And what exactly does that make us? Frankly, I think the answer lies somewhere at the bottom of my world-class Oregon pint. Cheers.
• 11/2 ounces hibiscus-infused • 1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice bourbon (we use Smith Tea’s • 1/2 ounce grenadine (we Big Hibiscus tea for our recommend Liber & Co.) infusion) • 1 dash Angostura bitters • 1/2 ounce fresh orange juice • 1 slice orange or blood • 1/2 ounce fresh pineapple juice orange, for garnish Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add all ingredients except the orange slice to the shaker, and mix thoroughly. Strain, and serve in a coupe. Garnish with a thin slice of orange or blood orange.
20 1859 OREGON’S MAGAZINE JULY | AUGUST 2024
Eat! Drink! Polka! September 12-15, 2024
Mount Angel Oktoberfest is grateful to our sponsors:
Bark Boys
Shuttles available from Portland and Salem. See website for details.
www.oktoberfest.org Mount Angel, Oregon
Photos, from top: Stoller Wine Group, Del Munroe
food + drink
CRAVINGS:
SCENIC SUMMER S’MORES THE DRIFTHAVEN AT GEARHART From the moment you arrive to sleepy and charming Gearhart, one of the coast’s under-the-radar beach towns, time slows down. Head to The Drifthaven, a nostalgic retreat set a short walk from the town’s tranquil beaches for suites with seainspired decor and amenities. In addition to beach cruisers and plein air painting supplies, the hotel offers bonfire and s’mores kits that include a wagon full of firewood, comfy chairs, a blanket and classic s’mores ingredients. 67 N. COTTAGE AVE. GEARHART www.thedrifthaven.com
BRASADA RANCH ABOVE The inaugural Pacific Northwest Eggfest will take place at Stoller Family Estate in July. AT RIGHT Mary Cressler and Sean Martin of Vindulge.
Gastronomy
Vindulge and Stoller Host First Pacific Northwest Eggfest written by Kerry Newberry OVER THE past decade, the duo behind Vindulge, a barbecue and beverage tour de force, has dreamed up and tested hundreds of recipes to help home cooks up their grilling and dinner party game. In addition to writing their popular culinary website and touring for events, Mary Cressler and Sean Martin co-authored Fire + Wine, a convivial cookbook packed with seventyfive wood-fired and wine-paired recipes that range from a hearty smoked poblano mac and cheese to umami-packed pulled mushroom sliders. In July, you can meet the husband-and-wife team at the first Stoller Pacific Northwest Eggfest, an event they are spearheading along with Stoller Family Estate. The immersive culinary experience celebrates the legendary Big Green Egg grill and brings a mix of celebrity chefs to wine country including Food Network Tournament of Champions semifinalist Britt Rescigno with Kinsey Leodler from Communion Bay Supper Club (Idaho), Chris Williams from Roy’s Grille (South Carolina), Eddy Frisk from Colorado BBQ (Colorado) and Jason Johnson from BBQ Artist (Seattle). For more information and to buy tickets for the July 6 food and wine feast, visit www.stollerfamilyestate.com/events. 22 1859 OREGON’S MAGAZINE JULY | AUGUST 2024
For s’mores with a chance of shooting stars, Brasada Ranch can’t be beat. Set in the high desert landscape about 20 miles from Bend, this luxury retreat elevates the typical s’mores kits with housemade graham crackers and marshmallows artfully arranged. It’s a nightly tradition to gather around one of the resort’s countless fire pits where you can catch a pink sky sunset and then pinpoint constellations across the expansive night sky. 16986 SW BRASADA RANCH ROAD BEND www.brasada.com
THE VINTAGES TRAILER RESORT At this cheery glamping retreat in the heart of wine country, you’ll find a stylish collection of vintage Airstreams, trailers and caravans from the ’40s, ’50s and ’60s. The breezy decor and playful amenities—from cruiser bikes to a seasonal pool—evoke an adult summer camp. Add-on packages enhance this vibe with a flock of flamingos for your trailer’s front lawn and a campfire kit that pairs the resort’s signature pinot noir with treats from 1927 S’mores Company. 16205 SE KREDER ROAD DAYTON www.the-vintages.com
BEST PLACES FOR
ROAD TRIPWORTHY FARM STANDS
Photos: Carter Hiyama
food + drink
DUNBAR FARMS A sense of community thrives at this fourth-generation family farm that started as a pear orchard and expanded to grow wine grapes, organic produce and grains. Pre-order to pick up a collection of what’s in season on Fridays all summer long. Or swing by the Honor Barn (open daily and located on the front porch of the tasting room) where you’ll find home-grown delights that range from farm-fresh eggs and freshly baked focaccia to flowers and organic veggies. 2881 HILLCREST ROAD MEDFORD www.dunbarfarms.com
BROOKS WINERY Soak up the summer hours in wine country at Brooks, where you can pair wines with a tasting menu that features ingredients grown in their estate garden (think dishes like spring pea soup and broccolilemon hummus). On your way out, stock up at the tree-shaded farm stand where the daily selection includes just-harvested organic veggies, herbs and flowers along with honey from the estate hives, eggs from the free-ranging chickens and herbal tea blends.
Dining
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT Cozy booths and good service at Love Shack. Custom steel bar carts are part of Love Shack’s dim sum vibe. Expect creative and beautiful cocktails, too.
The Love Shack written by Kerry Newberry
Add this stop to your coastal road trip at the peak of summer. Located on Sunset Highway 26, this stunning, 40-acre culinary farm opens to the public the second week of July for a short season of u-pick blueberries and other summer highlights like heirloom tomatoes, leafy basil and peppers. Everything is grown in the fields or the 5,000-square-foot, solar-powered greenhouse. On weekends, you’ll find live music, snacky bites and rotating farm partners.
WHEN YOU WANT your night out to feel like a vacation dinner, Portland’s new Love Shack tops the list. Soon after opening this year, the cocktail bar from the team behind the beloved and veg-focused G-Love had lines snaking around the block—a trend that will only spread with the launch of its summer lounge that brings beachy vibes to Slabtown with sun loungers, cabana umbrellas, modular outdoor couches and a colossal palm tree MORE INSIDE that joyfully says welcome to the party. (Cue the cat-eye Try The Love Shack’s sunglasses and caftans.) Somewhere Over the Rainbow cocktail The tropic-inspired interiors include a palm-covered parecipe on pg. 20 lapa and lush, leafy wallpaper that has serious Palm Royale vibes. Both seating areas offer the signature service dreamed up by chef and owner Garrett Benedict, which has servers gliding between tables with custom-designed steel bar carts topped with mini cocktails and bite-sized apps. “I’ve always loved dim sum-style restaurants and thought it would be cool to apply that concept to a cocktail bar,” said Benedict. Bring a crowd so you can order one of everything, from the tasty wonton fish tacos and tangy pickled onion rings to celery root falafel and fried bao buns topped with crab. Other standouts include a nostalgic mini Chicago dog served with a mini pickled pepper martini and a flight of fries (standard cut, curly and waffle). After each app arrives, your bingo card-style menu gets a stamp. “I wanted to create something fun but also interactive,” said Benedict. “And being able to see reactions up close—everyone’s having a blast.”
22330 NW FISHER ROAD BANKS www.publiccoastbrewing.com
1645 NW 21ST AVE. PORTLAND www.theloveshackpdx.com
21101 SE CHERRY BLOSSOM LANE AMITY www.brookswine.com
PUBLIC COAST FARM
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farm to table
Farm to Table
Oregon Apricots Growing conditions may be suboptimal for apricots, but the small crop is revered written by Julie Lee | photography by Traci Buck
A CLOSE RELATIVE of peaches, almonds, plums and cherries, apricots have an enthusiastic following. Apricots have been grown and consumed for centuries, and while most people are familiar with just one varietal, there are fifty varieties in the market. There are contradicting claims as to their origin, and while the scientific name, Prunus armeniaca, links apricots to Armenia, others argue Persia (modern Iran), India or China is where they were first cultivated. Turkey is by far today’s biggest producer of the almost forty nations globally growing apricots. Apricot trees at Valley View Orchard in Ashland. Cherries, apples, pears and peaches are also grown at Valley View.
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A health superfood, dried apricots have the same nutritional power as fresh fruit, and if anything, dried apricots lean a little fuller in antioxidants, minerals and fiber. Just three dried apricots pack the punch of 20 percent of daily fiber and potassium requirements, and apricots aid digestive systems while potentially reducing bowel cancer risk. The beta carotene in apricots makes them a notable source of carotenoid, helping protect eyes from age-related damage. And while this myth has since been largely debunked, it was thought in the sixteenth century that apricots had aphrodisiac qualities, which was even referenced by Shakespeare in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. There are orchard properties in Oregon that have been producing apricots since the turn of the century, and one of those prized orchards is Valley View Orchard in Ashland. Kathy and Tim O’Leary are now the owners of the old property, which was planted before 1900. “Our earliest records of business go back to 1920, and that’s probably because it’s when they started keeping records,” said Kathy. Cherries and pears were planted first at Valley View, originally owned by the Wagner family, also known for
farm to table
Tim and Kathy O’Leary purchased the Valley View Orchard property in 2000.
Wagner Butte and Wagner Creek in Ashland. They were a pioneering family according to Kathy, with a few successional generations running the farm before selling. The O’Learys purchased the property in 2000, and at the time, the farm was ripe with apples, peaches, cherries, pears and apricots. The farm had and still has a purpose behind it—making sure the local community has delicious fruit to be gathered or delivered. The O’Learys pride themselves on continuing the upick farm stand, a long-running tradition where families have enjoyed picking fruit for themselves. When Covid hit, the farm spun to a membership-driven operation. “People could come get a box of fresh fruit, which we would put directly into the back of their cars, and it became a very popular way to get our fruit,” Kathy said. “You could also order online for the first time. Both (services) we kept going post-Covid times, though people were pretty excited to be able to come back in person.” While they’ve had a couple employees since the very beginning, they also hire high school and college students to help in summers when business heats up. “We like to make it a place that employees want to stay year to year, and customers want to visit year to year,” she said. Kathy and her husband planted five kinds of grapes on some unused land when they first purchased the orchard, making inroads
for an eventual winery and tasting room. They also moved the orchard to an organic environment, achieving certification in 2002. At first, the O’Learys would sell their grapes to other wineries. However, in 2018, they built a tasting room on the property, which required a lot of changes, including building out a road, building a shed and taking down a barn. With sustainability being at the forefront for the couple, they were thoughtful in their reuse of materials, using old barn wood for furniture, old wood in the tasting room and old pillars incorporated into a deck. Scrap materials were even used to create bluebird houses. Apricots generally are ripe and ready for the Fourth of July holiday, making them an early summer treat. While the O’Learys enjoy growing apricots, it’s not because it’s easy work. “Apricots don’t generally grow well here,” Kathy said. “They are happiest in the Bay Area where there is more heat and less frost. For us, when we get apricots, when it hits, they are glorious! We are on watch every year to see if they are coming in or not. In a bad year, we’ll still get maybe 100 pounds, and we make our apricot-Meyer lemon jam with them.” Kathy enjoys fresh apricots best. “Nothing is better than an apricot fresh from a tree,” she said. “They are sunwarmed in your hand when you pick them. They have a lovely aroma. It’s a heavenly experience—like an orange glow everywhere. It’s just beautiful.” JULY | AUGUST 2024
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farm to table
When sent to market, apricots are generally greener and then ripen in the grocery stores, which, Kathy said, is a different experience from eating them fresh. “Fresh fruit is just awesome. We’ll serve apricots on our charcuterie boards in the wine-tasting room, and people really love them. We also freeze them, which customers love to come and get.” By mid-May of each year, generally the last of what could be days with frost, the O’Learys immediately get bees out into the orchard as the apricot trees bloom, providing all the needed pollination. What are the challenges of farming? “That is a long list!” Kathy said, laughing. “But the challenges are probably not unique to us. Farming involves taking lots of risks—with weather, insects, the health of crops and the market. Being organic, we must follow the life cycle of certain pests. Fruit falls in and out of favor. Take apples, for example. We worry that what we are growing may not be in vogue by the time it’s ready. It’s all a very handson experience.” Annie Maslen of Annie’s Apricots, a small, family-run farm with just 1 acre for trees, concurs weather is one of the biggest challenges farmers face, with a fear of frost settling in each year. “A swing in temperature causes real issues,” said Maslen. “Frost can knock blooms off, and then we’ll never have a full crop because of it. We generally run at about 50 percent of crop (capacity). It’s not always profitable, but it’s definitely rewarding.” Annie’s Apricots started in the mid-’80s and sits very visibly on Highway 30 in the Columbia Gorge. The size of their farm means the demand annually exceeds supply, and while she enjoys growing apricots, “they don’t grow well in The Dalles,” Maslen said. “They belong in the southern parts of our state.” For Maslen, the joy in farming apricots comes from “meeting people and forming a whole new base of future customers and friends. That’s the main reason I do it.” Kathy agreed. “There is nothing more fulfilling than seeing the crops come in and sharing the experience of picking fruit with younger generations,” she said. “I have a great story from several years ago. A young child came in to pick apples with his mom. When they were checking out, the mom said, ‘Why don’t we pick a few more apples from these bins?’ The child threw himself on the ground saying, ‘I only want the ones from the tree!’ It’s those heartwarming experiences that make farming worth it. The ‘tree kind’ is always the best.” Pair those farm-fresh apricots with some fresh blackberries and spicy field greens to make a favorite dish from Amaterra’s executive chef, Jami Flatt—a bright and tangy pistachio pistou apricot salad. “When it comes to Oregon’s bounty, especially stonefruit, simplicity is best to highlight what our amazing farmers and Mother Nature have already provided for us,” Flatt said. Fourth of July is a great time for cocktails, and Amaterra bartender Taylor Pante has that covered with her Golden Nectar cocktail. And that infamous apricot-Meyer lemon jam recipe referenced earlier is available to make at home, from Valley View Orchard’s Kathy O’Leary. 26 1859 OREGON’S MAGAZINE JULY | AUGUST 2024
ABOVE, FROM TOP Valley View Orchard also sells housemade jams and honey from their on-site hives. The beginnings of apricots at Valley View Orchard in May. The property’s orchards were originally planted before 1900.
Experience new comer life on the Oregon Trail through interpretive programs, exhibitions, and special events. Easy access to historic Oregon Trail paths carved by wagons and four miles of trails featuring natural history and mining of Eastern Oregon. Hours of Operation Summer 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM | DAILY Fall/Spring 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM | DAILY Winter 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM | Thurs-Sun Hours of operation may be impacted by severe weather events.
