Washington’s Magazine
TRIP PLANNER: MOUNT RAINIER NATIONAL PARK PG. 78
One Backyard Reading Room
Yep—the Spicy Pineapple Margarita
A Week in Hong Kong
June | July 2019 SUMMER GETAWAYS
Outdoor Summer Adventures GEAR FIT FOR THE TASK
1889 mag.com
1889mag.com $5.95 display until July 31, 2019
LIVE
THINK
EXPLORE
WASHINGTON June | July
volume 15
Sharon E, Member-owner
A HOME EQUITY LINE OF CREDIT: THERE WHEN YOU NEED IT. Find us downtown, in the Valley, and at our location in North Spokane. Spokane Division NFC 916 N Division Street Spokane, WA 99202
Ready to remodel? Need financial security for the unexpected? Your home isn’t just a refuge: It’s an answer. BECU Home Equity Lines of Credit offer: • No origination fees (potentially saving you hundreds, even thousands) • Low, credit-union rates • Fixed-rate options available when funds are drawn
North Spokane NFC 9420 N Newport Hwy Spokane, WA 99218
• Flexible terms, including amounts up to $500,000
Spokane Valley NFC 615 North Sullivan Road, Suite D Spokane Valley, WA 99037
Apply for a HELOC at becu.org/1889
• Member consultants available for in-person assistance
*You must open and maintain BECU membership with a Member Share or Member Advantage savings account; not all applicants will qualify. Financing is subject to credit approval and other underwriting criteria. The specific credit limit will be determined based on information obtained while processing your application, which includes, but is not limited to: your credit report, your income, occupancy, and available equity in your home; not all applicants will qualify. BECU must be able to perfect a first or second mortgage lien on your one-to-four family residence. During the credit advance draw period, payments equal monthly payments of interest, subject to the lesser of $100 or your balance and the principal is not reduced. At the end of the draw period, your monthly payments will increase equal to the principal and interest amount necessary to pay the loan balance over the remainder of the loan term amortized over 180 months. Insurance to protect the property against hazards (including flood insurance, if applicable) is required. Borrower is also required to pay for optional services (e.g. if borrower retains an attorney that borrower is not required to use). Additional state or local mortgage fees or taxes may apply. A reconveyance fee is charged to remove BECU from the property’s title when a HELOC is paid off and closed. Reconveyance fees are paid to prepare and record the Reconveyance with the county in which the property is located and varies by county. Reconveyance fees are not BECU fees and are not waivable. Loan programs, terms, and conditions are subject to change without notice. The rate for a Fixed Rate Advance (FRA) is 5.24% APR as of 04/01/2019. You may convert all or a portion of your outstanding HELOC variable-rate balance to a FRA. The minimum outstanding balance that can be converted into a FRA is $5,000 from a HELOC account. No more than three FRAs may be open at one time. Contact a BECU representative for current information.
Federally insured by NCUA
800.233.2328 becu.org
THE CULTURE IS AS RICH AS THE TROUT STREAMS
Three rivers and seven wilderness areas meet in Missoula, Montana, a small town with enormous personality. It’s an outdoor enthusiast’s haven, pulsating with arts, culture, food, drink, rich roots and the best people around. Infinite exploration abounds, so get outside under Missoula’s big sky and experience this place for yourself.
Missoula Art Museum
Call 1.800.526.3465 or visit destinationmissoula.org/1889 for a free travel guide.
Small pools of water cover Second Beach in the early morning during low tide on the Olympic Peninsula.
2 1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE
JUNE | JULY 2019
Turning to Tide Pools photography by James Harnois Washington’s extensive coastline makes for water, water everywhere—and it also means opportunities to explore tide pools. Our photographer headed to Rialto Beach and Second Beach on the Olympic Peninsula for a look into these quiet worlds all their own. (pg. 64)
JUNE | JULY 2019
1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE 3
FEATURES JUNE | JULY 2019 • volume 15
50 Gear and Getaways It’s summer, and that means new places to explore. Get out of your comfort zone with these Washington getaways, and make sure you have the right gear for the task. written by Sheila G. Miller
64
56
Going With the Flow
A Hong Kong Journey
With hundreds of miles of shoreline in Washington, getting to water for a quick getaway is easy. Our photographer tracked down tide pools.
One man’s search for meaning in Hong Kong—now a daily direct flight from Seattle.
photography by James Harnois
written by Kevin Max
HIKE
DEPARTMENTS
LIVE 14 SAY WA?
Emily Joan Greene
JUNE | JULY 2019 • volume 15
Ice cream and cold beer come calling this time of year, and we’ve got the answers in Tidbits and To-dos. Then throw on Kristin Allen-Zito’s new album and crack Tacoma Stories for a chill afternoon.
20 FOOD + DRINK
Hot weather calls for a spicy pineapple margarita—or perhaps a trip to Seattle’s new, Nordic-inspired Skål Beer Hall. Then take a trip to Spokane for vegetarian delights at Mizuna or a jaunt through the fields at Frog Hollow Farm in Walla Walla.
24 FARM TO TABLE
Peas, please—this delightful vegetable pairs well with all manner of meals. Then learn to add them to your own Washington chef-approved meals.
28 HOME + DESIGN
Book lovers, prepare to be jealous—this home in Seattle features a backyard reading room and extensive deck area.
34 MIND + BODY
When professional rugby player Eric Duechle suits up for a Seattle Seawolves game, plenty of preparation—both of body and mind—has gone into getting him game-ready.
36 Emily Rieman
36 ARTIST IN RESIDENCE
Werner Hiemann creates illuminated art out of everyday, discarded objects. You have to see them to believe them.
THINK 40 STARTUP
Solar Spirits is the distillery you get when a bunch of entrepreneurs and engineers want to drink good booze. We all benefit.
43 WHAT’S GOING UP
New medical facilities are cropping up in Chelan and downtown Seattle.
44 WHAT I’M WORKING ON
Sunny Diaz’s truffle-hunting business is robust, but when it slows down with the seasons, she works to connect chefs to the outdoors on her microfarm.
46 MY WORKSPACE
26
48 10 11 86 88
Editor’s Letter 1889 Online Map of Washington Until Next Time
For Kristi Kucera, owner of Moondance Kayak in Bellingham, work means getting on the water—an enviable gig.
48 GAME CHANGER
Warm Current wants to spread the gospel of surfing, one kid at a time.
EXPLORE 72 TRAVEL SPOTLIGHT
Jetty Island, a 2-mile manmade breakwater at the Port of Everett, is a perfect spot for summer swimming.
74 ADVENTURE
Washington has a surf mecca all its own, with swells perfect for all types of surfers. Head to Westport or Long Beach to get on the waves.
76 LODGING
The Inn at Langley is close to the hustle and bustle of Seattle, but feels like it’s on island time.
78 TRIP PLANNER
COVER
Mount Rainier looms large over the state of Washington. We’ve got a three-day plan for seeing as much of the national park as possible.
photo by Jim Meyers/vertizonphoto.com Mount Si (see Gear and Getaways, pg. 50)
6 1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE
84 NORTHWEST DESTINATION
Missoula, Montana, centers on the Clark Fork River. Get adventurous on the water, then discover the wonders on land. JUNE | JULY 2019
JOIN US for
THESE SUMMER EVENTS June 9, July 14, August 11 Summer Jazz at Samson Estates Winery June 21-22: Chuckanut Writers Conference
CHEERED
June 22-August 24: Fairhaven Outdoor Cinema June 28-29: Whatcom Cultural Arts Festival June 29: Bellingham Beer & Music Festival June 29-July 19: Bellingham Festival of Music July 4-28: Fairhaven Summer Repertory Theatre July 7-13: Drayton Harbor Music Festival, Blaine July 10- August 7: Bellingham Downtown Sounds July 19-20: Northwest Raspberry Festival, Lynden July 24-28: Paddle to Lummi July 26-28: Whatcom Old Settlers’ Picnic, Ferndale August 3-4: Drayton Harbor Days Maritime Festival, Blaine August 10: Bellingham Northwest Wine Festival
@BellinghamExperience
bellingham.org
CONTRIBUTORS
JASON REDMOND Photographer What I’m Working On
JENNIFER BURNS BRIGHT Writer What I’m Working On
ALEX GARLAND Photographer Farm to Table
ETHAN SHAW Writer Trip Planner
It was a pleasure meeting Sunny Diaz and her truffle dog, Stella, to make their portrait for the magazine. Diaz has created a beautiful home in the Tiger Mountain region outside Seattle. Stella was absolutely adorable (and you can get more of her by following @stellafindstruffles on Instagram). (pg. 44)
On a tour of the Oregon Coast, Sunny Diaz asked me on an impromptu mushroom foray into the wetlands near our hotel. She had seen me chewing on weeds to make a poultice for a yellowjacket sting, and thought we might be kindred souls. As two foraging women who have chosen to trade professional careers for freelance life, we connected immediately. Her determination to share community and pleasure deeply inspires me. (pg. 44)
Nestled in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains and a few hundred yards from the Snoqualmie River, Fall City Farms is in a rustic yet beautiful setting, and the fields are worked by one of the smartest and hardest-working farmers I’ve met. Amanda Marino is kind and genuine, and with years of experience in her green thumbs she’s able to combine her sustainable agriculture education and friendly attitude to make the farm a definite stop for city folks. (pg. 24)
Where’s the heart of the Pacific Northwest? I can think of a few contenders, but it’s hard to argue with Mount Rainier. It’s just about the region’s most famous and commanding landmark, and roughly geographically centered to boot. Tahoma’s great snowhead has been a reliable anchor on farflung skylines of my rambles— from Olympic peaks to the Northern Blues—and it’s always a pleasure to pay my respects to it up close. (pg. 78)
8 1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE
JUNE | JULY 2019
EDITOR Kevin Max
MANAGING EDITOR Sheila G. Miller CREATIVE Allison Bye
WEB MANAGER
OFFICE MANAGER
DIRECTOR OF SALES
Aaron Opsahl Cindy Miskowiec Jenny Kamprath
ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES Cindy Guthrie Jenn Redd
BEERVANA COLUMNIST
Jackie Dodd
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Jennifer Burns Bright, Melissa Dalton, Viki Eierdam, Catie Joyce-Bulay, Michelle Kehm, Laura Kostad, Lauren Kramer, Abby Lynes, Richard Porter, Ben Salmon, Ethan Shaw, Cara Strickland
CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS
Jackie Dodd, Alex Garland, Gemina Garland-Lewis, Emily Joan Greene, James Harnois, Scott Minner, Katheryn Moran, Jim Meyers, Tegra Stone Nuess, Jason Redmond
Statehood Media Mailing Address
Portland Address
70 SW Century Dr. Suite 100-218 Bend, Oregon 97702
1801 NW Upshur St. Suite 100 Portland, Oregon 97209
1889mag.com/subscribe @1889washington
Printed in Canada
All rights reserved. No part of this publiCation may be reproduCed or transmitted in any form or by any means, eleCtroniCally or meChaniCally, inCluding photoCopy, reCording or any information storage and retrieval system, without the express written permission of Statehood Media. ArtiCles and photographs appearing in 1889 Washington’s Magazine may not be reproduCed in whole or in part without the express written Consent of the publisher. 1889 Washington’s Magazine and Statehood Media are not responsible for the return of unsoliCited materials. The views and opinions expressed in these artiCles are not neCessarily those of 1889 Washington’s Magazine, Statehood Media or its employees, staff or management.
JUNE | JULY 2019
1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE 9
IT’S TIME TO ease your clutch on your phone, to find a new place, a new paradigm, a summer getaway. This issue seems to be chock full of ideas that will set your summer free. Take our Adventure, which pushes us west to Westport and Long Beach on an unexpected surfing trip. You won’t see these spots in big-wave surf competitions, but you will see consistent waves that make this stretch a favorite for those learning to surf and those who don’t want to sit all day waiting for the big one. If you prefer to keep your feet on the ground, point them in the direction of Mount Rainier. This 14,411-foot friendly beast is the zenith of the Cascade Range and has dozens of trails, meadows and amazing vistas. Book two nights (or more) at campgrounds or the Paradise Inn and use our Trip Planner (pg. 78) as the spark to get moving. Let’s move a little farther afield now and into Missoula, Montana, where our Northwest Destination (p. 84) begins. The most compelling attraction of Missoula is how Montana’s secondlargest city of 72,000 can be so close to nature. A Missoulian sets a balanced agenda for us that includes lots of hiking, topnotch breweries and restaurants. Offshore, we jump on a flight to Hong Kong as part of Cathay Pacific’s new daily nonstop flights to the city known as the fragrant harbor. Over a week, I had the opportunity to dive into Hong Kong culture—from street food and Temple Street Market to public art, Buddhist temples and following in the footsteps of Seattle’s first international film star, Bruce Lee. Turn to A Hong Kong Journey on page 56. Summer is also a time to chill. Your jealous-ometer will spike when you see the backyard reading room that a couple in Seattle’s Montlake neighborhood built. The design is modern and its function transcends time. See A Novel Hideaway on page 28.
10 1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE
JUNE | JULY 2019
Jenn Redd
FROM THE EDITOR
I think my two favorite people I haven’t met are Seattle Seawolves rugby player Eric Duechle and Bellingham singersongwriter Kristin Allen-Zito. Though Duechle played at the highest levels of rugby, I would argue he is more philosopher. “I love being in the flow state—that state where you’re completely focused and you are in love with what you’re doing and you’re creating your art,” he says in our Mind + Body piece on page 34. Bridge is Kristin Allen-Zito’s new album and worth your time. I listened to the first song, then the second and on until I was playing them all over again. Turn to page 16, sample her music on Bandcamp and buy the album if you like it as much as I do. Cheers!
1889 ONLINE More ways to connect with your favorite Washington content www.1889mag.com | #1889washington | @1889washington
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 Patrick Doherty Atop Tolmie Peak looking at Mount Rainier, with Eunice Lake below and Lake Mowich in the distance.
#1889WASHINGTON What does your Washington look like? Connect with us on social media by tagging your photos with #1889washington.
GEAR UP Show off your state pride with 1889 T-shirts, hoodies, tote bags and more from our online shop. www.1889mag.com/shop
JUNE | JULY 2019
1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE 11
SAY WA? 14 FOOD + DRINK 20 FARM TO TABLE 24 HOME + DESIGN 28 MIND + BODY 34
pg. 20 Skål Beer Hall makes food in the Viking style.
Jackie Dodd
ARTIST IN RESIDENCE 36
say wa?
