TRIP PLANNER: MUKILTEO + WHIDBEY ISLAND PG. 78
Native Arts Evolution
Waterfalls + Harbor Towns
Huckleberry Heaven
Plunge
SUMMER SWIMMING HOLES
TA K E T H E
Escape to the Last Frontier:
SEWARD, ALASKA
1889mag.com $5.95 display until September 30, 2021
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WASHINGTON
August | September
volume 26
ALCOHOL BEVERAGE LAWS VARY BY STATE. PLEASE BE GUIDED ACCORDINGLY. © 2020 ELYSIAN BREWING COMPANY, SEATTLE, WA
Smooth Sailing An inaugural engineless, unsupported boat race in the Puget Sound—WA360—launched in June. Dozens of competitors, from sailboats to SUPers, joined the perilous journey that will likely become a summer tradition in the Sound. (pg. 64)
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Liv von Oelreich/Northwest Maritime Center
Team Sail Like a Girl finished fourth overall in the first WA360 race around Puget Sound.
AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2021
1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE 3
FEATURES AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2021 • volume 26
64
56
Human-Powered
The Native Eye
Jump into the bow of the first WA360, a threeday, engineless, unsupported boat race. Circle 360 miles, launching from Port Townsend with some of America’s most intrepid athletes as they put their skills and mental fortitude to the test in the perfect landscape for adventure.
Explore contemporary Native art as it extends beyond the realm of storytelling and tradition. Not only a healing process, this work is a reclamation of power as three diverse artists push the boundaries, seizing the chance for making ancestral knowledge common knowledge. Get ready to experience it here as they express their views through satire, fashion and compassion. written by Fiona Max
50 Seven Sweet and Secret Swimming Holes Stumble across hidden swimming holes and immerse yourself in the magic of pristine waters dappled by light and the occasional visitor. These swim spots abound just beyond the trees in the quaint communities that hold them dear. written by Kelsey Swenson
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Anne Young/Winthrop Washington
Grab a pool float and cool off at Pearrygin Lake State Park.
NASA. Apollo 11. You. Your place in history starts right here.
And you don’t have to make a trip around the moon to discover it. Claim your stake at Discovery West, a mixed-use community alive with the spirit of exploration, with nearby schools, parks, trails, shopping and more. This once in a lifetime opportunity is just waiting for you. Discover your own personal space at discoverywestbend.com or visit our Discovery Pod at the corner of Skyline RanchRoad and Celilo Lane.
DEPARTMENTS AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2021 • volume 26
LIVE 14 SAY WA?
Exhilarating leaps from 10,000 feet, birds and blues festivals, playing with musical fire and what animals can teach us about adapting to climate change.
20 FOOD + DRINK
28
Pizza achieves new heights with thoughtful beer pairings. Spicing up your kitchen with culinary blends. A French restaurant settles into island life. Never settle for limited cider picks at a taphouse again.
24 FARM TO TABLE
Delicate berries with a cultural connection gather widespread attention. Try this recipe for goat-cheese stuffed ravioli with a wild twist.
28 HOME + DESIGN Kayleen Michelle Photography
How a log cabin with a steampunk vibe fulfilled a home-chef’s dreams. This old Seattle Tudor went from gloomy to airy. DIY a custom-colored chalkboard wall for organizing your home’s happenings. An easy guide to an expertly arranged charcuterie board.
36 MIND + BODY
This doctor’s tips for total health are based on strong research that social and spiritual health must be considered along with physical and mental wellness.
38 ARTIST IN RESIDENCE
Baritone on your doorstep? Soprano on wheels? Spokane’s Dawn Wolski goes from a storied international singing career to delivering opera to the people of the inland Northwest.
THINK 42 WHAT’S GOING UP
Washington’s universities manifest their commitment to mental health, racial equality and STEM in new, state-of-the-art facilities.
44 WHAT I’M WORKING ON
This marine scientist dives into ingenious new ways of collecting ocean data for climate research and predicting droughts, floods, severe tropical storms, hurricanes, monsoons and wildfires.
46 MY WORKSPACE
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Discover Mukilteo
TreeHouse Point
This detailer’s attention to detail landed him the gig of a lifetime restoring the first presidential jet at The Museum of Flight.
48 GAME CHANGER
78 10 11 86 88
Editor’s Letter 1889 Online Map of Washington Until Next Time
Marc Dones—and others—believe his “unconventional” approach to ending homelessness in Seattle can work.
EXPLORE 72 TRAVEL SPOTLIGHT
A quick guide to playing in a protected cove in the shadow of Mount Rainier: boating for amateurs, artisan spirits-sipping and local flavor at a harborside icon.
74 ADVENTURE
Washington is overflowing with waterfalls. An expertly curated guide to five gets you up close and feeling the spray on your face.
76 LODGING
Dream away in a fairytale-worthy treehouse. Discover some great eateries to stay grounded.
78 TRIP PLANNER COVER
photo by Adam McKibben/Visit Port Angeles Devil’s Punchbowl at Lake Crescent (see “Seven Sweet and Secret Swimming Holes,” pg. 50)
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Exploring Japanese heritage and a meditative sculpture garden. Swing Tarzan-style from a waterfront rope. Savor oysters and steak that you sear on a 750-degree granite rock. It all happens in Mukilteo and Whidbey Island.
84 NW DESTINATION
Beluga whales, salmonberries and a window into the ice age are the tip of the iceberg in the Last Frontier—Seward, Alaska.
BE MORE COOL
Seeking an immersive vineyard experience blended with farm-to-table dining and outdoor recreation? Yeah, we’ve got that.
We’ve got more cool.
Photo courtesy of @thebarrelgirls
VisitTri-Cities.com
CONTRIBUTORS
JEREMY JOHNSON Photographer Human-Powered
FIONA MAX Writer The Native Eye
ADAM SAWYER Writer Adventure
JUSTIN BAILIE Photographer Farm to Table
For eight days in June, I chased kayaks, contraptions and catamarans throughout Puget Sound during the inaugural WA360. From dawn to dusk as a member of the media team, and fascinated by the concept of an engineless race, I captured everyday adventurers and seasoned sailors racing against tide and time. An unforgettable experience, we watched the kayak team from BendRacing absolutely trounce the competition for the first four days, making us openly wonder if a kayak could win a sail race. (pg. 64)
I was honored to speak to three Pacific Northwest Native artists whose ingenious approach to addressing social issues has led them to gain broad recognition and acclaim. For one artist, that began with a pair of shoes. For another, the route was through satire and for the third, it was ancestral wisdom. I grew up in Bend, Oregon, skiing and running in the mountains. I’m in my second year at Princeton University, where I’ll major in journalism or sociology and environmental studies. (pg. 56)
My take on waterfalls is similar to the way that other adults might feel about their children—I love them all, but I have favorites. Be it the visual beauty of the waterfall itself, the hike in, a memory associated with the first visit, or in the case of Rainbow Falls, the journey just to get to the trailhead. Indeed, if these waterfall hikes were kids, they all put themselves through college and never moved back home. I co-authored the book Hiking Waterfalls in Washington and live off the grid in the woods of Washington.
One of my favorite things about growing up and living in the Pacific Northwest is that there is food to be foraged everywhere. Whether it’s berries, mushrooms, fish, etc., if you’re lucky enough to have mentors or just take the time to learn, a large portion of what you eat here can be wild, natural, amazing food. (pg. 24)
(pg. 74)
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EDITOR-AT-LARGE Kevin Max
MANAGING EDITOR Cathy Carroll CREATIVE DIRECTOR Allison Bye
WEB MANAGER
AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT MANAGER
OFFICE MANAGER
DIRECTOR OF SALES
BEERVANA COLUMNIST
Aaron Opsahl Elijah Aikens Cindy Miskowiec Jenny Kamprath Jackie Dodd
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Melissa Dalton, Jackie Dodd, Aaron Doyle, Jack Jackson, Fiona Max, Keith Moore, Ben Salmon, Adam Sawyer, Dina Shorn, Cara Strickland, Kate Sullivan, Kelsey Swenson, Corinne Whiting
CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS
Justin Bailie, Tim Bies, Jackie Dodd, Bradley Lanphear, Lisa Parsons, Adam Sawyer
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AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2021
1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE 9
FROM THE
EDITOR-AT-LARGE IN THIS ISSUE, centered on arts and wellness, we first look at contemporary Native American artists based in Washington on pg. 56. In this piece, we peer into the lives and work of John Feodorov, of Navajo and Euro-American heritage, whose political and spiritual life come together as stories told on canvas. Lillian Pitt is a member of the Wasco Tribe who made their lives on the Columbia River. Her contemporary sculptures, masks and wearable art are well known and celebrated throughout the Pacific Northwest. Louie Gong is a Coastal Salish artist whose art has been featured in publications and exhibits the world over. Finding and making good use of a secret swimming hole could fairly be described as “wellness.” If so, we have seven antidotes to summer and fall boredom. On pg. 50, our dedicated summer intern, Kelsey Swenson, divines the previously secret stashes of swimming holes for a day dip or nighttime float in seclusion. If water is wellness, then waterfalls are a deluge of goodness. Find our top five waterfalls around
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the state on pg. 74. We sourced these from our top Instagram followers for your convenience. Since travel became a safer thing again, we have two suggestions for you. The first is hopping either a cruise ship or an airplane with Seward (via Anchorage) as your destination. Named after President Abraham Lincoln’s secretary of state who negotiated the purchase of Alaska from Russia, Seward is truly the epitome of the Last Frontier. Our Trip Planner finds us in Mukilteo, where we explore history and green spaces before making use of its new $187 million ferry terminal and popping over to Whidbey Island for more zen. In life and in print, we quickly revert back to life’s delicacies with a recipe for huckleberry cobbler from ROUXBE Culinary School on pg. 26. Another foodie delight is the launch of chef Jason Stoneburner’s culinary creations at Stoup Brewing in Ballard, a pizza and beer addition to his portfolio, which includes Stoneburner, also in Ballard. Cheers!
1889 ONLINE More ways to connect with your favorite Washington content www.1889mag.com | #1889washington | @1889washington
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WASHINGTON: IN FOCUS Have a photo that captures your Washington experience? Share it with us by filling out the Washington: In Focus form on our website. If chosen, you’ll be published here. www.1889mag.com/in-focus photo by Liz Willard Steptoe Butte is one of my happy places. I visit several times a year. I love the feeling of seeming aerial views when you are firmly planted on the ground. While taking photos of rocks and panoramas, I thought to combine both in this shot.
A NEW WAY TO SHOP Stop by Local, our curated online shop of cool goods made by businesses in the Pacific Northwest. Find home décor, jewelry, specialty foods and more. Buy local. Feel good. www.1859oregonmagazine.com/shop
1889 ADVENTURE MAIL More Washington, delivered to your inbox! Sign up for 1889’s Adventure Mail newsletter and get access to the latest trip ideas, giveaways, recipes and more.
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www.1889mag.com/1889-newsletter AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2021
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Antonio Zaribi
SAY WA? 14 FOOD + DRINK 20 FARM TO TABLE 24 HOME + DESIGN 28 MIND + BODY 36 ARTIST IN RESIDENCE 38
pg. 16 Soulful and quietly intense, Kaylee Elizabeth finds her voice in her first solo album.
NW Washington Fair, August
Mount Baker Theatre
Leave Inspired. Thrill. Spark Museum of Electricity
Savor.
Marvel. Ready?
bellingham.org/attend Taste.
@BellinghamExperience T H E S TAT E O F W A S H I N G T O N
say wa?
Tidbits + To-dos written by Kelsey Swenson
m
CALaErk your NDA R
The Scow Artist and fisherman Tom Crestodina’s “arty fish stuff and fishy art stuff” is just the right stuff for ocean enthusiasts. His subjects range from revealing the beauty of sea life to inside jokes for fishermen and sailors. Crestodina, an Alaska fisherman, began making the drawings while he was at sea so that he could connect with his young son at home in Bellingham. Rockfish, submarines and Noah’s Ark will prompt joy to bubble up in landlubber and seafarer alike. www.thescow.bigcartel.com
Malicious Women Co.
Wings Over Willapa
14
Kayak South Willapa Bay, hike among giant red cedars, mold raku clay pots with feathers, learn to identify shorebirds and coastal raptors. The Wings Over Willapa Festival, September 24 through 26, connects you with birds, art and the nature of the Willapa National Wildlife Refuge. Wildlife biologists, researchers and local artists inspire an appreciation for this wild place, with one of the most dangerous stretches of ocean on the planet, and the fascinating creatures that inhabit it.
It’s not easy parking a camper, especially when the mosquitoes are biting. To kick off some campsite fun and bring out your rebellious side, Malicious Women Co. makes candles that lighten the mood and ward off pesky mosquitoes. But it’s not all about the sweet scent—the labels’ messages embrace life’s struggle and honor lost friends. So far, they’ve donated more than $14,000 to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
www.wingsoverwillapa.org
www.maliciouswomenco.com
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AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2021
say wa?
Drifter’s Fish
There’s plenty of ground exploration to be had, but how about a view from 10,000 feet to put it all in perspective? Leap from an airplane with an expert crew, glide above the Snohomish River Valley and catch views of Mount Baker, Mount Rainier and the Puget Sound all at once. After the exhilarating freefall, navigate like a bird above the landscape under parachute for a jump to remember.
If there’s one thing that defines the Puget Sound, it’s salmon, and for some of the freshest, look for the Copper River sockeye caught by Michael and Nelly Hand. Drifter’s Fish delivers their catch in 15-pound packages from their boat to your table in Seattle, Bellingham and Anacortes. As the couple sails home from Alaska to Guemes Island, off the coast of Anacortes, they catch the last coho salmon of the Alaskan season and cold smoke it in Seattle.
www.skydivesnohomish.com
www.driftersfish.com
Skydive Snohomish
CAmark y LEN our DA R Edmonds Center for the Arts Iconic rock-and-roll and blues man Elvin Bishop is still going strong, fifty years into a pretty good run. He’ll be at the beautifully renovated Edmonds Center for the Arts with Grammy winner Charlie Musselwhite on September 18 for a musical sojourn through rock, folk and blues. On November 5, explore a blend of Korean folk music and swinging, colorful melodies in an engaging performance by ensemble Ak Dan Gwang Chil (ADG7). www.edmondscenterforthearts.org
AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2021
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say wa?