Please call 541-523-1843 or visit oregontrail.blm.gov for questions in planning your visit. A recreation fee is charged: children 15 and under admitted free. America the Beautiful Federal Recreational Passes accepted. TravelBakerCounty.com Distance from: 5 mi. Baker City, OR 95 mi. Pendleton, OR I-84, Exit 302 127 mi. Boise, ID 2267 OR HWY 86 Portland, OR 304 mi. Baker City, OR 97814 Salt Lake City, UT 465 mi.
farm to table
Oregon Recipes
Local Apricot Summer Staples Market Apricots and Blackberries with Pistachio Pistou and Spicy Greens Amaterra / PORTLAND Executive chef Jami Flatt SERVES 1 FOR THE PISTACHIO PISTOU Makes 1 pint • 1 cup pistachios • 1 garlic clove • 1 teaspoon kosher salt • 1 bunch parsley, finely chopped, including stems • 1/4 cup mint leaves • 1 orange, zested and juiced • 1 lemon, zested and juiced • 1/4 teaspoon red chili flakes • 3/4 cup pure olive oil
Market Apricots and Blackberries with Pistachio Pistou and Spicy Greens from Amaterra.
FOR THE SALAD • 2 ripe market apricots • 1/2 cup fresh blackberries • 1 handful of your favorite spicy greens FOR THE PISTACHIO PISTOU Toast pistachios in a pre-heated 350-degree oven for 6 minutes. Remove and allow to cool to room temperature. In a food processor, blend half of the pistachios, garlic and salt until finely chopped. Next, add parsley, mint, orange zest and juice, and lemon zest and juice, and blend until just combined. Place the remaining half of the pistachios onto a cutting board. Using a small saucepan, gently crush the pistachios until broken into shards. Add the crushed pistachios, red chili flakes and pure olive oil to the food processor, and pulse to combine. Adjust the seasoning with additional salt and lemon juice. FOR THE SALAD Layer apricots, blackberries and spicy greens, and drizzle pistachio pistou over the top, to taste.
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Apricot Meyer Lemon Jam
Add apricots to a pot to cook down over medium heat. Add lemon juice and zest. Maintain a rolling boil for 20 minutes. MAKES 13 8-OUNCE JARS Add 1/4 cup reserved sugar to pectin, mix thoroughly and add to the pot. • 4 pounds fresh or frozen apricots, Slowly add remaining 3 cups of sugar. stone removed Return to a rolling boil, then com• 1/2 cup Meyer lemon juice with zest mence water bath canning. Follow water • 3¼ cups sugar, 1/4 reserved bath canning instructions per equip• 1 package Mrs. Wages sugar-free pectin ment and location. Valley View Orchard / ASHLAND Kathy O’Leary
Apricot Allure
Katrina Cantwell, Eugene mixologist SERVES 1
glassware of choice. Top with sparkling wine and dash with bitters. Garnish with dried Oregon apricots and a lemon wedge.
• 11/2 ounces Gompers Gin, or your gin of choice • 11/2 ounces Stone Barn Brandyworks apricot liqueur • 3/4 ounce fresh lemon juice • 2 ounces sparkling wine • 2-3 dashes of Angostura bitters • Dried apricot wedge, for garnish • Lemon wedge, for garnish Combine the gin, liqueur and lemon juice in a shaker with ice, and stir vigorously. Strain the mixture over fresh ice in a bower glass or other cocktail
Katrina Cantwell’s Apricot Allure cocktail.
farm to table
Golden Nectar
Amaterra / PORTLAND Taylor Pante SERVES 1 • 1 ounce Rittenhouse Rye • 1 ounce apricot liqueur • ½ ounce Cinzano Rosso • ¼ ounce Lillet Rosé • 2 dashes Angostura bitters • 2 dashes West Indian orange bitters Pour all ingredients into a mixing glass, add ice, stir until cold and strain into a chilled coupe.
The Golden Nectar cocktail from Amaterra.
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Homegrown Chef
The Fruits of Our Labor written by Thor Erickson photography by Tambi Lane
“YO, WHAT are you doing on your day off?” the sous chef Carlos asked from the other side of the stove. “We’re all going to the beach. You should come with us.” He said quickly before I could answer: “We’re bringing a picnic.” “I’m in!” I responded excitedly without hesitation. I knew from prior experience that you never turn down an invitation to a picnic prepared by chefs on their day off. The next morning, we met at the restaurant. Coolers and boxes of food were loaded into one vehicle, while people and pets loaded into others. The hour or so drive to our destination went by quickly, and we diligently unloaded our gear and set out for a quick (and cold) dip in the Pacific. Soon it was time to eat. The boxes were unpacked, and the coolers opened. “What’s for lunch”? asked Dale, the bartender. “Warm muffuletta sandwiches, fresh baguettes with pâté, pickled vegetables and chilled champagne,” he said with a large grin while handing out the still-steaming foil packages. “Followed by the best apricot tart you’ve ever had,” bragged the pastry chef, Emily. Corks popped, and people toasted the day as they soaked in the fresh air and sunshine. Later, Emily passed out her desserts. The petit apricot frangipane tarts were carefully wrapped in brown parchment and tied with red and white string. I placed my tart in my backpack and walked down the beach to watch the sunset. Perched on a log I gently unwrapped the confection. The apricots were the same color as the sun, and the filling like pillowy clouds around it. As I took my first bite, I started to laugh out loud. Emily was right— it was the best apricot tart I’ve ever had. Here’s the recipe. 30 1859 OREGON’S MAGAZINE JULY | AUGUST 2024
Apricot Frangipane Tartlets YIELDS 6 4-INCH TARTLETS FOR PÂTE SUCRÉE (SWEET PASTRY) • 4 ounces unsalted butter, soft, at room temperature • ¼ cup powdered sugar • 1 large egg, at room temperature • ¼ cup almond meal • 1 cup all-purpose flour • 1 pinch kosher salt
FOR ALMOND CREAM FILLING • 6 ounces unsalted butter, soft, at room temperature • 1.2 cups granulated sugar • 3 large eggs, at room temperature • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract • 1 cup almond meal FOR TOPPING • 4 small, ripe apricots
FOR PÂTE SUCRÉE In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, mix the soft butter and sugar on medium speed for a couple of minutes or until completely smooth. Add the egg and almond flour, and mix until well combined, stopping to scrape the sides of the bowl. Add sifted flour and salt, and mix on low speed, stopping as soon as a rough dough comes together. Divide the dough into 6 even pieces. Bring each piece together into a ball, place each ball between 2 small sheets of parchment paper and roll into an 8-inch disk that is about 1/4-inch thick. Place all the dough sheets on a pan, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Peel off the baking paper, and transfer each pastry over mini tart pans with removable bottoms. Gently press the pastry down into the corner of the tart tin to create a 90-degree angle. Cut off any excess with a small paring knife. Place back in the fridge, chill and rest for at least 1 hour. Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Dock the pastry (prick the bottom of the pastry with a fork), and place the pastry in the freezer while the oven is preheating. Par-bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until the bottom feels dry to the touch. Place on a wire rack and leave to cool completely. FOR ALMOND CREAM FILLING In the bowl of your stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the soft butter and sugar on medium speed for about 2 to 3 minutes, or until pale yellow, creamy and increased in volume. Mix in eggs one at a time and the vanilla extract until you get a smooth paste. Mix in the almond flour. You should get something that looks like a thick paste. Spread the almond cream into an even layer at the bottom of the 6 cooled, par-baked tart shells. TO FINISH Wash then cut the apricots in half, remove the pits and cut each apricot half into 4 slices. Gently press each apricot slice into the almond cream. I can usually fit 6 apricot slices into each tartlet. Bake at 325 degrees for 50 minutes, or until the almond filling is puffed and golden. Place on a wire rack to cool.
farm to table
Things learned at the beach— Homegrown Chef Thor Erickson’s apricot summer delight.
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home + design
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home + design
An odd, three-story, 1,500-squarefoot dwelling in Cape Meares became a renovated escape for one Portland family.
Home + Design
Base Camp
A Portland couple DIY the ultimate family retreat and rental for exploring Cape Meares written by Melissa Dalton photography by Ty Milford CAPE MEARES is a small village—population: 110—located in Tillamook County, sandwiched between bluff and lake, forest and sea, with a scenic viewpoint that’s popular for its 1889 lighthouse and a giant Sitka spruce shaped like an octopus. A scene it isn’t, which is just what the Milford family liked about it on their first trip there in 2018. “All the beach towns of Oregon kind of have their own flavor,” said Ty Milford, a Portland-based photographer, who first visited with his wife, Kelly, a high school counselor, and two children during spring break. “Cape Meares doesn’t have the resort feel of Cannon Beach or the fanfare of Rockaway or Seaside. It’s just a little more quaint, secluded and quiet.” That first visit was spontaneous, the destination chosen because a rental was available and it was a short drive from Portland. But while there, Ty and Kelly happened to walk by a unique house for sale. Built in 1998, its cedar shingles and white trim evoked something of the town’s original fishing shacks, but its 1,500-square-foot layout was stacked into three floors. When Ty and Kelly took a tour inside, they appreciated how that orientation garnered pretty views of the water from the middle floor living areas and the upstairs bedroom loft. They also liked the overall rustic, industrial vibe, via mesh metal railings and exposed wood trusses at the ceiling. After mulling it over for a few months, they decided to buy it and fix it up, acting as general contractors for the project. “It was not in disrepair, necessarily—it just felt sort of tired and dated, and unfinished in a way,” said Milford, who worked with a plumber, an electrician and a carpenter friend in Portland. Kelly and Ty had both worked as guides in the outdoor recreation industry for a decade, spending time in remote field camps and mountain ranges around the world, including Alaska and Antarctica. Their Cape Meares home would be a personalized base camp closer to their home in Portland, from which JULY | AUGUST 2024
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home + design
The second level is home to one big living area with a daring hammock and DIY chandelier.
“We wanted something where we could leave the busyness of daily life in Portland from time to time. Something that felt more like summer camp for our family, where we could spend a lot of time outside exploring and hanging out.” — Ty Milford, homeowner
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they could do all the activities they love, like paddleboarding and fishing the lake, hiking to the lighthouse or biking the Bayocean Peninsula. “We wanted something where we could leave the busyness of daily life in Portland from time to time,” said Milford. “Something that felt more like summer camp for our family, where we could spend a lot of time outside exploring and hanging out.” The remodel started with the downstairs bedroom, which was designated for the kids, but its moldy-smelling floor and sad beige walls meant “they just refused to sleep in that room,” said Milford. Working with a carpenter, they managed to squeeze in four bunk beds with storage for each mattress, replaced the flooring and swapped out the drywall for white-painted shiplap on the walls and ceiling. “We wanted to make it a space that the kids would be excited about,” said Milford. “But it worked a little too well, because now [as teenagers] it can be hard to get them out of that room.” The bathroom, mudroom and kitchen were also overhauled, including new radiant heat slate floors in the lower level and custom navy cabinets, quartz counters and tile backsplash in the latter. Using clever built-ins to maximize space was a priority throughout, such as in the living room’s sizable sectional, a
The best room in the house is the lofted bedroom with Pacific views. AT RIGHT, FROM TOP A slate floor in the mudroom makes cleanup easier. The Milfords made good use of space with kids’ bunk beds tucking into the first floor. An old inverted boat provided visual interest as a kitchen dropped ceiling.
banquette around the dining table and the loft’s queen bed, complete with canvas-covered headboard and storage below. All of these used reclaimed wood pulled from Portland houses slated for demolition. “My kids at that point in time were really into the Pirates of the Caribbean movies,” said Milford. “So, we were imagining that a wooden ship like the Black Pearl had run aground, and then they took the ship apart to build a base on land.” Elsewhere, the couple nodded to the nautical theme by curating a collection of unique vintage items off of Craigslist, Etsy and eBay, like the living room’s seascape paintings and a 1950s Penn Yan Car Topper boat suspended overhead, which the family takes out for paddles on the lake. A steamer trunk coffee table belonged to Ty’s grandfather, who was in the 10th Mountain Division in World War II, while the dining table chandelier was DIYed with reclaimed wood and hanging bulbs. They even hung a hammock over the couch for an unexpected mid-air nap spot. Since wrapping up the remodel in 2019, the family tries to visit once a month, and Ty and Kelly have opened up the home to visitors via Airbnb. “I think our favorite thing about Cape Meares is that you can oftentimes be the only people on the beach there,” said Milford. “And that is a pretty special thing.”
home + design
DIY
How to Design Pebble Mosaic Stepping Stones or Paths illustration by Aliya Domash
TRY THIS fun project to beautify a corner of your garden this summer. PICK PEBBLES Collect pebbles at a stone yard, riverbed or beach, or buy presorted bags. Add marbles or glass stones for sparkle. Spray the stones with water, and sort into buckets by color. Know that it is not permissible to collect natural materials from national or state parks. Don’t take too much from any one area, so as to lessen impact on the natural environment. Think of this as a long, slow part of the process meant to be done over many excursions. DESIGN Start with the exterior outline— will this be a stepping stone that can be moved when complete? Such shapes might include a 14-by-14-inch square, or an 18-inch diameter circle. Another option is to install the mosaic in place, in a pad or path. For the latter, mortar dries quickly, so consider installing the design in sections. Sketch ideas, anything from abstract wave forms to flowers and suns to spirals. Have fun with this! Practice laying out the design in sand. FORM AND PREP For a stepping stone, build a form with 2x4s cut to size and a plywood bottom. To install in place, create a level bed, about 5 to 6 inches deep. Line the edges with wood, or flexible garden edging, using nails or wood stakes to stabilize the latter. 36
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Pour in crushed gravel to about 2 inches deep, and compact it. MIX MORTAR AND POUR Once the mortar is mixed, it takes about an hour to set, so be ready. (Also, complete this project on cooler days, as mortar will set faster in summer sun.) Use only mortar mix, not concrete. With a wheelbarrow as the basin, wear a mask to mix one bag of mortar with water, according to bag instructions, to the consistency of thick pudding. Spray the crushed gravel bed with water. Pour mortar to a depth of at least a half-inch below the top edge of the form or sides. Reinforce the mortar bed with rebar or mesh, if desired. READY, SET, PLACE Set pebbles, pushing them into the mortar so they sink about an inch, or to halfway their size. Place larger rocks first, scooping away excess mortar as you go. When finished, place a piece of plywood over the top and gently press until the top surface is level. Wipe away extra mortar, and whisk stones gently with a wire brush. Let the installation cure for several days. Any leftover film on the rocks can be wiped with muriatic acid from the hardware store, but the acid must be handled carefully with the necessary safety equipment. Follow all manufacturer instructions when using. Give the final installation a final rinse with water to reveal your colorful new garden art.
(503) 755-8977 RBANW.COM/1859
OR Lic# 198571 | WA Lic# RENEWAP877BM
home + design
Nothing says summer like lazing about in a hammock, and this version from Lowe’s is a classic. The rope is a blend of cotton and polyester for durability, and the size is perfect for two people to sway together.
Get the Maritime Look
www.lowes.com
Blue and white are the go-to colors for the maritime look, and we like how they come together in this pillow from Serena & Lily. Made of 100 percent polyester that’s OEKO-TEX certified—and therefore free of harmful chemicals—it’s UV- and waterresistant, so it can also be used inside or out. www.serenaandlily.com
The indoor/outdoor Seabeck Cage Oval Bulkhead Sconce from Rejuvenation will look good flanking a bathroom mirror, illuminating a kid’s bunk or lighting up the back porch. Even though it recalls distant ships, the cast brass fixture and frosted prismatic shade are assembled right in Portland. www.rejuvenation.com 38
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When everyone’s scattered in summer explorations, ring this dinner bell to bring them inside for a meal. This 4-inch brass version from Schoolhouse is manufactured by a bell maker that’s been in the business since 1832, so you know it sounds good. www.schoolhouse.com
The music you need before you know you need it.