Tidbits & To-dos
Washington Bottle Opener Jensen Handcrafted makes charming bottle openers in the shape of your home state in its small shop in Spokane. Pick from three types of wood for the handle, use the opener to crack a few craft brews, then get ready for everyone to ask where you found it and how they can get one, too. www.jensenhandcrafted.com
ca mark y le our nd ar
Kurt Farm Shop Ice Cream It’s summer—head to Chophouse Row on Capitol Hill for Kurt Farm Shop’s heavenly ice cream. Made from a custard base at Kurtwood Farms on Vashon Island, the ice cream is churned into flavors such as lemon verbena, rose geranium and bay laurel. Grab a cone or a pint to carry home. www.kurtwoodfarms.com/kurtfarm-shop
Recycled Arts Festival Get ready to ask yourself a new question—is that art or trash? On June 29 and 30 at Esther Short Park in Vancouver, the Recycled Arts Festival will prove there’s life after most every product’s first use. The free event showcases recycled art, invites children to create their own eco-art and provides more information on how you can do your part to lessen your impact on the environment. www.recycledartsfestival.com
14 1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE
JUNE | JULY 2019
say wa?
m
cal ark you end r ar
Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren
Zoo Tunes It’s a rite of passage for Pacific Northwesterners— when the sun comes out, it’s time to hit the zoo for some top-notch music. Zoo Tunes at Woodland Park Zoo runs from June 16 to August 28, with musicians as diverse as Feist, John Prine and Lucinda Williams putting on shows that have the animals grooving. www.zoo.org
r ou r y k da ar m en
ca
l
Seattle International Beerfest
Alpine Lakes Wilderness: The Complete Hiking Guide
Seattle in summer is the place to be—brewers know that. Head to Seattle Center July 12 through July 14 for this special brewfest that draws drinkers and makers from around the world. Keep an eye out for specialty and limited-run tastes.
Hit the trails this summer with Mountaineers Books’ new, exhaustive guide to hiking all over the Alpine Lakes Wilderness in Central Washington. The book breaks out 100 hikes, with details you’d expect, like distance and difficulty, and extra information that sometimes gets forgotten, like where the best views are and the history of each place.
www.seattlebeerfest.com
www.mountaineersbooks.com
JUNE | JULY 2019
1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE 15
say wa?
Musician
Listen on Bandcamp
Home is Where the Art Is Kristin Allen-Zito’s new EP is a love song for Bellingham written by Ben Salmon KRISTIN ALLEN-ZITO has traveled all over to play her music, both as a solo artist and as a member of the mid-2000s electropop-rock band, The Trucks. Everywhere she’s been has made her more appreciative of the town where she grew up. She calls her new EP, Bridge, “a longdistance love song” to Bellingham. “When I started touring, I felt both exhilarated by the new places I saw, and more romantic about my hometown,” Allen-Zito said. “These songs call to the places that I find most romantic in the world.” Allen-Zito’s roots in Bellingham’s creative scene run deep. She grew up writing songs and playing music there, and her mother was a folk singer who took her kids on the road to performances in schools all over Washington. Allen-Zito was 8 years old when she and her sister wrote their first song together, in the back of the car on the way to one of their mom’s gigs. Eventually, the sisters started their own musical projects, and Allen-Zito ended up fronting The Trucks, one of the best-known bands ever to come out of Bellingham. But after a whirlwind halfdecade of shows and success, The Trucks ended and Allen-Zito returned to her folk roots.
16 1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE
JUNE | JULY 2019
“It gives me a different kind of connection to the audience,” she said. “Playing acoustic music invites the sound of the room into the songs along with the listeners. There’s more space for silence and stillness.” Indeed, the songs on Bridge feel intimate and personal even when their arrangements bloom into lush baroque-pop finery. At their core, they revolve around AllenZito’s winsome melodies and plainspoken lyrics, backed by well-plucked guitars and augmented by a tiny orchestra of keyboards, strings, banjo, accordion, harp and more. The EP comes a full nine years after her last full-length album, The Atlas, but in Allen-Zito’s mind, there isn’t much aesthetic distance between the two releases. More prominent on Bridge is the sound of time lapsed, of years spent writing and singing and playing, and of the kind of experience and maturity that teaches you to celebrate imperfections. “Weirdly, Bridge feels like a continuation of The Atlas for me,” Allen-Zito said. “I think I’m a little less precious about songwriting now. I’m more eager and willing to leave room for mistakes.”
TULALIP ESCAPE TO A DESTINATION OF
PREMIUM LUXURY Indulge in Washington’s premier AAA Four-Diamond resort with eight restaurants, a luxurious spa and world-class shopping.
3 0 M I N U T E S N O R T H O F S E AT T L E
888.272.1111 | T U L A L I P CAS I N O.CO M
Pilar Wiley
say wa?
Bibliophile
Tacoma Home Richard Wiley’s new collection of short stories revels in the characters of his hometown interview by Sheila G. Miller
RICHARD WILEY GREW UP in Tacoma and went to college there. Then he left—living in Japan, Korea, Kenya and Nigeria, and teaching English at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas for more than twenty-five years. But he found his way back home. Wiley’s new short-story collection, Tacoma Stories, is a love song to his hometown and to the people who make it special. The premise of Tacoma Stories begins in the first story—sixteen people share green beer in Pat’s Tavern on St. Patrick’s Day 1968. The rest of the stories share snippets of those people’s lives, from 1958 to 2016. Wiley, who has written eight novels, put out his new collection of linked short stories in February, and already has another novel in the works. You split time these days between Tacoma and Los Angeles—what’s kept you coming back? A lot of people love their hometowns, and I am one of those people. I grew up there, and it really infused and informed my imagination when I was a kid. I had a great time when I was a kid there, and I’ve always felt more at home there than I did anywhere else. My elementary school had one class for every grade, so I went to school with the same kids all the way through. I spent a lot of time fishing and swimming and running around on the beach and playing in my imagination and with my friends. It was a really wonderfully free time to be a kid. It could’ve been Omaha for all I knew, if I’d had the same engagement with nature and with the outside world as I did in Tacoma. It doesn’t have to be Tacoma. We bond with what we bond with, and I did with Tacoma. I’ll probably end up dying there. Hopefully not too soon.
18 1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE
Richard Wiley is a Tacoma native whose new book is a sort of love song to the city.
You’ve written a bunch of novels. Which is harder—novels or short stories like this book? A novel is harder. I’ve had a lot of short story writers try to tell me they’re harder, but that’s nuts! Novels are tough. The problems you create in a novel are bigger and more sophisticated than the problems you create in a short story. I’m not putting down how hard it is to write short stories, but they’re short. That’s the operative word, and even if it takes you six months to write a thirty-page story, it’s not six years. I’m getting to the age where I don’t have a lot of decade increments to work on future novels. This book was a lot of fun. I published seven of the stories elsewhere, then I wrote the rest of the collection. Some of those earlier stories I had to rewrite to tailor to fit the concept of Tacoma Stories. But I
JUNE | JULY 2019
wanted them all to stand alone—they all had to stand alone as good stories, as opposed to leaning on the fact that they were in a linked collection. What’s next for you? You said you don’t have a lot of decades left for novels. These days it takes forever to get a book out. I spent about two years waiting for Tacoma Stories to be published, so I wrote a novel. That one is now with my agent, and I hope that the current publisher, my publisher for Tacoma Stories, will buy it. We’ll see. It’s my third Japan novel, called Cornelius, On Love. It’s sort of a treatise on love from a person named Cornelius, who I made up. It takes place in 1972 Kyoto. I did two other Japan novels, but I’ve always wanted a trilogy. Two didn’t feel like enough. One does—one feels like enough, but not two.
Dream big. Plan ahead. Washington College Savings Plans can help you start saving towards a brighter future.
Explore your options at wastate529.wa.gov
Enroll Nov 1 - May 31
Start Saving Today
GET and DreamAhead are qualified tuition programs sponsored and distributed by the State of Washington. The Committee on Advanced Tuition Payment and College Savings administers and the Washington Student Achievement Council supports the plans. DreamAhead investment returns are not guaranteed and you could lose money by investing in the plan. If in-state tuition decreases in the future, GET tuition units may lose value.
Artist Alice Blaschke with her interactive mural “Buteo Jamaicensis, Red-Tailed Hawk.“ Photo by Jennifer Moreland, corvallismurals.com.
Undiscovered trails. Undiscovered innovation. Undiscovered tastes.
Undiscovered
visitcorvallis.com/art
800.334.8118
Stumble upon fascinating public sculptures and dozens of colorful murals. Wander a gallery or museum. Catch a show or concert. Come visit Corvallis and Benton County, and discover what you’ve been missing.
food + drink
Cocktail Card recipe courtesy of W Bellevue
Spicy Pineapple Margarita 1½ ounces Patron Silver 2 ounces pineapple juice ½ ounce Cointreau ½ ounce fresh lime juice ¼ ounce habanero agave syrup Shake in a shaker full of ice cubes and pour into a black Hawaiian salt-rimmed highball glass. Garnish with a grilled triangle of pineapple and candied habanero.
Vivian Hsu Photography
FOR AGAVE SYRUP In a small pot, bring 3 ounces of water and one medium habanero (including seeds) to a boil. Remove from the heat and allow to steep for 5 minutes. Strain and add 6 ounces of agave. Stir to combine and let cool.
20 1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE
JUNE | JULY 2019
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT Skål Beer Hall features beer and food that mirrors what was available to Vikings centuries ago. The hall evokes a sense of Nordic gathering space. More than a thousand people joined the mug club, sight unseen.
Beervana
A Viking Walks into a Bar written and photographed by Jackie Dodd IN THE HEART of Ballard is a heavy wooden door, fashioned from planks salvaged from an old horse stable. Pulling it open, you step into the past—not just the 70-yearold building, or the beers made to resemble those of yesteryear, or even the dishes expertly crafted to mirror what was available to Nordic tribes centuries ago. It’s the space. The idea behind Skål Beer Hall was to create a modern take on Viking gathering spaces of centuries ago. Nailed it. It’s not kitschy, it’s not Disney for Vikings, it’s not a museum. It’s a beautiful, well thought-out place for a community to gather and grow, a community that has been forming since well before the renovation was complete and the doors opened. “My Scandinavian background is really important to me,” said Adam McQueen, the owner and driving force behind Skål. “I wanted a place to celebrate that.” McQueen is an active member of local Scandinavian clubs and museums, and the community has rallied behind his endeavors. Gaining more of a fan following each day, his supporters have grown to include the Norwegian ambassador to the United States, and well over a
thousand “mug club” members who invested in his idea, sight unseen. “So, who will be the first to get the tattoo?” I asked about the Skål logo, a hop cone sporting Viking horns. McQueen is quick to point out that he knows real Vikings never actually wore horns, but the logo was such a perfect representation of his idea that he went with it anyway. “I do have a super fan who mentioned wanting to get it,” McQueen said, “a mug club member who stood outside our door with his dad for hours before the soft open because he wanted to be the first customer inside.” This is the level of fandom McQueen was able to cultivate before the doors even opened to the public—a loyal following of customers even before they were able to sample the Norwegian beer, mead and Aquavit cocktails, before they’d used their teeth to pull deliciously slow-cooked duck hearts from wooden skewers, and before they’d raised a handmade earthenware mug to their lips. For those who have watched the space progress on social media, catching glimpses of the progress along Ballard Avenue, I can promise you this: it does not disappoint.
BE MORE COOL Looking for award-winning wines that rival the Bordeaux region of France? Yeah, we’ve got that. We’ve got more cool.
VisitTri-Cities.com
food + drink
CRAVINGS TIKI COCKTAILS Navy Strength may not look like the tiki bar you’re picturing—the big windows let in lots of light, but take a sip of one of the rum-forward concoctions and you’ll soon find yourself in an island paradise of your own. With twice-yearly menu changes, there are lots of reasons to go back. 2505 2ND AVENUE SEATTLE www.navystrengthseattle.com
TRADITIONAL BREAD AND PASTRIES Bavarian Bakery is the place to find German pastries, breads and special-occasion baked goods for all of your Bavarian carb-loading needs. After all, what is a visit to Leavenworth without a pretzel? 1330 HIGHWAY 2 LEAVENWORTH
FRESH SEAFOOD
Amy Dietrich grows a variety of produce at Frog Hollow Farm.
Gastronomy
Frog Hollow Farm written by Cara Strickland YOU DON’T HAVE to drive too far from the heart of Walla Walla to find a farm. If you’re lucky, you’ll end up at Frog Hollow Farm, known for growing heirloom produce. Few people are likely as obsessed with tomato varieties as Amy Dietrich, who works as a nurse and runs the farm, along with her family. She’ll talk you through the rows of different varieties, excited to share what makes them extraordinary. Then, she’ll start on the lettuce, carrots or beans. It’s this kind of care and attention that appeals to the chefs she works with—the farm provides produce for Walla Walla restaurants, as well as some in Seattle, along with supplying Google and Amazon. But you don’t have to be a restaurant or company to buy her produce—just stop by the farm stand Monday through Friday or Sunday, or go to the Metropolitan Marketplace in Seattle if you can’t make it to Walla Walla. WALLA WALLA www.froghollowfarm.net
22 1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE
JUNE | JULY 2019
If you’re headed to or from the San Juan Islands, there might be no better place to stop for lunch than Skagit’s Own Fish Market. Try one of the sandwiches made from fresh local seafood, or pick up some of the raw stuff to cook yourself, along with an assortment of other delicious products, most of them local. 18042 WA-20 BURLINGTON www.skagitfish.com
GREAT NATURAL WINE SELECTION In addition to delicious Frenchinspired bites and balanced cocktails, L’Oursin is passionate about its natural wine selection. The wines are organic or biodynamic, fermented with native yeasts (or both). True aficionados can join the monthly wine club. 1315 EAST JEFFERSON STREET SEATTLE www.loursinseattle.com
food + drink
BEST PLACES FOR
ICE CREAM THE SCOOP This neighborhood shop is always happening in the summer. It uses liquid nitrogen to make ten to twelve flavors at a time, from the classics to the more daring—try the basil flavor if you get a chance. Keep an eye out for the truck around town for more ice cream opportunities. 1001 W 25TH AVENUE SPOKANE www.thescoopspokane.com
ELEVATED ICE CREAM & CANDY SHOP Choose from more than twenty flavors of ice cream, eight non-dairy Italian ices and two flavors of sherbet, all made on site. Soon, you’ll find your spirits elevated. Though the flavors rotate, you’ll find local ingredients like berries and nuts always in the mix, and you can rest assured that all colors are natural, from the bright pink of strawberries to the chlorophyl Elevated uses to color its mint chip. 627 & 631 WATER STREET PORT TOWNSEND www.elevatedicecream.com
LOPEZ ISLAND CREAMERY This ice cream company got its start on the San Juan Islands more than twenty years ago. Now it’s known throughout Western Washington as some of the best ice cream around. Check out the website to find a place to get your tongue on some—don’t miss the Bow Hill Blueberry or Clearly Coconut. VENDORS THROUGHOUT WESTERN WASHINGTON www.lopezislandcreamery.com
Mizuna’s cashew-crusted, seared avocado with sesame rice noodles, broccolini, shiitakes, red peppers, scallions and cilantro.