Musician
Seattle’s Kaylee Elizabeth takes center stage on her first solo album, Playing With Fire written by Ben Salmon
Listen on Spotify
WHEN KAYLEE ELIZABETH sat down to start writing songs for what would eventually become her first solo album, she didn’t know exactly how to set her new work apart from The Native Sibling, the spirited folk-rock band she shared with her brother, Ryan Williams, for nearly a decade. After years of composing collaboratively, she settled on a self-challenge: to take on writing by herself, in a singular voice. Looking back, it was almost a necessity. “I had gotten to a point where I was constantly being indecisive while writing and the doubt became quite crippling,” Elizabeth said. “Being in a band where I could bring ideas and finish together is a gift, but I wanted to get better at navigating decisions on my own.” Shortly after recording The Native Sibling’s 2019 album Hammer is Heart, Elizabeth wrote a tune that dealt more explicitly with her Christian faith (and faith in general) than anything she’d done before. It was called “Playing With Fire,” and it was the first step on the journey toward an album of the same name—Elizabeth’s first under her own name. Freed from the expectations of writing with others, Playing With Fire finds Elizabeth sounding confident and cool as she explores a new universe of sounds. Backed by a killer band that includes Jessica Dobson (Deep Sea Diver, The Shins), Sean Lane (Pedro the Lion, Perfume Genius), Michael Porter and Zander 16
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Hawley, she bounces through eleven tracks of sturdy pop-rock that ranges from warm and laid back (“Next Step”) to buoyant and soulful (“Something’s Gotta Break”) to quietly intense (“Passing Through”). Along the way, producer Andy D. Park, best known for his work with Death Cab for Cutie, strikes a nice balance, adding interesting sonic elements to the songs while keeping the focus on Elizabeth’s dynamic vocal melodies. Elizabeth has called Seattle home since 2014. She’s originally from Santa Cruz, California, where she grew up as part of a musical family that road-tripped to a soundtrack of The Beach Boys, The Supremes, Neil Young and The Beatles. So no one was surprised when she and her brother started a band together. With Playing With Fire, Elizabeth steps in a new direction, one that suits her well. “I do really enjoy writing on my own. It brings me so much joy, and I think that having the space on my own makes me explore and write differently than if there’s someone in the room,” she said. “Both are wonderful processes, but I think that I may actually prefer the solo time upfront to get my ideas out and sit with them for a bit before there’s input.”
May Xiong
Out On Her Own
CHECK OUT OUR ROAD TRIPS FOR YOUR NEXT ADVENTURE
visityakima.com/yakima-road-trips
say wa?
Acclaimed author Thor Hanson reveals remarkable stories of species’ responses to climate change.
Bibliophile
Evolving Thought Thor Hanson’s latest work could transform the conversation around climate change interview by Cathy Carroll
THOR HANSON GREW UP in Washington, where he caught his first salmon at age four, and collected caterpillars, garter snakes, hermit crabs and tree frogs as summer pets. More recently, his research and conservation work has ranged from helping establish the mountain gorilla tourism program in Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable National Park to aiding in management of a brown bear tourism project for the Forest Service in Alaska. He has co-hosted the PBS Nature series “American Spring Live,” has been a guest on several NPR programs and his work on warfare and ecology has been covered by news outlets around the world, from Scientific American and The New York Times to The Times of India. Book critics have hailed him a lyrical and thoughtprovoking storyteller, and in his latest work, Hurricane Lizards and Plastic Squid, he reveals how plants and animals are responding remarkably to climate change: moving, adapting and even evolving. It’s a story of hope, resilience and risk. Hanson lives in the San Juan Islands. 18
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Was there a particular finding during your research that prompted you to pursue this book? It wasn’t a single experience—it was a deluge! Climate change has been upending biological expectations for decades, altering studies and outcomes for everything from pollinators to trees to, yes, lizards and squid. But most of those stories never get beyond a limited professional audience. I wrote this book to highlight the remarkable climate adaptations that biologists are seeing in the field every day. Plants and animals are changing fast, and the sum of their responses has a lot to teach us about the future—theirs, as well as our own. What was the most remarkable, surprising, humorous or challenging moment for you during your research for this book? The pickle jar! I devoted an early chapter in the book to improving my understanding of carbon dioxide, and found a ready source of it right in our own refrigerator. One jar of old, fermenting pickles provided enough pure gas to clarify the carbon cycle and explain the fundamental problem with burning fossil fuels.
With a thermometer and a heat lamp, I was also able to see how carbon dioxide was trapping heat in the atmosphere of the jar. So remember, the next time you find something in your fridge that looks like a scientific experiment, it is a scientific experiment. What are the most applicable strategies humans can model from other species— bush crickets, bumblebees and butterflies or others—for modifying our behaviors? Other species inspire by example. Consider the lizards from the title of the book. They live exclusively on small Caribbean islands threatened by the uptick in powerful hurricanes. Moving is not an option, and their low-lying habitat offers little refuge. But instead of winking out, the lizards have come up with a solution: natural selection for larger, tree-gripping toe pads that help them hold on tight during high winds. It’s a humbling lesson. If a tiny reptile can evolve in response to this crisis, then it stands to reason we can change the behaviors bringing it about. Doing so will lessen the very need for amazing climate adaptations. And that’s a good thing.
Kirkland Awaits! Come and Unwind, Come and Experience, Come and Explore. Just 12 miles east of Seattle!
Kirkland Visitor Center 400 Urban Plaza, Suite 135 Kirkland, Washington 98033 425-822-7066 | tourism@kirklandwa.gov
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food + drink
Beervana
Stouping to Success Stoup Brewing elevates pizza and beer in a Kenmore space written and photographed by Jackie Dodd
Cocktail Card recipe courtesy of Ascend Prime Steak & Sushi / Bellevue
1921 • 21/4 ounces Empress Gin • 1/4 ounce blood orange puree • 1 ounce fresh lemon juice • ¾ ounce honey-rose syrup (recipe and ingredients below) • ¼ ounce rich simple syrup (recipe and ingredients below) • 2 dashes cardamom bitters • 1-inch cube of dry ice • One red rose petal for garnish FOR HONEY-ROSE SIMPLE SYRUP • 1/4 cup honey • 1/4 cup rose water Combine honey and rose water in a saucepan, bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer to reduce into a syrup. FOR RICH SIMPLE SYRUP • 1/4 cup sugar • 1/4 cup water Combine sugar and water in a saucepan, bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer to reduce into a syrup. In a mixing glass, combine all ingredients (except red rose petal and dry ice) with ice, shake and strain into a chilled martini glass. Garnish with a red rose petal and dry ice.
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IN THE REMAINS of Kenmore’s Seaplane restaurant rises a pairing of beer and food that resonates like a perfectly sung note. Weiman Maclise and chef Jason Stoneburner brought thoughtful dishes and a gorgeous space to the Kenmore spot that sputtered to a halt in the midst of the Covid crisis. When thoughts of reopening stirred, the team knew a pivot was necessary. Partnering with a local craft brewery to showcase Stoneburner’s thoughtful dishes paired with equally thoughtful beer just made sense. The top choice was the awardwinning beer at Stoup Brewing in Ballard. Stoup’s team, hosting a well-curated rotation of food trucks, had long held visions of a taproom with a kitchen. When Maclise pitched the opportunity to partner on the Kenmore space, however, the team at Stoup took time to be certain it was right. “They never do anything hastily, they are very cautious and thoughtful with all of their decisions,” said Nikki Koth, Stoup Brewing’s general manager. The results of this union at the second Stoup Brewing in Kenmore is obvious. The food is elevated but approachable, the best version of pub food, with local, carefully sourced ingredients. Here, the nacho cheese is house-made with premium cheeses and the pork comes from a local purveyor Stoneburner knows personally. The ethos of the culinary ideals match seamlessly with the beer. “We couldn’t be more thrilled with the menu,” said Brad Benson, coowner and head brewer at Stoup. “The locally sourced ingredients and creative menu choices reflect an approach to food that … I have always admired, similar to our own approach to beer.” The pizza crust is possibly one of the best in Seattle, a recipe that Stoneburner has been perfecting for nearly a decade. Toppings include locally made sausage, brie and caramelized onions. It’s a force to be reckoned with when it comes to an artisan pie in Washington. Along with the twenty-two Stoup brews in rotation, the bar also serves two batch AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2021
FROM TOP Raspberries brighten a German-style Berliner Weiss. Stoup Brewing builds community in Kenmore with an approachable aesthetic. Topped with butterfly tea, the Corpse Reviver is one of two cocktails on tap.
cocktails on tap, such as the “Corpse Reviver,” a gorgeous and well-balanced cocktail made with local gin, orange liqueur, Lillet and lemon peel and topped with a beautiful butterflypea-flower tea. The atmosphere is friendly and kind. The staff has a genuine desire to make a genial space, a feeling that’s palpable. “We want to make sure people in the area feel welcome. … We want people to be happy,” Koth said with an endearing smile. You can tell she means it. Stop in for a pint and a slice. Make sure to say hi to your beertender, and bring along your pup, your kids or your friends—this is a space for all.
winery · restaurant · inn & spa · event center the perfect place to celebrate the arts is right here...
Collective Visions Gallery - Bremerton
Home of the Kitsap Peninsula National Water Trails
Poulsbo Arts Festival ~ August 20-22 Seattle-Tacoma International Airport
Baymont Inn and Suites - Bremerton ** 360.362.0549 | wyndhamhotels.com
Hampton Inn - Bremerton Waterfront 360.405.0200 | hamptoninn3.hilton.com
Quality Inn and Suites - Silverdale 360.692.7777 | choicehotels.com
Best Western Plus Silverdale Beach Hotel Silverdale ** 360.698.1000 | bestwestern.com
Guest House International - Poulsbo/ Little Norway 360.697.4400 | redlion.com
Bainbridge Island Lodging & Hospitality ** destinationbainbridge.com
Oxford Suites Silverdale Waterfront - Silverdale ** 888.698.7848 | oxfordsuitessilverdale.com
Inn at Gig Harbor 800.795.9980 | innatgigharbor.com
*Air BnB, VRBO, Vacasa short-term rentals available on the Kitsap Peninsula
Comfort Inn on the Bay - Port Orchard ** 360.329.4051 | choicehotels.com
Red Lion Port Orchard ** 360.895.7818 | redlion.com
**Pet designates pet-friendly, fees and restrictions may apply
food + drink
CRAVINGS STEAMED BUNS Whatever type of filling, there is nothing like a well-made steamed bun. The versions at E.Z Tiger are made on site, brimming with pork belly, hoisin mayonnaise, cucumber and scallion, or glazed shiitake mushrooms and cilantro. Whatever you choose, their savory goodness will satisfy. 222 E. CHESTNUT AVE. YAKIMA www.ez-tiger.com
CIDER If you’re tired of cider being a single item on a drinks menu, you’re going to love the selection at this downtown Leavenworth destination. Choose from dozens of ciders on tap (in dry, semi-sweet and sweet categories) with rotating flavors from a range of makers for maximum diversity and seasonality. They do have a couple of beers on tap, too, if that’s your thing.
Smoky Honey Habanero was the catalyst for Spiceology, which now offers more than 300 blends.
Gastronomy
PIZZA
Spiceology written by Cara Strickland PETE TAYLOR WAS the chef at a resort in Idaho when he started a Saturday special—smoky, honey habanero chicken. Every week someone would ask for the recipe, and he’d happily oblige. Eventually, when patrons had a hard time finding the ingredients, he started making the blends and selling them, which led to launching Spiceology in Spokane. Taylor teamed up with Heather Schultz, a food blogger based in Cheney, and together they founded the company, starting with the blend from the chicken recipe, and quickly innovating more. The company tagline is “experiment with flavor,” and they take it seriously, partnering with chefs and other food professionals to get their combinations just right, using high-quality ingredients. Their spices are used in home and professional kitchens all over the world. Despite the success, the focus remains the same—creating a spice or blend that can transform a dish from bland to bold. That is the magic Spiceology is constantly chasing. SPOKANE www.spiceology.com
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939 FRONT ST. LEAVENWORTH www.leavenworthcider.com
AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2021
This unassuming downtown Walla Walla treasure has been serving New York-style pizza with a Northwest flavor for more than a decade. Stop in for a slice of Margherita and a casual glass of wine from their locally focused list. Or try a stromboli, calzone or salad in this relaxed location or take it with you on an adventure. 5 S. 1ST AVE. WALLA WALLA www.sweetbasilpizzeria.com
SEAFOOD What could be better than dining on seafood with a view of the sea? Feast on fish and chips, clam chowder, lobster rolls, and a variety of oysters. Enjoy a cocktail, and stay awhile. 113 1ST ST. LANGLEY www.saltwaterlangley.com
food + drink
BEST PLACES FOR
U-PICK FROG HOLLOW FARM This farm is a destination for chefs on a quest for perfect vegetables for their restaurant creations. For a few months, you can get in on the epicurean excitement by picking many varieties of peppers, tomatoes, beans and basil. Frolic through the flower field and create your own restaurant-worthy bouquet. Join one of the flower arranging classes offered through September. 174 FROG HOLLOW ROAD WALLA WALLA www.froghollowfarm.com
KRUEGER PEPPER GARDENS While this farm offers a bounty of produce, it is known for more than 100 varieties of peppers (some incendiary ones included). Be sure to get some of their varied tomatoes, melons and juicy grapes while you’re there. 462 KNIGHT LANE WAPATO www.kruegerpeppergardens.weebly.com
GARDEN TREASURES With u-pick options from May through October, you’ll always find something new to take home from this organic farm just north of Seattle. You’ll find more than 100 types of crops, from heirloom tomatoes and specialty cucumbers to garlic scapes, berries, asparagus, green beans and beets. 3328 STATE ROUTE 530 ARLINGTON www.gardentreasuresfarm.com
GREEN BLUFF GROWERS This association of farms outside of Spokane offers a little of everything. Whether you’re looking for fresh vegetables and orchards of peaches, cherries and nectarines, or you’re ready to run through the corn maze and pick out a pumpkin at the fall festivities, they’ve got you covered. MEAD www.greenbluffgrowers.com
Restaurant Marché’s dishes reveal local terroir through a French lens in a casual milieu.