89.9FM allclassical.org
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artist in residence
ABOVE After making a gyotaku print, Oregon artist Duncan Berry spends many hours with brush and paint to bring his subject alive. AT RIGHT Overlooking the Salmon River estuary from his home, Berry is all reverence.
Family Portraitist With ink and paper, Duncan Berry honors interconnectedness on the Oregon Coast written and photographed by Daniel O’Neil DUNCAN BERRY stands overlooking the Salmon River estuary from his home on Cascade Head, just north of Lincoln City. To his left, the river wraps and meanders. To his right, the ocean awaits. He takes a deep breath and exhales mindfully. “If I’m lucky, nature will assimilate me,” he said. “I feel like I’ve lost my identity and need to be reassimilated by the world around me, into its rhythms, it dictating rather than me dictating.” On Cascade Head, Berry considers himself a fellow denizen of the animals and plants he portrays in ink, fed by the same sun, earth and rain. He calls his place-based art an active form of reverence, a collaboration between the forest, river, estuary, ocean and himself. “It’s reciprocal—I’m bringing something, and they’re bringing something,” he said. A designer by trade, Berry does not consider himself an artist. But his roots lie in art. Berry’s mother was a photographer for The Oregonian and the Associated Press. His father, Don, was a multidisciplinary master best known for his novel Trask. From commercial fishing captain to jewelry designer to self-confessed “captain of industry,” including becoming a leading purveyor of organic cotton and co-founding FishPeople, the world’s first B-Corp seafood company, Duncan Berry designed his career around art and nature. Yet try as he might, Berry still had not changed the world. So, about a decade ago, he took his wife’s advice and began focusing his energy and attention more locally. Ever since he and wife, Melany, met fifty-four years ago at Westwind camp, just across the estuary from 40 1859 OREGON’S MAGAZINE JULY | AUGUST 2024
artist in residence
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artist in residence
Cascade Head, that interface between land and sea has provided them with a sense of home. Nearly two decades ago, they purchased their current property, and Berry began to devote himself to that place. The Cascade Head Biosphere Region, Oregon’s only UNESCO-designated area of rare and diverse ecosystem habitats, covers just over 100,000 acres, including Berry’s perch. His surroundings provide him with more than adequate inspiration and material for his recently acquired artistic medium. On a long countertop in Berry’s studio sit a dozen or so of his finished gyotaku works of crabs, deep-sea fish, octopi, kelp, salmon, a cormorant and Sitka spruce. “These are my family portraits,” he said. “They’re actually all animals and plants from within 1 mile of here. On good days I feel like I’ve been adopted.” Gyotaku itself is an ancient practice—Europeans for centuries have inked plants and pressed their forms onto paper—but the Japanese version, which centers on caught fish, dates back 42 1859 OREGON’S MAGAZINE JULY | AUGUST 2024
FROM TOP A giant Pacific octopus unfortunately ended up in a crab trap, but Duncan Berry has used it to create archival-quality fine art. Like family portraits, Berry keeps a few of his “relations” on display in his studio.
only to the mid-1800s. For his subject matter, Berry clips native plants from Cascade Head, picks up feathers or respectfully retrieves dead animals, especially from the seashore. Or he’ll catch a salmon, make prints and eat the fish or return its whole body to the estuary. In his poem “i am salmon,” Berry writes from the perspective of the fish who gives its body as nourishment: and all we [salmon] ask in return is to honor our gift by making the work you do in the world extraordinary
me in my true home surrounded by my true family we who have come down here together where we ought to be giving and being given to in equal measure.
Artwork: Duncan Berry
Today, Berry’s gyotaku pieces bring sea, air and land creatures to life across the state and country. His exhibition Thanks Be to the Sea at the Oregon Coast Aquarium was initially programmed to show for six months, but its popularity extended its run another six years. “Part of my luck is I happen to get turned on by nature, and people like it,” Berry said. He’s glad about this because Berry believes humans need a deeper understanding of nature for people and planet to have a better future together. To help stimulate this reconnection, Berry applies gyotaku. Exhibitions at galleries and aquariums and the many handson gyotaku workshops he hosts allow Berry to convey the Biosphere’s, and the Earth’s, fragile and complex ecology—“Art to illuminate science,” he calls it. Berry’s neighbor, artist and biologist Frank Boyden, who in 1970 helped found the nearby Sitka Center for Art and Ecology, encourages this pursuit. “Duncan is learning to combine these things to produce a message which is greater than the print of the object. He has found that he can use this as a way of teaching a very large number of people.” Perhaps most importantly, Berry leads Biosphere-sponsored field classes for local second-graders. By helping school children explore their estuarine environment and make gyotaku prints of what they’ve found, Berry hopes to set the hook: “Maybe I’m being a little naive, but once you love something, you don’t have to be told to take care of it,” he said. Berry himself embodies this notion through his gyotaku art, restoring life to the plants and animals that he uses as subjects. On Cascade Head, and on planet Earth, Berry and nature are not separate. His art, and his poem “all my relations,” remind us that this relationship applies to all living beings:
The human and the natural worlds remain inseparable in Duncan Berry’s works. Berry makes gyotaku prints from whatever he finds near Cascade Head on the Oregon Coast.
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Rankin Renwick
STARTUP 46 WHAT I’M WORKING ON 48 MY WORKSPACE 50 GAME CHANGER 52
pg. 50 Rankin Renwick’s art takes many forms and platforms.
Fossils, cast skeletons, games, and more — explore paleontology’s fiercest family tree this summer at OMSI!
OMSI.EDU
startup
Amplifying the Outdoors Mentors at outdoor startup accelerator Bend Outdoor Worx are creating a buzz and spinning out new companies written by Grant Stringer | illustration by Cate Andrews CHRISTIE DOBSON knows a thing or two about the outdoor industry—both as an athlete and entrepreneur. The Bend local has traveled the U.S. as a professional whitewater kayaker with sponsors like Smith Optics and Patagonia, sending rivers from the glacier-fed Pacific Northwest to her native Tennessee. When her body had had enough—it’s a gnarly job, after all—Dobson landed herself work at Patagonia and then with the founding team of a scrappy watersports startup. When it comes to outdoor businesses, “I’ve seen it done well, I’ve seen it done terrible—I’ve seen it all,” Dobson said. She is now one of a team of entrepreneurial leaders who are mentoring the next generation of outdoor business founders through Bend Outdoor Worx. It’s an outdoor startup “accelerator,” in which Dobson and her colleagues guide small groups of entrepreneurs and help them get their business idea 46 1859 OREGON’S MAGAZINE JULY | AUGUST 2024
off the ground—in some cases, before they’ve even launched their product. The startup incubator has raised more than $200 million in revenue and helped guide about thirty businesses, most of which are still operating, according to Dobson. They include Cairn, a subscription service that shipped customers fresh boxes of outdoor gear and food, which sold to Outside Inc. in 2021; Broke Supply Company, which makes beautiful, bespoke horse saddles; and Robert Axle Project, a design and machining firm of bicycle-trailer axles for those who prefer to adventure by bike. Dobson and her colleagues select up to five entrepreneurs each year for Bend Outdoor Worx, who form a cohort that usually begins meeting in February. The program asks tough questions of its mentees up front, she says, to prevent uncertainty down the road. Everything from a business’s marketing to its budget is put under the microscope. “These are things that, unless you’re a business person, you don’t know,” Dobson said. And unlike other startup accelerators—of which there are many—Bend Outdoor Worx also prepares entrepreneurs for the emotional realities of running their business. The program involves steady mentorship even after a student graduates. “As an entrepreneur, you can lose your mind. How do you prevent that from happening?” Dobson said. Bend Outdoor Worx also hosts a pitch event in October, where newly graduated companies pitch for prize money à la Shark Tank. At the startup accelerator, Dobson works alongside a crew of successful entrepreneurs with backgrounds in snowboarding, apparel, climbing and watersports. Their goal: elevate locals and attract investment in Central Oregon—ideally, giving outdoor business hubs like Boulder, Colorado, a run for their money. The Tennessean grew up in Chattanooga and survived hot Southern summers playing in local rivers. Dobson established herself as a professional kayaker and spent years hurling herself down rivers from British Columbia to California, Ottawa and Pennsylvania in a dizzying annual circuit spent in vans and trailers. In other words, it was “van life” before the hashtag, she says. While helping organize a team of kayakers, Dobson noticed she had a penchant for logistics and organization. Plus, her line of work is notoriously hard on the body, and she found herself aging out. Her next steps brought her to business roles in Patagonia and then a post helping lead sales and marketing for Astral, an operation selling water shoes and hiking boots. Now, with Bend Outdoor Worx, she aims to help put Bend on the map as an outdoor industry hub and support her brilliant peers. The once-sleepy Central Oregon town is booming and has become a destination for skiing, hiking, climbing and rafting. For Dobson, it’s a golden opportunity to help homegrow the local economy. Locals dreaming up the next Teva or Arc’teryx may just need a little push, she says.
what i’m working on
Fostering Care Every Child Oregon is improving the lives of foster children by focusing on quality written by Grant Stringer
Every Child Oregon
LIKE OTHER STATES, Oregon’s foster care system has been hit with lawsuits and revelations that it’s failing kids. More families need to open their homes to displaced kids, and state officials have placed hundreds of vulnerable children in poorly supervised hotel rooms or sent them to out-of-state facilities even after pledging to stop. But for Shelly Winterberg, an expert on the foster care system, that’s only part of the story—and not a very helpful one. “The prevailing narrative is, ‘Ugh, it’s a broken system. What are you going to do?’” Winterberg said. An Every Child Oregon volunteer plays soccer with a group of kids. The organization offers a number of volunteer opportunities for those looking to contribute. Since 2017, Winterberg has helped mobilize a small army of foster parents and volunteers who support them through Every Child Oregon. It’s part of The Contingent, a Portland nonprofit that also supports youth from underrepresented backgrounds in Winterberg, who is from Arkansas, landed in Oregon after a leadership and business. Winterberg and her team have helped career with international nonprofits. She lived in Southeast Asia drive incredible strides: To date, they have recruited about 1,500 and India, including in Sri Lanka, where she provided relief in foster parents, which amounts to about 75 percent of the state’s the wake of the 2004 tsunami. The work was intense and meansupply of providers when you leave out family relatives who take ingful, she said. in a child. But learning stories about Oregon’s foster care system Every Child takes a fresh approach to get community mem- “wrecked her,” she said. She knew she needed to get involved. bers involved by bucking a widespread attitude: You can’t help Winterberg joined the team and helped Every Child grow from a foster children short of opening your own home. small program in the Portland metro area to one encompassing “There’s a whole wide range that exists in the middle there,” the entire state. They’ve also launched a similar program in her Winterberg said. “And all of it is needed.” home state of Arkansas. MORE ONLINE The program has created a spectrum of involveNow, Winterberg and others in foster care poliment to help the busiest household lend a helping cy are thinking beyond the basic goal of recruiting Learn more about Every Child Oregon at hand—you can volunteer to make a “launch box” www.everychildoregon.org enough foster parents. She’s also thinking about the filled with necessities for one of the 1,000 children quality of foster care homes; if possible, she said, who age out of foster care each year, or be part of a volunteer children should remain in their communities, their counties and support team that wraps around a foster parent, helping with their cultures when entering the system. Homes should be stachores around the house. Volunteers also step in to give fos- ble, to prevent inflicting trauma by bouncing a child from home ter parents a night out, babysit or drive supplies. (Winterberg to home. And siblings should be kept together, she said. also calls foster parents “resource parents,” per a national shift The state Department of Human Services also maintains that splitting families in the first place is a last resort. And while Every in vocabulary.) These measures all prevent foster parents from burning out, Child is working to build a statewide community around foster Winterberg said. Plus, volunteers are acquainted with the system care, the number of children in the system has declined by aland may decide to become providers as well. In this way, Every most 15 percent since 2021. Child has connected 1,500 interested people with the Department of Human Services who went on to become foster parents. It’s a radical approach that puts human relationships at the forefront of a historically beleaguered system—and a promising one. “Child welfare is a community issue, and it takes a community response,” Winterberg said. “No program is ever going to change a person’s life, to change the child welfare system. What it takes — Shelly Winterberg, Every Child Oregon senior director is relationship.”
“Child welfare is a community issue, and it takes a community response.”
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E XH I B I T O P E N S FA L L 2 0 24
Cedar and Sea
THE MARITIME CULTURE OF THE INDIGENOUS COASTAL PEOPLE OF THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST
ON THE WATERFRONT IN DOWNTOWN ASTORIA • CRMM.ORG
my workspace
Artist of the Backroads Filmmaker and creative Rankin Renwick finds inspiration off the beaten path written by Joni Kabana
Freedom is what defines Rankin Renwick’s artistic style. Take Renwick’s gonzo film promotion process, for example, of calling museums, grange halls, universities and film centers on the fly. The game, Renwick said, is not driving more than one day without securing a paid showing. Renwick still takes extended backroad trips meandering through impromptu artists’ studio visits, following leads to rooms full of stored film footage and stopping along the road to capture something inspired by an intuitive feeling. “Everything I do I consider is working on my art, be it soaking in hot springs, or shopping at the grocery store— there always is something or a feeling coming into my brain that I may see as useful in the future to convey,” Renwick said.
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Wayne Bund
Imagine yourself sweeping floors for an Oregon-based designer who is creating puppets for The Lion King on Broadway when the thought occurs to you that you should be focusing solely on your own art. You quit your job on the spot and start laser-focusing on your lifelong passion in experimental filmmaking, documentary, video installation, writing and whatever tickles your artistic fancy.
Susan Seubert
my workspace
Rankin Renwick
FROM TOP Rankin Renwick’s works the go-betweens (mixed-media installation), Trojan Implosion (digital c-print from 35mm film) and Sky Hop (monoprint).
Rankin Renwick
Renwick, a recipient of numerous grants and the founder of their company, the Oregon Department of Kick Ass, works with many peers who offer “way low-down” pricing or volunteer time to assist with offerings of material and skills. Sometimes they don’t know how it all will end up, but Renwick’s playful personality and successful track record supplants any need to be highly compensated. The resulting engaging (and, at times, zany) creations tend to explode into a life of themselves, and the topics are so off-kilter, it is not a stretch to understand why one would not clamor to be involved. Art sales, museum commissions and screening fees also help to pay the bills.
LEARN MORE
Rankin Renwick will have a solo painting and film installation at The Anita Building in Astoria throughout September. See more of Renwick’s work at www.odoka.org.
Renwick’s current project, Translation Please, a film about “trying hard to listen and hardly listening,” was made with archival footage gleaned from panning over 8,000 discarded film cans from schools, hospitals, etc. during a 2021 artist residency stay with Basement Films in Albuquerque. Renwick’s advice for budding filmmakers is to make a short film first. “Learn to convey through imagery alone, then tackle adding sound. Always leave the viewer wanting more. When in doubt, throw out.”