Dining
Mizuna written by Cara Strickland FOR MORE THAN twenty years, Mizuna has been a fixture in downtown Spokane, offering beautifully prepared, seasonal food in an intimate and romantic setting. Originally, the restaurant was entirely vegetarian, serving the best of the region without ever considering meat an option. The result was the sort of vegetarian food you’d want to write home about. Although Mizuna added meat to the menu a few years ago, it still prints separate, color-coded menus to differentiate between vegetarian and carnivorous offerings, and one thing hasn’t changed: the vegetarian meals are still something to write home about. Don’t miss the spinach arancini. Be sure to save room for dessert, because you’ll want to try the amaretto-roasted pear with coconut ice cream, and the flourless dark chocolate and crystallized ginger torte (with blood orange sauce) just to be safe. Add a great wine list and attentive service, and you have the makings of a wonderful night out. SPOKANE www.mizuna.com
JUNE | JULY 2019
1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE 23
farm to table
Farm to Table
Pea Perfection Gleaning information on the green scene at two Washington farms written by Corinne Whiting photography by Alex Garland
ABOUT 30 MILES EAST of Seattle, a beautiful collaboration has sprung between two creative souls with a passion for food. We’re talking about chef Maggie Trujillo of Aerlume, a stunning Seattle restaurant located just a stone’s throw from Pike Place Market, and farmer Amanda Marino of Fall City Farms. Situated just far enough from the city to slow one’s heart rate and perhaps glimpse the resident elk herd prancing about at dawn and dusk, the tranquil property is best known as a hub for Halloween pumpkins and u-cut Christmas trees. These days, the farm plays another important role, too. On a sun-kissed spring morning, Marino spoke exuberantly about the crops she’s committed to growing organically and the custom farming operation that sends her products onto the plates of lucky diners downtown. Although her spring veggies hadn’t yet emerged during our visit, it was easy to envision the vibrant scene soon to come. Aerlume’s Trujillo, chef Jason Wilson and the rest of the Fire & Vine culinary team work closely with Marino on planting lists, which last year ranged from arugula, Brussels sprouts and cauliflower to radishes, turnips and zucchini. Let’s not forget peas. “I love them,” Marino said. “When they start popping up, I really know spring is happening and the growing season has commenced!” Marino raved about the collaboration with Trujillo, whom she called “a total dynamo.” “Maggie is really creative with using all parts of the plant and always thinking of ways to work with what we have available,” Marino said. “I always feel really inspired after finishing a conversation with her.” Marino loves seeing all the veggies she’s grown transformed into delicious culinary experiences. When the season is in full swing, Marino works on the farm full time, about forty hours a week. With the help of her crew, she spends time seeding, transplanting, weeding, harvesting and coordinating deliveries, as well as tending to special projects, such as building a new greenhouse. This year’s pea haul features some triedand-true varieties, such as Cascadia and Sugar Snap, which come from Bellingham-based company Uprising 24 1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE
JUNE | JULY 2019
Fall City Farms
Fall City Farms
farm to table
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP Fall City Farms is located in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains and nestled between the Snoqualmie River and Highway 203. Amanda Marino checks an irrigation hose along a patch of beets. Pea plants at the farm. Marino transfers seedlings to larger containers as she prepares for spring planting.
Seeds. The farm is also trying a new purple snow pea variety, Beauregarde, which keeps its color when cooked, with seeds from Row 7, a New York company. Due to this year’s unusual snowfall, Marino experimented with starting some peas in deep trays in the green house. Though she’d normally directly seed the fields, the weather delay made her anxious to get a jumpstart. She planned to transplant those peas when the climate was favorable. For those wanting to grow their own peas, Marino advises early spring as the prime time to sow them in the garden, since they love cool weather. Soaking the peas in water for ten to twelve hours before planting can help boost germination, and most peas need some kind of support “to grow happy and strong.” It’s also helpful to know what types of peas are being planted. For example, will they be bushy, or are they climbers? Marino’s other words of wisdom: “They are thirsty plants and love a good, deep drink,” she said. “Peas are perfect for kids. Big seeds for little hands. Remember the flowers and pea shoots are edible, too.” Aside from throwing fresh snow peas into any stir-fry, Marino’s favorite way to consume peas is simple. “Off the vine and straight into my mouth. I love how sweet, juicy and crunchy snap peas are.”
Foxtail Farm Over in Whidbey Island’s Freeland, Foxtail Farm is in its fourth year of production, growing “just about every vegetable you can think of,” Stephen Williams said, and that includes crops he grew up eating in North Carolina, such as okra, sweet potatoes, black eyed peas and peppers. “Growing peas is easy. Anybody can do it.” This year he’s growing peas three different ways—as a sugar snap pod, a microgreen shoot and a sweet pea cut flower he’ll use for bouquets. “Peas, like sugar snaps, tolerate cooler temperatures so they can be planted early, which allows for an abundant harvest until early summer,” Williams said. “They’re a ‘vining’ crop, so with proper support they’ll grow upright, which means you can harvest the pods standing up so there’s less back pain involved.” He added that snap peas—deemed both nutritious and tasty—can be eaten cooked or raw, with no prep involved. Williams, who even has wild sweet peas growing on his property, explained that peas are well-adapted for Washington’s climate. “Sugar snap peas love the milder temperatures of western Washington,” he explained. Because sweet peas are so multifaceted, you can eat the pods as well as the shoots and tendrils, yet the flowers are so alluring they can also be used for bouquets. Williams summed it up best: “Peas are versatile and beautiful all at the same time.” JUNE | JULY 2019
1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE 25
farm to table
Gourmondo Catering’s English Pea Crêpe Cups with Fresh Chèvre.
Smoked Local Black Cod with Spring Peas and Hazelnut Romesco BLAINE / Semiahmoo Resort Devin Kellogg SERVES 6 TO 8 FOR HAZELNUT ROMESCO 2 pounds tomatoes 4 large garlic cloves, crushed 1 pound piquillo peppers 3 cups hazelnuts, toasted and peeled ½ cup sherry vinegar 1 tablespoon smoked paprika ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper 1 cup extra virgin olive oil 2 tablespoons salt
Washington Recipes
Partaking in Peas English Pea Crêpe Cups with Fresh Chèvre
6 sprigs pea vines or living pea tendrils Salt and white pepper to taste
SEATTLE / Gourmondo Catering Bill Morris MAKES 6 HORS D’OEUVRES 6 crêpes, stamped out into 2 to 2.5-inch diameter circles 1⁄2 cup chèvre 1⁄2 cup English peas, shucked and blanched quickly 6 asparagus tips, 1 inch long, blanched and split 6 tablespoons baby carrots, peeled, sliced into 1⁄4-inch coins, blanched 2 tablespoons chives, sliced fine 2 tablespoons lemon olive oil
Fettuccine with Fresh Peas and Sage SEATTLE / Poppy Jerry Traunfeld SERVES 4 1½ cups fresh shelled English peas 6 tablespoons butter ½ cup small whole sage leaves, or larger sage leaves cut in strips 2 ounces prosciutto, cut in thin strips 12 ounces fresh fettuccine noodles ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese Freshly ground black pepper
26 1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE
Using a paring knife and a pastry ring cutter or the bottom of a small round object as a guide, stamp or cut out crêpes into a 2- to 2.5-inch diameter disc. Place crêpe discs into small portion cups and form to create a cup. Mix chèvre and 2 tablespoons of peas that have been mashed. Season with salt and pepper and chives. Spoon evenly into cups and chill until set. Toss asparagus, carrots and remaining whole peas with lemon oil, salt and pepper. Arrange in a decorative fashion inside crêpe cups. Keep chilled until you’re ready to serve, then place a small sprig of pea shoots or tendrils on the top of each crêpe.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Put the peas in a steamer basket or sieve and submerge in boiling water for about 30 seconds. Remove, drain, and set aside. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add sage leaves and cook, stirring often, until the butter browns slightly, about 3 to 4 minutes. Add prosciutto and cook briefly until the fat turns translucent and the pieces separate. Add the peas. Drop the pasta into the boiling water and cook until done, usually 2 to 3 minutes. Drain and add to the skillet. Sprinkle with parmesan and a few grinds of black pepper. Toss and serve immediately.
JUNE | JULY 2019
FOR PEA PURÉE 2 cups English peas, peeled, shelled and blanched 1 tablespoon lemon juice 2 tablespoons olive oil FOR SMOKED COD Black cod, portioned into 6-ounce boneless portions 1 cup salt 1 cup sugar 4 quarts water FOR HAZELNUT ROMESCO Core and quarter the tomatoes. Sauté garlic in 1 tablespoon of olive oil for 1 to 2 minutes over medium heat. Add tomatoes and sauté until lightly caramelized, 6 to 8 minutes, over high heat. Transfer to VitaMix Vita Prep or other high-quality blender and purée all ingredients together. FOR PEA PURÉE Purée all ingredients together in blender. FOR SMOKED COD Brine cod overnight in water, sugar and salt mixture in the refrigerator. Remove from water and air dry in the refrigerator for 4 to 6 hours. Smoke at 150 degrees for 20 to 30 minutes until smoke has penetrated and cod has the desired doneness. Place cod in a pool of warm pea purée with the romesco on top, then garnish with pea shoots and flowers.
ART. HISTORY. HERITAGE. COLVILLE TRIBAL MUSEUM HISTORY/ARCHAEOLOGY PROGRAM
CONFEDERATED TRIBES OF THE COLVILLE RESERVATION 512 Mead Way, Coulee Dam, WA 509.633.0751 ctmuseum@couleedam.net
Open 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday May 14 through Nov. 2
Mesmerizingly fun
Photo of Albany Historic Carousel by Dan Bateman
Plan your own fun. Call us today. 541-928-0911 And follow us!
home + design
A Novel Hideaway
A Seattle couple commissions an ode to their favorite pastime—reading written by Melissa Dalton
28 1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE
JUNE | JULY 2019
home + design
Andrew Giammarco
This Seattle home has a reading space in the backyard.
MANY CITY DWELLERS fantasize about having an outdoor room in their backyard—a place to cook, eat and relax in the open air. When the owners of a 1929 Tudor in the Montlake neighborhood of Seattle decided to build their backyard retreat, their vision was a little different. “They own a bookstore, so they really wanted a reading spot and a place where they could be quiet,” architect Ryan Adanalian said. Adanalian joined a design team from local firm Board & Vellum, alongside Proform Construction, to fashion a small-scale sanctuary that packs a lot of function into its 169 square feet, including a reading room, sleeping nook and full-sized bathroom with access to an outdoor sauna. On the first site visit in 2015, a sea of blackberry bushes and invasive plants covered the yard, which had successfully prevented the homeowners from ever venturing out back. “They weren’t using it before,” Adanalian said. “I think even the lawn mower was covered in plants.” Once the bramble was removed, the team assessed what it had to work with on a lot that’s a little more than 1,000 square feet shy of the typical 5,000-square-foot Seattle allotment. When constructing outbuildings like this one, city code determines how big the structure can be. “We’re only allowed a certain percentage of lot for coverage, so we pretty much maxed it out,” Adanalian said of the new building’s petite footprint. An additional constraint was the neighbor’s towering cedar tree, identified by the city as an “exceptional tree.” Exceptional trees are deemed rare due to size, species, age or cultural significance. City code stipulates new buildings can’t encroach inside the inner half of the tree’s dripline, which is measured as the outer circumference of the canopy. Leaving this clear protects the root system. This essentially generated a “no-build zone” for a portion of the yard, which the team translated into a design feature. They defined the edges of the backyard’s hardscaping, including a planter, patio and small deck, with a graceful elliptical curve that also denotes the tree’s protected dripline. By running that arc through several materials, from steel to concrete to wood, it draws the eye into the site and to the new building at the back. For the building’s design, the homeowners envisioned something that felt like it could have evolved over the years, almost like a shed at the edge of the property that had been modernized. “As far as the design goes, they wanted an interesting mix between a found object-modern structure,” interior JUNE | JULY 2019
1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE 29
Photos: Andrew Giammarco
home + design
FROM LEFT A full bathroom with a shower and floor-to-ceiling graphic tile punches up the space. Wallpaper on the ceiling of the reading area is a fun surprise.
designer Katie Mallory said. The design team responded with a simple shed-roofed form layered with a three-sided glass cube at the front. The exterior siding wraps into the interior, further blending the perception of old and new, inside and out. For interior finishes, Mallory kept the palette consistent by specifying the same tile flooring from the front door to the shower enclosure and matching the color of the shelves to the bathroom vanity. Then she punched up the look with graphic floor-to-ceiling wall tile in the shower, custom lighting fixtures and wallpaper lining the ceiling of the book nook for a fun surprise. “We wanted to keep it feeling interesting, but not have so much going on where it felt busy and made it feel smaller,” Mallory said. “Little tricks” enabled the team to save space where possible. To that end, the bathroom received integrated hardware, a wallhung toilet and a floating vanity, while built-in bookshelves and a cozy window seat line the reading room. When it comes to incorporating function into a small space, built-ins offer “a lot of bang for your buck,” Mallory said. Adanalian even designed a custom bunk ladder with side rails that collapse together when not in use. Lots of glass extends the eye beyond the building’s walls, whether to the three-sided vestibule, or the skylight and clerestory windows in the loft. “When you’re up there, even though it’s a low ceiling height, you don’t feel like it’s right at your head because you have that glazing to the sky above,” Mallory said. Landscape architect Derek Reeves specified a Pacific Fire vine maple to compose the view through the picture window, so “the landscape really and truly is an extension of the interior space,” Mallory said. “It makes that little shed feel bigger than it is.” 30 1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE
JUNE | JULY 2019
Reeves also carefully thought about material changes in the hardscaping to create spatial definition without cluttering the small yard. “It’s really easy in a tiny backyard to have things looking a little too busy or fussy,” Reeves said. “We tried to do minimal materials and minimal grade change.” Now, a patio composed of concrete pavers is accented with Ipe wood elements in the fence, low-lying decks and seating. One deck placed at the back of the reading retreat connects the building to a separate sauna. Inset plantings there make the deck feel as though “you’re crossing a boardwalk or bridge,” Reeves said. “That makes it feel not as squashed even though it’s a small space.” At the beginning of the project, the yard’s slope made it seem as though there wasn’t much square footage, until the team “ironed out the space,” Reeves said, by leveling the grade. Doing so created enough room to include other things on the homeowners’ wish list, such as a built-in wood sectional surrounding a firepit and a hot tub tucked out of sight. “What that did was open up the opportunity to host different gatherings, whether that’s dinner parties or just lounging by the fire feature,” Reeves said. Those features now “bridge the gap with entertainment space” on the way to the reading retreat. Construction wrapped in 2018, at which point the shelves were filled with the homeowners’ favorite tomes and a comfy reading chair was put into place. Strategic lighting makes the reading retreat glow like a jewel box in the landscape, beckoning in even the worst storm. “The homeowners said that they like to go out there when it’s really crazy weather,” Adanalian said. “Just to hang out and get cozy and read.”