Dining
Restaurant Marché written by Cara Strickland WHEN YOU VISIT for lunch or dinner, you may not know chef Greg Atkinson’s experience in the industry. He helped launch the Friday Harbor House, was executive chef at Canlis, has written several books about his culinary adventures in the Northwest and counts the legendary food writer M.F.K. Fisher among his mentors. Whether you know any of this or not, you will likely be disarmed by the gracious service and the relaxed French menu. His restaurant is an ode to seasonal cooking, sourcing the freshest ingredients available. Some favorite dishes on the menu endure, while others highlight what the earth has to offer. These creations embrace the luxury and the slowness of the island, far less fast-paced than in Seattle, yet just a short ferry ride away. The food is inspired and expertly executed in a comfortable and elegant milieu. Perhaps those are all the credentials you need. 150 MADRONE LANE BAINBRIDGE ISLAND www.restaurantmarchebainbridge.com
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farm to table Huckleberries at Mount Rainier National Park, which allows picking up to two quarts per day.
Farm to Table
The Hunt for Huckleberries Elusive and delicate, ‘God’s candy’ inspires Washington chefs’ creations written by Corinne Whiting photography by Justin Bailie
HUCKLEBERRIES CARRY mystique in this state, said Matt Carroll, a natural resource sociologist at Washington State University’s School of the Environment. He has extensively examined huckleberry picking communities in northeast Washington. During a study in and around the Colville Forest, it was not uncommon for Carroll to see pickups on the side of the road, ready to fill up on gallons of these small, coveted berries, the fruit of a flowering plant (part of the Ericaceae family). “They’re seen as a special thing to a lot of different people,” he said. 24
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farm to table
Carroll and his fellow researchers conducted ninety-eight interviews spanning two seasons. They created four categories for huckleberry pickers: full-time commercial, Native harvesters, recreational or household gatherers, and income supplementers. “People do not like being labeled,” Carroll said, explaining that the lines often get blurred. Yet no matter how the pickers are identified, it is clear that huckleberries are an intricate part of this region’s social and cultural fabric. Carroll learned that determining the best huckleberry locations quickly becomes competitive. It’s based on trial, error and word of mouth. When someone new enters a community, neighbors may not reveal their secret spots for years. “Locals guard huckleberry spots like their favorite fishing hole,” he said. On one end of the spectrum, recreational pickers gather berries for family and friends, while income harvesters sell them for extra money in a county that’s historically experienced a lot of poverty. Then there is the complex and often cutthroat world of full-timers—those who work with companies that buy the berries in bulk. Native harvesters, on the other hand, find a spiritual and cultural connection to the fruit, often saving them for special occasions. “There’s a ceremonial element to [huckleberries] for Native people,” Carroll said, adding that this tradition probably dates back thousands of years. Picking methods differ, too. Native harvesters typically forage on reservations and don’t use any mechanical means to gather their goods.
Island Berries Mark Laska, owner of Ciao in Whidbey Island’s Coupeville, calls huckleberries “God’s candy.” During a short window each year, these berries can be found on the island—for sale from farms’ community supported agriculture subscriptions, known as CSAs, and farmers’ markets. “Some growers bring theirs from off-island, and their season seems, in mid-to-late summer, to go on for what seems like forever,” said Laska. He jokes about hoarding as many as he can. Wherever you get yours, the chef advises “rinsing those bad boys off in a colander and placing them on a parchment papertopped baking sheet [to] freeze them. Once frozen, lovingly Ziplock them into a freezer bag and store them all winter long.” (His confession: “In my case, they never make it to Halloween.”) Laska recommends adding them to pies, muffins, pancakes, even mottled amaro spritzers. Yet his favorite combination? Huckleberries, grilled zucchini, goat cheese, and speck ravioli, topped with a brandy cream sauce with sage leaf.
Metropolitan Dishes At Charlotte Restaurant & Lounge inside downtown Seattle’s sleek new Lotte Hotel, executive chef Alexander La Motte said that for huckleberries, his restaurant looks to locally based Foraged & Found, which supplies wild mushrooms, greens, berries and teas to chefs across the country.
Determining the best huckleberry locations quickly becomes competitive. It’s based on trial, error and word-of-mouth. When someone new enters a community, neighbors may not reveal their secret spots for years. “Locals guard huckleberry spots like their favorite fishing hole.” La Motte is new to the area, so he has yet to pick huckleberries on his own, but he plans to get out with some vendors soon. “Whenever foraging for any fruits, mushrooms, or vegetables,” he advised, “obviously do your research or go with someone experienced to be sure you don’t pick something that is bad for you.” “Huckleberries, along with most all wild berries, are quite delicate,” La Motte commented. “It takes a patient hand and a nice wide surface to pick the fruit. If you stack them on top of each other, they get crushed, so a wide basket or bin is best. Wild berries are even more delicate, due to the amount of sugar in them.” Cooking with huckleberries is different from blueberries. “[Huckleberries] are quite tart and have a strong flavor,” La Motte said. “Since they are usually ripe, they also release a good amount of liquid, just to keep in mind when baking so the recipe doesn’t get thrown off.” Chef La Motte’s favorite huckleberry concoctions are varied. “Any pastry application is great,” he said, “Muffins, quick breads, like a banana walnut huckleberry-bread, awesome—or a family favorite in my house is a clafoutis. It’s a sweet tart baked in a cast iron pan. I began my career in French kitchens, so there is a part of me that just needs a simple dish like this from time to time.” At Charlotte, huckleberries are often pickled or added to savory creations such as an entrée with chicken,in which the berries are combined with vadouvan curry to make a gastrique. “I use a local honey, reduce it and slightly caramelize,” La Motte explained, “then add a nice vinegar such as Banyuls and reduce again to the consistency of honey. Towards the very end, we fold in fresh huckleberries so they just burst and the juice slightly reduces. The berries will hold in this liquid for weeks and can be used in many applications.” AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2021
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farm to table
ROUXBE Culinary School’s tart-sweet, onebowl huckleberry cobbler.
Ravioli with Huckleberry, Goat Cheese, Grilled Zucchini and Speck in Butter Brandy Sauce Ciao / Coupeville, Whidbey Island Mark Laska SERVES 4 TO 5 FOR PASTA • 1 18-by-20 inch sheet of fresh lasagna pasta or a 6-ounce package of wonton skins • 1 egg
Washington Recipes
Small Berry, Big Taste Huckleberry Cobbler
ROUXBE Online Culinary School SERVES 4 TO 6 • 2 ounces vegan butter, melted • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour • 1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour (whole wheat or brown rice flour could be substituted) • 3/4 cup granulated sugar • 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger or cinnamon powder • 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt • 3/4 cup almond or soy or oat milk • 2 heaping cups of huckleberries (any fruit or berries may be used)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place butter in an 8-inch square or 9-inch round pan and place in the oven to melt, watching carefully so the butter doesn’t burn. Remove as soon as it is melted, and keep warm. Sift flour, sugar, baking powder, ginger and salt together into a medium mixing bowl and use a whisk to combine. Add the milk and stir until just incorporated. Pour batter into the pan over the melted butter. Do not stir. Arrange the fruit over batter. Bake until the batter is cooked through and nicely browned on top, about 40 to 50 minutes. Remove from oven and place on a wire rack to cool slightly. Serve warm with ice cream or non-dairy cream or sauce.
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FOR FILLING • 3 ounces ricotta cheese • 2 ounces goat cheese • 2 ounces grated Romano cheese • 1-2 slices grilled zucchini • 1 slice speck • 1 small egg • Zest of ½ orange
• 1 teaspoon granulated sugar • Dash nutmeg • A handful or two of fresh or frozen huckleberries, thawed and drained FOR SAUCE • ¼ pound butter • 2 or 3 sage leaves • ½ small shallot, finely diced • ½ pint heavy cream • ½-1 ounce brandy or grappa
FOR THE FILLING Place ricotta, Romano and goat cheese in a bowl, and use a fork to combine. Crack an egg into the bowl and incorporate. Dice a handful of grilled zucchini, and squeeze it gently over the sink to drain excess liquid before placing in the bowl. Roll up slice of speck and chop finely. Stir into filling. Stir in orange zest, sugar and a tiny pinch of nutmeg. Chop huckleberries roughly (frozen can stay whole if drained well) and fold into mixture. FOR THE PASTA Place each piece of pasta on the counter, and use a small spoon to set some filling in the center. Beat an egg in a small cup or bowl. Use a pastry brush to apply onto the edges of each piece of pasta. Place another sheet on top. Lightly press the edges together to seal. Do not trap air inside. FOR THE SAUCE Boil water. In a saucepan, heat butter and sage leaves on low-medium heat. Add shallot and a pinch of salt. Stir occasionally until shallot is translucent. Add cream, and raise heat slightly until it gently boils and begins to thicken. Add brandy or grappa. When it coats the back of a spoon, decrease heat to lowest setting. TO PREPARE Gently drop ravioli into boiling water four or five at a time. Just as they float to the top, remove them with a slotted spoon, and set them in the sauce and toss gently to coat. Serve and eat immediately.
Olympic National Park • Pacific Beaches & Hoh Rain Forest Wild & Scenic Rivers • Kalaloch Beach • Historic Towns
From Sea - to -Summit & Canal - to - Coast Four Seasons
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Adventures for All
Jefferson County - the Heart of the Olympics www.EnjoyOlympicPeninsula.com 360-437-0120
Start your Journey at the
Olympic Penisula Gateway Visitors Center The “Log Cabin” at Hwy’s 104 & 19
farm to+ table home design
Kayleen Michelle Photography
A wooden butcher blocktopped island and metal hardware embolden the look of this Spokane log cabin.
Old Meets New
Two kitchens combine classic good looks with modern flair and elements of surprise written by Melissa Dalton
Spokane: An Old-World Kitchen for a New Log Cabin AS SOMEONE WHO has long loved to cook and bake, Danielle Layne had fantasized about her ideal workspace. “It was one of those dreams of mine to design my perfect kitchen,” said Layne, who is also an assistant professor at Gonzaga University in Spokane, where she directs the graduate program in philosophy. When Layne and her family settled into a log cabin there years ago, the existing kitchen did not come close to the vision. “The countertop was made of bathroom tiles,” remembered Layne, noting that when she kneaded bread dough, “it just felt gross because all that bread would get stuck in the crevices of the tile.” Layne reached out to local interior designer Emily Mejia of Emily Anne Interior Design to make her longtime dream a reality. Built in the early 2000s, the log home was new, but synced well with Layne’s fondness for the old. “She really just loves the Old-World feel,” said Mejia. But first, the cook and baker needed more room to move. Teaming up with Old Hat Workshop on construction and cabinetry, Mejia started by knocking down a wall and appropriating a nearby mudroom to enlarge the kitchen’s footprint. This freed up space for Layne’s top tier must-have, a large, butcher block-topped island unimpeded by pesky grout lines, a prep sink, or any appliance. 28 1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE
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As far as looks go, according to Mejia, Layne asked for “Old World meets Steampunk and sexy.” The designer knew it would be important to balance new material selections with the existing chunky log architecture. To do so, Mejia anchored the space with an arched stone-clad alcove for Layne’s forever stove, a luxe 48-inch, French-style range with eight burners, two ovens, and brass detailing. The alcove looks like it’s always been there, and the stone wraps the kitchen wall and continues into the dining room. Custom cabinetry in a moody green tone complements the prevailing highlights of the logs and melds with the natural stone. The additional wood cabinetry by the back door is a pantry fashioned to look like an antique ice box. To get that “Steampunk sexy” vibe, Mejia wove in unexpected pieces, such as the glossy, handmade backsplash tile behind the stove and a gorgeous black soapstone counter with dramatic veining. Exposed electrical conduits and sleek black metal hardware add an industrial vibe. Now it’s a kitchen that Layne loves using every day, whether experimenting with a new bread recipe, such as challah, which she baked for the first time during
Kayleen Michelle Photography
the pandemic, or weeknight standbys including pizza and quiche. “Some people paint. Some people draw. Some people sing or play guitar. The way I unwind, and the way I love people, is by making them a good meal,” said Layne. “So, this is a place where I get to do a little bit of my art.”
Seattle: A Cramped Tudor Kitchen Lightens Up Funnily enough, Carolyn Hanson’s kitchen remodel didn’t start with the room itself. Rather, it began when Hanson, who works in education, reached out to architect Jill Rerucha of Rerucha Studio to discuss new furniture arrangements. “She just wanted to talk to someone about why they never used their living room,” said Rerucha. But the problem, it turned out, wasn’t the sofa. It was the entire first floor. Hanson grew up in Laurelhurst, and after living away for years, returned to the neighborhood in 2009 and bought a 1924 Tudor-style home. By 2014, she and her family, partner Josh Caspers and two children, were experiencing first-hand that truism of old houses: that they can be quaint and charming on the exterior, but cramped and segmented into small rooms on the interior, making it feel a bit gloomy. “(There’s wasn’t) a lot of transparency through the house, which is why I think it can feel dark and old,” said Rerucha. On that first visit, Rerucha suggested opening up the floorplan and connecting the living spaces in one fluid move, allowing views into adjacent rooms which would make the layout feel bigger and let the sunlight spread around. “Carolyn liked the idea of letting the light in,” said Rerucha. 30 1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE
The Caspers Built team removed an unnecessary hallway and implemented Rerucha’s design, which doubled the size of the kitchen without adding on to the house. The game changer was the installation of a wall of windows looking into the back garden. The windows are tall, stretching from counter to ceiling, but the proportions and panes maintain the scale of the other windows in the home, so they fit in with the older architecture. The room’s finishes veer toward modern, but have an earthy quality, which anchors the space in the new open plan. Custom cabinetry made of rich chestnut wood is topped with substantial concrete counters, and the stove backsplash is a rusty-colored handmade glass tile from Ann Sacks, offset by the greenery outside. Hanson found herself appreciating Rerucha’s eye for detail throughout the process, as the architect made sure the woodgrain on the cabinet faces aligned, and specified a sleek metal shelf under the windows that’s underscored by an electrical plug mold, so the outlets don’t become focal points on the backsplash. “I think of Jill as more of an artist than as an architect,” said Hanson. These days, the entire first floor fits the flow of family life. “We utilize the whole space now,” said Hanson. Instead of the forlorn breakfast bar from before, there’s a dedicated nook with a built-in bench where the kids can do homework. Rather than a single window over the sink, the entire back wall is filled with foliage year-round. When Rerucha noticed how Hanson liked to leave notes for family members on post-its, the architect planned for the pantry door to be covered in blackboard paint, so they could have a central spot to do the same, which “just makes it a lot more fun,” said Hanson.
AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2021
C Tim Bies
A handmade backsplash blends with the stone arch above a 48-inch, French-style range in this Spokane kitchen.
home + design
The room’s finishes veer toward modern, but have an earthy quality, which anchors the space in the new open plan.
Windows from counter to ceiling let the light in to this Seattle Tudor kitchen.
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DIY: Chalkboard Wall
C Tim Bies
home + design
A CHALKBOARD WALL is an easy way to set up a centralized message board in the home. Use it for appointment reminders, family member schedules, the week’s menu. It can also be an unlimited artistic canvas, for inspiring quotes or drawings. Here are our tips for creating yours. DESIGN It’s easy to assume that a chalkboard wall would be restricted to the color black, but not so. Chalkboard paint comes in a rainbow of colors that can be coordinated with existing decor. PREP Choose a smooth, flat surface and clean it thoroughly. Tape out the perimeter of the chalkboard using painter’s tape and a level, which will ensure the edges are straight. Lay down a drop cloth to protect the floors. PAINT Stir the paint. Using a foam roller, paint the wall with even strokes. Follow brand instructions for dry time in between passes, but you will most likely need three coats to get complete coverage. CURE AND CONDITION When finished, leave the wall for several days so it can cure completely. Afterward, rub a piece of chalk over the entire surface and then wipe it off. This conditions the paint to make it smoother for future scribbles. FINISH If you are only painting a section of wall instead of the entire expanse, give the chalkboard a finished look by adding decorative molding around the perimeter, painted in a complimentary color. Cut trim pieces to size, making sure to miter the corners so they meet at a neat angle. Attach trim to the wall with nails. START DRAWING Need to clean? Use soap and water. Kids moving out? Paint over it as you would any other type of paint finish.
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Black chalkboard paint on the sliding pantry deepens the Seattle kitchen’s rich chestnut theme. Chalkboard paint comes in all colors to go with your color theme.
Going all in is a given in Central Oregon, a Pacific Northwest destination where outdoor escapades, craft cuisine, and an art-loving spirit will feed your sun-seeking soul. Hike to ancient volcanic wonders, cast a line into a translucent stream, or pedal forested trails with the wind (and mountains) at your back. Then pause for a magic sunset moment on a patio to celebrate the here and now with those you love. Make a plan to go all in at VisitCentralOregon.com
home + design
Assemble a Charcuterie Board Products from Washington makers and stores
Why pass out paper napkins when these vibrant indigo-dyed cotton versions could be on hand? These are handmade, meaning each has a different pattern on the soft flour-sack material and natural dye. Available at Butter Home in Seattle or online. www.butterhomeseattle.com
Any toast will be that much more celebratory when using one of these hand blown wine glasses fashioned from recycled glass by artisans in Oaxaca, Mexico. Mix and match from the selection of cheerful colors, ranging from fuchsia to saffron to violet. Available at Station 7, a Seattle home décor store that specializes in local goods. www.station7seattle.com In 2016, Ryan Lee and Kristen Jones moved to Harstine Island to follow their dream: “building a simple life in the woods while crafting smallbatch pottery and freshly milled whole grain bread.” Nowadays, under their studio aptly called Baker/Potter, they do just that. Check out their maple serving board, a collaboration with a woodworking friend, Robert Bonnett of Harstine Island Designs, for your next charcuterie platter, complete with an inset ramekin for dipping sauce or nibbles. www.bakerpotter.com
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PUYALLUP GREAT ART
AND SO MUCH MORE!
VISIT PUYALLUP’S
OUTDOOR GALLERY artsdowntown.org
VISIT
Photo: Pete Saloutos
Just a 35-minute ferry ride from Seattle | VisitBainbridgeIsland.org
mind + body
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mind + body
If you haven’t been walking, go one block one week, then two blocks and build up gradually to 20 to 30 minutes per day. Or, for more, run around the block to begin and build up to 3 miles in three months. Think about it with a beginner’s mindset, like when you were a kid and got excited about playing something new. Stretch or do yoga two to three times a week to keep your body flexible.
Be connected, wisely Have a social aspect to each day. Talk with colleagues at work or with friends after work or at lunch. Limit social media. Volunteering or giving back in some way is shown to be uplifting. Meditate. Phone apps such as “Calm” can help begin meditation practice, help with sleep and ease low level anxiety. Dr. Tobias Dang outlines four aspects that work together to make a person healthy: the physical, mental, spiritual and social pillars.
Whole Health
Tackle the day with simple, powerful tips for the four pillars of wellness written by Cathy Carroll STRONG RESEARCH is increasingly showing that mental, physical and spiritual health, along with societal factors, or social health, must be considered together in what makes a person healthy, said Dr. Tobias Dang, medical director of mental health and wellness for Kaiser Permanente of Washington. His work addressing this full spectrum of health has become his focus, in line with the philosophy of the national healthcare nonprofit with thirty-nine hospitals. “Holistic can mean so many things,” said Dr. Dang, who is also a psychiatrist at Kaiser’s clinic in Capitol Hill, Seattle. “Kaiser Permanente has really embraced the idea of treating the whole person rather than treating a diagnosis or disease or certain body part or very compartmentalized pieces of the self.” Dr. Dang outlined four aspects that work together to make a person healthy: the physical, mental, spiritual and social pillars. “Like the four legs of a chair, they hold a person together,” he said. “Focusing on one and not the others will, I think, leave something amiss.” Dr. Dang offered some simple tips to address your four, interconnected elements of health:
Choose to move Movement and exercise is a choice. Walk, run or hit the gym at least twenty to thirty minutes a day. Walking is the most simple, and just about everyone has access to it. If you’re starting a new type of exercise, start slowly to avoid injuring yourself.
Pace yourself Aim to begin and end each day at fairly regular times. Begin the day slowly, with a ten-minute meditation or spiritual practice to set a relaxed and mindful tone for the day. Return to the mindset to tackle what the day brings. Take breaks for a two- or three-minute meditation to reground and recenter yourself and get brief bouts of exercise, walking or climbing stairs for three or five minutes. Avoid too much sugar or caffeine and eat a balanced diet of nutritional elements.
Ground yourself Gain a better sense of perspective that not everything is in our control. It’s human nature to feel we have control over most things, and we can become frustrated, anxious and lost when we feel we’re not in control, which can cause suffering and stress. A spiritual perspective can help us ground us, whether it’s through organized religion or another spiritual path or philosophy. It might be the belief in a higher power or simply that we need to learn how to accept things beyond our control.
Seek help for societal ills Bankruptcy, homelessness and access to food and healthcare are significant stressful, mentally taxing social problems which must be addressed in preventing or treating physical or mental health illness. Kaiser increased its focus on social health after the pandemic exposed social disparities, with minority groups suffering worse outcomes and incidence of disease. Racial unrest last year brought these disparities to the forefront of consciousness. Kaiser assesses patients’ social health to help identify a potential need beyond a physical complaint. Research shows social health issues compose 30 to 40 percent of what influences general health—a significant portion. AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2021
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artist in residence
Arias for the People
Dawn Wolski brings Opera Grams, an Opera Truck and a sustainable model to ‘the most expensive art form’ written by Cathy Carroll
Cori Kogan
Since becoming general and artistic director in 2017, Dawn Wolski has led Inland Northwest Opera in new directions.
DAWN WOLSKI WAS on the phone with the director of external affairs in Gov. Jay Inslee’s office, four hours before a public announcement about revised guidelines around the pandemic last year. Wolski, general and artistic director of Inland Northwest Opera, listened as the official told her she’d have to scuttle the company’s new Opera Grams—an innovation that let arts-starved Spokane residents order up a baritone, soprano or tenor in formal attire to their doorstep to sing two arias. Wolski reiterated that it involved a sole vocalist singing to one family from 20 feet away. The official said that didn’t matter. Wolski pursued the logic. “So I can’t sing ‘Happy Birthday’ across the driveway to my neighbor?” she asked. How could the Opera Gram be a danger when restaurants were open at 25 percent capacity? “This is not Footloose,” she told him. “Arts are not the problem, we deserve an equal seat at the table.” Opera Grams, and Wolski, prevailed. “I like the good fight, but I like to fight for the underdog,” she said. “I love to represent 38
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our singers and make sure they’re being treated well. I love to advocate.” That drive has propelled the opera company since 2017, when Wolski was asked to lead the organization in its transition from Opera Coeur d’Alene to its current incarnation, broadening its reach, offering professional opera across Eastern Washington and northern Idaho. Since then, performances, audiences and revenue have grown exponentially. Following Wolski’s international singing career, she has been recruiting acclaimed talent from major markets for leading roles. The operating budget has nearly tripled with productions such as Tosca, Carmen, Così fan tutte and Madame Butterfly. She moved to Spokane nearly thirteen years ago from New York City with her husband, Mateusz Wolski, who was recruited to be concertmaster of the Spokane Symphony, having studied under New York Philharmonic concertmaster Glenn Dicterow and toured internationally as a violinist with more of
Don Sausser
the world’s most distinguished conductors. Dawn, who’d been teaching voice at New York University, began doing the same at Whitworth University in Spokane while traveling, and taking roles in operas. The couple met at New York City’s Manhattan School of Music. She grew up outside of Washington, D.C., where her father worked for the National Security Agency, and at the music school, she wanted to explore her Polish heritage. Wolski was asking around for help with some Polish songs and stumbled across a student from Warsaw. “He was very tough on me, and I was very tough. I like hard work, I don’t like to quit, and so the energy was really great right off the bat. He was coaching my Polish, and something I thought would take an hour took many sessions, but I think he stretched it out.” After earning her master’s in music at the conservatory, she was in musicals at the Folger Shakespeare Library theater in Washington, D.C., and heard about an opening at the elite U.S. Army Field Band. She was cast, and toured for the next five years with that band, performing with the London Symphony, the Boston Symphony and National Symphony. She has shared the stage with Julie Andrews, Wynonna Judd, Pam Tillis and Chris Isaak, as well as several U.S. presidents. Not only did the work allow her to pay off her graduate school loans, she toured with her best friend, Sara Jones, a pianist and jazz singer who won the other vocal position. Wolski has “a gorgeous, clear, almost crystalline tone,” which was envied by other singers in their undergraduate program at St. Mary’s College in Maryland, Jones said. When they visited Vienna one summer, performing with the college chamber singers, they saw The Tales of Hoffman with Natalie Desay. “Afterwards, our 19-year-old heads were blown,” said Jones. “The thing is, I thought Dawn already sounded as great as Natalie Desay.” Wolski throws herself wholeheartedly into any task, whether it’s challenging herself by cooking diverse cuisines or gardening with her 6-year-old son, Stefan. She approaches life with professionalism and vigor, said Jones, who also teaches voice at Towson University in Maryland. In their Army days, Wolski convinced Jones to audition a solo with her. They sang the “The Flower Duet” from the opera Lakmé, a stretch for Jones, who returned the favor by making her sing a duet of Cole Porter’s “Friendship” from Anything Goes. “She was hilarious, and had no problem being cheesy and funny with me. It was two sides of the same coin, and she did both really well. INO is so lucky to have her as an advocate, because no one knows how to put on a great show like Dawn.” In Spokane, Wolski led the charge for a new, expanded Inland Northwest opera. It had been operating at a deficit and it needed a more sustainable model. It’s rare for a region of its size to have an opera company of their caliber, considering it’s “the most expensive art form on the planet, just because it incorporates absolutely everything,” Wolski said. “I wanted to make sure that we have full regional support to succeed, so it has been a kind of fun turnaround.”
Dawn Wolski and Mark Walters perform Rigoletto with Opera Coeur d’Alene.
The company was strong going into lockdown and maintained an equal level of support throughout. It got creative with solutions such as Opera Grams, the first live arts permitted in the state during the pandemic, Wolski said. The public health crisis underscored the importance of the arts, she said. “The hierarchy of needs, food, water and shelter are absolutely critical, but without human connection it’s not quite right.” The job of the arts is not passive, Wolski said, especially not live opera. “You don’t sit and watch in the same way as with a two-dimensional screen. There’s the connectivity of hearing the voices from an opera stage, which are unlike any other. They are raw and they travel great distances, unamplified, to kind of make your bones rattle and to reach you in your gut.” That only happens with a trained opera singer who’s well supported in their lower body. Yet even light entertainment, performed live “connects us with each other outside of demographics, politics—it’s transcendent,” she said. “Our job is to bring people together.” It also means bringing opera to the people. Think arias on wheels. This summer the INO is debuting its Opera Truck, with a wood stage that unfolds like a flower beneath a bandshellstyle awning. Wolski believes it will introduce the art form to a broader audience. “People just need to hear good music, even if they don’t know it,” she said. MORE ONLINE
For upcoming performances, visit www.inlandnwopera.com
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WHAT I’M WORKING ON 44 MY WORKSPACE 46 GAME CHANGER 48
pg. 44 NOAA buoys in the Pacific Ocean provide real-time data to climate scientists who then can more accurately forecast long-term trends.
Courtesy of Tara Clemente
WHAT’S GOING UP 42
Rendering: Gonzaga University
what’s going up?