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game changer
This Ain’t Their Last Rodeo Thanks to Main Street Cowboys, there’s free music in the air during Round-Up (along with the dust) written by James Sinks
ONE OF Oregon’s signature spectacles, the rollicking Pendleton Round-Up rodeo and Happy Canyon pageant bring buckaroos, parades, booze and big-belt-buckled spectators by the tens of thousands every September to the city that dubs itself “The Real West.” It’s a celebration that spills communitywide—but that wasn’t always the case. In the early decades, after the dust first started flying in 1910, the competition and connected festivities kept most folks near the grandstands on the outskirts of town. Meanwhile, a mile away, downtown merchants wondered how to herd those crowds of visitors—and their purses and pocketbooks—their way. The answer: music and merriment, and seventy-four years ago, to help make that happen, the nonprofit Main Street Cowboys were born. “In 1950, a few businessmen decided to close Main Street and they called it the Greatest Free Show in the West, and we still do that to this day,” said Ken Hegge, a retired state prison worker, a Cowboy member since 1994 and now the nonprofit’s president. 52
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Initially, visitors were lured downtown with draws like free square dancing, a Wild West show and bear wrestling. Almost three quarters of a century later, the Cowboys—and the connected women’s auxiliary group known as the Side Saddlers—raise more than $100,000 each year to book toe-tapping entertainers for four stages, one per block on four blocks downtown, eight hours a day and for four days in a row. All the shows are still free. “There’s some rock and mostly country western, and we like to showcase local and regional talent, and we do get some big names from across the country,” Hegge said. Performers during this year’s rodeo on September 11 to 14 will include Florida country crooner Eli Mosley and Gordy and Debbie Wensel from Branson, Missouri, who’ve won awards for their George Strait tribute show. There won’t be any bear wrestling, however. The Main Street Cowboys and Side Saddlers—recognizable by their bright fluorescent green shirts and white cowboy
Photo: Sascha Rettig/Travel Oregon
The Pendleton Round-Up has been bringing crowds to Northeast Oregon since 1910.
Photos: Main Street Cowboys
game changer
ABOVE, FROM LEFT Pendleton’s Main Street Cowboys help provide free entertainment downtown during the Pendleton Round-Up. Formed in 1950, the nonprofit organization today includes about forty members, recognizable by their bright green shirts and white cowboy hats.
hats—also bring in a traveling carnival, complete with noseYou’ll see (and hear) the Cowboys at more than a dozen retempting food, stomach-churning rides and belly laughter. Put gional parades and festivals—among them the Wee Bit O’Ireland it all together, and downtown becomes a multi-sensory, fash- Celebration in Heppner—as ambassadors who help promote ionably questionable, multi-block party and bazaar. Round-Up with the help of their rolling antique calliope, a comStill, over the course of a lengthy history, it’s safe to expect a pressor-powered pipe organ audible from blocks away. problem or two, and bad headlines hit in the 2010s when one of To fundraise, they get a cut from thirty artisan and twenthe festival’s downtown street vendors displayed and sold Con- ty-four food vendors that set up on Main Street, pass around federate flags. That business wasn’t invited back, but the inci- their big hats for donations, sell space in the program booklet dent dented the organization’s reputation as being committed and rent their trademark 300 neon-green-painted benches for to a family-friendly and safe event local events. that’s welcoming for everyone. With a seventy-four-year-histoHegge said the organization ry, it would be easy to think of the now asks vendors what will be Cowboys as a well-oiled tractor sold ahead of time. “We try to that will continue running forever. avoid all issues up front, and if But that sentiment makes leaders there is an issue, we will go down furrow their brows a bit. and address it.” Members are getting up there The Cowboys oppose any sort in years, and there are no young of racism, he said. bucks waiting to take the reins, For Pendleton merchants over said Larry Koehne, the group’s the years, Round-Up is the week’s historian, who like Hegge is a hero while the free downtown acretired state corrections officer. tion has proved to be a depend“Society nowadays has changed, — Joe Bachmeier, Pendleton Downtown able sidekick, said Joe Bachmeier, and it’s harder to find volunteers,” Association president who runs a property-management he said. business and is president of the He estimates there are about volunteer Pendleton Downtown Association. Downtown also forty members presently, and that most of them are getting lonplays host to the annual nonmotorized Westward Ho! Parade, ger in the tooth. “We are normal guys ages 19 to 90 trying to do which is a big attraction but not a Cowboy-run event. good things for the community.” Most are closer to 90 than 19. For many local businesses, surviving financially means makSo, the welcome mat is out for new guys and gals, even city ing the most of the rodeo crowds. Some pocket most of their slickers. There’s no initiation or hazing, you don’t need to annual sales during just a few days. know how to throw a lasso and there aren’t any annual dues. “The Cowboys’ impact to downtown is obvious,” Bachmeier You just need to love Pendleton, and have no problem wearsaid. “Whether you like the music or not, it’s nice to have that ing bright green. entertainment up and down Main Street.” “You don’t have to be a cowboy,” Koehne said. “You just The trademark green shirts don’t just come out when the ro- want to be a piece of the action and part of the whole Rounddeo is in town. Up experience.”
“The Cowboys’ impact to downtown is obvious. Whether you like the music or not, it’s nice to have that entertainment up and down Main Street.”
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Biking through the lower reaches of the stunning Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park.
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THE
COUNTRY’S GREATEST
RIDE
BY ROAD BIKE OR E-BIKE, GLACIER’S GOING-TO-THE-SUN IS A TOP AMERICAN JOURNEY THROUGH TIME + ELEVATION written by Kevin Max photography by Whitney Whitehouse
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One of the many spectacular overlooks along Glacier’s National Park’s Going-tothe-Sun Road.
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S
OME PEOPLE HAVE HEARD ABOUT THE GOING-TO-THE-SUN ROAD AND MAKE PLANS TO CYCLE IT AND TRAIN FOR MONTHS TO BE FIT ENOUGH TO GAIN THE SUSTAINED VERTICAL FEET TO THE TOP. OTHERS HAVE LISTENED TO THEIR MOST ATHLETIC (AND SOMEWHAT NAUSEATING) FRIENDS RECALL WITH LAUGHTER THE 3,200-FOOT CLIMB TO THE TOP OF LOGAN PASS. “I WAS PUSHING 275 WATTS AT THE SUMMIT, MAN!” STILL OTHERS MAY COMPLETELY TUNE OUT ONE OF GLACIER NATIONAL PARK’S MOST SPECTACULAR EXPERIENCES BECAUSE IT’S SIMPLY BEYOND THEIR PHYSICAL LIMIT.
On a summer morning last year, I joined a group of riders who fit into each one of these profiles on a push for this Glacier experience. Half of us were on bicycles—road bikes—the other half were on e-bikes. Our hybrid crew could not have been more inclusive and fun. Let’s face it, homogenous culture is but a mirror that gets you no further in life than your own reflection. Road bikers can quickly become inbred as thoroughly as e-bikers can. In a way, the combination of these cultures is perfect for when this epic pass opens to non-motorized traffic in spring. When snow is still being cleared, there are upper portions of Going-to-the-Sun Road open to bikers and closed to automobiles. (Keep your eye on the Glacier National Park website.) If you can thread that needle, this is your clean-air, wildly scenic, wildlifeencountering outdoor release. This also recounts my experience. First, a brief note on e-bikes. It wasn’t until right around the year 2000 when e-bikes started showing up on roads out west. True road bikers were aghast, mountain bikers were chaffed and e-bikers were living their best lives. These were the early days, and no one trusted anyone.
Today, the technology of e-bikes has become sophisticated, quiet and sustained, bringing access to experiences like this to people who would normally be left back at the bakery, missing the opportunity to become another advocate for the outdoors. Going-to-the-Sun Road, 25 miles east of Whitefish, Montana, appears as a vertical challenge, a rite of passage, a scenic tour that winds up to Logan Pass at 6,646 feet. A drop of rain that fell on the east side of Logan Pass would flow toward the Atlantic Ocean. A drop that fell a few inches over on the west side would end up thousands of miles away in the Pacific. Going-to-the-Sun Road is 50 miles long and the only paved road to traverse the width of Glacier. For us, this ride would begin at Apgar Campground just inside the West Glacier entrance and climb approximately 29 miles to the apex at Logan Pass. A good rule of thumb is seven hours from parking lot to peak and back. The weather for riding could not have been better—cool morning for the climb and warmer afternoon for the descent. To set yourself up for success, begin your day early at Markus Community Market in Whitefish. You’ll find
breakfast burritos, bagels and coffee to get your morning started. Plan for a mid-ride lunch and a summit snack. There are gourmet wraps, chips and chocolate to pack for the ride. Fill your water bottles and shove off for Apgar Campground. Note that you’ll need passes for the park, which you should obtain in advance as their daily numbers are limited. Think of your clothing as cyclical. You’ll want to begin in something that keeps you warm enough as you begin to slowly warm up along the first stretch that borders Lake McDonald. Beyond McDonald, the pitch of the road increases and your internal temperature with it, if you’re on a road bike. Those on e-bikes should also dress in layers and for comfort. Mountain temperatures are almost always cooler than the weather readings in the lower towns. As you emerge from the riverine canopy, you’ll begin to understand why this ride is one of the most beautiful muses for those on two wheels out under Montana blue skies and among the snowy peaks of the Rockies. It’s a sporting and gorgeous 12 miles past Lake McDonald to The Loop, miraculously the only switchback along the mountain road.
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In 1918, National Park Service engineer George Goodwin drew the plans for the daring feat that would become Going-to-the-Sun Road. Ultimately, his plan had too many switchbacks to become the mellifluous beauty that others had envisioned. Thomas Vint, a National Park Service landscape architect, had a different vision that called for sweeping lengths and just one switchback up to Logan Pass. The Park Service engaged Frank Kittredge of the Bureau of Public Roads to lead the Herculean effort to build the newly designed road with only one switchback. Kittredge began in 1924. A vision of a national treasure was already underway, as Congress had begun providing annual funds for the road’s construction in the early 1920s. Kittredge and his crew of thirty-two men climbed on foot 3,000 feet some mornings to reach the road survey sites. In the first three months, Kittredge saw men abandon at a 300 percent rate, according to one National Park Service history. The Loop switchback has facilities and a parking lot, and it’s where we stopped for lunch before the last steeper push to the top. It wasn’t long into the final leg that a four-legged creature ambled out of the roadside underbrush. A young black bear seemed more interested in his own life pursuits than stopping to mingle with any of us. Farther up the road, you can’t miss Bird Woman Falls, a 500-foot cascading waterfall in the saddle between Mount Oberlin and Mount Cannon. One of Glacier’s biggest falls, Bird Woman will remind you to take a moment to drink your own water as you continue your climb. There is no shortage of water on this road. Farther on, cool meltwater pours broadly and gently out of a rock wall on the left side of the road. Weeping Wall is a geological formation that might otherwise be confused with a man-made
contrivance put there for overheated cyclists as they approach the summit. Best practice here is to dismount and walk under the falling water and the slick surface underfoot. Logan Pass arrives on a breeze and sense of accomplishment. From the parking lot, it’s not difficult to spy mountain goats lolling on the distant mountainside. Their ancestors from the 1930s would have been astounded enough to stop the ruminants mid-grass as music floated across the mountain meadows to where they stood. In 1933, Going-to-the-Sun Road opened to a chorus of Civilian Conservation Corps members and the Blackfeet Tribal Band who played The Star Spangled Banner for nearly 4,000 people atop Logan Pass. There is natural memory in the surrounding granite, in some musical DNA micro-mutations of the resident mountain goats and in the breeze that conducts its own woodwind sonata. Take time to celebrate the victories, the beauty, the small things, the natural, and one of the finest journeys for either bike or e-bike tribes. After the Conservation Corps chorus and Blackfeet Tribe played The Star Spangled Banner, it was followed by a ceremony of peace between the Blackfeet, Flathead and Kootenai tribes. A photo from the Montana Historical Society from that time shows Blackfeet Indians in tribal dress, some on horseback, and mingling with white people outside of a line of impressive tipis. Not all celebrations will feel exactly the same, but they will resonate and tingle as you begin your descent from Logan Pass to the baptism waters of Weeping Wall, past Bird Woman Falls to The Loop’s single switchback, the canopy along Lake McDonald and taking the form of a furtive smile as you drive back to Whitefish, where good food and drink taste even better in the cool mountain nights.
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP Descending Going-to-the-Sun Road. The refreshing Weeping Wall for a quick cooldown. A juvenile black bear made a brief appearance. In the distance, Bird Woman Falls. Success at the Logan Pass summit.
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Other Spectacular Bike + E-bike Journeys GALENA SUMMIT
Smiley Creek Lodge to Galena Lodge out and back // Idaho This adventure begins at Smiley Creek Lodge just north and over Galena Summit, climbing almost 2,000 feet in the first 4 miles before a long scenic descent to Galena amid the Boulder Mountains. Galena Lodge has a great cafe for lunch and drinks before making the return trip.
MCKENZIE HIGHWAY Sisters // Oregon
One of the true rites of passage in Central Oregon is riding the McKenzie Pass just after the snow is cleared and before automobile traffic is permitted. This takes place usually in May and until the gate is opened for cars the third week of June. Those who take on this scenic byway aspire to ride from Sisters to McKenzie Bridge and back in a massive 76-mile effort with 4,000 feet of climbing. Sisters is a perfect fueling station in the morning at Sisters Bakery or Angeline’s Bakery, and cross the finish line at Three Creeks Brewing.
HURRICANE RIDGE
Olympic Peninsula // Washington A challenging and wonderfully scenic route, Hurricane Ridge in Olympic National Park begins in Port Angeles and climbs through old-growth forest for 18 miles and 5,242 feet up to Hurricane Ridge and sweeping views of the Strait of Juan de Fuca. At nearly a mile above sea level, Hurricane Ridge also offers panoramic views of the Bailey Range of the Olympic Mountains. The day lodge burned to the ground in May 2023, but Washington Sen. Patty Murray had secured $80 million for its rebuild by October of the same year. Plan to self support during this ride. photos, from top: Visit Idaho; Melanie Griffin/Eugene, Cascades & Coast; Lynnette Braillard/Visit Port Angeles
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The Hors Catégorie vineyard makes use of convoluted terrain and its variety of soil types.