I C E C R E A M A S G R E AT AS OUR NAMESAKE
KEEP IT REAL KEEP IT WASHINGTON Real, fresh, delicious ice cream from Washington. George would be proud.
W A D A I R Y. O R G
Look for these local ice creams, each made with real milk from Washington dairy farms.
© 2019 DAIRY FARMERS OF WASHINGTON
home + design
DIY: Style a Bookshelf THE #SHELFIE is real. Here are tips for styling bookshelves to get them Instagram-ready. 1 GET ORDERLY
The Dewey Decimal system isn’t mandatory, but you should decide how your collection will be organized on the shelves. Whether that’s lining them up alphabetically by author, grouping them by genre, or color-coding the spines, sort the books into appropriate piles. 2
STACK BOTH WAYS
Shelve using horizontal and vertical stacks. Keep in mind that when books are vertical, it looks best if the spines ascend or descend in height. Go pyramidal with horizontal piles, placing the bigger tomes on the bottom and letting the volumes get smaller toward the top. DON’T CRAM
The rule in libraries is to only fill three-quarters of the shelf, if possible. This ensures there’s room for more books! Avoid overstuffing, as empty space balances out the visual weight of the books. Try employing the rule of thirds here—fill one-third or two-thirds of the shelf with books, then leave the rest clear, or add in vignettes of favorite accessories. 4
ACCESSORIZE
Choose pieces that are meaningful, and which vary in both shape and size. Items could include assorted framed pictures or artwork, vases, candlesticks, plants, sculpture, even a Magic 8 ball.
Andrew Giammarco
5
Use horizontal and vertical stacks of books to bring interest to your bookshelf. 32 1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE JUNE | JULY 2019
ARRANGE
When incorporating accessories on the shelves, consider the scale of the objects in relation to the books, as well as the number in the groupings. An odd number of items arranged together typically looks best. Think in terms of layers—place keepsakes on top of stacks, put framed photos at the back, or use heavier items as bookends. Prefer to only have books? Then face out a cover occasionally to create variation.
home + design
Classic Comfort Products for a perfect reading nook Dive into the unique patterns, vibrant colors, and fun names found on the wallpaper collaboration between Abnormals Anonymous and Anna Redmond, a Seattle artist. The made-in-the-U.S.A. designs are printed with VOC-free ink and range from the undulating surf of “Wavelength,” to a reinterpretation of needlepoint in “Twisted Stitcher” to the hand-drawn “Flashdance” seen here and in the reading retreat. www.abnormalsanonymous.com
The exposed wood frame and grooved upholstery of the Callan Chair and Ottoman from Room and Board will look striking, whether floating by the fireplace or nestled in a library corner. Count on it for just the right amount of back support during a reading binge. www.roomandboard.com
Richard Koehler founded Folk, a furniture and lighting studio based in Portland, after growing frustrated with the “overabundance of cheap disposable products.” The Tripod Floor Lamp exemplifies the studio’s approach to craft, combining hand-oiled walnut legs with clearlacquered steel hardware and handmade shades made from Pendleton fabric—perfect for illuminating the pages on the next book club pick. www.folkbuilt.com JUNE | JULY 2019
1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE 33
mind + body
Getting in the Flow Eric Duechle proves rugby players are more than meets the eye written by Sheila G. Miller
Eric Duechle uses meditation and other Eastern practices to be a more effective rugby player.
34 1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE
JUNE | JULY 2019
mind + body
ERIC DUECHLE IS a fan of yoga. He meditates twice a day and likes to spend his time in a sensory deprivation tank, connecting his body and mind and achieving a zen state. He also plays professional rugby. He wants you to know these two things—seeking enlightenment and smashing into his opponents in what can appear at times to be a frightfully violent game—are not exclusive. “‘We’re gentlemen who play a ruffian sport.’ That’s what Winston Churchill said,” Duechle, 32, explained, further proving that contact sports don’t create meatheads. Duechle is an Air Force veteran and was a two-time USA Rugby Club 7s champion in 2012 and 2015, and played on a number of other national teams. Today, he plays flanker for the Seattle Seawolves in Major League Rugby, a professional league of nine teams (eight in the U.S. and one in Canada). Duechle was awarded academic scholarships to attend the Air Force Academy, and planned to walk on the football team there. But as a high school student in Kentucky, he liked playing sports every season, and senior year, his off-season options were lacrosse or rugby. “I’d never heard of it, so I popped in a VHS tape from the World Cup and was blown away by the style,” he said. “It’s just like football, except you’re on offense and defense the whole time. When I started playing, I had success immediately, which was very encouraging. It was the more fun sport for me.” Duechle is a flanker—basically the rugby equivalent of a linebacker and a running back. He also loved the community he found in rugby. “We all sit down and eat dinner together after the game,” he said. “We never did that when I played football in high school. It’s very different how we celebrate each other.” At the Air Force Academy, he played football his first semester, then switched to the rugby team. He’s never looked back.
Staying game-ready at 32 is no easy feat, so Duechle does a lot of additional training beyond the team requirements. Four days each week the team holds on-field training for 1½ hours, going through game play and tactics. The team also has three strength and conditioning sessions each week, with a focus on power and speed—lifts such as squats, bench press and deadlifts. On his own, Duechle supplements these workouts with a mobility program called Supple Leopard. The program, created by Dr. Kelly Starrett, focuses on stretching and body manipulation and is popular among Crossfit athletes. Each day, Duechle takes fifteen minutes to stretch and focus on parts of his body using the method. In 2016, Duechle hurt his lower back and had to stop playing for two years. “It came from me neglecting my body,” he said. “I just didn’t do what it was asking me to do.” He also does yoga once each week and soaks in a sensory deprivation tank regularly, both of which help him relax and recover, both in body and mind. All of this extra work has resulted in fewer injuries than when he was in his late 20s. “Now my body is teaching me what to do,” he said. “When I decided to come back, I decided, ‘If I do this, I have to do it the right way, or I might as well not.” One other thing he prefers about rugby to his years playing football— fewer head injuries. Tackling in rugby is different, requiring a player to hold his opponent down, not knock him down. That means no diving. And because players don’t wear helmets, Duechle said, they’re less likely to lead with their heads. “No one wants to take a headto-head collision.” The season runs through early June. Then, Duechle has plans for the off-season. “I’m going to focus on building strength and a bit more size,” he said. “I’m going to focus on the process, how do I stay healthy, so that it’s not something to fine tune once we’re in season. And I’m going to relax and enjoy life a bit.” JUNE | JULY 2019
Eric Duechle
Professional Rugby Player and CEO of Homeless Nonprofit Startup Seattle Compassion Age: 32 Hometown: Erlanger, Kentucky Current city: Seattle
NUTRITION “I’m big into the Paleo diet, and the blood type diet. The theory is that each blood type digests food differently, and so for me, the O blood type is perfect for paleo. It’s what we were meant to do. … There are several types of dairy that don’t go well for me, and I try to avoid eating too much gluten, but I don’t completely cut it out. … I eat more vegetables, fruits and lean meats, and I don’t eat pork.”
WORKOUT Four 1½-hour team on-field workouts and three strength and conditioning workouts each week. Yoga, Supple Leopard workouts, and time in the sensory deprivation tank round out his workouts.
INSPIRATION “I love being in the flow state—that state where you’re completely focused and you are in love with what you’re doing and you’re creating your art. It’s kind of like having that childlike mind, where you’re just living and enjoying and producing, and I feel that with rugby.”
1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE 35
artist in residence
Artist in Residence
Leave the Light On Werner Hiemann creates illuminated art from miscellany written by Viki Eierdam photography by Emily Joan Greene
IF BEAUTY IS IN the eye of the beholder, Werner Hiemann excels at the gift of observation. This Ridgefield resident takes overlooked items that were often once considered household necessities and breathes in them new life. He sees possibility in the ordinary and calls the final product “illuminated art.”
Werner Hiemann stands with a few of his illuminated creations.
36 1889 WASHINGTONS’S MAGAZINE JUNE | JULY
2019
artist in residence
Thomas Edison would be proud. A general contractor by trade, Hiemann employs his welding skills to transform such common—and typically vintage—pieces as a Geiger counter, a 4-foot turn-of-the-century coffee grinder, a surveyor, a hairdryer from the 1950s and a baby buggy into light fixtures. Working mainly with Edison bulbs, Hiemann first sees the lines of a fencing mask as aesthetically pleasing and then thinks a step beyond its intended function to engineer each item into illuminated art. Subtle changes are necessary, but Hiemann’s goal is limited intervention. He said his mind has to work quickly because he purchases most of his pieces at vintage stores, and if a potential buyer stares at an item for sale too long “people think you’re crazy.” Because his process is so organic, it doesn’t work for Hiemann to have someone give him a treasured item or family heirloom and commission him to fashion it into a light. He may take it apart several times before he arrives at just the right configuration, so Hiemann has to like the object enough to work with it for an extended period. “A lot of times, I start a light and leave it taken apart until an idea comes to me as to how to construct it. It rarely falls into place like it did in my head when I saw it. There’s always an unknown challenge, and color or texture play a role,” Hiemann said. The end result is a time capsule of sorts, albeit a practical one. In the case of a copper tea pot, Hiemann removed the bottom of it and installed a light there. Light now emanates when the lid or the spout is opened. Hiemann found a vintage surveyor with its original wooden box and tripod. In between the tripod, he crafted and installed a glass table with a drawer underneath in which to store the wooden box. “I try to keep the items together and I try to keep them functional,” Hiemann said. “I also don’t want to take too much away from what they were. I want people to be able to identify what they are.” To the delight of kids and adults alike, many of the Werner Lights turn on by touch. Whereas many artists prefer a handsoff approach to their work until it’s purchased, Hiemann encourages interaction. Deciding whether a fixture will light up by touch or switch is entirely a visual one. If Hiemann determines it will detract from his illuminated art to have a switch, he will hide the circuitry and ground the light to metal—as in the case of the early twentieth-century fencing mask, a circa-1904 Graphophone vintage record player that still plays vinyl and a 1930s typewriter. A Detecto candy store scale, however, has delicate chains that dangle symmetrically under each bulb. The fascination with illuminated light began nearly two years ago, when Hiemann was looking for a hobby to keep him away from the TV and a pastime he could share with his son. Together, Hiemann and his wife, Leza, own Birch & Crow Vintage Market in Battle Ground, where Hiemann now displays his lights. In her research, Leza Hiemann came across “steampunk,” a creative movement that incorporates nineteenth-century industrial steam-powered machinery and
ABOVE From vintage record players to fencing masks, Werner Hiemann brings creativity, light and new life to old items.
the Victorian era. To encourage collectors to take steampunk off the store’s showcase shelf, Heimann spotlights the repurposing ability of items past their prime. Other examples of Hiemann’s artistic talents can be found throughout Birch & Crow, where he envisions and builds many of the vendor spaces. He is also responsible for constructing “The Stage,” a seasonally inspired collaborative showcase, reminiscent of department-store windows, that greets visitors at the entrance to the store. Hiemann has multiple outlets that push his innovative inklings, but Werner Lights is a culmination of all of them. “From finding the piece to figuring out how it’s going to flow to finding the ability to hide the circuitry to deciding whether a switch makes sense,” he said, “it’s a challenge from beginning to end.” JUNE | JULY 2019
1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE 37
STARTUP 40 WHAT’S GOING UP 43 WHAT I’M WORKING ON 44 MY WORKSPACE 46
pg. 44 Sunny Diaz and Stella hunt truffles and work on a microfarm.
Jason Redmond
GAME CHANGER 48
Japanese Gulch Trails
Harbour Pointe Golf Club
4 Aviation Museums
startup
Startup
Craft Tech
A sustainability-focused distillery proves craft and technology can get along written by Catie Joyce-Bulay
Solar Spirits’ vodka uses cranberries as its base rather than wheat or corn.
40 1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE
JUNE | JULY 2019
startup
DISTILLING HAS BEEN around for thousands of years, so a distillery isn’t your typical tech startup. When a group of techies with a love of whiskey got together at a weekend-long startup event, however, that’s just what happened. Five years ago at Tri-Cities’ Fuse Coworking Space, teams of entrepreneurs were tasked with creating business plans for new tech ventures. The exercise was mainly just for fun, but at the end of the weekend, four members of the team with an idea for a tech-focused distillery decided to turn it into reality. “We took the approach of taking traditional craft distilling and then finding ways to integrate new and innovative technology,” co-founder Kris Lapp said. Most of the team didn’t know one another before starting Solar Spirits and none of them had any prior experience in distilling before beginning production in 2015, but each brought their own expertise to the company. Khurshed Sharifov owns a personal wealth management firm, lawyer Brett Spooner is in charge of the company’s legal matters and Lapp, who heads up sales and marketing, owns an IT and media company. They brought on Travis O’Briant, a financial analyst, as another partner to work on growth and scaling. CEO and head distiller Jim Batdorf draws from his background as a processing engineer. A primary focus of the company is renewable energy and sustainable practices, said Batdorf, who holds a PhD in chemical engineering. Batdorf installed a thermal solar system to provide the power for heating and part of the distillation process. Thermal solar uses thermal oil and differs from solar electric panels typically associated with solar power. “They are more efficient than solar electric systems because they use the solar energy for heating and do not have the losses associated with conversion to electricity and back to heat,” Batdorf said. He recently retired from InEnTec and now works full time at Solar Spirits. Batdorf had some experience in home-brewing beer and fits easily into the distiller role with his science background. He enjoys the chance to be inventive. “We kind of let him be a nerd back there with all the equipment and just tinker around,” Lapp said. “The difference between him and somebody else is when he finds something wrong or something that’s been done incorrectly, he has the background to pick up on the issue and he can fix it.” Among other projects, Batdorf is developing a continuous still, which will use less energy and be easier to operate. He is working with students at Washington State University as part of their senior chemical engineering design project. “They’re providing a complete detailed mathematical model, and we’re optimizing the energy input, the heat recovery, the composition coming out,” he said. “It’s been a great collaboration, and they’re learning a lot. When it’s done, it will have a lot of resources behind it that a small distillery like us wouldn’t be able to do otherwise.”