Progressive Projects Modern university buildings elevate their commitment to relevant causes written by Jack Jackson GONZAGA UNIVERSITY’S $56 MILLION SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING FACILITY This fall, Gonzaga University’s new $56 million John and Joan Bollier Family Center for Integrated Science and Engineering facility will open to students and faculty, ushering in a new phase in STEM-related education. The 82,680-square-foot building will allow faculty and students to engage in theoretical and applied science in a new learning environment. UW $224.5 MILLION MENTAL HEALTH FACILITY University of Washington is going big into mental health with a more than 190,000-square-foot, $224.5 million state-of-the-art Behavioral Health Teaching Facility (BHTF) at the UW Medical Center Northwest. The new building is designed “to create a noninstitutional setting that promotes well-being, healing, and learning for patients, staff, visitors and trainees in a welcoming and safe environment,” according to UW’s website. Expected completion is fall 2023. WESTERN WASHINGTON PRIORITIZES BLACK STUDENTS WITH NEW RESIDENCE HALL This fall, Black students at Bellingham’s Western Washington University will have priority in a new 400-bed dorm. Named for WWU’s first Black student, Alma Clark Glass, who first arrived on campus in January 1906, the new dorm will “create an added level of psychological comfort and safety for those who choose to live in those spaces,” according to WWU’s website.
Common spaces and skybridges in Gonzaga’s John and Joan Bollier Family Center for Integrated Science and Engineering represents a new interdisciplinary era in STEM.
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Get Your Feet Wet Columbia Gorge Interpretive Center Museum
Columbia Gorge Discovery Center & Museum
Exit 44 on I-84 columbiagorge.org 509-427-8211
Exit 82 on I-84 gorgediscovery.org 541-296-8600
Stevenson, WA
The Dalles, OR
Sage Center Boardman, OR Exit 164 on I-84 visitsage.com 541-481-7243
Discover the culture, rich history & diverse landscapes along the Columbia River
Tamástslikt Cultural Institute Pendleton, OR Exit 216 on I-84 tamastslikt.org 541-429-7700
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Larch Siding in Black and Pebble
what i’m working on After twenty-one years in Hawaii, Tara Clemente now lives in Seattle, serving as operations manager for NOAA’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory and Global Tropical Moored Buoy Array.
Reading Buoy Data Like Tea Leaves NOAA scientist Tara Clemente on how oceans can help us predict severe weather events interview by Keith Moore
DURING A YEAR of unprecedented record-high temperatures, we caught up with Tara Clemente, operations manager for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory and Global Tropical Moored Buoy Array (GTMBA), a project through University of Washington Cooperative Institute for Climate, Ocean, and Ecosystem Studies (CICOES). GTMBA is a multinational effort to provide data in real time for climate research and forecasting, with buoy arrays in the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans. What data do GTMBA’s buoys collect? GTMBA’s goal is to design, develop and sustain moored-buoy observing systems in the tropics for climate research and forecasting. GTMBA’s buoys collect surface meteorological data on wind, air temperature, relative humidity, rainfall, barometric pressure, longwave and shortwave radiation and subsurface seawater measurements of temperature and salinity at 10 depths between zero to 500 meters, along with ocean currents. The collaborative multinational sustained moored buoy observations 44 1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE
in the tropics allows for climate research and forecasting in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. The major phenomenological foci of this array are: • El Niño/La Niña Southern Oscillation (ENSO) in the Pacific Ocean. • Hurricane activity, the interhemispheric dipole mode and equatorial warm events in the Atlantic Ocean. • The monsoons, the Indian Ocean Dipole, and intra-seasonal variability in the Indian Ocean. What are the real-life applications for that data?
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The ocean covers 71 percent of our planet’s surface. We are increasingly recognizing how much we rely on the oceans to support human life and our economic, social, cultural and environmental wellbeing. Ocean observing is essential for a better understanding of how society and life on earth is affected by climate change. The information gathered is invaluable to policymakers and individual nations, guiding them to make change at a global, regional and local level. Ocean observing programs like GTMBA were developed to better
understand and predict climate variations and ocean-atmospheric interactions that affect regional weather and climate variability on seasonal, inter-annual and longer time scales. It can also help deliver early warnings of hazards. Climate and weather forecasting can help countries prepare for altering patterns in rainfall, wind and temperature that can lead to droughts, floods, severe tropical storms, hurricanes, monsoons and wildfires affecting agriculture, fisheries, transportation, resource management, energy production along with other ecological and socio-economic impacts. What data trends do you find most troubling or interesting? These ocean mooring systems have given us great insight into long-term trends. I think one interesting finding is the increasing frequency of extreme El Niño events due to greenhouse warming. Extreme El Niño events severely disrupt the global weather patterns, affecting ecosystems, agriculture, tropical storms, droughts, wildfires, flood and other extreme weather events worldwide. Modeling predictions shows a doubling in the occurrences in the future in response to greenhouse warming. The increased frequency arises from a projected surface warming over the eastern equatorial Pacific that occurs faster than in the surrounding ocean waters. (www.nature.com/ articles/nclimate2100 and www.doi. org/10.1002/9781119548164.ch21 ) Are there any data trends that are positive? I’m unable to comment on this, since I am still new to the program, but I think one positive is our ability to use the data to forecast and look at long-term climate trends. What message should we all take from your research? In order to collect long-term views of these and other processes at
Photos: Courtesy of Tara Clemente
what i’m working on
The Global Tropical Moored Buoy Array aims to provide data in real time for climate research and forecasting.
work in the ocean, scientists and engineers have devised ways to leave instruments out in the environment. Moored observatories, secured by wires, buoys, weights, and floats, such as the ones deployed by GTMBA are platforms which allow us to observe how ocean properties change over time. I think one important takeaway from the research of an ocean-observing program like GTMBA is in the value of time-series measurements. Timeseries measurements are a group of observations on a single entity over time. If you go out and sample the ocean once, it gives you a single data point with no context. But if you go out and sample the same part of the ocean monthly, weekly, daily, hourly or on even shorter time scales, such as in real time, which is how some of our moored buoys can collect data, you can start to build a picture and see long-term trends in data. It’s this ability to string together many data points over time that allows scientists to form climate predictions and forecasts that can help predict events such as when the next ENSO will occur. Do geopolitics play any role in data interpretation between partners from different nations?
Programs like GTMBA could not happen without international partnerships. The world population depends on rainfall for agricultural production, so improving our understanding and ability to predict the monsoons, tropical storms, hurricanes and droughts has been a longstanding objective of the international scientific community. After twenty-one years in Hawaii, how does Seattle feel to you? Hawaii has a special place in my heart and will always feel like home to me, but Seattle and the Pacific Northwest have welcomed me with open arms. I’ve eternally been drawn to the oceans and mountains, of which Hawaii and Washington both have in abundance. My heart belongs to the sea, and I love spending time on research cruises studying and collecting data to better understand our oceans and the enormous role they play in controlling our climate. After long trips at sea, however, I find myself yearning to head into the mountains where I can continue to take in the solace, beauty and grandeur of nature. Living in Hawaii for twenty-one years, and now Washington, has been more than I could ever have imagined. I feel incredibly grateful and lucky.
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my workspace
Elite Detail
‘OCD’ pro detailer restores glory to a weathered Air Force One written by Dina Shorn
Automobile detailer Chris Lee, originally from Trout Lake, Washington, got the gig of a lifetime when he learned he had been selected to ply his skills on the first presidential jet, Air Force One, this summer at The Museum of Flight in Seattle. “In my industry, it’s a game changer,” Lee said. “It’s a way to give back. It’s very humbling.”
Lee started his fledgling detailing business in his garage in 1998 and learned pretty quickly that he was “a clean freak and OCD person and wanted to be my own boss.” He soon launched McMinnville Auto Detail in McMinnville, Oregon.
Automobile detailer Chris Lee was selected for this year’s Air Force One detailing team.
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my workspace
“One time I was power washing the paint on a door and I blew a dinnerplate-size piece of paint off the door” he recalled. “I had to tell the customer and put them in a rental car. Sometimes when you’re OCD, you have to know when you’ve gone too far.”
What is the difference between detailing a car and Air Force One? “You can damage a plane just as easily as you can a car, probably even easier— one is $660 million and the other is $34,000,” he said.
A group of twenty select detailers will work twelve-hour shifts over six consecutive days on Air Force One at the museum, where it’s on display. They pay their own way to Seattle and donate their time and skills to the project. The 1959 jet, known as SAM (Special Air Missions) 970 was a flying Oval Office for Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard M. Nixon.
ABOVE, FROM TOP Chris Lee at work during this year’s project. The Museum of Flight’s Aviation Pavilion during the 2019 detailing event.
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game changer
Tackling Homelessness in a New Way —Communal Will and Self Doubt New King County homelessness leader, Marc Dones, harnesses radical empathy for social solutions written by Kevin Max
IN 2020, THE county’s Point-in-Time tally, a measurement of people experiencing homelessness on a single day every January, hit 11,751, up 5 percent from the prior year. Since 2017, the homeless population in Seattle has remained between 11,000 and 12,000, with approximately half of this group describing themselves as without shelter, living outside. In early 2021, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development told King County it did not have to count the number of people experiencing homelessness due to the heightened Covid risks to volunteers. If there were to be any year to put its head in the sand, this was it. Shortly thereafter, King County hired Marc Dones, a person who local media immediately labelled as “unconventional,” in a county where the presumptive “conventional” approach was earning a failing grade. Some politicians were careful to give themselves political cover over Dones’ appointment by stating for the record that they disagreed with Dones’ approach on its face, but would otherwise find it within their professional mandate to work with Dones. Yet, in a way, Dones seems the perfect person to address adversity with compassion. “My career starts from a place of doubt,” said Dones, who uses the pronouns they and them for reference. “A lot of why I do this comes from my own personal experience. I’m a queer non-binary Black person. I’ve been hospitalized twice for mental health stuff. I take a mood stabilizer every day, and part of my understanding of why I am where I am—whereas 48
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people just like me are somewhere else—is luck and a little bit of institutional capacity in my family.” A Michigander who left for New York University to study psychiatric anthropology, Dones began working on homelessness issues in Massachusetts in the Executive Office of the Health and Human Services under then-Governor Deval Patrick. It was there, while working at the intersection of issues related to youth violence and youth homelessness that Dones had an epiphany. “One of the things that became clear to me was that as I was doing that work, we were talking about the same young people,” said Dones. “In one meeting we were talking about one set of behavior patterns, and in another we were talking about another set of patterns, but the young people … were the same young people.” The more Dones got into homelessness policy, the more problems with conventional approaches they saw. “What I realized was that homelessness policy in this country is a graveyard. It is where every bad policy goes to live forever as some weird zombie.” He encountered many well-funded policies that offered many services but little housing for homeless people. “I became fixated on housing policy because, in my understanding then and now, if we can fix that phase, the ripple effect on our policy landscape will be massive.” In Seattle today, Dones encountered an administrative patchwork that lacked cohesion and focus. “What I found was deep
game changer
Marc Dones leads the King County Regional Homelessness Authority.
fragmentation and a community that was full of mistrust because of that fragmentation,” said Dones. After five interviews with various King County and homelessness agencies, Dones saw a path forward by creating the area’s first regional homelessness authority, now the King County Regional Homelessness Authority (KCRHA), to bring together the administrative pieces under a common system. Under Dones’ leadership, KCRHA hopes to coalesce regional partners around the notion that the problem of homelessness can indeed be solved in one of the richest areas in the wealthiest country. “We know how to end homelessness,” Dones said. “We’ve done it over and over again in this country, but what we have done now is that we have gotten rid of the tools that we used to do it with. And we’re asking systems across the country to perform these rabbit-out-of-hat tricks that will somehow house everyone without any housing. That doesn’t make sense.” One of the biggest misconceptions about homelessness, Dones said, is that homelessness is a choice and that it’s a result of people making bad decisions and choosing not to avail themselves of the help they need. “The emergence of homelessness in its modern formation that started in 1982-83 as a result of the decimation of a lot of our safety net programs, the explicitly racist attacks from the NIxon and Reagan administrations and then the absolute loss of a fundamental housing pillar,” Dones noted. In the early part of the twentieth century, America had a vast stock of single room occupancy, or SROs, that allowed people in
transition to rent a single room very inexpensively over longer periods of time. “We used SRO stocks to house veterans coming back from two world wars, and that was primarily what we used,” Dones said. “The idea of homeless vets was not a thing because we had SRO stocks, we had the GI Bill, we had assets and resources that were not just appropriate, but were at scale.” Today’s solution, Dones said, has to be one that prioritizes the housing problem to compensate for the decimation of SROs. “It has to be an equation of economics, supply-side dynamics and stabilization support,” said Dones. “It can’t just be a services conversation. There is no amount of services that ever becomes a home.” Ultimately, Dones said, we can actually solve this—and that a communal will to end homelessness can become a powerful driver. “One of the things that Governor Patrick always used to say is that ‘Government is only what we agree to do together.’ I really think that we have the opportunity to come together as a region and say enough is enough, that this is unsustainable, inhumane and a full crisis that we have to stop.” Perhaps King County’s homelessness quandary needs an unconventional approach. Perhaps the “unconventional” quality of Dones is the disarming persona that embraces human frailty and doubt and uses it as motivation to do more and do better. “I have a fundamental doubt about my fundamental right to be in the spaces I’m in, and about my ability to do the things I do,” Dones said. “This is born of a deep and fundamental understanding that my trajectory easily could have been very different, and I’ve watched it turn out different for other people in my life. I think that thing that I wake up with that feels like doubt is a question of … is it ever going to be good enough that people who experience a different trajectory than me—who I watched during that time—will they get to benefit from the work that me and my team do?” AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2021
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Sweet & Secret Swimming Holes 50
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Swimmers can leap from a rope swing into The Cove at Fisk State Park. (photo: Visit Spokane)
STEP INTO THE TREASURED WATERS OF LOCAL SWIMMING HOLES, HIDDEN ON THE OUTSKIRTS OF QUAINT DESTINATIONS written by Kelsey Swenson
Every summer, water brings people together to wade, leap and swim into riverside coves, desert oases and mountain lakes. Plunging into cool, clear natural waters makes experiencing wilderness that much more, well, immersive. That’s why most treasured swimming holes are well-kept secrets. We’re revealing some of the best gems here, to share with those who will tread lightly and splash joyfully.