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Pioneer and revivalist at once, Christophe Baron produces some of Oregon’s most progressive wines written and photographed by Daniel O’Neil
oward the end of a five-hour tasting from his Bionic Wines portfolio, Christophe Baron shares the story behind his nickname, the Bionic Frog. In 1995, Baron, a Frenchman from Champagne, was working harvest in Australia’s Barossa Valley. On top of the fridge, his Australian roommate kept a bottle of sweet wine dubbed “sticky.” Baron wasn’t allowed to drink it: “Frog, don’t touch the sticky,” his friend would yell. “It’s for Christmas.” The guy always out-drank Baron, until one night. To celebrate, Baron enjoyed some sticky and left a glassful beside his passed-out friend. In the morning, the Australian conceded defeat and proclaimed: “Okay, you’re not the Frog anymore. You’re the Bionic Frog!” The name stuck, and Baron had no idea where it would lead. One year later, he purchased 10 rocky acres of failed orchard land near Milton-Freewater, Oregon. The following spring, in these stones, he planted the first vines in what would become a premier winegrowing area of the Walla Walla Valley. Bionic Wines was born. When he began planting vines in what he calls the “Stones”—but the wine industry calls The Rocks District of MiltonFreewater AVA (American Viticultural Area)—Baron earned another nickname. “People called me the Crazy Frenchman and said it wasn’t going to work,” he said. But when magazines like Wine Spectator awarded his 1999 vintage with high scores, recognizing the potential Baron had discovered, other winemakers followed in his tracks. “Then apple trees are coming out and vines are going in, and people stopped calling me crazy.” JULY | AUGUST 2024
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rown and made entirely in Oregon (minus the Champagne), the bottlings created by Baron and team represent some of the most desired, critically acclaimed, expensive and elaborately crafted wines in the country. But Baron’s success grew from much more than just a pioneering spirit. The Baron family has been making wine in Champagne since 1677. Vineyard slopes surround the village, Charlysur-Marne, where Christophe Baron grew up, and once he could walk, Baron followed his father and grandfather through the vines and cellar. He worked his first harvest at age 6, and went on to earn an enology degree, studying in Champagne and Burgundy. Working under his father and two uncles at the family estate seemed like too many chefs in the kitchen, so Baron headed west. “What I did in twenty years here in America would have taken half a century in the Old World,” he said in his remnant French accent. “That’s the reason why I’m here.” Originally, Baron sought to make pinot noir and chardonnay in the Willamette Valley, but he could only find a long-term internship in Walla Walla, where he worked the 1993 harvest. He worked the next harvest in the Willamette Valley, where he met with that wine region’s pioneer, David Lett, who showed Baron a property well beyond his modest budget. In 1995, Baron worked harvests in Australia, New Zealand and Romania. Still intent on settling in the Willamette Valley, in the spring of 1996, Baron stopped to retrieve his car at his friend Scott Byerley’s house near Milton-Freewater. The evening before Baron was to leave for the Willamette Valley, he and Byerley were drinking wine and looking through a French vineyard atlas. “He pulls up a picture of Châteauneuf-du-Pape and says he’d love to find a place like that to plant grapes,” Byerley said. Like the Stones, Châteauneuf-du-Pape is famous for its cailloux, or cobblestones. “And I say, ‘Well, I know where that is here.’ He says, ‘Can we go there?’ And I say, ‘Well, not tonight!’” Early the next morning, the two stopped at an empty parcel covered, like everything around it, in smooth rocks from the ancient Walla Walla riverbed. “It took him about thirty seconds to decide that this was where he wanted to go,” Byerley said. Baron held a pair of cailloux, threw them to the ground, and declared he would purchase these 10 acres and grow Rhone-inspired wines instead. He never left for the Willamette Valley.
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Baron could afford land here because the property’s well was insufficient for an orchard, but it provided enough to drip-irrigate grapevines. After planting the Cailloux Vineyard in March 1997, Baron harvested a small crop in 1998 and bottled the first wines off the Stones. “The wine wasn’t even finished yet—it was still sweet and fermenting—but I knew I had something very special there,” Baron said. “So I said, ‘Okay, I need to buy more land.’” Today, Baron owns 80 acres of vineyards outside of Milton-Freewater, plus 6 acres in Champagne. He oversees five projects—Cayuse, Horsepower, No Girls, Champagne Christophe Baron and Hors Catégorie—from which he creates thirty-five different wines, producing only 8,000 to 9,600 cases a year. Like his predecessors, Baron is a vigneron, meaning he grows the grapes, makes the wine, bottles it and sells it, with invaluable help from his team. All of Baron’s wines issue entirely from his own vineyards, allowing him complete control over how the wine is made, and especially how it’s grown. In 1999, Baron opened the first commercial tasting room in downtown Walla Walla (now closed, because since 2003 his wines have sold only to mailing list members and select wine shops and restaurants). He was the first in Walla Walla to graft vines against phylloxera, and he brought other techniques over from Europe including whole-cluster fermentation and burying vines to protect from deep freeze. Recently, he has installed several 750,000-gallon ponds for irrigation in summer. Few have had such an influence on wine in the Pacific Northwest, or in the United States. “Christophe is a maverick in terms of what he’s done,” said fellow Stones vigneron Matt Reynvaan, who has known, and learned from, Baron since 2005. “He’s been on the forefront of so many things that other people here in this valley didn’t think about. There is nothing that Christophe won’t do to create the best possible wines and vineyards.”
Christophe Baron plants Cailloux Vineyard with his father in 1997. (photo: Bionic Wines)
Christophe Baron, aka the Bionic Frog, tasting from barrel in his wine studio.
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or someone as obsessed with precision and definition as Baron, names matter greatly. Baron is happy to see others making wine from the terroir he uncovered, but he thinks The Rocks District, actually a sub-AVA of the Walla Walla Valley AVA, is premature, a distraction, like learning to run before learning to walk. Baron believes the Walla Walla Valley AVA still lacks attention of its own. When he travels domestically and in Europe, Baron likes to ask sommeliers to guess where he owns a wine estate in America. They never suggest Walla Walla. “Those days will come for sub-appellations or districts in the Walla Walla Valley, but for the time being our energy should be in promoting and marketing Walla Walla as a whole,” Baron said. Such a view might not please many in the Walla Walla Valley, but Baron is naturally a black sheep. “I think most of the wine industry sees him as an outlier,” said Harvey Steiman, who first wrote about Baron in Wine Spectator in 1998. “They say, ‘Christophe does his thing, and we do ours.’ But he recognized the potential of what has now become a very
All of the Bionic Wines, a collector’s dream. No Girls is a tribute to women winemakers and has been under Elizabeth Bourcier’s direction since 2011.
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important winegrowing area in the United States. That’s enough distinction right there.” Viticultural practices also set Baron apart from many in the Stones. He detests synthetic pesticides, fungicides and herbicides, what he calls “forces of death,” and he does not see why he would join The Rocks District AVA to collaborate with conventional chemical-spraying growers. “If they’re really trying to copy us, it should be in the farming,” he said. “They can have the Rocks. I have the Stones.”
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dmittedly spiritual but not religious, Baron nurtures a close relationship with the natural world, which he developed while growing up in the vineyards and on his grandparents’ farm. “Mother Nature is the master, and we are the servants, not the other way around,” he said. “You always have to keep this mentality and this approach. The ‘take, take, take’ mentality cannot last forever.” From the first vine he planted in Cailloux Vineyard, Baron has farmed organically. Since 2002, all Bionic Wines vineyards have been farmed biodynamically. (Biodynamics takes organic farming and adds the cosmos—the lunar calendar, for example. It seeks to enhance biodiversity and soil health through a holistic approach.) While Burgundy abounds with biodynamic winegrowers, and the Willamette Valley is home to about a dozen, Baron remains the only biodynamic producer in the Walla Walla Valley, a fact that, he said, “blows [his] mind.” Besides applying biodynamics and eschewing synthetic chemicals, Baron and his team make compost on-site. Its purpose is not to feed the vines but to add life and texture to the topsoil and subsoil. Baron and team also plant buffers of trees, shrubs and flowers, some of them a quarter-mile long, around his vineyards to enhance the Stones ecosystem. “Without buffers, pretty soon you’ll be able to see MiltonFreewater because people are pulling out trees, and there will only be vineyards,” Baron said. Reynvaan appreciates his neighbor’s approach. “I love the regenerative spirit and how Christophe puts so much into giving back to the soils,” Reynvaan said. “You see the health of the vines and the environment that he creates, and everything feels very much alive. I don’t see anyone else doing that. It takes a significant investment, but Christophe doesn’t spare any expense, and you can’t argue with the results.” Baron’s devotion to natural farming reaches its apex in his Horsepower project, where five horses and three dedicated teamsters turn the soil without machines. Back in Champagne, Baron’s grandfather replaced horses with a tractor in 1957. In 2008, Christophe Baron revived the tradition, in the Stones, using horses and equipment imported from France. The Horsepower team works 20 acres, which, considering its dense spacing, is the equivalent of about 50 acres of regular Walla Walla vineyard—50 total miles of vines, six to ten times a year. The vineyard benefits extend to soil structure,
“Enlivening the soil is everything,” Christophe Baron said. “You don’t build a pyramid without a foundation, and you cannot create a great wine without great terroir.”
vine longevity, climate change resilience and deeper roots into terroir. “If this were for show, we’d only be doing 2 acres,” Baron said.
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et me tell you something: I’m French and I have a big ego, and in terms of wine creation, it’s important to put that ego aside,” Baron said. “Let Mother Nature do the job. She does a very good job when you don’t try to interfere. It’s the same with wine—every time you interfere, you’re losing something.” Baron’s respect for the land flows directly into the winemaking process. In what he and his team call the “wine studio,” creativity and expertise meet healthy, terroir-infused fruit. The results speak for themselves: So far, twenty-eight Bionic Wines bottlings have earned 100-point ratings, more than any other winery in Oregon or Washington. Baron appreciates the recognition, but high scores are just a byproduct of his pursuits as a vigneron. “Christophe is devoted to respecting the land and the fruit, to making wines and farming in a more traditional way,” said Elizabeth Bourcier, resident vigneronne (winegrower and winemaker) at Bionic Wines. Bourcier, a Seattle native, has worked for Bionic Wines since 2008 and is responsible for much of the wine studio efforts because Baron cannot be everywhere at once. “Christophe never stops,” she said. “It’s unbelievable, his energy for life, and for everything. It can be shocking sometimes.” Bourcier’s calm demeanor balances Baron’s focused frenzy, and her passion for creating the finest wines matches his. For instance, each wine they create is composed of up to a dozen individually vinified lots, which Bourcier and team
blend, over and over, until they get it just right. Few have the patience or the will to go to such extremes in winemaking. “Christophe is an innovator, and he has a lot of enthusiasm about knowledge and learning,” Bourcier said. “He’s always taking things he learns or sees, talking to people in different parts of the world, and bringing it here. But the success story comes from just putting the work into the vineyards, the biodynamic part of it, and then the low-intervention way of creating quality wines. There are no tricks here.” None of this success would be possible without a committed team. “One of the things that speaks to Christophe’s character immensely is how many people have been with him for so many years,” Byerley said. “He treats people that work for him really well, and they appreciate it, and they work hard.” Hopping around from vineyard to vineyard, from wine studio to national wine events and tastings, and over to France twice a year, where his sister and cousins help grow and create Champagne Christophe Baron from the family vineyards, Baron recognizes his good fortune. “It’s one thing to have the vision, the idea, the dream,” Baron said. “But without the team, you can’t put anything together.”
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aron and team make mostly red wines from the Stones: syrah, grenache, cabernet sauvignon and franc, merlot, tempranillo. Like all Stones wines, those from Bionic Wines present a distinct flavor profile that does not suggest Walla Walla. Red and dark fruits mingle mysteriously with umami notes of tobacco leaf, meat, bacon fat, wet rocks, seaweed and, most notably, an underriding scent of something like truffles—some call JULY | AUGUST 2024
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Lead teamster Ernesto Avila works in the Sur Echalas Vineyard, part of the Horsepower project.
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Christophe Baron also raises livestock at his Hors Catégorie property in the foothills of the Blue Mountains.
this The Rocks funk, but Baron refers to it as savoriness. Either way, wines from the Stones are not for everyone. Baron is first to admit this: “It’s the same with art. You can’t please everybody with your painting.” Steiman recalls the first tastings of wines off the Stones. “They stood out, and there were a lot of people who mistook the character of wines growing on stones like that for some faults in the wines,” he said. “Christophe got blowback from some purists who said these didn’t taste like other Washington wines. But it was just the natural character. There was a texture and a flavor profile that was unique in the United States.” Only five years after his first vintage, Baron’s wines began selling out each year. Today they are nearly impossible to 68 1859 OREGON’S MAGAZINE JULY | AUGUST 2024
find. “He can’t help but be a cult winery, because he doesn’t have enough juice to go around,” Steiman said.
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he crown jewel in the Bionic Wines portfolio grows on a canyonside slope above the North Fork of the Walla Walla River, in the Oregon foothills of the Blue Mountains. Steep as a black-diamond ski run, with loose, rocky soil and frequent rattlesnakes, no one on Earth had ever envisioned planting a vineyard here. But to Baron it resembled France’s northern Rhone Valley. Hors Catégorie, he named it: uncategorizable. Baron purchased the property in 2005 and spent six years developing 2 immaculate acres of syrah, at considerable
Christophe Baron relies on Bionic Wines resident vigneronne Elizabeth Bourcier (center) and her assistant, Karin Gasparotti (right), to create his Oregon wines.