CEO and head distiller Jim Batdorf used to work as a processing engineer.
The distillery also takes other steps to reduce resources in its award-winning spirits, like milling its own grain sourced from local farmers for its whiskey. Batdorf has engineered a system of pipes that lead directly from the mill into the mash tun, where the mash is boiled. The spent grain is then given to a local farmer and used as food for livestock. All of its other spirits—vodka, gin and brandy—use cranberries as their base, rather than the typical wheat or corn. The cranberries are fermented into wine before they are distilled, and Solar Spirits is working on ways to make this process more sustainable as well. Distiller Dan Watts, who graduated from Washington State University’s oenology program, complements Batdorf ’s skills with his knowledge in fermentation and plant physiology, which allows them to create a more natural end-product. An example of this sits on a shelf between the production room and barrelaging storage—neat rows of bottles with colored liquids inside, Watts’ experiments with improving natural coloring they use instead of the artificial compounds typically used to color spirits. From start to finish and in between, Solar Spirits has found ways to infuse tech advances into this ancient craft. When the team saw there wasn’t any software available to track the full production cycle of the distillery, which is necessary for state and federal regulations, they decided to develop one themselves. They are currently beta testing it on their own production with hopes to market it to other craft beverage producers in the future. JUNE | JULY 2019
1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE 41
MEDICINE.WSU.EDU |
WSUMedicine
Home grown doctors Students from Washington Training for Washington
1889 ad 9w x 10.875h June_July 2019.indd 1
4/15/19 4:25 PM
what’s going up?
The Seattle Children’s Research Institute will add a new building dedicated to developing new therapies.
Hammering Toward Better Health Care New hospital facilities go up, helping patients around the state written by Sheila G. Miller HOSPITALS ARE BIG BUSINESS, and two new ones are going to take shape in Washington over this year. In downtown Seattle, the Seattle Children’s Research Institute is in the process of getting Building Cure off the ground. The facility will be dedicated to developing new therapies for kids with conditions such as sickle cell disease, cancer and Type 1 diabetes. The project was slated to cost about $300 million and will be thirteen stories tall, housing a 540,000-square-foot research facility. It should open this year. Meanwhile, in Central Washington, Lake Chelan Community Hospital & Clinics will soon break ground on a new 77,000-squarefoot hospital facility in Chelan. In April 2017, residents of the hospital district voted to approve new construction, and the building is expected to feature more capacity and a larger emergency room. The project is slated to cost $44.5 million, $20 million of which will be paid for by voters, and is slated to break ground this year and be completed in 2020.
JUNE | JULY 2019
1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE 43
what i’m working on
Sunny Diaz, with her truffle-hunting dog, Stella, at her farm, Little Cascadia.
44 1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE
JUNE | JULY 2019
what i’m working on
Where the Truffled Path Leads Sunny Diaz wants to get chefs out into nature interview by Jennifer Burns Bright photography by Jason Redmond
NESTLED IN THE Tiger Mountain foothills 40 miles from Seattle, Sunny Diaz and her dog, Stella, hunt truffles professionally from November to March. Formerly in health care, Diaz made the shift, she said, “out of sheer hedonism.” It turns out she’s a visionary businesswoman, and the truffle career took off. In the past few years, she’s increasingly focused on working with chefs, both with special truffle dinners and leading forays specifically geared to culinary professionals. She’s transforming her microfarm, Little Cascadia, into a food-centric retreat and event space. What’s life like for you during truffle season? Busy! November through March, Stella and I go out into the woods once a week doing commercial harvesting for Seattle-area clients, and we also host private group forays. We average about 3 to 4 pounds per harvest, which translates to about 2 pounds of premium product after culling the overripe and critter-infested truffles. And after? When summer hits, most of the food industry interaction comes to a grinding halt. I’m an extrovert and need human contact, so it’s hard to make the transition to working in isolation. But I have plenty to do! I’m following permaculture guidelines for establishing native plants and restoring the riparian zone. I’m developing a half-acre of orchard fruit, and less-common stuff, like hardy kiwi and honeyberries, in the garden. There’s a small chicken flock, and I’m thinking about ducks and rabbits. What are the next steps, and your vision, for your microfarm? I’m anticipating turning it into a retreat for pop-up dinners, retreats and educational workshops. As I
talk to more and more chefs about truffles, I am increasingly interested to have them come out here and mess around in the woods. They grind pretty hard, and they need a nature break. I envision them spending the day harvesting their own wild edibles and plants for plating—pretty stuff like lichen or maple leaves. I’d also have natural medicine workshops focusing on making things like tinctures and salves. What I’m intentionally creating is space for both connection and self-reliance. How will wild foods help to forge that connection? For me, it’s about holistic health and being accountable to our bodies, our communities. Building community is my own personal praxis. I grew up in a very traditional Mexican-American family, and I feel it’s particularly important for people of color to turn away from giving up our own agency, health and fate to systems that consider us a profit-point only. We need to shift culture and reeducate, commie as that sounds. Chefs educate diners, so they’re a great conduit. At Little Cascadia, chefs will be able to share their ideas and talk about how to support this evolution.
JUNE | JULY 2019
1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE 45
my workspace
Kayaking in Nature Kristi Kucera’s job gets her on the water written by Lauren Kramer
Kristi Kucera rises at 6:30 a.m. to move kayaks and gear to the launching dock at Bellingham’s Wildcat Cove. The owner of Moondance Sea Kayak Adventures, Kucera, 32, meets her guests for halfand full-day paddles at the cove, leading them on paddling excursions around the Chuckanut sandstone and out toward Chuckanut Island.
Moondance Sea Kayak Adventures
“Usually eagles are swooping off the madrone trees and we pass harbor seals dozing on the rocks,” she said. “My favorite is a low-tide paddle, when you can see intertidal life like sea stars, anemones and rock crabs scuttling about.”
46 1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE JUNE | JULY
Since taking the helm of the company five years ago, Kucera has been humbled and grounded by her time on the ocean. “When you’re out working with Mother Nature, there’s a lot that’s out of your control. The energy and force of the natural environment can change in minutes.”
2019
my workspace
Guests kayak up to 8 miles on a full-day outing, past palm trunk fossils from the Eocene Era, sights accessible only by boat or kayak. “The geology is amazing, and we sometimes see porpoises, sea lions, minke whales, orcas and lots of migratory bird species,” she said.
“I love seeing my guests’ reactions to experiencing all this for the first time— it makes it feel new to me, too. I get to work with new people from all over the world every day, and they teach me just as much as I teach them.”
JUNE | JULY 2019
1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE 47
game changer Emily Rieman
A young member of the Makah tribe has fun with a Warm Current volunteer surf coach.
Sharing the Stoke Nonprofit Warm Current helps kids shred and succeed written by Michelle Kehm
FOR NATIONAL OCEANIC and Atmospheric Association scientist and Warm Current board chairwoman Abigail McCarthy, surfing is more than just a pastime. It’s her touchstone, her teacher—and her mission. “Surfing is a challenge and in the best way possible,” McCarthy said. “It’s also ridiculously fun and we love to do it, so why not share it?” Warm Current is a volunteer-run nonprofit that holds yearly surf camps for kids along the Oregon, Washington and California coasts. Over a span of ten years, the organization has worked with more than 2,000 kids and 600 volunteers, teaching basic surfing techniques, environmental stewardship and personal growth. The camps are free and designed to get kids between the ages of 6 and 18 into the water and riding a wave. For many of Washington’s Native-American kids, those waves happen to be right in their own backyard. “Some of the best surf in Washington is along tribal lands,” McCarthy said. “The kids who live there have a connection with the ocean that goes back millennia, but many of them have never surfed.” This is where Warm Current steps up, bringing in wetsuits, soft-top surfboards and volunteers from all walks of life. They show up ready to teach the kids how much fun they can have just outside their front door. Warm Current works with the Makah, Hoh, Quinault and Quileute tribes to organize day camps on Washington tribal 48 1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE
JUNE | JULY 2019
lands every summer. Well aware that Warm Current volunteers are incredibly lucky to be welcomed to surf some of the best breaks in the state, McCarthy has organized tribal advisory groups, encouraging tribe members and parents to give their input on how the camps are run. “We definitely put the safety of the kids first,” she said. “Before anyone is allowed into the water, I give detailed safety talks and we have a group beach cleanup.” Each camp always has two trained lifeguards as well. “In La Push, we even have the Coast Guard,” she said. “They call us to see when the camps are, so that they can be a part of it.” After safety is addressed and the kids are suited in head-totoe neoprene, vetted volunteers walk the kids into the water, never going more than waist-deep, and help them catch their first wave. Sometimes the kids are more excited to get into the 53-degree Pacific than the volunteers are, jumping in with their parents to play in the waves before the wetsuits are on. Surfing is as much about overcoming obstacles as it is about fun and, when the day is over, McCarthy hopes this is the one lesson that really sticks. “When I see these kids stand up on their boards for the first time, it’s such a feeling of joy and accomplishment,” she said. “For me, sure. But hopefully for the kids, too. Surfing has something to teach all of us.” MORE ONLINE
To learn more, donate or volunteer, go to www.warmcurrent.org.
Gear and Jim Meyers/vertizonphoto.com
Get a
Mount Si is an easy drive from Seattle, and the view from the top makes the effort worthwhile.
50 1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE
JUNE | JULY 2019
W
hen summer comes and the urge to get outside overtakes you, there are always the old haunts—places you’ve been going for years. With so many amazing options in Washington, make 2019 the year you try something new. To make sure your forays into the unknown are successful, we enlisted the experts. We picked a wellloved gear shop from the region and asked its employees for help—their favorite rides, their best advice. Then we rounded out each getaway with top restaurants and haute hotels you deserve on your getaway.
t aways It’s summer—time to get out of your comfort zone with new adventures, and reward yourself with new gear written by Sheila G. Miller
JUNE | JULY 2019
1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE 51
Chris Gerston, who with his wife, Erica, started Backcountry Essentials in Bellingham in 2006, knows the best climbing routes and climbing gear you’ll need to make your trip a success.
Petzl Adjama and Luna harnesses $79.95 Black Diamond Guide ATC $29.95 Trango Piranha knife $19.95 Petzl Elia helmet $64.95 Metolius personal anchor system 22 $33.95 Tenaya Tanta shoes $99
Mammut 9.5 Infinity dry 70 meter rope $299 Black Diamond 10mm Dynex Runner 240cm $24.95 Camp Photon locking carabiner $11.95
W
Climbing at Mazama
hen spring and summer hit the Bellingham area, many outdoor enthusiasts trade skis for carabiners and head to the mountains for climbing. “When the North Cascades highway opens up it’s a great time to drive over the Cascades to the dry east side and do some climbing in between ski touring trips,” Chris Gerston of Backcountry Essentials said. “The drive over the North Cascades is also a road that I think everyone ought to drive over at least once in their life.” When that time of year arrives, Gerston recommends heading to Mazama, even if you’ve got kids in tow. He recommends heading to Fun Rock for single-pitch cragging. Climbing starts within 100 feet of the parking lot, Gerston said, and it’s a good spot for someone trying something new, with the hill terraced for easy belaying and anchors typically with chains for rappelling. “In general, I think the grades in Mazama are confidence inspiring,” Gerston said. Climbs are rated into a class system developed by the Sierra Club—for example, walking on an established trail is a Class 1. Class 5 is where technical climbing begins, and within Class 5 are levels, from 5.0 to 5.15a. Every climb is rated by its hardest feature, and all ratings are, to some degree, subjective. Further, climbing is split into a number of styles, including sport climbing—climbing between and clipping into pre-drilled bolts, and traditional, or trad, climbing, where climbers carry a full rack of gear to clip into a rock’s natural features. About half of the routes at Fun Rock are an easy to moderate 5.6 and 5.10a. There are also several multi-pitch sport routes— long routes with an alpine feel. The most popular (and easiest) is Prime Rib, and Gerston said not to be nervous about the 5.9, eleven-pitch description. Or try Sisyphus, another route that has a higher grade (5.11a) that Gerston said is “more do-able than you might think.” “For either route, combining some pitches with extra draws, skipping some bolts, and a 70-meter rope can speed the climb up considerably.” Camp nearby at the various campgrounds off Highway 20 and close to the town’s only store. Or swing down to Winthrop, grab dinner and well-earned brews at Old Schoolhouse Brewery, and spend the night at Sun Mountain Lodge for an unforgettable resort-style stay in the North Cascades.
52 1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE
JUNE | JULY 2019
Tegra Stone Nuess
Gear Up
FROM TOP A climber on the Methow Inspiration Route in Mazama, near Prime Rib. Spokane has a variety of good paddling options nearby.
Gear Up John Schwartz, the boat expert at Mountain Gear in Spokane, recommends these products to get you water-ready this summer.