PATEROS
Alta Lake On the margins of the vast Eastern Oregon desert, the Methow and Columbia Rivers converge in the small city of Pateros. Just 2 miles away, Alta Lake State Park sits at a higher elevation in a valley between rising stone cliffs where the Cascades begin. Pateros native and City Administrator Jord Wilson said people flock from around the state to swim and camp at Alta Lake, minutes from the eateries along the streets of downtown Pateros. Since the park was founded in 1951, desert dwellers from lower altitudes have sought solace at the lake they’ve deemed their beloved swimming hole, making it a tradition to take a dip on hot days when the mountains call, and watch late-night movie screenings on the beach. After a day on the lake, Kodi’s Noon Saloon cooks up a killer burger, and Sweet River Bakery serves legendary cinnamon rolls and handcrafted lunch or dinner on the patio with live music under the lights. If you’re there August 20 through 22, the low-key vibe jumps a notch with hydroplane races down the river. AT LEFT Alta Lake is minutes away from the small city of Pateros. (photo: Washington State Parks)
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ROSLYN
Cooper Hole Out Cle Elum Lake’s back door, Cooper River treks right into the heart of the Cascades. The teal waters sliding over polished river stones at Cooper River swimming hole have long since been discovered, but locals had done a great job of keeping their cherished spot secret for a long time. “The site is surrounded by deep-green trees and Cascade mountain views,” said Natalie Benson of Kittitas County Chamber. “You are literally in the middle of the Cascade woods.” It lies near Salmon La Sac Campground on the edge of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, easily accessible from the road. Just beyond a curtain of evergreens, an 8-foot-deep splash of dark blue glimmers in contrast to the bright pool. At this liquid jewel, be sure to not disturb the recently reintroduced salmon on their journey, and to recreate responsibly by preserving the pristine state of the water and its environs, Benson noted. After a dip, amble along Cooper River Trail through old growth forests, while snacking on sweet, trailside berries growing in late summer. Stop for a picnic lunch at Cooper Lake, where more swimming spots abound against a backdrop of towering mountains. If you feel like wandering into civilization, stroll through downtown Roslyn. Stop at Basecamp Books and Bites for an outdoor summer movie night, the signature Basecamp Cheeseburger and a good book or trail guide to bring back to your camp chair on the river.
For a sweet summer escape in the woods, try Cooper Hole near Salmon La Sac Campground on the edge of the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. (photo: @CentralWashingtonOutdoor)
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SPOKANE
The Cove The Spokane River slows and swirls into coves, enticing visitors and wildlife to relish in the ecosystem and geology of Fisk State Park. Birds chirp from tall ponderosa pines sprouting from cliffs hugging pools of water, perfect for a swim. “As for the cliffs, they’re naturally occurring granite outcroppings, carved out of the earth during the massive Missoula floods,” said Kate Hudson of Visit Spokane. That was nearly 15,000 years ago, at the end of the last ice age. Today, people flock from all over to cool off and leap (carefully) from the 5- to 60-foot cliffs with an exhilarating splash into water reflecting sunset-pink skies on hot days. As if the natural landscape couldn’t get any more exciting, a rope swing hangs from a nearby tree. If you jump, Hudson warns, jump out far enough into deep water to avoid rocks directly below. To dry off after the plunge, lounge on the rocks or wind through the trees on some of Fisk State Park’s trails. For a side trip, the 3.3-mile Painted Rocks Nature Trail is a short distance upriver near Spokane where hikers can gaze out at the Little Spokane River meandering through the valley.
Pearrygin Lake offers up family fun outside of Winthrop. (photo: Anne Young/Winthrop Washington)
WINTHROP
Pearrygin Lake
Plunge (carefully) from nearby cliffs into The Cove at Fisk State Park. (photo: Visit Spokane)
Wake up in the early hours in your tent or a Pearrygin Lake State Park cabin, slip into the misty waters and watch the sun rise over the hills lining the edge of the Northern Cascades. Now imagine that dip at night, catching the Northern Lights awash above. “There’s a certain magic in the valley that cannot be photographed,” said Anne Young, Winthrop Marketing Director. “It has to be experienced.” In town, just around the bend, weathered buildings holding small family-owned businesses, restaurants and outfitter shops. An ice cream at Sheri’s Sweet Shop is a must after a long day of swimming and exploring. The beauty here deepens in late September, when the glassy waters reflect the beginnings of autumn. Wildflowers and yellow-orange needles of deciduous larch pines fill the hillsides with color where a 6-mile trail loops the lake.
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Swim radiantly blue waters at Devil’s Punchbowl, in Olympic National Park’s Lake Crescent. BELOW, AT LEFT Escape the crowds at Lake Scanewa off the White Pass Scenic Byway. (photos, from top: Adam McKibben/Visit Port Angeles, White Pass Scenic Byway)
PORT ANGELES
Devil’s Punchbowl With the Olympic Mountains guarding glacially carved Lake Crescent, the water is known for its clarity, which may help clear up any hesitation to jump into the chill. Just a few miles from the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the lake is situated in the northern hills of Olympic National Park. A leisurely 20-minute hike down Spruce Railroad Trail Road will bring you to a small footbridge over the water crossing a notch on the lake’s shore. Wade into the radiantly blue water on flat stones behind the bridge to access an intimate swimming hole cut out of the lake expanse. Cozy Crescent Lake Lodge is nearby for an overnight stay and to warm up after the cold dip. If the lake is too frigid for you, head over to Lake Cushman on North Shore West for equally clear waters on a secluded spot to relish in the sun before tucking in for the night at one of the lake’s campgrounds.
RANDLE
Cowlitz Park In the height of summer, there’s no better feeling than being miles away from crowds in the cool waters of a swimming hole in the middle of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. Sandwiched between Mount Saint Helens and Mount Rainier, the White Pass Scenic Byway winds along crystal creek waters to the little town of Randle. Proceed just beyond Cowlitz Dam and Lake Scanewa Reservoir to the Cowlitz River and you’ll find this gem. “It’s really just a beautiful park in general. There’s a lot of mature trees and a little island in the middle of the swimming hole,” said Laura Wolf, Wildlife and Recreation Supervisor for Lewis County Public Utility District. “It’s special because it’s a bit more secluded.” Fewer folks venturing here means the chance to spot wildlife. Floating on your back, look for bald eagles gliding over the glacial melt of the Cowlitz warmed by the sun. When you’re sufficiently refreshed and ready to warm up again, hit two acres of open grass for volleyball, soccer, baseball, frisbee golf and picnicking. The campground offers a hundred campsites tucked into the forest. 54
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AUBURN
Green River Gorge Nestled under cliffs called the Hanging Gardens, Green River Gorge is straight out of a fairy tale. Tall sandstone cliffs tower over calm eddies of the Green River, swirling into pools of blue-green, amid the gorge, carved out more than fifty million years ago. Meandering for 12 miles below the cliffs, it’s the only river-cut canyon in the state without dams. The beauty of the gorge spurred a movement in the 1960s to conserve it in its natural state. The 1966 article “A Ribbon of Wilderness in Our Midst” in The New York Times brought it to national attention. “Placid pools like miniature chain lakes create an occasional corridor of silence into which only faint and muffled hints of rushing water may penetrate from around the bend,” wrote Wolf G. Bauer. Tendrils of vines from overhanging cliffs make the quiet oasis seem like another world, yet it’s only thirty minutes east of Auburn on the edge of a bustling metropolis. Before the bridge on 293rd Ave SE, turn right onto Green River Gorge Road and walk the gravel trail at the end of the parking lot, taking the second left down the hillside on a primitive trail to arrive at the swimming hole in the gorge’s basin. You might even spot a river otter. AT LEFT Plant life lines the cliffs at the Hanging Gardens in the Green River Gorge. ABOVE Take in the area’s otherwordly beauty from this swimming hole in the gorge’s basin. (photos: Lisa Parsons)
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THE NATIVE
EYE
THREE ARTISTS’ WORLDVIEWS GAIN EXPRESSION THROUGH SHOWS, SHOES AND SYMBOLS written by Fiona Max
S O M E A R T catches your eye, some demands your attention. Artist Louie Gong wants to reshape the business of Native American art. John Feodorov wants to make people laugh— and then make them think. Lillian Pitt wants to summon ancestral stories, along with a call for fairness, equality and compassion. Though the media through which they tell their stories vary greatly, Feodorov, Gong and Pitt have defined what it means to be a contemporary Native artist, creating space for the generation that follows them.
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“Assimilation #4” by John Feodorov.
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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT “Protecting Civilization” by John Feodorov. Feodorov’s “Yellow Dirt #2.” Feodorov leverages humor and satire to express his views. (photo and artwork: courtesy of John Feodorov)
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JOHN FEODOROV J O H N F E O D O R O V specializes in contradictions. Feodorov grew up in the suburbs of Los Angeles, but spent his summers on a Navajo reservation with his grandparents. His mother converted to Jehovah’s Witness—a faith he would abandon as an adult. “Not only was I this Native kid in a predominantly white school, the fact that I wasn’t saluting the flag or celebrating Christmas during the Cold War made me stand out,” Feodorov said. “I’ve spent my whole life ‘in-between.’” But it is Feodorov’s heightened sense of the in-between, of contradictions, that would ultimately inspire his work. When Feodorov was in his 20s, he moved to Santa Fe, where the New Age movement was unfolding. Disenchanted with their own religious experience, white Christians were turning to traditional Buddhist and Native practices as a means of spirituality. Feodorov found New Age appropriation to be almost comical. “You can’t become a ‘born again’ Native,’’ Feodorov jokes. “Native Americans aren’t looking for converts—it’s a worldview, and a worldview is about being connected to the geography and mythology of that worldview.” For Feodorov, it was a classic example of capitalists finding a way to commoditize something sacred. In answer to this, Feodorov began juxtaposing traditional Native symbols and mythology with mainstream American culture—paintings of corporate America as a tribal deity, a performance piece which became the installation “The Office Shaman & Other Mythologies” and the mixed media assemblages “Totem Teddies.” As is often the case, he found humor and satire to be the best vehicle for his observations. “There’s actually
quite a bit of humor in Native American spirituality, the humor of the culture is in its mythology and stories.” Feodorov has never contained himself to one medium. He works with wood, paint, clay, music and performance art. Still, he continues to explore his depth as an artist. “When I was younger, I felt like I had to make art that was topical, and to be excited by how paint textures and how colors respond to each other was unnecessary,” Feodorov said. It took him until three years ago to realize that was complete nonsense. “Maybe this is the benefit of being old,” Feodorov said, smiling. “I don’t partition myself anymore. … It’s not like I do my thing with the art and then I’m like ‘Now I will go to the disco!’ I don’t have to calculate anymore. Now making art is just like … sweating.” What came out of this realization was his latest series of paintings, “Assimilations.” The series is told through a Native lens, but speaks to the struggles and loss that other ethnicities have experienced in America’s white-dominant culture. “I wanted to show how the Native experience has relevance around the globe. I wanted to ask how much you have to give up in terms of your own cultural identity to be successful or semi-successful in America.” Feodorov is an Associate Professor of Art at Western Washington University in Bellingham, but will be taking some time off this fall to work on a painting series he is calling “Yellow Dirt.” The title refers to the uranium pollution from more than 500 abandoned uranium mines, which have been linked to kidney disease and cancer in the Navajo nation. So far, Feodorov is pleased with the series, which he expects will keep him busy for the rest of the year.
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LOUIE GONG F O R L O U I E G O N G , it would be remiss to talk about his art career without talking about the power relationships within the art industry and in entrepreneurship. Gong hails from the Nooksack Tribe in Northwest Washington, but also has Chinese, French and Scottish heritage. One day, when Gong went to buy a pair of shoes, he was struck by the feeling that not a single pair reflected his culture. He bought a plain, gray pair of Vans. At home, Gong took a Sharpie to the shoes, and in a couple of hours had transformed them into a piece of Coast-Salish art. When Gong showed up to work at the Muckleshoot Tribal College in Auburn wearing his new shoes, the word quickly spread—everyone wanted a pair. Soon, Gong was designing a pair a day as his shoes gained traction on Facebook. Even before discovering his knack for design, Gong had been interviewed by MSNBC, The New York Times, NBC and the BBC as a leading voice in the modern multiracial movement. As an activist, he already had a deep and personal view of institutions that had denied his people a seat at the table for centuries. It was only natural that Gong would find himself addressing issues of power with his art. “I wanted to make art that was relevant to people who grew up like me,” Gong said. “People like me did not grow up walking through art galleries.” Shoes are far more accessible than a painting hanging on a museum wall. “You have to understand you’re making art for a mostly white audience [in galleries],” Gong said. As his success grew, Gong started Seattle-based fashion and lifestyle brand
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FROM LEFT Louie Gong’s Seattle-based fashion and lifestyle brand Eighth Generation has a mostly Native staff. Gong’s art sprung from taking a Sharpie to a pair of Vans. (photos: Bradley Lanphear)
Eighth Generation. Eighth Generation’s staff is 75 percent Native. It is owned by the Snoqualmie Tribe and prides itself as being the first fashion and lifestyle brand to be owned and operated by a tribe. Corporate companies regularly engage in tokenism and profiting from BIPOC artists without actually uplifting the artists’ communities, Gong said. Eighth Generation’s chief operating officer started as a worker in their store. Its retail manager and development lead likewise began as interns. “That is professional and community knowledge that is getting embedded into our communities,” Gong said. “That never happens if you’re just working with nonNative companies that happen to license art from Native artists.” The company’s business model, which is aptly named “the decolonizing partnership model,” is redefining the way Native artists and companies
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do business with big brands. Eighth Generation is unveiling collaborations with Seattle-based companies in the fall. “I’m not a passive participant in these projects,” Gong said. “We are creating the vision, and they are getting on board with our vision. … If they want to call themselves partners with Eighth Generation, they need to be invested in our success, not just how they can leverage us to make more profit.” Gong envisions that ten years from now there will be thousands of companies like Eighth Generation. “I always talk about the work to reclaim identity and culture,” Gong said. “People think if you’re not born with access to ceremony and tradition, you’re not entitled to it, but the reality is there are so many ways for Native people to be legitimately disenfranchised from their culture. … We need to be ready in our adult lives to go reclaim it.”