“Christophe is an innovator, and he has a lot of enthusiasm about knowledge and learning. He’s always taking things he learns or sees, talking to people in different parts of the world, and bringing it here. But the success story comes from just putting the work into the vineyards, the biodynamic part of it, and then the low-intervention way of creating quality wines. There are no tricks here.” — Elizabeth Bourcier, Bionic Wines resident vigneronne
expense. It’s the one property he would never consider selling. “It’s not always about the money,” Baron said. “It’s also about the challenge, pushing the envelope. I’ve always loved a challenge.” Hors Catégorie produces only 1,500 to 2,000 bottles of wine a year. Since its appearance in 2014, each vintage has earned 99- or 100-point scores. Predictably, other wineries are now planting along the North Fork. In Baron’s Hors Catégorie project, longtime friend and fellow French winemaker Virginie Bourgue, who worked for a decade in Walla Walla, recognizes traits from both the Old and the New World. “Christophe has this vision, like he’s always looking twenty or fifty years into the future,” she said. “And that’s because of his French heritage. What he’s got really close to American culture is his drive, his motivation. He’s not afraid to take risks and to go for what he believes in.” Reynvaan agrees. “He’s a little crazy to take the chance on something like Hors Catégorie,” he said. “But it’s awesome because we need people like that to push the rest of the valley forward.” For now, Baron admits he has no plans for future projects. Rather than expand outward and acquire more vineyard land, he is pushing the boundaries upward, pursuing quality and precision. “Add a Willamette Valley wine to the portfolio, and then what else?” Baron said. “It’s distracting for me, and my team wouldn’t be able to take the right amount of time with each wine to create the best possible blend. Hors Catégorie is the project of my life, and guess what, on top of that the wine tastes great.” JULY | AUGUST 2024
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Puffins have special salt glands and ducts located above their eyes. This allows them to excrete—via grooves in their bills—the excess salt they take in and means they can survive without access to fresh water. (photo: Clara Oliverson)
OREGON’S PUFFINS written by Kerry Newberry EVERY SUMMER, birders from across the Pacific Northwest flock to Cannon Beach for the chance to see one of the coast’s most iconic seabirds during peak breeding season. The town’s towering Haystack Rock is one of only a few remaining places on the West Coast where tufted puffins nest from April through August. The dapper seabird captivates for many reasons—from the pop of electric orange color that saturates their beak and feet to their wizard-like faces. About 100 puffins nest on Haystack Rock each summer, but—if you are lucky—you can find the gregarious birds along the coast from northern California to Alaska. There are four species of puffins, and each is equally enigmatic. The tufted puffin is the largest of the four and, like the others, is a species of seabird in the auk family with a lifespan of twenty years or more. Though their numbers in their southern range are declining, a group of stakeholders have started working collaboratively to protect this charismatic seabird. Like other awe-inspiring oceanic creatures, the seabird has many superpowers. The birds swim by flapping their wings as if flying through the water and use their webbed feet to steer, diving up to a depth of 200 feet. To feed their young, puffins can skillfully stack ten fish in their beak and soar through the air at a speed of 55 mph. In mid-August, the seabirds leave to winter at open sea—where exactly is still unknown, but a reminder that there are still beautiful mysteries left for us to ponder. 70 1859 OREGON’S MAGAZINE JULY | AUGUST 2024
FROM TOP It’s easy to see why puffins are nicknamed “parrots of the sea” with their tropical red-orange bills and feet. But these vivid hues, along with the striking yellow feather tufts on the sides of their heads, only appear during summer breeding season. Come winter, these flamboyant features fade until next year. (photo: Clara Oliverson) The return of the puffins to Haystack Rock in Cannon Beach is a celebratory season. The seabirds begin arriving in early April, and the towering basalt sea stack becomes home for sixteen weeks. You’ll often need binoculars to scout for puffins, though—they use their webbed feet to dig burrows 2 to 7 feet deep in the crevices between rocks for protection from predators. While at Cannon Beach, look for the cheery red truck that belongs to the Haystack Rock Awareness Program. Their team of Rocky Shore Interpreters work the beach daily during low tide through November. You can look for puffins through the telescope they set up or use extra sets of binoculars. (photo: Haystack Rock Awareness Program)
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FROM LEFT One of the many wonders of puffins is that they “fly” both in the air and underwater and can dive up to 200 feet deep while hunting for their next meal (most often a variety of small fish along with squids, octopus and crabs). Another marvel is that they can fly with up to ten fish stacked in their bill at a time—sometimes even twice as many. How does a puffin hold so many fish? It’s thanks to two key adaptations: One is denticles (similar to spiny teeth) on their beaks along with an equally spiny tongue that keeps the fish firmly in place while hunting for more. (photo: Clara Oliverson) According to studies, most puffins have a lifelong partner (for up to twenty years!) and return to the same burrow each year to raise their young. During breeding season, the female puffin lays a single, chicken-sized egg. Both sexes take turns incubating the egg for about forty-two days. (photo: Clara Oliverson)
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CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT In Oregon, a group of stakeholders— including National Audubon Society, Friends of Haystack Rock, American Bird Conservancy, Bird Alliance of Oregon, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Oregon State University and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service—are working together to leverage resources and strategize for tufted puffin conservation. “I hope this collaborative effort can help accelerate the rate of on-the-ground conservation actions to ensure puffins continue to return to our coast for generations to come,” said Katherine Luscher, senior coordinator for tufted puffins at National Audubon Society’s Seabird Institute. (photo: Clara Oliverson) To help restore Atlantic puffin colonies on Maine’s coastal islands, Audubon developed a restoration method called social attraction. Scientists noted that puffins recognize the presence of other birds as evidence of suitable habitat and used puffin decoys and mirror boxes to create the illusion of a thriving colony. Over time, the number of puffins visiting the island slowly increased. Today, Audubon’s Seabird Institute experts advise and support social attraction conservation projects worldwide. In Oregon, scientists are starting to experiment using decoys and mirror boxes to (hopefully) help stop the decline of the tufted puffin population. (photo: Katherine Luscher/Audubon) The tufted puffin is listed as a “sensitive species” in Oregon. This means the seabirds are facing one or more threats to their populations and/or habitats. Artist Georgia Gerber’s Bronze Tufted Puffins sculpture in Cannon Beach is a year-round tribute to the joy these seabirds bring to the region. (photo: Clara Oliverson) For more than twelve years, Tim Halloran has spent most of his summer mornings at Haystack Rock, studying the tufted puffin colony through his binoculars and recording the seabirds’ behavior. He’s part of a dedicated crew that works with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to provide essential data during the breeding season. (photo: Clara Oliverson)
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ADVENTURE 80 LODGING 84 TRIP PLANNER 86 NORTHWEST DESTINATION 92
pg. 86 Wallowa Lake in Joseph is one of the many calming features of the region.
Joni Kabana/Travel Oregon
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Oregon’s home of craft-brewed conversation.
travel spotlight
Tiki Kitsch Karaoke Who doesn’t love being crooned with a neon monkey in their drink? written by Joni Kabana photography by Kerry Wetzel
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travel spotlight
ABOVE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP Chicken wings at The Alibi. Enjoy a mai tai or other beachy cocktail concoctions. The Alibi’s decor will whisk you off to sunnier locales.
Embrace your inner rock star during karaoke at The Alibi Tiki Lounge in Portland.
DID YOU KNOW you could get away to a balmy palm tree location regardless of rain, snow, sleet or hail right in the center of Portland? The next time you have a hankering for exotic rum concoctions adorned with tiny neon monkeys, conch shell decor and large red booths that make you feel like you’re in a 1950s Dean Martin movie, hightail it over to The Alibi Tiki Lounge on Interstate Avenue. Established in 1947 as a horse-andbuggy stop along the dusty “inter-state” roadway, The Alibi retains its original decor down to its kitschy curiosities and low-light swanky ambiance. Step into this time capsule (the current purchase contract specifies no changes to be made to the interior) and you will instantly feel like donning some pedal pushers and doing the Ann Margret-inspired cha-cha and maybe even the rumba.
Make sure you make your way to the back room for a real treat. Karaoke on steroids will set your musical senses ablaze as professionals and tipsy uninhibited souls belt out Bruce Springsteen, Liza Minnelli, Mel Tormé and more. Don’t be shy or intimidated—get on up there and have some fun. Ask for the drinks that need a fire extinguisher to bring them to drinking temperatures, and don’t hesitate to order a meal. Your Polynesian food cravings will be satiated with kalua pork or loco moco, and so will your funny bone. This is a place where no one takes anything seriously, so start practicing your favorite Madonna classic and experience this authentic, non-Portlandia gem of a time-tested establishment in Portland. For hours and menu offerings, see www.thealibitikilounge.site.
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adventure
Beam Me Up Seek out lighthouses for a coastal adventure this summer that shines written by Cathy Carroll
WHY VENTURE OUT to Oregon’s lighthouses? Ben Ervin, a state park ranger in Florence, summed it up thusly: “They’re cool!” That is, they offer a tempting trifecta. First, these beacons of bygone days, when sea captains squinted toward shore for guidance, reel us in by piquing our imaginations. Secondly, they offer stellar views and prime perches for spotting seabirds and seals in summer and fall and, in spring and winter, migrating gray whales. Finally, they cast light on century-old stories, offering an enlightening blend of nature and culture. FLORENCE
Heceta Head Lighthouse Walk a half-mile up the paved path to the Queen Anne-style lighthouse, 206 feet above sea level, for stellar views. Watch cormorants, common murres and puffins nesting on rocks offshore in Oregon’s largest protected area of ocean, the Cape Perpetua Marine Reserve. State park volunteers answer questions, offer wildlife viewing through their spotting scopes and talk about the lighthouse, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily depending on weather and staffing, through mid-August, Ervin said. Step inside the 56-foot lighthouse tower, where the original spiral staircase from 1894 winds up toward the English-made Fresnel lens beaming the most
At 93 feet, Yaquina Head is Oregon’s tallest lighthouse. (photo: Christian Heeb/Travel Oregon)
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powerful light on the Oregon Coast. Catch sunset from this ideal spot, and as night falls, be mesmerized by the distinctive light signature, alternating red and white beams. Sleep at the adjacent Heceta Lighthouse Bed & Breakfast, once the lightkeeper’s home. Here, you may encounter the ghost of Rue, a lighthouse keeper’s wife, evidenced through the sudden scent of rose perfume or her body’s imprint on the bed as if she’d just been there a moment before. NEWPORT
Yaquina Head Lighthouse On a narrow spit of basalt spanning nearly a mile into the Pacific, this lighthouse is the state’s tallest at 93 feet. Built in 1872, its light once came from an oil lamp, but has since been replaced with electric LED bulbs. They flash a hypnotic, meditative pattern: two seconds on, two seconds off, two seconds on, fourteen seconds off, according to the nonprofit Friends of Yaquina Lighthouses. Look for nesting colonies of pigeon guillemots and black oystercatchers as well as bald eagles and a pair of peregrine falcons. Head to the Cobble Beach tide pools at low tide to see orange sea stars, purple sea urchins and giant green anemones. At high tide, waves tumble thousands of rounded basalt rocks that sound as if they are applauding you for making the trip. WINCHESTER BAY
Umpqua River Lighthouse Built in 1894 using the same plans as the Heceta Head Lighthouse in Florence, this 65-foot-tall lighthouse also circulates alternating red and white beams out onto the horizon. Umpqua Valley Museums offers tours of the lighthouse, which has a 2-ton Fresnel lens of 616 glass prisms handcrafted in France.
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Christian Heeb/Travel Oregon
Christian Heeb/Travel Oregon
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT Heceta Head Lighthouse, near Florence. Tillamook Rock Lighthouse, north of Cannon Beach. Cape Meares Lighthouse, near Tillamook.
PORT ORFORD
MORE OREGON LIGHTHOUSES Tillamook Rock Lighthouse | Seaside It’s known as “Terrible Tilly” because of the challenges of building it on a rock about a mile off the coast. It can be seen from Ecola State Park, just south of Seaside. Pelican Bay Lighthouse | Brookings First lit in 1999 and commissioned by the U.S. Coast Guard as a private aid to navigation, it’s now a three-bedroom vacation rental home. Yaquina Bay Lighthouse | Newport Oregon’s last wooden lighthouse is closed while being remodeled. Cape Arago Lighthouse | Coos Bay This lighthouse is not accessible to the public, but can be seen from points along the Cape Arago Highway. Cleft of the Rock Lighthouse | Yachats Privately owned and not open to the public, it can be seen from Highway 101.
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Cape Blanco Lighthouse This lighthouse has the state’s longest continually operating light, is the westernmost lighthouse and sits at the highest point, about 250 feet above the sea. Its interpretive center adjoins a gift shop in part of the U.S. Coast Guard’s former 1945 headquarters. Docents offer tours of the lighthouse exterior while repair needs are being assessed. BANDON
Coquille River Lighthouse Built in 1896, this lighthouse guided mariners across treacherous sandbars as they navigated into the Coquille River. The signal room is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. through September with volunteers who talk about its history. It’s in Bullards Beach State Park, where you can mountain bike the hard-packed sand along the edge of the surf for nearly 5 miles of beach. TILLAMOOK
Cape Meares Lighthouse The state’s shortest lighthouse at 38 feet tall is 217 feet above sea level at Cape Meares State Scenic Viewpoint. Built in 1890, it has its original Fresnel lens and is open daily from April through October. Watch sea lions and seabirds and stroll to the nearby Octopus Tree, a Sitka spruce with tentacle-like trunks.
Photos: Surfsand Resort
lodging
Lodging
Surfsand Resort written by Kerry Newberry A CLASSIC coastal retreat, this family- and pet-friendly stay in Cannon Beach combines everything we love about summer at the beach. Cute cabanas and nightly bonfires with s’mores? Just a few of the many seasonal traditions you’ll find at this resort during the dog days of summer. You can also join craft beer (and root beer) tastings on Fridays, ice cream socials on Saturdays and hot dog roasts on Sundays. Other perks include a kite concierge who glides novelty kites (like a groovy giant octopus) and teaches kids how to soar on their own. Even better, the oceanfront getaway just unveiled a significant renovation, refreshing all the rooms and revamping gathering spaces. In the modernized reception area, you’ll find a stunning mosaic wall in lava stone tiles, elegant oak chandeliers and an ethereal glass installation by Thompson Studio Glass that’s a tribute to the iconic Haystack Rock. A creative history wall details the resort’s storied place in Cannon Beach, and an antique arcade machine (circa 1933) now dispenses taff y from the town’s beloved Bruce’s Candy Kitchen. 148 W. GOWER AVE. CANNON BEACH www.surfsand.com The resort offers on-beach fun such as s’more packages and bonfires, as well as a kite concierge.
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All of the ninety-six rooms at this historic resort were just refreshed with contemporary decor and design. Most rooms have unrivaled views of the ocean and Haystack Rock. Opt for a second-floor room and take advantage of the balcony, the perfect perch to catch sunrise and sunset as seabirds swoop by. Other inrooms perks include a gas fireplace, sleek glass-enclosed step-in showers and large soaking tubs with a shoji screen.
AMENITIES
ABOVE An aging classic, Surfsand Resort gets a wave of renovation. AT RIGHT Its Wayfarer Restaurant & Lounge offers fresh seafood to complement the resort’s new look.
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It’s easy to unwind with simple pleasures like complimentary beach cruiser bikes, an indoor heated swimming pool with sauna and freshly baked chocolate chip cookies every afternoon. Since a trip to the beach isn’t the same without your BFF, the resort offers a VIP (Very Important Pet) experience that includes an outdoor pet-washing station, the new Bone Appetit Bistro in the lobby (pet treats along with toys for purchase) and a welcome card for Fido.
BEACHFRONT CONCIERGE + BONFIRE BUTLER Connection and community are the magic ingredients at this resort, and you’ll find that at the nightly group bonfires (held June though Labor Day, weather permitting). You can also schedule a personal bonfire in advance. The Beachfront Concierge team is on-hand for organizing tours with the Haystack Rock Awareness Program and other seasonal activities that cater to families.
DINING For over four decades, Wayfarer Restaurant & Lounge has captivated guests with stunning views of Haystack Rock. That’s still the focus along with a menu of coastal dishes that star the freshest local ingredients. Standouts from the scratch kitchen include a Dungeness crab omelet (generous with the crab) and their signature clam bake (seasoned Dungeness crab legs, local Manila clams, andouille sausage, wild prawns and potatoes). A favorite with both locals and visitors, this landmark spot is open 365 days of the year for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
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trip planner
Joseph and the Wallowa Valley In artsy Joseph in summer, there’s much to see and experience—and not much time written by James Sinks
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trip planner
Wallowa County Chamber of Commerce
Enjoy kayaking, boating or fishing at the iconic Wallowa Lake just south of Joseph.