W
Spokane Watersports
hen it comes to Washington, Spokane may not seem like a destination for watersports. But with a river running through town and plenty of lakes, there is no shortage of options. John Schwartz, who is Mountain Gear’s resident expert in all things water, has two favorite paddling routes he offers to visitors, both of which are included in the guidebook he recommends. The first is a 7-mile route along the Little Spokane River. It runs through a wildlife refuge managed by Riverside State Park. The water, Schwartz said, moves gently enough to be navigated by paddlers of all experience levels, and there’s plenty of wildlife on hand. “You will encounter deer, moose, eagles and osprey as you navigate this twisted, turning river,” he said. “It’s very close to the urban area of Spokane, but keep a close eye out for the occasional bear sighting.” Note that a Washington State Parks Discover pass is required for parking, and Spokane’s parks department operates a shuttle to the put-in on weekends during the summer for a small fee. If flat water is more your speed, try Horseshoe Lake. This spot, about 40
minutes northwest of Spokane, prohibits motors, which means you won’t find any power boats or jet skis here. The lake forms a U-shape, and as you paddle north, Schwartz said, you’ll round the bend and find a waterfall directly in front of you. Paddle up to the bottom of the falls. “The amount of water and depth at the bottom of the waterfall does decrease dramatically towards the end of summer,” he said. Once past the waterfall, you’ll paddle through a slot canyon to get to the rest of the lake. “Take your fishing pole, as the lake has a nice collection of bass,” he said. “After having a nice picnic lunch, paddle back the way you came to your car.” This paddle requires no shuttle, but does require the Discover pass for parking, and note that all the land surrounding the lake is privately owned. Off the water, head to dinner at one of Spokane’s newest restaurants—RÜT, a plant-based gastropub with seasonal flavors, or High Tide Lobster Bar, which serves New England-style lobster rolls from Spokane native chef Chad White. Then rest your head at the Historic Davenport Hotel, which always pleases, or at the Oxford Suites right across the river from downtown. JUNE | JULY 2019
Astral Designs Ronny & Linda life jackets $99.95 Wenonah Aurora Tuffweave Canoe $2,449 Paddling Washington guidebook $24.95 2019 Mirage Outback Hobie $2,799
NRS Dura Cooler, size medium $59.95 BIC Wing SUP package $669.95 Wilderness Systems Pungo 120 kayak $999
1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE 53
Gear Up Katie Bock suggests grabbing these essentials before hitting the trail. Osprey 20L day pack $110 BeFree microfilter water bottle $39.95 Black Diamond ReVolt headlamp $59.95 Patagonia Houdini jacket $99 Outdoor Research Ferrosi pants $79.99 Darn Tough socks $23.99 Honey Stinger Chews, Taos Energy Bar and ProBar Meal prices vary
W
Tegra Stone Nuess
Gemina Garland-Lewis Gemina Garland-Lewis
ABOVE, FROM TOP Mailbox Peak is a 9-mile roundtrip with the final feet in a scree field. At the top, a mailbox contains hikers’ mementos. AT RIGHT Mount Si offers views all the way to Seattle on a clear day.
SEATTLE HIKING
hen you think of Seattle, you might think of the ultimate urban setting—and it is. But part of the magic of Seattle is how close it is to wild landscapes, too. For Katie Bock, an outdoor enthusiast with experience in the gear industry, that means an hour drive gets you to Mount Si and its surroundings, the perfect spot to hike. Mount Si, located on the edge of North Bend, is an 8-mile roundtrip hike to the top of the mountain, with more than 3,000 feet of elevation. The challenge has a big payoff—when you reach the top, not only will you see the Olympics, on a clear day you can see Seattle and the Puget Sound. “It makes you realize you’re not quite as far away as you feel,” Bock said. “It gives you some good perspective.” If strolling is more your speed, try Little Si—a little over 4.5 miles roundtrip with about 1,500 feet of elevation gain, Bock recommends this one for those with less time or stamina. “It’s an easy trail, definitely good for people just starting to get into exploring,” she said. “You’ll be on a fairly large and accessible path with lots of roots and rocks, as well as giant trees.” As you close in on your final destination, you’ll come upon massive, granite walls—and you
54 1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE
JUNE | JULY 2019
probably won’t be alone. “On a lucky day you’ll see some climbers up there,” she said. “When the sun hits the granite wall, it really lights it up.” Mailbox Peak is another challenging hike nearby—single track and more than 9 miles roundtrip, this one gets to a point near the top where you’ll have to scramble through a scree field to reach the top. But when you get there, yes, there’s a mailbox. Bring a memento, take a memento, leave a note for the next hiker, and enjoy your reward for a long, hard haul. Bock encourages hikers to wear layers, make sure you’ve got comfortable shoes, and be prepared. “If you’re too cold or too hot it’s really uncomfortable and you’ll have an overall negative feeling to an otherwise awesome hike,” she said. “Layers are always the way to go … and shoes are the make or break. If you have an uncomfortable shoe, you’ll be unhappy the entire 8 miles, and you’ll hate that trail, and you’ll hate hiking.” When you’re done with the trails, kick up your feet at Kimpton’s Hotel Monaco. It’s mere minutes from Pike Place Market and the Seattle Art Museum, as well as bars and upscale restaurants such as Matt’s in the Market, The Capitol Grille and Tulio.
Katheryn Moran
The trails around Leavenworth can accommodate beginners or experienced riders.
S
biking in leavenworth
cott Paton of Arlberg Sports, a bike shop with locations in Wenatchee and Leavenworth, said a great thing about the region is the variety of mountain biking options available. “The Leavenworth area has some really cool rides and they can range anywhere from epic to beginner,” Paton said. His favorite is a figure-eight trail at Ski Hill, overlooking the city of Leavenworth. Head up the New Uphill Trail (also called NUT). The Central Washington chapter of the Evergreen Mountain Bike Alliance Evergreen Trail just finished building this trail last year (in fact, the group built about 25 miles of new trail in the region last year and have more planned for this summer). NUT runs uphill for about 3 miles, with 1,700 feet of gain, but it’s at a 4 to 6 percent grade. “It’s super rideable,” Paton said. “It’s a nice uphill climb through big Ponderosas, with gorgeous views of Leavenworth.” From there, riders can cross over to Freund Canyon for a 3-mile descent of 2,300 vertical feet. Paton called this section big and swoopy with berm walls that anyone can ride. “It can be lightning fast or as slow as you want on it,” he said. “When you get to the bottom, ride up Freund Canyon for 3 miles of 1,800 vertical gain, then you figure-eight and cross over and go down a ridge trail called Rosie Boa.” This trail is about 2½ miles dropping 1,600 feet, but it’s more of an intermediate or advanced ride, with some exposure and some steep berm sections. “There’s views of the valley all the way down, and that’s a really fun loop,” Paton said. The nice thing is you can break it up into parts. If 12 miles and that elevation gain is too much, you can do half.” Another nearby ride is through Freund Canyon. Head up Chumstick for about 2 miles until you
get to the bottom of Freund Canyon, then ride 3 miles up (1,800 feet in elevation) and 3 miles down (2,300 feet in descent). “It’s a good hour or hourand-a-half lap that’s really pretty and has a kind of mid-Alpine feel,” Paton said. For the more experienced, head to Cashmere, about 15 miles away, and do a Devil’s GulchMission Ridge ride. This is a 25-mile loop that will send you up 8,000 feet and then back down 8,000 feet. “It’s a big day,” Paton said. “This is a true, super fun, old-school downhill course.” Paton recommends riding up Devil’s Gulch and descending Mission Ridge, rather than the other way. This ride is for more advanced mountain bikers, as there are technical sections in the upper part. Finally, Paton recommends Sage Hills, in the foothills outside Wenatchee. There are a variety of trails in this area, but Paton’s favorite is to drive to the top of Horse Lake Trailhead, then take Homestead, a 2½-mile climb to Glacier View, descending 2½ miles to Burt’s Trail, which will carry you back to the trailhead. Burt’s Trail was just finished earlier this year. With new trails underway, Paton said it’s important to respect the trail builders and stay off closed sections. He also said if the trails are wet, don’t ride them, because riding a muddy trail will result in ruts. With the amount of clay in the soil here, once the ruts are there, they’re almost impossible to remove. When you’re dusty and tired, head back to Sleeping Lady Mountain Resort for a pampering session. If you still have some stamina, try Mana Restaurant, which has a three-hour, multi-course meal for the senses. Or go full Bavarian with Rhein Haus for pretzels and schnitzel. JUNE | JULY 2019
Gear Up Arlberg Sports’ Scott Paton offers his picks for making your mountain bike getaway in Central Washington.
Club Ride apparel prices vary Bell Super 3R MIPS full-face helmet $230
Dakine Hot Laps hip pack $70 Specialized EMT chain breaker $30 Syncros Matchbox Coupe cage $40
1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE 55
A
HONG KONG
JOURNEY GOING BEYOND ACT TO UNDERSTANDING THE FRAGRANT HARBOR written and photographed by Kevin Max
“To understand is difficult; to act is easy.” —Dr. Sun Yat-sen, as quoted in Great Britain and the East, 1944
M
y first visit to Hong Kong came in April, as rains subsided and temperatures pushed into the 80s and humidity in the 90s. In a city of 7.4 million people over two main land masses, I was here to do it all—history, cuisine, art, and to walk or run as much as possible. I’ll admit that, until this trip, my knowledge of Hong Kong formed little more than a thin film of its British rule, shumai dumplings and Bruce Lee. I know. I had a lot of acting to do that I hoped would lead to more understanding. I had one week.
56 1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE
JUNE | JULY 2019
The new Victoria Dockside on the Kowloon side of Hong Kong brings together art, film and design.
JUNE | JULY 2019
1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE 57
Ovolo Hotels
58 1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE
JUNE | JULY 2019
Beginning in July, Cathay Pacific will begin daily nonstop flights from Seattle to Hong Kong, making the Pearl of the Orient that much more accessible for Pacific Northwesterners and, for me, a viable excuse to connect with the past of a Seattle icon. Seattle’s first international Hollywood star, Bruce Lee, went to school at the University of Washington, lived and taught martial arts in Seattle and was buried on Capitol Hill. He spent childhood years in Kowloon, mastering the discipline that would catapult him to film stardom and his later years in Seattle. Lee died in Kowloon in 1973, when he was just 32 and a month before Enter the Dragon, his first major American movie, premiered. Hong Kong translates to “fragrant harbor,” whose shores on the South China Sea made it a compelling port in early international trade. Today Hong Kong is abuzz, thanks largely to the booming Chinese economy, the rise of the Chinese middle class and an ease of travel restrictions from mainland China. Once under the rule of the British Empire after the Opium Wars, the Chinese-administered area remains a free market zone outside of the closed Chinese market. With increasing disposable income, Chinese are shedding the old skin and demanding bespoke goods, not merely massproduced megafactory items for which China is known. Hong Kong has been quick to respond to the surge in mainland Chinese visitors and their quest for a new experience.
Hong Kong is two main bodies separated by the Kowloon Bay. I divided my time between Hong Kong Island and the peninsular Kowloon. The first part of this trip, I stayed at the cool Hotel Ovolo in the Central district on Hong Kong Island. This hotel has a cutting-edge chic with engaging pop art. Like most things in Hong Kong, Ovolo is vertically oriented. It has just a couple of rooms on each of its twenty-six floors and a suite on the twenty-seventh floor. In a city where space is at a premium, Ovolo’s rooms are surprisingly large. Part Ian Schrager with tech upgrades from James Bond’s Q, Hotel Ovolo provides a soft entry to Hong Kong. From the bed, for example, you can click a few buttons to lower the shades, close the
curtains and raise the TV—key pieces to the jetlag antidote. “You musht be joking!” Connery’s Bond would have mused. Across the street from the hotel is a modern architectural curiosity in the midst of centuriesold brick and stone. Tae Kwon Center for Heritage & Arts lives in an old British colonial police station and prison. Swiss architects Herzon and de Mueron and British historic building conservation studio Purcell saved the historic building and added two new buildings known as the Tai Kwun JC Cube. These are cube-shaped boxes that appear to be made from chocolate-colored pavers and unevenly stuccoed together. The juxtaposition of old and new is stunning here as it is throughout the city. The neighborhood around Ovolo and JC Cube is a well-heeled metropolis hopping with Turkish, Lebanese, Italian, Thai, Mexican, Japanese and Chinese restaurants as well as shops touting top brands from Rolex to Patagonia. I wandered for an hour in a jet-lagged haze before being drawn into Chifa, a small PeruvianChinese dumpling shop on Peel Street. Out of this fusion came dishes such as lomo saltado dumplings and crispy wontons with pork belly, king oyster mushrooms and sesame oil. I had my first taste of Hong Kong. Outside, the rain magnified lights from neon signs—the nostalgic preference throughout the city. Hong Kong’s signature red cabs swarmed like koi, swallowing then ejecting wet people.
FAR LEFT Hotel Ovolo on Hong Kong Island combines art, irreverence and happy hour in all the right measures.
Outside, the rain magnified lights from neon signs—the nostalgic preference throughout the city. Hong Kong’s signature red cabs swarmed like koi, swallowing then ejecting wet people.
JUNE | JULY 2019
1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE 59
TOP, FROM LEFT The Hong Kong film industry is celebrated through sculpture along the Avenue of Stars. Be prepared—Hong Kong is built on a hill with many steps. The chef at Chifa, a Peruvian-Chinese dumpling shop. CENTER, FROM LEFT Temple Street Market at night. Street food along Temple Street. Overlooking Kowloon Bay from Victoria Dockside. BOTTOM, FROM LEFT A mixed-material rendition of Mona Lisa in an art gallery on Hong Kong Island. Old and new buildings in Hong Kong add an architectural intrigue. Well-crafted dim sum at the Legacy House, Rosewood Hong Kong.
More Online Join us on a morning run through Kowloon in our video at www.1889mag. com/hongkong
My travel exploration almost always begins in the early mornings with a run through streets and plazas, boardwalks and neighborhoods. You can glean quite a bit from this perspective. Does the local government fund clean streets and sidewalks? Does the community value public art? Is it an active community with runners and cyclists? Are the retail centers walkable? And where is dead center of pub density? Benjamin So is a Hong Kong native who spent many years abroad in New Zealand. He has recently returned to Hong Kong, where he manages an import/export business and, as a parttime gig, leads guided cultural runs around Hong Kong Island. I found So on Airbnb, which now lists local services and outings for its venues. He had recently hatched the idea of a cultural running tour, and I was one of his first customers. We hit it off immediately and ran headlong into Hong Kong humidity. We ran to Sun Yat-sen Park, where he gave me a condensed history of the medical doctor and philosopher who led the Kuomintang rebellion to end the Qing Dynasty and dynastic rule of China. To the Chinese, Sun Yat-sen is the father of modern China. The park dedicated to him has basketball courts, soccer fields, a pool and a wide open green field encircled by a running path that opens to the Victoria Harbor. This space is functional, open and hopeful, what I imagine it would have felt like for Chinese in 1911 after dethroning the 6-year-old Emperor Puyi—the last of 2,000 years of imperial rule. Farther along, So stopped in front of a small storefront which displayed a range of cardboard and blow-up objects. Gaudy candles, incense, cardboard yachts and race cars, inflatable suitcases—all the trimmings of a college dorm room outfitted by a toddler. This, he revealed, was a funeral shop, explaining the meaning and tradition behind the various items. We ran up a steep road and paused in front of a small temple. The Palace of Moon and Water Kwun Yum Temple, was no bigger than a Brooklyn brownstone. “People use this every day,” So said. “Students come here before and after exams to pray.” A showpiece temple was our next stop. Man Mo Temple was built in 1848 and stands in mystical homage to the literature god, Man Tai. It’s free and open to passersby, the inside hung with many Chinese lamps and bells and strewn with copper
60 1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE
JUNE | JULY 2019
samovars whose sand is speared with burning incense sticks. On the irreverent spectrum, selfie stars target midday when the sun pours through skylights to illuminate the columns of incense, looking to capture a millisecond of gravity for a thousand likes—even better when posted with a solemn (but uplifting) quote from a philosopher they Googled. And on we went until we had made a 5-kilometer loop that included Chinese history, culture, religion, politics, taxes and death. If you’re a runner and explorer, I highly recommend Benjamin So’s running tour of Hong Kong Island.