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CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT Lillian Pitt’s work is rooted in her Wasco, Yakama and Warm Springs Tribes heritage. “River Guardian” reflects her desire to move on from old ways toward positive thinking, fairness and compassion. Pitt works in a variety of media. (photos: courtesy of Lillian Pitt)
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LILLIAN PITT T H E R I V E R G U A R D I A N glints brilliantly atop the grass of South Portland’s waterfront. The guardian’s two faces—one turned inland and one turned toward the Willamette River—are made of crystal glass. The sculpture was done by Lillian Pitt, a descendant of the Wasco, Yakama and Warm Springs Tribes of Oregon and Washington who grew up on the Warm Springs Reservation in Oregon. “Part of her is watching over the river which is the past, and history as it is flowing by and then the other part of her is watching over the people,” Pitt said. Growing up, Pitt was not seen as the artistic one in her family. “I was always taught by my mother to sit back, listen and be quiet,” Pitt said. “These days I’ve had to do so many interviews. I’m not quiet anymore.” Pitt moved to Portland, Oregon, the day after graduating from Madras High School and never looked back. “I always felt more comfortable to create in Portland.” She conceptualizes most of her work while sitting in her backyard, and her ideas come to life in collaboration with glass blowers and metalworkers. Pitt’s heritage—and consequentially, her art—are tied to the rivers of Washington and Oregon. The lives of Pitt’s ancestors were centered on the Columbia River where tribes fished the Columbia’s salmon and traded for 10,000 years. “We used to just be a river people,” Pitt said. In 1855, the Wasco and Warm Springs tribes lost 10 million acres of land to the U.S. government in the Treaty with the Tribes of Middle Oregon. Starting in the 1930s, four dams were commissioned along the Columbia. The federal government largely failed to relocate or compensate the Native families whose villages were destroyed by flooding created by the dam. This included the village of Pitt’s greatgreat-grandmother, which was ravaged
by the flood from creation of The Dalles dams. Now, Pitt’s ancestors serve as the muse for her work. “I like to portray fairness and equality and compassion,” she said. “As long as I respect [my ancestors], my work will show these things.” Pitt’s work has led her to widespread recognition. In 1990, she received the Governor’s Arts Award of the Oregon Arts Commission. In 2007, she received the Earle A. Chiles Award for Lifetime Achievement. She prefers to make public art, allowing the conversation around her work to be free flowing. “Usually, I am the only Indian woman to apply [for public art commissions] so I feel obligated to apply to everything,” Pitt said. Lake Oswego City Hall recently commissioned Pitt for a sculpture. She’ll also be collaborating on a sculpture at Shelton Elementary in Shelton, Washington in honor of the tribes that historically met and traded in the area. In the fall, Pitt was invited to be on the jury for the Native Americans Veteran Memorial at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. The jury was initially planning to commission a white artist. “If I let this happen, I couldn’t go home and face my people,” Pitt said. She gave a speech to the jury and won the vote for artist Harvey Pratt of the Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes. The memorial is a plain steel circle. “It is reminiscent of our drums and our teepees and it just holds us all together,” Pitt said. “The other side of the table was too removed to see that it could be something so simple as a circle.” At age 77, Pitt believes in progression. “If you don’t move on, you get stuck. You get stuck in old thinking and not always positive thinking. If you keep moving, you’re a bigger target, but you’re still moving, and you may get out of somebody’s way.”
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HUMAN-POWERED THE FIRST WA360, a three-day, engineless, unsupported boat race circling 360 miles of the Puget Sound, launched in June. Fifty-seven racers initiated the journey from Port Townsend, navigating routes through the lesser of two evils, Deception Pass or the Swinomish Slough, and rounding Point Roberts through some of the most complicated water problems in the lower 48—tidal rapids, dramatic currents, terrifying seas— the perfect landscape for adventure.
Team High Seas Drifters in the Swinomish Channel during the inaugural WA360 race this summer. (photo: Jeremy J. Johnson/ Northwest Maritime Center)
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CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT Scott Baste and Team Freedom at Blakely Harbor. Team Sail Like a Girl during the WA360 race. Daniel Staudigel and Team BendRacing, winners of the Human Powered class, at Appletree Cove. (photos, clockwise from left: Jeremy J. Johnson/Northwest Maritime Center, Nick Reid/Northwest Maritime Center, Jeremy J. Johnson/ Northwest Maritime Center)
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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT The start of the WA360 race. Overall race winners High Seas Drifters out of Wilsall, Montana, on Dark Horse. Team Lake Pend Oreille Yacht Club during WA360. Team Gratitude at Rosaria Strait. (photos, clockwise from top left: Nick Reid/Northwest Maritime Center, Liv von Oelreich/Northwest Maritime Center, Nick Reid/Northwest Maritime Center, Jeremy J. Johnson/ Northwest Maritime Center)
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TRAVEL SPOTLIGHT 72 ADVENTURE 74 LODGING 76 TRIP PLANNER 78
pg. 84 Explore the glacial valleys of Mount Marathon Bowl, towering above tiny Seward, Alaska.
Joel Krahn
NORTHWEST DESTINATION 84
Find it all in one place.
VISITANCHORAGE.NET
travel spotlight
One of the best ways to spend a summer day in Gig Harbor is by renting a kayak or paddleboard and hitting the water.
Gig Economy
Enjoy boating fun, harborside eats and artisan spirits-sipping in Gig Harbor written by Cathy Carroll
City of Gig Harbor
WHEN YOU’RE IN a place that shares its name with a bay, it’s easy to know how to divide your time. Summer in Gig Harbor means getting out on the water, in a protected cove in the shadow of Mount Rainier. It’s as much a seasonal treat as other liquid delights, whether it’s a melting ice cream cone or a chilled cocktail made with locally crafted spirits. Head to Lee’s SUP at the mouth of the harbor to rent standup paddleboards and kayaks and go exploring. Meet locals—seals—as you paddle alongside them. Release your inner Gilligan or Mary Ann, even if you don’t have much boating experience. Rent an electric 1941 classic from the Gig Harbor BoatShop or Gig Harbor Boat and Kayak Rentals (a.k.a. Gig Harbor Yachts) rents Duffy Electric Boats outfitted with tables, ideal for a picnic or sundowner libations. Pick up a cocktail kit downtown from Heritage Distillery Co., a nationally known craftspirit maker that began here. Sample flights of flavored vodkas, gin, the Brown Sugar Bourbon, or mark a cask of your own for aging a spirit you select, and you can tap into it on your next visit after you’ve aged a bit, too. After a day on the water, soak up the local flavor at the iconic Tides Tavern, originally a general store built in 1910, where the calamari and “pound o’ fries” are crispy and the grilled halibut and clam chowder fit the maritime milieu. Try barbecue from Brimstone, wine and small plates at Morso Bistro, inventive Northwest dining at Brix25 or baked goods and sandwiches from Susanne’s Deli—try the locals’ favorite: whipped cream and strawberry cake. As harvest season kicks into gear in September, venture out to Butler’s Farm on Peacock Hill, where the focus is on preserving lost varieties of apples—more than 400 in an espaliered orchard, evocative of a vineyard. Keep it old-fashioned, picking what you like and using the honor system, dropping your payment in a box. For more information, visit www.visitgigharborwa.com.
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Pain Fideld adNew.qxp_Layout 1 7/15/21 5:17 PM Page 1
SAFE FOR ARRIVALS AND DEPARTURES Paine Field is Salmon-Safe certified for protecting Puget Sound water quality. That keeps the salmon coming back year after year. To find out more go to painefield.com
salmonsafe.org
adventure
Adam McKibben/Visit Port Angeles
Sol Duc Falls plunges 50 feet into a crevasse in lush Olympic National Park forest.
Five Best Waterfalls
Go with the flow—and an expertly curated guide written by Adam Sawyer
WHAT ARE SOME of the most “Washington” things you can think of? Coffee, salmon, craft beer, Mount Rainier, moss on everything. How about waterfalls? They go hand and hand with a landscape such as this. We are drawn to them not only for their natural beauty, but perhaps for more primal and instinctive reasons as well. With visual and auditorial drama, they announce a water source, along with a potential gathering place for fish and game. Whatever their particular pull might be for you, this corner of the Pacific Northwest is overflowing with them, from the flood-carved eastern badlands to the remote reaches of the North Cascades, west to the Olympic Range and down to the Columbia River Gorge, there is no part of the state you can’t find a wonderful waterfall. Here’s our curated guide, from Instagram allstars to some that might’ve escaped your attention— until now. 74 1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE
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Rainbow Falls / Stehekin The waterfall itself is only a couple hundred feet from the trailhead. But getting to the town in which it resides is where you put in the effort. Stehekin is at the far end of the 55-mile long Lake Chelan. It is only accessible by hiking in, floatplane or boat. It is a place of dramatic North Cascades beauty, with outdoor recreation options in every direction. It’s also where the 312-foot Rainbow Falls is. From town, it’s a 3.5 walk, bike ride or bus shuttle to the falls trailhead. Like most waterfalls of its kind, the flow decreases as summer progresses, but you’ll still likely catch some rainbows. Visit in spring and you’ll most assuredly get wet if you want to see it up close.
Palouse Falls Applications for additional superlatives to describe Palouse Falls are no longer being accepted at this
Adam Sawyer
adventure
time. The nearly 200-foot, official Washington state waterfall and the landscape it inhabits showcase the greatness of eastern Washington geology in jaw-dropping fashion. Coulees, potholes, vast plateaus, and the rocky buttes of the region all serve as tangible evidence of the ancient lava flows and floods which shaped the landscape. A handful of viewpoints and a 1-mile hike provide all the angles you’ll need to impress your out-of-state friends and relatives with your photography skills.
Bridal Veil Falls / Lake Serene Lake Serene and Bridal Veil Falls are a one-two punch combo capable of giving any visitor a natureinduced standing eight-count. With an 8.2-mile hike bearing 2,000 feet of elevation gain, it’s definitely an endeavor for the heartier hiker. Along with the azure-turquoise Serene Lake, Bridal Veil plunges, slides and tumbles a total of nearly 1,300 feet over an imposing granite wall. It’s pretty epic. And as such, it’s justifiably popular, so plan on arriving early or on a weekday if possible. If you visit anytime from late spring through summer, you’ll also be guaranteed trail snacks in the form of berries.
Sol Duc Falls One of the brightest stars in the Olympic National Park universe, the multi-pronged, 50-foot Sol Duc Falls doesn’t need to explain its popularity to anybody. A 1.6-mile, out-and-back hike through exemplary old-growth forest and one of the more perfectly picturesque waterfalls in the state certainly help put it out in front. The opportunity to stop in or stay at the neighboring Sol Duc Hot Springs Resort and hike another splendid old-growth loop in the same outing only helps pad its lead.
Contrary to popular belief, there are waterfalls on the Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge. While throngs of tourists try to out-latte each other at Multnomah Falls, Hardy and Rodney Falls sit in relative obscurity on the other side of the river. As a pair, they might not be quite as photogenic as their counterparts across the river, but the spring and summer wildflower meadows and sweeping views from the top make it a classic. The hike starts within Beacon Rock State Park, so you could throw in summiting that monolith if you’re hungry for more.
Jason Hummel/ Washington Tourism Alliance
Rodney and Hardy Falls / Hamilton Mountain
FROM TOP Mist from Rainbow Falls drifts over the perfect vantage point above Stehekin Valley. Palouse Falls cascades over prominent basalt cliffs carved by glacial floods.
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Photos: TreeHouse Point
lodging
ABOVE Upper Pond Treehouse, overlooking the tranquil pond, is surprisingly spacious. AT RIGHT Temple of the Blue Moon was TreeHouse Point’s first treehouse, inspired by the Parthenon’s classic lines.
Lodging
TreeHouse Point written by Cara Strickland HAVE YOU EVER wanted to spend a night in a treehouse? Not quite camping, but more adventurous than a hotel? If so, TreeHouse Point is the spot to indulge your fantasy, and just about a half-hour drive from Seattle. Pete Nelson of the Animal Planet show Treehouse Masters created this alternative lodging experience in 2006, and it has become a destination for those seeking a retreat from the fast lane, a romantic interlude or a base for an adventurous vacation. Treat yourself to a view of Snoqualmie Falls 7 miles away. The falls are 268 feet high, higher than Niagara Falls. The viewing platform is close to the parking lot and wheelchair friendly. In warmer months, float the Snoqualmie River beginning in Fall City, where you can visit Snofalls Lavender Farm, or head to Tiger Mountain to do some paragliding from Poo Poo Point. 6922 PRESTON FALL CITY ROAD ISSAQUAH www.treehousepoint.com
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lodging
ACCOMMODATIONS Choose from seven treehouses—each offers a different experience. They range from the two-story Trillium, 16 feet in the air and with walls of windows, to the ADAcompliant Ananda with fir floors and a private deck, and the Upper Pond treehouse, which looks as if it emerged from the pages of a fairy tale. Some treehouses share access to three full bathrooms, but a few have their own toilets and sinks. Each is stocked with bottled water and an electric kettle, with toiletries and hair dryers in the shared bathrooms. If you want to experience the treehouse vibe but you’d like to rough it slightly less, consider the guest room in the lodge. Children over the age of 13 are welcome, but furry friends of all kinds are not.
AMENITIES In the lodge, you’ll find fresh, complimentary breakfast every morning and cookies and hot beverages every afternoon. Keep it unplugged with their board games, books and puzzles, but know you can also take advantage of the wi-fi by the fireplace. With no restaurant, plan to bring snacks and explore dining options including pizza, brewpubs and Thai eateries in Issaquah, Fall City, Snoqualmie, North Bend and Carnation, all within a fiveto twenty-minute drive.
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trip planner
Observe the Puget Sound and nearby Whidbey Island from the historic Mukilteo Light Station at Mukilteo Lighthouse Park.