IT’S LITTLE mystery why Joseph attracts artists in droves. Surrounded by windswept grassy fields and in the shadow of towering peaks and glacier-carved Wallowa Lake, and with the easygoing aura of a place where nobody is in a hurry including hungry herds of loitering local deer, the Western-themed hamlet all but demands that you slow down, exhale and revel. And yet it’s almost impossible—nor would it be responsible—to breathe and bathe in the dramatic landscapes of the northeast corner of Oregon without also acknowledging a sad irony. It was here in 1879 that newly arrived settlers called the town Joseph, after the Nez Perce chief who’d just recently been chased from the valley. Chief Joseph always hoped his people could one day return to their ancestral homeland and the place his father was buried, even after his fugitive tribe—battling and escaping from the Army for more than 1,000 miles—was stopped just shy of escaping to Canada. He is famously remembered for his 1877 surrender that ended the Nez Perce War. “I am tired; my heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands I will fight no more forever.” Chief Joseph eventually settled on a Washington state reservation, but trekked to Washington, D.C., and the Wallowa Valley to plead to return home. Yet settlers signed petitions against it, and offered no acreage for sale near the town that shares his name. He died in 1904, in Washington, and is buried there. Today in Joseph, just down the road from his father’s gravesite, a larger-than-life bronze statue of the legendary younger chief watches over Main Street. Ringed by inscriptions of his famous sayings, it is a testament to newer, contemporary acceptance. The likeness is among more than a dozen metalworks on the avenue of wood-facade eateries, art galleries and merchants. A once-rough-around-the-edges timber and farm town, today the Old West and New West meet in Joseph. The city of roughly 1,200 people is also the doorstep to some amazingly great outdoors. The neighboring 565-square-mile Eagle Cap Wilderness boasts alpine lakes and thirty-one peaks higher than 8,000 feet, earning it the nickname the “Little Switzerland of America.” Also nearby is Hells Canyon National Recreation Area, with its river gorge deeper than the Grand Canyon. Yet while the list of possibilities is long, the time to experience them is not. The valley sits at more than 4,000 feet, where winters linger late and fall arrives early. Jennifer Piper, the local chamber director, said it’s a very good idea to make reservations far in advance, due to the compressed season, and especially when the Chief Joseph Days Rodeo comes to town. A less good idea? Trying to feed or pose with those meandering local deer. JULY | AUGUST 2024
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Wallowa County Chamber of Commerce
trip planner
Shops, restaurants and bronze sculptures line Joseph’s postcard-worthy Main Street.
Day BREWS • BRONZE • HISTORIC STAYS After five hours on the road, it’s bliss when curvy state Highway 82 straightens into the Wallowa Valley, where there are no traffic lights, an abundance of cows and one mythical lake monster (more on that later). Feel like you’ve earned a snacky snack after the trek? Reward your sore bum in the town of Wallowa at Little Bear Drive-In, where they’ve churned out legendary local huckleberry shakes since 1974. Around the corner, at the base of craggy Tick Hill, feed your spirit at the Nez Perce Wallowa Homeland, a 323-acre retreat sold by a ranching family for the tribe’s Wallowa Band to finally have a place to gather. Open to the public, the nonprofit-managed site is home to a pavilion, a longhouse for tribal ceremonies, campsites, river frontage, trails and a den of local foxes. A 2023 Oregon Travel Stewardship awardee, it hosts the Tamkaliks Celebration powwow and heritage festival each July. Nearby in Enterprise, the county seat, find one of Oregon’s best-loved breweries, Terminal Gravity. Come summer, few places on the planet are better to sit and sip in the shade than the grass out front. Founder Steve Carper said beer making is a blend of science and art, and you’ll enjoy masterpieces up and down the permanent and seasonal taps, including the hoppy pale ale that put them on the map in 1997. There’s also good grub, and the occasional guest chef. When Joseph’s sawmill closed in the early 1990s, it was the catalyst for a community identity crisis. Ultimately, it 88 1859 OREGON’S MAGAZINE JULY | AUGUST 2024
convinced locals to embrace artisans like sculptors, and fundamentally changed the city, said Casey Hayes, who runs tours at Valley Bronze of Oregon, a foundry that’s turned artistic visions into metalwork from Main Street in Joseph to the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C. There are now three local foundries. Get acquainted with the local statuary, plus murals and a constellation of galleries, on a self-guided Main Street art walk. Then, just south of city limits, soak up views and maybe dip your toes along 3.5-mile-long Wallowa Lake, formed long ago by glacier-molded earthen moraines. For vintage overnight appeal, century-old Wallowa Lake Lodge and Cabins overlook the lake on its south end, with a beach, boat rentals and deer. Constructed from trees on the property, the lodge now belongs to a local group that wants to protect it from being torn down for a cookie-cutter resort. Rather stay downtown? Climb creaky stairs to cozy rooms at boutique Jennings Hotel, in a circa-1910 building redeveloped via a Kickstarter campaign. The place boasts a sauna and guest rooms designed by Portland artists. In one of the shared bathrooms, flowering artwork adorns the ceiling. Grab seats on the front patio at Slack Drinks and Dining, and mostly fill up on ribeye, salmon, burgers and seasonal cocktails. The remaining room? It’s for the ice cream. Afterward, unwind and toast your Wallowa County arrival with whiskey and locals at the fire pit behind Stubborn Mule Saloon. If you’re stubbornly stiff from the drive, there’s a sauna waiting.
JO Paddle
Eugenie Frerichs/Travel Oregon
Wallowa County Chamber of Commerce
Wallowa County Chamber of Commerce
trip planner
FROM TOP Discover life-sized bronze statues on a stroll through Joseph. Hiking trails abound in the adjacent Eagle Cap Wilderness. Satiate a sweet tooth with truffles, caramels and other confections at Arrowhead Chocolates. Don’t miss JO Paddle’s colorful nighttime kayak tours on Wallowa Lake.
Day WILDERNESS • TRAMWAY VIEWS • NIGHT KAYAKING Just south of Wallowa Lake, the highway ends at a fence. From here, you’ll need a free Eagle Cap Wilderness Permit (available at the trailhead) and can travel only by nonmotorized foot power. Happily, that power can be of the equine sort, and Wallowa Lake Pack Station offers trail rides of varying distances, including an hourlong wake-up trip at 8 a.m. If straddling saddles makes you fear chafing, you can cross two tumbling rivers—and pose at a rocky outcrop—on the 2.5-mile roundtrip to BC Creek Falls, which cascades under a bridge made from a fallen log. To replace all those burned calories, and then some, grab chocolate Bavarian cream donuts from the drive-through at Vali’s Alpine Restaurant (be sure to order ahead online or by phone for weekend morning pickup), or head to Enterprise’s Sugar Time Bakery, with locally roasted coffee, pastries and morning specials. A bonus: If you order pie for breakfast, they don’t judge. The railroad that once connected Joseph to the world no longer runs trains, but you can pedal the tracks and see the sights on four-wheeled carts at Joseph Branch Railriders. Or, if you like the stress of a freeway, you’ll love swerving the track at venerable Wallowa Lake Go-Karts. Joseph’s easygoing vibe can cure most of what may ail you, and with retail therapy if necessary. You absolutely should also self medicate at sweetsmith Arrowhead Chocolates, with milk and dark chocolate turtles, tiramisu truffles and lime habanero caramels. The Dog Spot is probably the only combined pet store, bar and restaurant you’ll ever visit, and it will be the best, either way. The menu is fresh and local, and the wine list will make your tail wag. Afterward, get really high at Wallowa Lake Tramway, a fifteenminute uphill trip that was once the steepest aerial gondola in North America. Atop 8,150-foot Mount Howard, you can roam trails, see from Idaho to the valley floor below, and almost trip over unbelievably plump chipmunks. Chances are, they’re hiding out from wolves that also roam the northeast Oregon backcountry. For dinner both simple and sublime, it’s twenty minutes to the community of Lostine and 107-year-old M. Crow & Co. General Store, with a menu of pizza, salads, sausages and nine varieties of pickled eggs. In addition to foodstuffs, it also sells handmade ceramics and denim. According to Nez Perce legend, long ago a couple disappeared on Wallowa Lake, victims of a monster from the depths. While it’s never been sighted, you can buy tourist gear featuring Oregon’s version of the Loch Ness monster, affectionately known as “Wally.” You’ll hear those tales during an Oregon bucket list finale to the day: JO Paddle’s nighttime lake float in colorful LED-lit clear plastic kayaks, under a dazzling starscape. Coowner Hannah Shoffner even wrote a children’s book about Wally. Chances are, you won’t see him. Probably. JULY | AUGUST 2024
1859 OREGON’S MAGAZINE 89
Add a barn tour to your itinerary and take in the vibrancy and scenery of the valley.
EAT Arrowhead Chocolates www.arrowheadchocolates.com The Blythe Cricket www.theblythecricket.com Little Bear Drive-In www.facebook.com/littlebeardrivein M. Crow & Co. General Store www.mcrowcompany.com Slack Drinks + Dining @slack.drinks.and.dining on Instagram Stubborn Mule Saloon www.stubbornmulesaloon.com
Joni Kabana/Travel Oregon
JOSEPH + THE WALLOWA VALLEY, OREGON
trip planner
Sugar Time Bakery www.sugartimebakery.com Terminal Gravity Brewing www.terminalgravitybrewing.com
Day
Vali’s Alpine Restaurant www.valisrestaurant.com
CORN CAKES • WHISKEY • ARTS + HERITAGE
STAY Eagle Cap Chalets www.eaglecapchalets.com Jennings Hotel & Sauna www.jenningshotel.com Wallowa Lake Lodge and Cabins www.wallowalakelodge.com
PLAY JO Paddle www.jopaddle.com Joseph Branch Rail Riders www.JBRailriders.com Joseph Bronze Art Walk www.josephoregon.com/joseph-orevents/artwalk Josephy Center for Arts and Culture www.josephy.org Maxville Heritage interpretive Center www.maxvilleheritage.org Minam Store www.minamstore.com Nez Perce Wallowa Homeland www.wallowanezperce.org Stein Distillery www.steindistillery.com Valley Bronze of Oregon www.valleybronze.com Wallowa County Barn Tour www.wallowacountychamber.com/ wallowas-county-barn-tour/ Wallowa Lake Go Karts 541-432-9285 Wallowa Lake Pack Station www.wallowalakepackstation.com Wallowa Lake Tramway www.wallowalaketramway.com Zumwalt Prairie Preserve www.nature.org
Wave hello to the hungry deer on your morning jog, but from a safe distance, so it will help to not dress like a carrot. Unless of course you’re an Oregon State fan and orange is all you’ve got. If you didn’t already know The Blythe Cricket bistro is an irresistible breakfast draw, the colorful metal sunflowers out front offer a culinary clue: The centers of the blooms are waffle irons. Try the Jacked Up Corn Cakes, a cornmeal pancake filled with beans and peppers and topped with cheese and sour cream. Also, of course, the waffles. Next door, Stein Distillery distills local grain into liquid happiness like corn whiskey and rye vodka. The cordial staff also will serve up cordials, and samples are free. Creativity and history combine at the Josephy Center for Arts and Culture, which offers classes, exhibits and the library collection of Alvin Josephy, a World War II correspondent, magazine editor and historian who became founding board chair of the National Museum of the American Indian. And at the Maxville Heritage Interpretive Center, learn about a nearby former timber town that was desegregated during the segregation era, and kept the menacing Ku Klux Klan at bay. Finish your trip with a splash. Minam Store books bouncy half-day adventures on Wallowa River whitewater.
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Or, stay drier on a self-guided historic barn tour, by car or by bike, and work your way to one of the last undisturbed grassland tracts in the West. The Nature Conservancy’s Zumwalt Prairie Preserve covers some 33,000 acres and is the nonprofit’s largest holding in Oregon. The U.S. Department of the Interior designated 4,400 acres of it as a National Natural Landmark. This is where the deer and the antelope (and elk) play—and wildflowers sway, and tribes once grazed horses, and artists find inspiration. On welcoming trails under endless skies, you’ll gain an even deeper understanding of why this is a place that people never want to leave.
A rare treat is the history and culture in the Josephy Center for Arts and Culture. (photo: Wallowa County Chamber of Commerce)
See why & learn more at:
WALLOWACOUNTYCHAMBER.COM
northwest destination
Craters of the Moon
Celebrate the centennial of Idaho’s dusty lava wonderland at Craters of the Moon—and then clean up your act afterward written by James Sinks
Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve offers a beautiful and austere experience without the summer crowds of national parks.
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monument still has the same charming and inviting names for its geographic features: Yellowjacket Waterhole, Inferno Chasm, Devil’s Orchard. And also, you still don’t want to be barefoot. As national park visitor traffic goes, Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve isn’t a list-topper. An estimated 257,598 people visited in 2023, according to National Park Service data, a sliver of the 4.5 million who visited Yellowstone and less than half of the 559,976 who headed to Crater Lake. Yet solitude is part of the appeal. Co-managed by the National Park Service and the Bureau of Land Management, the expanse—created by a 62-mile-long crack in the Earth’s crust—is largely undeveloped: There’s no lodge, no restaurants and one visitor center, named after the influential explorer Limbert. An easy 1.6-mile out-and-back trail from the visitor center takes you to two of the more than 700 caves that have been cataloged on the site. A separate 2-mile pathway leads to rocky molds of ancient trees that were once encased in lava. Idaho has been called a land of contrasts, from its weather to its politics to its soaring mountains and deep valleys. So while
Visit Idaho
AS HE ZIGZAGGED an otherworldly expanse of lava flows, blackened buttes and craggy caves in central Idaho—and on rocks so jagged underfoot it left his Airedale terrier’s paws bloodied— Boise explorer Robert Limbert remarked that the more than 600 volcanic square miles looked like a desolate moonscape. And yet at the same time, also strikingly beautiful, he wrote in National Geographic in 1924, as part of a bid to secure federal protection. “It is a place of color and silence,” he wrote in dispatches from the Craters of the Moon. “It is the play of light at sunset across this lava that charms the spectator.” The name stuck. The same year, President Calvin Coolidge formally designated the Craters of the Moon National Monument, he said, to conserve its “weird and scenic landscape.” This year, the lava wonderland celebrates its 100th birthday, and sort of like our truth-challenged friends proclaim when we get older: It doesn’t look like it’s aged one bit. Only in this case, it’s accurate. While the boundaries of the protected area have been expanded several times, the landscape looks just as stark and brutal, with trails through lava fields interspersed with scraggly juniper, sage and bunchgrass. The
Photos: Visit Idaho
CRATERS OF THE MOON, IDAHO
northwest destination
EAT 313 Whiskey Bar www.313whiskey.com Abracadabra’s Pocatello www.facebook.com/abraspocatello Brick 243 Gastropub www.facebook.com/brick243 Eruption Brewery & Bistro www.eruptionbrewery.com Pickle’s Place www.picklesplacerestaurant.com The Yellowstone Restaurant www.theyellowstonerestaurant.com
STAY Courtyard by Marriott Pocatello www.marriott.com DK Motel www.dkmotel.com Lava Hot Springs Inn www.lavahotspringsinn.com
PLAY Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve www.nps.gov/crmo/index.htm Lava Hot Springs www.lavahotsprings.com Museum of Clean www.museumofclean.com CLOCKWISE FROM TOP The moon-like surface at Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve. Tubing the Portneuf River near Craters of the Moon. Lava Hot Springs for a mellow soak does a body good.
the Craters of the Moon will beckon with ways to get dusty and dirty, you’ll be pleased to know that—nearby—you’ll find ample opportunities to clean up a bit. On the way, stop in tiny Arco, the closest city to the park and in the 1950s the first American city to be fully powered by nuclear energy, and recharge at Pickle’s Place, where you’ll find burgers, taters, homemade seasonings and a kosher pickle appetizer for $1.99. Where there’s lava, there’s heat, and that means hot springs. Head 120 miles southeast to soak in an assortment of pools at Lava Hot Springs Foundation World Famous Hot Springs, located on what was once part of a Native American reservation. If mellow soaking isn’t your jam, nearby in the hopping summer resort there’s a geothermal-heated, Olympic-sized pool and plunging waterslides. On Main Street in Lava Hot Springs, you can also rent inner tubes from roadside stands and bounce down the local stretch of the Portneuf River. The trek may only take about twenty minutes, but it has cred: In 2016, USA Today called it “America’s Best River for Tubing.”