During the next phase of my stay, I took an Airbnb studio in a run-down neighborhood a few blocks off of the main boulevard, Nathan Road, the first street built in Kowloon after the collapse of the Qing dynasty. I was on the ninth floor of a tenfloor building, making it too high to jump from its dilapidated foundation should there be any seismic activity. I was with the people. Kowloon is scrappy, bustling, hard-working and beautiful in its tired state. One of its main attractions is the massive Temple Street Market. Small restaurants serving authentic street food line the narrow streets. Every evening a village of booths springs up in the middle of the street and stretches for a mile, with vendors hawking silk and cashmere scarves, womens’ handbags, leather goods, T-shirts marketing such phrases as “What’s Up Dude?” and “Not Now, I’m Busy,” mobile phone accessories galore, shoes, jade and other local jewelry, paintings and more. I bought gifts without bargaining too hard. Sometimes I walked away from unmotivated sellers, but mostly settled at about half of the original asking price, which I took to be the seller’s true asking price. For one item, though, I ended negotiations with the seller one night and came back the next and paid the ending figure from the night before. She remembered. The food in and around Temple Street Market is cheaper than the island, paid for in cash and epitomizes Hong Kong street food. There are dumpling joints, Indian eateries, seafood cafes and at least one Hong Kong bubble waffle window. Bubble waffles, or egg waffles as they’re sometimes
ABOVE Two men wage war through an ancient Chinese chess-like game called Xiangqi.
known, are waffles that instead of being covered with indentations are instead laden with eggshaped bubbles, and are enhanced by banana and chocolate, coffee, bourbon and other creative takes. One morning, I decided to put a little more structure to my wandering. I signed up for a class entitled “Learn Photography with HK Instagrammer.” William was young—no older than 25—wore black-rimmed eyeglasses, shorts, a T-shirt and a baseball hat. His English was near perfect and he had an easy way about him while conducting our group of ten aspiring Instagrammers. Over the next two hours, we learned new techniques as we moved from visually appealing old buildings to food shots at his favorite bakeries to open air markets and “the world’s most colorful basketball court.” With just a phone and two hours, we learned to frame shots for impact and saw Hong Kong through William’s eyes. Perhaps one of Kowloon’s most visible developments is the Victoria Dockside. Originally built in 1910 as Holt’s Wharf, a nearly $2.6 billion waterfront real estate development project christened as Victoria Dockside is the new upscale center for art, design, cuisine and accommodations in Hong Kong. New Yorkers may experience déjà vu seeing the work of High Line landscape designer, James Corner, plying his trade on the Kowloon waterfront’s Avenue of Stars. This is a tribute to the Hong Kong film industry and also the home of the 8-foot statue of Bruce Lee, poised to strike. Marshal
62 1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE
JUNE | JULY 2019
your Kung Fu self and strike your best martial arts pose here. The anchoring luxury hotel on the Dockside is the beautiful new Rosewood Hong Kong. This is a world apart from the streets of Kowloon as its calming interior is the work of Tony Chi, whose stylish modern minimalism is highly sought among luxury hoteliers. The inimitable New York-based designer brought a quiet sophistication to the Victoria Harbor. On the fifth floor, and with stunning views across the harbor, The Legacy House restaurant is an artistic form that combines cuisine and ambience. Dim sum are made at the bar by the dumpling chef. Beyond him the rain streaks the floor-to-ceiling windows, blurring dollops of color over the bay and through the glass, making an impressionistic painting of the Victoria Harbor.
On one of my last nights, I walked along Nathan Road and to my studio. Just west of Nathan, I saw stairs that climbed to a park called a “rest garden.” I thought I would cut the corner through this park and avoid foot traffic. It was dusk, but with the exception of a wan light filtering through Yau Ma Tei Centre Rest Garden in Kowloon, time was lost. The whole rest garden could have easily fit in a backyard in the Midwest if you tried. The park was divided in half by function. One side was green
The whole rest garden could have easily fit in a backyard in the Midwest if you tried. The park was divided in half by function. One side was green with plants and quiet, as if people were there to pay their respects to the deceased. Older couples sat among the low manicured shrubs that comprise the urban landscape. The other half of the garden was cultivated with tobacco, loud bursts of language and two generals waging war. with plants and quiet, as if people were there to pay their respects to the deceased. Older couples sat among the low manicured shrubs that comprise the urban landscape. The other half of the garden was cultivated with tobacco, loud bursts of language and two generals waging war. A half-dozen old men bent with age encircled and smoked above two subjects sitting at a small stone table at a corner veranda. Between them lay a spread cloth designed with a grid of squares bisected by a blank row in the middle. On its lines lay circular game pieces with different single Chinese characters on each. The ancient war game of Xiangqi ensued. One of the men, who appeared to be in his early 70s, was not sitting but squatting on the stone stool below him, as if ready to spring on his opponent if it came to that. His left hand was a warden, covering his captured pieces and subconsciously rearranging them in perfect stacks. His right hand, a trident of aggression. With a burning cigarette in it, he intermittently jabbed his index finger onto his or his opponent’s game pieces. If he had shattered a piece, no one watching would have been surprised. His opponent across the table waged a different war. His offense was guided by silence and restraint, moving only his eyes when it was necessary and one of his hands to restack his captured pieces in a habit doubtless perfected over countless games and years. Like two field commanders, each man pushed his pieces forward trying to outmaneuver the enemy. As the game wore on, the crouching commander grew more agitated. His volume increased, triggering grunts from the gallery of old men
around him. His cigarette volume surged so that there was no time between his last and his next. His body flushed with nicotine and his hand began shooting out more violently, stabbing at pieces and places on the board, at times coming inches from his opponent’s nose. The silent one stared past this without blinking and out to the battlefield in front of him. An hour had slipped past me in the drama. Beyond this gazebo in the corner of the rest garden, darkness crept over Hong Kong and took its place behind the glare of millions of neon signs throughout the city. On the morning of my final day, I woke early to run Kowloon before the streets were filled with cars and the sidewalks were clogged with people. I thought this would be a short one, but this run somehow lasted two hours. I ran from Temple Street Market south to the Avenue of Stars, past Seattle’s lethal son, Bruce Lee, and Rosewood Hong Kong and along the eastern seaboard where the elderly were out doing tai chi and where women moved in unison to a traditional Chinese tune and the meow of a two-stringed ehru, I pushed onward to where I first heard and then saw a dozen men laughing and bobbing in the bay for a morning swim and then back west through Cattle Depot Artist Village and close by the childhood home of Bruce Lee before heading south again where the streets were now teeming with life and the smells of flowers, grilled meats, fish, rubbish, almonds, bus exhaust, perfume, sweat and the sea. In this act, I felt I had gained a few more steps to understanding this fragrant harbor.
JUNE | JULY 2019
Plan Your Trip Beginning July, Cathay Pacific will offer daily non-stop flights to Hong Kong. Seattle-Hong Kong Depart: 1 a.m. Arrive: 5:10 a.m. the following day Flight duration: 13 hours, 10 minutes Hong Kong-Seattle Depart: 11:55 p.m. Arrive: 8 p.m. Flight duration: 12 hours, 5 minutes
1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE 63
GOING WITH THE FLOW photography by James Harnois AS THE TIDES go in and out, sea life constantly adapts. Visit Rialto Beach or Second Beach on the Olympic Peninsula while the tide is out, and you’ll find seawater trapped in tide pools. Prepare for the greatest reward—these pools are teeming with life, from anemones to starfish to colorful algae.
Hole-in-the-Wall is a short hike north from Rialto Beach. FAR RIGHT, FROM TOP A giant green anemone is visible during low tide near Hole-in-the-Wall. A man hikes out on the rocks during low tide at Rialto Beach.
64 1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE
JUNE | JULY 2019
66 1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE
JUNE | JULY 2019
Starfish cling to a rock during low tide at Second Beach.
JUNE | JULY 2019
1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE 67
ABOVE Bridget Ideker, of Tacoma, and Julia Gervais, from Minnesota, explore tide pools at Second Beach during the early morning. FAR RIGHT, FROM TOP The morning sun kisses the Second Beach trail on the Olympic coast. Gooseneck barnacles blanket a rock at Second Beach. Acorn and gooseneck barnacles surround mussels on a rock during low tide.
68 1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE
JUNE | JULY 2019
TRAVEL SPOTLIGHT 72 ADVENTURE 74 LODGING 76 TRIP PLANNER 78
pg. 78 Mount Rainier National Park has no shortage of stunning vistas.
Scott Minner
NORTHWEST DESTINATION 84
Rest and Relax
e c n e i r e p x MOSES LAKE, WASHINGTON E www.moseslake360.com
MOSES LAKE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE / 324 S PIONEER WAY / MOSES LAKE, WA 98837 This ad is made possible in part by a Tourism Grant from the City of Moses Lake.
Travel Spotlight
Breakwater Wonder Jetty Island’s sandy stretch gives life to Everett’s waterfront written by Richard Porter
City of Everett
JETTY ISLAND is an unexpected delight—a 2-mile stretch of sand off the industrial Everett waterfront. This manmade breakwater is designated for summer recreation and is beloved by regional kiteboarders, birdwatchers and sand-castle architects. More remarkable than this anomalous island are the views from its shores. Wade belly-deep into the warm shallows of Port Gardner to catch unparalleled views of Gedney, Whidbey and Camano islands, as well as the Olympic Mountains beyond. A free seasonal ferry shuttles beachgoers to and from the destination during a civic celebration known as Jetty Island Days. This year the city’s island is open from July 5 to September 2. Visitors can take part in structured programs such as nighttime campfires and a hunt for blown-glass floats. Pack shade and snacks when you go. Pro tip— budget enough phone battery to take plenty of pictures, because you’ll want to share this slice of sandy delight with your circle.
72 1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE
JUNE | JULY 2019
Jetty Island is a 2-mile manmade breakwater off the Everett waterfront.
Puyallup Great Art and So Much More!
August 17 & 18
Festival of Artists at Work
10am–5pm, Port of Everett Marina Ride Everett Transit to Fresh Paint Free admission schack.org
Visit Puyallup’s Outdoor Gallery Like Us
– Puyallup, WA –
artsdowntown.org
MADE POSSIBLE IN PART BY: CITY OF EVERETT HOTEL/MOTEL TAX FUND ARTWORK: KAT HOUSEMAN
AC TI VAT E Y OUR G E TAWAY V E R N O N , BRITISH C OL U M BIA
KALAMALKA LAKE PROV. PARK/ROBB THOMPSON
DAVISON ORCHARDS
OKANAGAN RAIL TRAIL PREDATOR RIDGE/ROBB THOMPSON
KALAMALKA LAKE/DESTINATION BC/ANDREW STRAIN
BX PRESS CIDERY/CAMILLIA COURTS
VERNON FARMERS’ MARKET
Explore Vernon in the Okanagan Valley for fantastic outdoor activities and events. Beaches, lakes, outdoor adventure, fishing, mountains, orchards full of fruit, fresh vegetables, and farmers’ markets are all here for you to discover. Five provincial parks and the Okanagan Rail Trail take you from the valley to the alpine, where a trail that suits your abilities is waiting to be explored. Kalamalka Lake Provincial Park is well known for its all season hiking and biking trails. In addition to offering plenty of trails, Ellison Provincial Park is the only marine dive park in the Okanagan.
1.800.665.0795 | tourismvernon.com #ExploreVernon
adventure
Surf’s Up
Washington has its own, unexpected, surf mecca written by Viki Eierdam
Although the Washington Coast does not have a surfing mecca reputation, it is known in the community for its ability to deliver surfable conditions 315 days out of the year.
adventure
Jeff Pence
Washington’s coastline features surfable waters most of the year.
RAYS OF SUNSHINE glisten off the water, giving its gray undertones a bluish hue. Sea spray dances above the waves as an explosion of power mimics the sound of thunder from crest to break. In the lull, people in wetsuits straddle boards, rocking in time to the hypnotic sensation of the ocean. In the summer waters off the Washington Coast, novice surfers find forgiving beach break in Westport and Long Beach. Seasoned “board heads” are drawn to the Pacific Northwest stretch for its year-round consistency and special challenges found in places like La Push and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Although the Washington Coast does not have a surfing mecca reputation, it is known in the community for its ability to deliver surfable conditions 315 days out of the year. Compare that to the famed North Shore of Hawaii, which is “flat like a lake 70 percent of the time” in summer, according to Matt Loughran, owner of Steepwater Surf Shop. For nearly forty years, Loughran has been chasing waves. The reliability of the Washington Coast drew him to open Steepwater Surf Shop in Westport back in 2001. Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area, Loughran’s early training ground was Ocean Beach and Santa Cruz. Frequent visits to his uncle’s house in Southern California rounded out the beach culture. As a county record holder in swimming, Loughran was comfortable in bigger surf before he had the board skills to match his confidence. With a foundation of skateboarding to draw from, he spent his senior year of high school surfing along Long Beach, California, and, from there, set off to explore the storied beaches of the world, from Waikiki to Puerto Escondido, Mexico, to Fiji, New Zealand, Indonesia, Nicaragua and more. Through a family friend in Port Orchard, Loughran found there were waves in Westport. Considering its proximity to Seattle, this laidback town seemed a logical fit for a surf shop. Multiple wind directions create good wave conditions in Westport, and the Westport Jetty and the handful of rivers flowing into Grays Harbor provide favorable
contours for adventurers looking for surf. When there are calm winds or winds from the east, miles of surfable coastline open up, if swells are not too large. From the mouth of the Columbia River to the Olympic Peninsula, the coastline is predominantly sand bottom and open to swells. Winter can see more advanced wave action due to storms bringing in 40 mph and stronger offshore winds, and August through October can deliver an occasional surprise when hurricanes spinning up from Baja, Mexico, bring unseasonable surf. For the beginner to intermediate surfer, summer months are ideal. Longer days translate to ample opportunity for surf exposure. Dawn patrol to sunset, a body will give out before light fades and an enthusiast could catch a morning session, take a nap, go back out for a lunch session and repeat. During peak season, surf shops along the Washington Coast are open, with instructors at the ready to give lessons to the novice and to go deeper for those looking to build skills. Loughran agrees with other diehard Northwest surfers that, for quality of surf and length of ride, some of the most memorable sessions are found inside the Strait of Juan de Fuca. But the waves are fickle and tight, with millions of gallons of water flowing in and out. From 30-foot swells with only knee high waves to 15-foot swells with double overhead waves, these are challenging conditions for even expertlevel surfers. Westport, on the other hand, is a welcoming vibe for newcomers and summer season offers warmer swim conditions. The gradual slope of the beach can accommodate a 100-yard ride if the waves start breaking farther out. This continual break toward shore provides ample opportunity to practice paddling, pop-ups and general technique and water safety—an important factor that Steepwater Surf Shop emphasizes with every lesson. Up and down the Washington coastline, surfers can find a spectrum of conditions and challenges at all skill levels. Just remember—don’t be a “Barney” by bailing on ankle busters or a “Quimby” who turns into a wave hog. Learn surfing etiquette, apply it and every session will be sick.