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trip planner
Salish Sea Sanctuaries Mukilteo and Whidbey Island are retreats for body and mind written by Aaron Doyle WATERFRONT REDEVELOPMENT began in 2014. For modern history buffs, Mulkiteo’s waterfront was dotted with ten enormous fuel storage tanks built by the Air Force. Known as the Tank Farm and built in 1950 on 25 acres of prime waterfront, these vessels were the fueling station for a Korean War fighter squadron stationed at nearby Paine Field. When the Korean Armistice Agreement was signed in 1953 and the war ended, the pink, green and blue symbols of the Cold War were increasingly a nuisance to the people of Mukilteo and, in 2013, they were transferred to Everett to make way for Mukilteo redevelopment. It wasn’t until December 2020 that the more than forty-year effort to build a new multimodal ferry terminal became reality. The new terminal was designed to resemble a longhouse of the Coastal Salish Tribes, who had long lived in the area and fished these waters.
Day
Discover Mukilteo
JAPANESE GULCH PARK • LIGHTHOUSE Once the forested land owned by the Mukilteo Lumber Company, which employed and housed a considerable number of Japanese laborers prior to World War II, these 144 acres found a more sustainable incarnation as Japanese Gulch Park, when, in 2014, community members rallied to save it from development. Hiking the serene 4 miles of trails in Japanese Gulch Park puts you in the midst of a green canopy and its wildlife residents of herons, woodpeckers, coyotes and deer. For a bit of a natural thrill, give the Japanese Gulch Big Swing a go. The rope swing swoops down a gully and is surrounded by trees in a Tarzan-like adventure. To recharge Pacific Northwest style, head to Ivar’s Mukilteo Landing for clam chowder, Dungeness crab bisque or the shrimp and Dungeness crab Louie salad. This is also the perfect preamble to an amble through Mukilteo Lighthouse Park, where the Mukilteo Light Station stands on the edge of the Puget Sound. AUGUST | SEPTEMBER 2021
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Designed by Carl Leick, a German immigrant who also designed the Captain Flavel House in Astoria and dozens of other structures along the Pacific Northwest coast, the Mukilteo Light Station (open Saturdays and Sundays) is a chapter in American history. Leick reportedly modeled his creations after the phrase, “Build ’em stout and make ’em last.” You can celebrate that attitude and the landmark by heading to the Mukilteo Lighthouse Festival at Lighthouse Park September 10 through 12. Better yet, get yourself a creamy Irish stout and a poblano-stuffed burger at Diamond Knot Brewing, just a stone’s throw from the lighthouse. This local brewery has three stouts on tap among many of the other craft styles popular in Northwest. The food menu has everything from creative salads to steaks served on a 750-degree granite rock, which you use to cook the meat to your preference.
Discover Mukilteo
ABOVE Mukilteo’s new ferry terminal, which opened in December, features artwork from Native artists and architecture designed to resemble a longhouse of the Coastal Salish Tribes. AT RIGHT, FROM TOP Refuel with a bowl of clam chowder at Ivar’s Mukilteo Landing. Hike serene, forested trails at Japanese Gulch Park. Diamond Knot Brewing serves steak along with a 750-degree granite rock that you use to cook the meat to your preference.
Ivar’s
Joleen Sims
trip planner
Day Be an islander on your second day and take the twenty-minute ferry to Whidbey Island and head 6 miles north to Langley. Langley is home to many artists and galleries, including Museo, a contemporary gallery with a powerful collection of provocative artists. Don’t miss Rob Schouten Gallery and Sculpture Garden in an old Spanish Colonial bank building. The gallery and sculpture garden feature many Whidbey Island 80 1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE
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Diamond Knot Brewing Co.
WHIDBEY ISLAND • ART • ZEN
Puget Sound’s Hidden Gem
Mukilteo is a hidden gem located on the shores of Puget Sound. Activities abound in this coastal community, with views soaring from sea to sky. Lighthouse Park features the historic Mukilteo Lighthouse, picnic pavilions, sandy beaches, firepits, playground, and a boat launch. The all-new Mukilteo Ferry Terminal featuring Native American art and interpretive signs, Japanese Gulch trails, and the dog park are within walking distance from the beachside park. The Park hosts summer music events and the Mukilteo Lighthouse Festival, a multi-day celebration featuring live bands, food, a beer garden, fireworks, and fun for the whole family. The 2021 Lighthouse Festival is Sept 10th, 11th, and 12th, so save the date.
Visit DiscoverMukilteo.org for upcoming events, hotel specials, and more.
EAT Diamond Knot Brewing Company www.diamondknot.com Ivar’s Mukilteo Landing www.ivars.com/locations/ mukilteo-landing
Saltwater Fish House & Oyster Bar www.saltwaterlangley.com Sweet Mona’s Chocolates www.sweetmonas.com Touba Bakery, Everett www.toubabakery.com
STAY The Inn at Langley www.innatlangley.com Saratoga Inn www.saratogainnlangley.com Silver Cloud Inn www.silvercloud.com
PLAY Earth Sanctuary www.earthsanctuary.org Japanese Gulch Park www.discovermukilteo.org/ directory/327/japanese-gulch Mukilteo Lighthouse Park www.mukilteowa.gov/ departments/recreation/ parks-open-spaces-trails/ lighthouse-park Museo www.museo.cc Ott & Hunter winery, tasting room and cabaret www.otthunter.com Price Sculpture Forest www.sculptureforest.org Rob Schouten Gallery and Sculpture Garden www.robschoutengallery.com
Handcrafted chocolates from Sweet Mona’s on Whidbey Island are a sweet end to any getaway.
Museo
Emily Wandres
John’s Grill, Old Town Mukilteo www.johnsgrillmukilteo.com
Whidbey and Camano Islands Tourism
MUKILTEO + WHIDBEY ISLAND, WASHINGTON
trip planner
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT Jeff Kahn’s “Wind Shear” is among the sculptures at Price Sculpture Forest on Whidbey Island. Saltwater Fish House & Oyster Bar serves fresh, regional oysters and more bounty from the sea. Peruse contemporary artwork at Museo from artists such as Aidan Rayner, Michael Dickter and C.A. Pierce, whose work is pictured here.
artists who paint, sculpt, make jewelry and work with wood. If you’d like to add movement to art, the Price Sculpture Forest (22 miles north) is a private wooded property with sculptures along meandering trails. It is free and open to the public and has a virtual tour of recordings from the various artists. Before dinner, stop in at Ott & Hunter winery, tasting room and cabaret. In an intimate space overlooking the Sound, sip some French-style, island-made wine with grapes from Yakima Valley, Red Mountain and the Columbia Valley. Set off for a meditative afternoon at Earth Sanctuary, a privately owned, 72-acre oldgrowth forest 6 miles east of downtown Langley with sculptures from modern to historic and meditation spaces, it’s a retreat for the mind and body. Owner Chuck Pettis, author of Secrets of Sacred Space, has designed an ecological masterpiece. For dinner, don’t miss Saltwater Fish House & Oyster Bar, with the fresh catch of regional oysters on a chalkboard. Or head to the Bayview Farmers Market in Langley to make your own dinner from local fish, beef, fruits and veggies.
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End the night with handmade chocolate-covered caramels from Sweet Mona’s Chocolates. A graduate of Ecole Chocolat in Vancouver, B.C., Mona Newbauer brings together cacao from Ecuador and Venezuela, European-style butter and local cream to produce some of the finest craft chocolates in the Pacfic Northwest.
Day ON THE WATER • BAKED GOODS Bring a paddleboard or kayak for a morning paddle along the scenic coastline from Mukilteo south towards Edmonds, as part of the Washington Coastal Paddle Route, or knock off a shorter out and back depending on your time and endurance. Any length will feel refreshing and calming. Before you go, reward yourself with an apple galette or canelés de Bordeaux from Touba Bakery just over the city line in Everett. The Senegalese chef and owner, Papa Seck, creates works of art every morning that make everyone a little happier and long for more travel and discovery.
Joel Krahn
northwest destination
ABOVE Magnificent glacially carved peaks tower over historic Seward, off a fjord on the Kenai Peninsula.
On the Verge of Untouched Wilderness
Seward and Anchorage hold the secrets of America’s Last Frontier
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And before they’re gone forever, hike a glacier. In the Kenai Fjords National Park, a stunningly beautiful 8-mile out-and-back on the Harding Icefield Trail is a strenuous, but gorgeous, window into time and wildlife. The abundance of salmonberries along the trail make it a favorite for black bears. Take bear spray as a precaution or go with a professional on ranger-led hikes. Of course, this may be your only lifetime opportunity to get up close to the largest mammals on Earth, so plan to take a morning whale watching cruise from Seward and out into Resurrection Bay. There are many to choose from and different lengths of time. Take the train along the scenic Turnagain Arm from Seward to Anchorage, and view the towering Chugach Mountains, glaciers, waterfalls and occasional beluga whales. Book the upper level, glassed-in GoldStar cars with 360-degree views, outdoor viewing deck and, mercifully, a bar. Once in Anchorage, Alaska’s largest city, take the half-day city tour to learn about the culture and commerce from an insider. Snack on reindeer sausage and wild smoked salmon. Stay the night at the beautiful Historic Anchorage Hotel. Wander out to Simon & Seafort’s Saloon and Grill for fresh local seafood or great steaks—all with sweeping views of Cook Inlet and Mount Susitna and the Alaska Range. Kick back with a Moscow mule and appreciate the stunning beauty of Alaska and the irony of Russia’s propaganda and bribes.
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Joel Krahn
ALASKA IS enormous and intimidating, but focus on Seward, one of its smaller and finest towns, and you’ll have the quintessential experience of the Last Frontier, tucked into an inlet on the Kenai Peninsula. Without Seward’s namesake, William Henry Seward, Alaska might still be in Russia’s possession. Seward, the secretary of state under Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Johnson, in March 1867 negotiated the price of two cents per acre for a total of $7.2 million. Legend has it that $7 million was for Alaska and $200,000 was to repay Seward’s Russian counterpart for his bribes of American journalists and politicians to facilitate the objectionable deal. From Seattle, cruise lines (Norwegian, Royal Caribbean and Princess) will get you there if you’re wanting the full experience. If you’d like to go more direct, take Alaska Airlines to Anchorage and a train the 127 miles south to Seward. Caines Head Trail is a hearty 14 miles out and back with 4,800 elevation gain, but like many things in Alaska, requires some additional planning. You’ll have to get the local tide chart to successfully navigate the 3-mile section between Tosina Point and North Beach. It’s possible for fit people to do an out and back in one day. If you’re lucky, you will see humpback whales in Resurrection Bay below. Alaska’s cuisine is salmon, halibut and oysters. The Cookery & Oyster Bar in Seward does this nicely and with a good wine list. For breakfast, hit Ms. Gene’s Place, for the frittata or fisherman’s scramble with reindeer sausage.
Joel Krahn
written by Kate Sullivan
SEWARD + ANCHORAGE, ALASKA
northwest destination
EAT The Cookery & Oyster Bar www.cookeryseward.com Ms. Gene’s Place www.facebook.com/ msgenesplaceseward Simon & Seafort’s Saloon and Grill www.simonandseaforts.com
STAY Cabin on a Cliff www.acabinonthecliff.com The Historic Anchorage Hotel www.historicanchoragehotel.com Hotel Seward www.hotelsewardalaska.com Kenai Fjords Wilderness Lodge www.alaskacollection.com/lodging/ kenai-fjords-wilderness-lodge
PLAY Alaska SeaLife Center www.alaskasealife.org
Joel Krahn
Roy Neese/Visit Anchorage
Kenai Fjords National Park www.nps.gov/kefj/index.htm
Roy Neese/Visit Anchorage
CENTER, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP Kayakers in the Bear Glacier Lagoon glide past dramatic iceberg peaks. The Anchorage skyline set against the Chugach Mountains, the site of some of the most accessible adventures in Alaska. The Cookery and Oyster Bar serves fresh produce from Kenai Peninsula and oysters from the bay in an inviting, old saloon. Orcas are a common sight on Alaskan shores. The Harding Icefield Trail climbs high above the valley floor to a 700-square-foot field of ice.
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1889 MAPPED
The points of interest below are culled from stories and events in this edition of 1889.
Friday Harbor
Newport
Marysville Everett Chelan
Seattle Bellevue
Port Orchard
Shelton
Tacoma
Colville Okanogan
Whidbey Island
Olympic National Park
Republic
Winthrop
Coupeville
Port Townsend
Aberdeen
North Cascades National Park
Mount Vernon
Port Angeles Forks
Oroville
Bellingham
San Juan Islands
Leavenworth
Renton Kent Federal Way
Wilbur
Waterville
Spokane Davenport
Wenatchee Ephrata Ritzville
Montesano Olympia
Mount Rainier N.P.
Ellensburg Colfax
Chehalis
South Bend
Pullman Yakima Pomeroy
Long Beach Kelso
Cathlamet
Longview
Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument
Richland
Mount Adams
Prosser
Pasco
Dayton
Walla Kennewick Walla
Goldendale Vancouver
Live
Think
Explore
20 Stoup Brewing
42 Western Washington University
74
Palouse Falls
22 Leavenworth Cider House
42 Gonzaga University
76
TreeHouse Point
23 Restaurant Marché
44 Cooperative Institute for Climate, Ocean, and Ecosystem Studies
78
Japanese Gulch Park
78
Earth Sanctuary
84
Seward, Alaska
24 Charlotte Restaurant & Lounge 38 Inland Northwest Opera
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Stevenson
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46 The Museum of Flight 48 King County Regional Homelessness Authority
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Asotin
Dive into a world class vacation Play a floating golf green. Explore a massive theme park. Visit luxurious spas. Take a lake cruise. Shop the downtown. Relax in a park. Play in a casino. Eat like a king. Zipline. Ski. Boat. Hike. Fish. Dance. Visit.
coeurdalene.org
Until Next Time Visitors enjoy the water at Sun Lakes-Dry Falls State Park. photo by Jason Hummel/Washington Tourism Alliance
the best
Making the PNW a better place to live, work and bank. What defines the wanderers and explorers of iQ Credit Union? Above all, it’s our belief that a great financial institution can change your life for the better. It’s going the extra mile, whether it’s on the teller line, or out in the community. People helping people, and helping people reach their financial goals. It’s an ambition that inspires us to “Seek the UniQue”. It’s the confidence that we can navigate financial journeys, together. And it’s our mission to make the PNW the best place to live, work and bank.
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