Shoshone-Bannock Casino Hotel www.shobangaming.com
If you’re feeling lucky and want to clean up figuratively, or at least try, the Shoshone-Bannock Casino Hotel lets you try your hand at bingo and virtual card games and craps. The casino is on the Fort Hall Reservation, north of the city of Pocatello, which was created in a 1868 treaty with Chief Pocatello and remaining Shoshone that had not been killed by the U.S. Army in the nearby Bear River Massacre of 1863. In the city of Pocatello itself, you’ll find a celebration of everything clean—from vacuums to clean living—at the one-of-akind Museum of Clean. Started by a graduate of local Idaho State University, the cavernous and irreverent museum is an homage to not just cleaning tools and products, but also clean arteries and clean jokes. Afterward, cleanse your palate with tapas and wine downtown at unassuming and highly rated Brick 243 Gastropub. Feel like maybe dirtying those arteries a bit? Carnivore fare awaits including bison at steak-and-pasta spot The Yellowstone Restaurant, in a circa-1915 hotel next to the train station. After-dinner relaxation options fill the liquor list next door at 313 Whiskey Bar, where the finale can be both clean and neat. JULY | AUGUST 2024
1859 OREGON’S MAGAZINE 93
1859 MAPPED
The points of interest below are culled from stories and events in this edition of 1859.
Astoria Seaside
Milton-Freewater
Cannon Beach
Hood River Portland Tillamook Gresham
Pendleton
The Dalles
Joseph La Grande
Maupin Government Camp
Pacific City Lincoln City
Baker City
Salem Newport
Madras
Albany Corvallis
Prineville Redmond
Sisters Florence
Eugene Springfield
John Day Ontario
Bend Sunriver Burns
Oakridge Coos Bay Bandon
Roseburg
Grants Pass Brookings
Jacksonville
Paisley
Medford Ashland
Klamath Falls
Lakeview
Live
Think
Explore
14 Little Bees Candles
46 Bend Outdoor Worx
78
The Alibi Tiki Lounge
14 Hayden Homes Amphitheater
48 Every Child Oregon
80
Coquille River Lighthouse
23 Public Coast Farm
50 Oregon Department of Kick Ass
84
Surfsand Resort
24 Valley View Orchard
52 Main Street Cowboys
86
Wallowa Lake
92
Craters of the Moon, Idaho
40 Cascade Head
94 1859 OREGON’S MAGAZINE JULY | AUGUST 2024
Remember the last time your family visited the forest? It’s a place of wonder and imagination for the whole family—where stories come to life. And it’s closer than you think. Sounds like it’s time to plan your next visit. Make the forest part of your story today at a local park near you or find one at DiscoverTheForest.org.
Until Next Time Kayaking blue waters at Jackson F. Kimball State Recreation Site. photo by Kamrin Nielsen
MAKE CULTURE COUNT Celebrate Oregon! artwork by Liza Mana Burns
Join The Movement Match your donations to support 1600+ Oregon cultural nonprofits and score up to a 100% refund in the form of a tax credit!
Learn How to Score the Cultural Tax Credit
culturaltrust.org
Continue for Special Insert
The Northwest’s Best Wine Events
aWHITMAN HILL WINERY
WASHINGTON
STATE YAKIMA VALLEY
aWATERFIRE RESTAURANT
aVAN ARNAM VINEYARDS
SUMMER SIPPING IN WINE COUNTRY
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The Top
Pacific Northwest Wine Events OF LATE SUMMER & FALL
Whether it’s a cabernet sauvignon from Washington or a pinot noir from Oregon, the Pacific Northwest makes some of the best wine in the world. As the number two and three wine-production states behind California, Washington and Oregon continue to innovate and persevere in the face of challenges from global warming. The overlap of the top five wine varietals between Washington’s twenty AVAs and Oregon’s twenty-three AVAs are in production of cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay and riesling. Merlot and syrah round out the top five for Washington. Pinot noir and pinot gris make up the balance for Oregon. At the end of the day, it’s all about the care and craft that go into each vineyard, each crush, each winemaking season—that ends in a terrestrial gift from the soils of the Pacific Northwest. While there are hundreds of wine tasting events at individual vineyards and wineries, there are also events that showcase the wines of many vineyards and AVAs throughout the Northwest—an embarrassment of riches, a Bacchanalian reward for the participants. Here are some of Washington’s and Oregon’s top wine events of the upcoming season that you won’t want to miss. Plan ahead now, as many of these sell out!
Shindig at Yellowhawk Resort
A publication of Statehood Media
Cover: Wilridge Vineyard, Winery & Distillery, Washington
www.1859oregonmagazine.com www.1889mag.com
photo, above: Yellowhawk; cover: Greg Balkin-Wondercamp/State of Washington Tourism
2024
PNW Wine Guide
3
OREGON International Pinot Noir Celebration
lated topics. These small-format seminars provide IPNC guests with an intimate environment to learn directly from wine professionals.
McMinnville www.ipnc.org
Uncorked
JULY 26-28
Since it began in 1987 in McMinnville, the International Pinot Noir Celebration has brought in increasing numbers of wine lovers from around the world—France, Australia and New Zealand, to name a few. Today, the IPNC has blossomed into accessible education, dinners and tasting from more than seventy wineries. A long-standing tradition of the IPNC is the Salmon Bake, which showcases wild salmon roasted on alder stakes over a huge, custom-built fire pit. Other features of IPNC weekend include: • Grand Seminar: All guests attend this large-format seminar and tasting to learn from some of the most influential figures in wine. • Vineyard Tour: Travel through the vine-covered countryside to a nearby Willamette Valley winery where you will enjoy a guided stroll through the vineyard and learn about the distinct characteristics of the host site. You’ll also have the opportunity to engage in a small-format seminar with featured winemakers. • University of Pinot: Attend one of eight seminars that focus on a wide array of pinot noir-re-
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PNW Wine Guide 2024
SEPT. 13-14
Sunriver www.sunriversharc.com/ things-to-do/uncorked Just after the kids are back in school, corks on exquisite PNW wines are popping down at Sunriver Resort in Central Oregon. Sponsored by the Sunriver Owners Association, Uncorked is two days of self-described decadence, music, food and art in Benham Hall and the outdoor John Gray Amphitheater. Make it a back-to-school vacation for the parents with a stay at the Sunriver Lodge or other Sunriver properties.
Umpqua: The Vineyard Tour OCT. 4-7
Oakland & Roseburg www.thevineyardtour.com Organized by the Umpqua Velo Club, this weekend features various lengths of rides from the 105-mile Full Flight to the 17-mile Just a Sip (including a gravel ride) in the rolling hills of the Umpqua Valley. Stop in at the many small wineries and vineyards along the way. Enjoy wine tasting, local cuisine and music from the Umpqua Valley.
Umpqua: The Vineyard Tour
photo: Umpqua Velo Club
WCVA_
SPEND THE WEEKEND
WINING AND DINING WEST OF PORTLAND.
Experience an exceptional, intimate world of wine just west of Portland. Find your new favorite pour at
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TUALATINVALLEY.ORG WCVA_1859_OR_July_Aug_24_Wine.indd 1
6/10/24 4:27 PM
Fairsing Vineyard, Wine Country Thanksgiving
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¡Salud! The Oregon Pinot Noir Auction
Wine Country Thanksgiving
NOV. 8-9
NOV. 22-24 & NOV. 29-DEC. 1
Dayton & Portland www.saludauction.org/auction
Willamette Valley www.willamettewines.com
Over the course of two days and two events, the proceeds from ¡Salud! go to help fund healthcare for vineyard stewards and their families. Since 2013, this event has raised cash to offset nearly $1.5 million in medical costs for the 2,100 vineyard workers and family members in the program. The auction of exclusive pinot noirs takes place at the Pinot Party at Domaine Serene on November 8. The following day, the formal Gala—a multicourse dinner, wine tasting and wine auctions—unfurls in Portland at The Ritz-Carlton hotel.
In the early 1980s, Willamette Valley wineries began this Oregon tradition to kick off the holiday season. In the weekends prior to and of Thanksgiving, Willamette Valley wineries offer special tastings, food pairings, live music and other wine country experiences. Pre-Thanksgiving weekend events include new fall release wines and wine club exclusives. Take the stress out of this holiday by absconding to the Willamette Valley and sipping Oregon’s best pinots while sampling local cuisine paired with your wine.
PNW Wine Guide 2024
¡Salud!
First Taste Oregon JAN. 24-25, 2025 Oregon State Fair & Exposition Center, Salem www.firsttasteoregon.com In the middle of Oregon’s winegrowing areas, Salem plays host to an early event
that offers a first taste of some of the new wines just coming out of barrel. The Oregon State Fair & Exposition Center is the scene for some of the industry’s best winemakers, craft brewers, spirit distillers, artists and culinary masters. This two-day event features live music and pop-up bars with wineries and top chefs.
photos, from top: John Valls/Fairsing Vineyard-Willamette Valley Wineries Association, Kathryn Elsesser
WASHINGTON TOAST!
Winemaker Picnic
AUG. 8
Sparkman Cellars, Woodinville www.auctionofwawines. org/events/toast Though this is an industry awards event, it’s also where some of the state’s best wine and food are for one night at the beautiful Sparkman Cellars in Woodinville. In Washington’s wine locker, Woodinville, expect an evening of great cabernets and red blends alongside a fourcourse meal from John Howie, one of Washington’s top chefs and a nominee for Outstanding Restaurateur by the James Beard Foundation.
Winemaker Picnic & Barrel Auction, and Gala AUG. 9-10
Chateau Ste. Michelle www.auctionofwawines. org/picnic www.auctionofwawines. org/gala One of Washington’s largest wine and culinary events takes place on the beautiful grounds of Chateau Ste. Michelle. At the Winemaker Picnic on August 9, you can meet winemakers in person and visit the tasting bars where you can choose among more than 100 wines. You can also sample savory bites at each chef station. Try your hand at a game of chance for wine prizes
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PNW Wine Guide 2024
or bid on reserve wines from thirty-five Washington wineries at the Barrel Auction. During the Gala on August 10, you can sit down to a fourcourse dinner by top local chefs at your winemaker-hosted table. Raise your paddle to bid to win one of the exclusive live auction items featuring Washington wineries—bottled happiness for your future.
Barrel Auction
photos: Curbow Photo
BETTY APPROVED
THIS IS BETTY!
Abbey Road Farm is a unique destination with a luxurious converted silo inn (B&B), beautifully crafted winery, indoor/outdoor tasting room, and events venue located on a bucolic 82-acre working farm. Our estate vineyard highlights 15 organically-farmed varietals grown on 45 gently sloping acres, which produces wine with respect to old-world philosophies and a focus on modern techniques.
www.abbeyroadfarm.com
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Shindig at Yellowhawk Resort
Shindig at Yellowhawk Resort AUG. 23-24
Walla Walla www.yellowhawkresort.com/ shindig Enjoy a spectacular weekend in one of Washington’s most exciting winegrowing areas—Walla Walla. Once and briefly the capital of Washington, Walla Walla is making the case for it to retake that title as it pertains to Washington wine. At the 84-acre Yellowhawk property, wine-lovers can enjoy a luxurious weekend of wine, food and music with proceeds benefiting youth agricultural programs and the local wine and culinary communities. On
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PNW Wine Guide 2024
August 23, sip from more than twenty-five wineries on the beautiful Yellowhawk grounds while enjoying tasty morsels of food and moving to live music. Shindig’s Magnum Tent features fourteen special pours. The Grand Gallop event on August 24 is a multicourse dinner and auction to support local youth agriculture and the wine and culinary communities.
great wines in Walla Walla. During Fall Release Weekend, visitors can be among the first to enjoy and acquire newly released wines, many of which can only be found at the local Walla Walla wineries and tast-
ing rooms themselves. If you want to understand the distinct profile of Walla Walla wines, this is a fantastic opportunity to talk directly with winemakers and gain insight into their creative winemaking processes.
Fall Release Weekend
Fall Release Weekend NOV. 1-3
Walla Walla Valley www.wallawallawine.com/ event/fall-release The summer heat is gone. A fall chill is in the air. There is no better time of year to enjoy
photos, from top: Yellowhawk, Richard Duval/Walla Walla Valley Wine
Author: TH Color: CMYK Version: 1
In 2023, our Patronage Program paid 1.25% of daily balances on eligible loans as a cash dividend. This totaled $387 million returned to customermembers across the West. If you’re not receiving a portion of your lender’s profits back, it’s time to make the switch to AgWest Farm Credit.
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Learn more at AgWestFC.com. This institution is an equal opportunity provider and employer.
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MORE PNW
Oregon’s AVAs 22 20
19
21
1
11
4
5
12
2
200
23
3
15
16
7
8
14
6
9 10
13
17 18
Source: Oregon Wine Board
1.
12
Willamette Valley
7.
Dundee Hills
13. Southern Oregon
19. Columbia Gorge
2. Yamhill-Carlton
8. McMinnville
14. Umpqua Valley
20. Columbia Valley
3. Chehalem Mountains
9. Eola-Amity Hills
15. Red Hill Douglas County
21.
4. Tualatin Hills
10. Van Duzer Corridor
16. Elkton Oregon
5. Laurelwood District
11. Mount Pisgah, Polk County
17.
22. The Rocks District of Milton-Freewater
6. Ribbon Ridge
12. Lower Long Tom
18. Applegate Valley
PNW Wine Guide 2024
Rogue Valley
Walla Walla Valley
23. Snake River Valley
photo, at right: Serge Chapuis/Domaine Drouhin
Domaine Drouhin, Oregon
2024
PNW Wine Guide
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Washington’s AVAs 20
19
18
1
17
14
15 16
12 13
11
6
7 10 8
4
2 3
5 Source: Washington State Wine Commission
1. Puget Sound
6. Lewis-Clark Valley
12. Rattlesnake Hills
18. Ancient Lakes
2. Columbia Gorge
7.
Columbia Valley
13. Snipes Mountain
19. Rocky Reach
3. The Burn of Columbia Valley
8. Candy Mountain
14. Naches Heights
20. Lake Chelan
4. Horse Heaven Hills
9. Goose Gap
15. Wahluke Slope
10. Red Mountain
16. White Bluffs
11. Yakima Valley
17. Royal Slope
5. Walla Walla Valley
14
9
PNW Wine Guide 2024
photo, at right: Maryhill Winery
Maryhill Winery’s Vancouver tasting room, Washington
2024
PNW Wine Guide
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