JUNE | JULY 2019
1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE 75
lodging
ACCOMMODATIONS
Stay in the relaxed luxury of comfortable guest rooms with a PNW vibe. Your large bathtub offers a view of the ocean, the fireplace or the TV, should you be so inclined. You’ll find careful touches like snacks and complimentary soft drinks and sparkling water, along with celebration sips for purchase. Don’t miss daily breakfast, free with your stay— you’ll find a spread of fresh baked goods, cheeses, produce and eggs to order. If you’re bringing a larger group, check out one of the suite options. Children 12 and older are welcome, as well as canine friends with prior notice.
DINING
There’s a reason people come from all over to experience dinner at the Inn at Langley. This multi-course meal has one seating, available Friday through Sunday year round and also on Thursdays in the summer. Chef Matt Costello describes an evening filled with gastronomical surprises, a feast for all the senses, changing with the seasons as the produce ripens. You never know when a candle on the table will turn out to be made of coconut oil, the perfect complement to your next dish. One dessert was a handbag filled with the sorts of items you might expect to find inside, all edible. This is a special-occasion experience to remember.
AMENITIES
Down by the water you’ll find the spa, a relaxing haven for skincare and massage treatments, along with a steam room. As a guest, you can catch a free movie at the local theater or take a yoga class at the neighborhood studio.
Lodging
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT The Inn at Langley has beautiful grounds to explore. Multi-course meals include food such as poached salmon with asparagus, horse radish and bergamot powder. The inn has views of the water.
The Inn at Langley written by Cara Strickland NESTLED IN THE heart of Langley on Whidbey Island, this inn takes lots of inspiration from the gentle pace of island living, without compromising on comfort and luxury and staying close to the big-city bustle of nearby Seattle. Consider a stay here your own personal retreat. 400 FIRST STREET LANGLEY www.innatlangley.com
Come visit the Beautiful Long Beach Peninsula and stay with us at the Breakers Hotel and Condo Suites! Indoor Pool and Hot Tub Outdoor Adult Hot Tub Dog Friendly Complimentary Wi-Fi Play Ground and much more, see everything and reserve your room go to www.BreakersLongBeach.com
BreakersLongBeach.com
1-800-219-9833
Receive a 25% Discount on any mid-week stay through Sept 20th, 2019 Ask for the 1889 rate! (Sunday - Thursday nights)
trip planner
Head in the Clouds
Mount Rainier National Park centers on the mountain, but has much to offer written by Ethan Shaw
MOUNT RAINIER—also known by the regional indigenous name Tahoma—is not only one of the defining landmarks of the Pacific Northwest, it’s a glacier-clad colossus that’s among the most topographically prominent peaks on the continent. This is the 14,411-foot high point of the Cascade Range—garbed in more ice than the rest of the range put together—and the centerpiece of the fifth national park established in the U.S., back in 1899.
78 1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE
JUNE | JULY 2019
trip planner
Reflection Lakes, southeast of Paradise, is a classic park photo op.
The bulk of “the Mountain” and the roughly square shape of the national park divide visitor access into four quadrants—northwest, southwest, southeast, northeast. You could spend a summer weekend circumambulating Rainier by car and savoring up close the distinct looks of each of its four faces, but that’s an awful lot of driving and not as much time simply immersing yourself in this royal Cascadian kingdom. Our three-day itinerary does skip one of the park’s magic places—the Carbon River, the wettest Rainier drainage and host to a superb example of a Northwest temperate rainforest. It won’t be as ambitious as the nearly 100-mile backpack around the volcano on the Wonderland Trail, or a climb to the summit itself— one of America’s mountaineering classics. This trip, however, will introduce you to the megascale scenery of Mount Rainier National Park, a bit of its history, and—most important—a sense for the monolithic presence of this kingly snowpeak: palpable enough when seen from Puget Sound vantages, but almost stupefying right in its shadow.
Day
Scott Minner
RUSTIC LANDMARKS • WATERFALLS From Tacoma or Olympia, reach Rainier via 706 up the Nisqually River, the classic approach from the park’s early days. As you head up to Longmire, study the river channel for evidence of the occasional lahars and outburst floods that have barreled through off the volcano. An epic 2006 deluge washed out the Sunshine Point Campground that once stood near the Nisqually Entrance, and the Kautz Creek pulloff shows the work of a massive 1947 mudflow that temporarily dammed the Nisqually. Stop at Longmire to delve into the park’s story. This visitor hub—the original park headquarters—is named for James Longmire, who came across mineral springs in these soggy meadows in 1883 and opened the Longmire Medical Springs Resort here shortly thereafter. You can see those springs and associated travertine mounds along the short, easy Trail of the Shadows. The path also allows more ambitious hikers access to the route up Rampart Ridge, a steep crest— edifice of a Rainier lava flow several hundred thousand years old. It walls the north side of the Nisqually Valley and serves up awesome views. Admire the complex’s vintage buildings on the selfguided Longmire Historic District walking tour. Featuring native stone and timber, structures such as the administration building set the standard for the National JUNE | JULY 2019
1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE 79
Deby Dixon
Scott Minner
Deby Dixon
trip planner
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT Christine Falls is a good stop on the way to Paradise. In Paradise, an extensive trail system allows for plenty of views. Paradise Inn opened in 1917.
Park Service Rustic Style, a movement that defined the architecture of U.S. national parks in the early twentieth century. Other Longmire landmarks include the long-standing National Park Inn—which includes a restaurant, if you’re hankering for lunch—and the Longmire General Store, a good place to grab picnic and camping grub, if you haven’t already stocked up. Then—onward to Paradise! En route, check out Christine and Narada falls and the lava-rock headland of Ricksetter Point, and sneak peeks at Mount Rainier and the Tatoosh Range, an arresting cluster of dark, jagged peaks just south of the volcano. Reach Paradise (elevation 5,400 feet), the most popular destination in the park. With the Tatoosh jags shredding the southern horizon and the immensity of Tahoma or its cloud cap to the north, and timberline meadows smoldering with summer wildflowers, the place comes by its name naturally. Make another Rainier architectural icon home for the night. The Paradise Inn opened in 1917, a couple of years after the celebrated “Road to Paradise” was finished. Anchored by a yawning Great Room and displaying beams salvaged from yellow-cedar snags near Narada Falls, this mountainside hotel stands as a worthy counterpart to Western lodges such as Yellowstone’s Old Faithful Inn, the Crater Lake Lodge and Lake Quinault Lodge on the Olympic Peninsula. To cap off your inaugural day under Tahoma’s icy gaze, try a Rainier burger or some bourbon buffalo meatloaf, a slice of pie, and a boozy “Kautz mudflow” or “glacier coffee” digestif in the Paradise Inn’s dining room. 80 1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE
JUNE | JULY 2019
Day PARADISE • GROVE OF THE PATRIARCHS Breakfast at the inn should suffice for the day’s meadow meandering and glacier gazing, the itinerary for a morning in Paradise. The area has an extensive trail network and, given the expansive scenery, there’s no bad choice. The classic overview walkabout is the Skyline Trail, a 5.5-mile loop you can hook into right from the hotel. Along with marmots, you might be rubbing shoulders with climbers beelining for Camp Muir, one of the main starting points for summit attempts and also its own turnaround destination for strong hikers. Depending on your timing and the weather, you’ll see exuberant blooms in Paradise Park’s subalpine gardens, from lupines and paintbrushes to torch-like beargrass and shaggy pasqueflower. Take the short detour to Glacier Vista, where you’ll encounter the much-studied Nisqually Glacier. The Skyline Trail culminates in Panorama Point, where, in clear conditions, your view includes several of Tahoma’s fellow fire-mountains—bulky Mount Adams, lopped-off Mount St. Helens, toothy Mount Hood—as well as the ripsaw Tatoosh rampart and, beyond, the pale Goat Rocks, ice-gutted remnants of a onetime Rainier-esque stratovolcano. When you can tear yourself from Paradise, saddle up for your afternoon journey to the park’s southeast. Between the Paradise River valley and Stevens Canyon, you’ll pass one of the popular Rainier photo ops at the Reflection Lakes. Farther east, peer into the Box
ART. HISTORY. HERITAGE. FORT OKANOGAN INTERPRETIVE CENTER
HISTORY/ARCHAEOLOGY PROGRAM
CONFEDERATED TRIBES OF THE COLVILLE RESERVATION 14379 Highway 17, Brewster, WA 509.689.6665 or 509.634.6023 fortokanogan@communitynet.org
Open 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesday to Sunday May 24 through Sept. 29
EAT Scott Minner
National Park Inn Dining Room www.mtrainierguestservices.com/ rainier-dining/national-park-inndining-room Paradise Inn Dining Room www.mtrainierguestservices.com/ rainier-dining/paradise-inn-diningroom Paradise Camp Deli www.mtrainierguestservices.com/ rainier-dining/paradise-camp-deli
The Highlander www.ashfordhighlander.com Mt. Rainier Railroad Dining Co. www.rrdiner.com
STAY National Park Inn www.mtrainierguestservices.com/ accommodations/national-park-inn Paradise Inn www.mtrainierguestservices.com/ accommodations/paradise-inn Mount Rainier National Park campgrounds (Ohanapecosh, Cougar Rock, White River, Mowich Lake) www.nps.gov/mora/planyourvisit/ campgrounds.htm Silver Springs Campground www.bit.ly/silverspringscampground Gateway Inn www.gatewayinnonline.com Alexander’s Lodge at Mount Rainier www.alexanderslodge.com
PLAY Tatoosh Wilderness www.wilderness.net Norse Peak Wilderness www.wilderness.net William O. Douglas Wilderness www.wilderness.net Mt. Rainier Railroad & Logging Museum www.mtrainierrailroad.com Northwest Trek Wildlife Park www.nwtrek.org Alder Lake Park www.mytpu.org/communityenvironment/parks-recreation/ alder-lake-park
82 1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE
Janelle Walker
Sunrise Day Lodge www.mtrainierguestservices.com/ rainier-dining/sunrise-day-lodge Scott Minner
MOUNT RAINIER NATIONAL PARK, WASHINGTON
trip planner
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT The Grove of the Patriarchs has a milelong interpretive path. Marmots are a common sight in Paradise. Sourdough Ridge Trail offers incredible views.
Canyon of the Muddy Fork Cowlitz River, a tight-cleft gorge up to 180 feet deep and as narrow as a few feet across. Before heading for a campsite at the Ohanapecosh Campground, pay your respects to the old-growth giants at the Grove of the Patriarchs, explored along an easy, mile-long interpretive path. The dimensions of the western redcedar and Douglas firs in this river-bottom forest— some of which likely exceed a millennium in age—are staggering.
Day FLOWER FIELDS • VIEWS Your last day in Tahoma’s company calls for early rising so you can appreciate the splendor of Sunrise—the highest vehicle access in the park—at its morning prime. The east route takes you north up the Ohanapecosh—which, like the Muddy Fork, drains via the Cowlitz to the Columbia River, unlike the other major Rainier drainages that send glacial meltwater to Puget Sound—and then west up the White River. Along the switchbacks climbing Sunrise Ridge, pause to take in the vista from Sunrise Point, which includes Rainier and Adams and highlights the impressive relief of the White River’s glacial trough. JUNE | JULY 2019
Sunrise (elevation 6,400 feet) is home to a visitor center with fine exhibits as well as a day lodge, and presents Rainier’s northeast face in showstopper fashion. The view is great from the parking lot, but expands gloriously from the easy Sourdough Ridge Trail looping through the flower meadows and conifer groves above the grounds. Feast your eyes on the smooth snow dome of Columbia Crest—the ultimate summit of threeheaded Tahoma—and the craggy buttress of Little Tahoma, a remnant of the volcano’s former east flank. You can also see where a spectacular east-face collapse, the Osceola Mudflow, triggered some 5,600 years ago. In between Little Tahoma and Steamboat Prow, the Emmons Glacier—biggest by area in the lower forty-eight—sparkles down to the White River valley far below. Southward rise the fangs of the Cowlitz Chimneys and the Goat Rocks behind. Far in the southeast distance Mount Aix and Bismarck Peak make twin pyramids. From the crest of Sourdough Ridge, the view north and northwest unfurls dramatically to a sharpcrested North Cascade skyline, including, if it’s clear, the white monsters of Mount Baker and Glacier Peak. When the trip home calls you down from Sunrise, you’ll be in the proper state of mind for leaving this old and venerable park— stunned by her beauty and charm.
Portland Spirit Cruises
Presents an all new river cruise, on board our Explorer jet-boat. Join us this summer for a, one of a kind experience!
Daily Cruises June 15th to September 30th Content Created By Cliff Barackman, Star of Animal Planet’s “Finding Bigfoot”
140 Nautical Miles - 17 Documented Sightings - 13 Unique Bridges - 7 Fully Narrated Hours - 1 Big Adventure bigfootcruise.com - 503-224-3900
northwest destination
Long Rivers and Endless Peaks Missoula, Montana, is everything water, mountain, music and beer written by Abby Lynes
From the top of the “M” Trail, you can see the entire college town.
A LAID-BACK college town nestled in the hub of five mountain ranges, Missoula has a little something for everyone. With several big concert venues, art museums, a winding river and hiking trails in its backyard, there’s always something to do. Missoula has nearly every indoor and outdoor activity you could dream. It’s located at the confluence of three rivers and surrounded by seven wilderness areas, and you can kayak, raft or paddleboard your way through town. Missoula is also known as a cultural hub for the state, hosting concerts throughout the year and a monthly art walk downtown that the whole town seems to turn up to. Everything in Missoula centers on the Clark Fork River. For those 84 1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE
looking for adventure, there’s Brennan’s Wave, a manmade wave you’ll see surfers and kayaks on year-round. If a relaxing day in the sun is more your style, you can float down the Clark Fork or nearby Bitterroot or Blackfoot rivers on your chosen mode of transportation. When you’re ready to dry off and gain some elevation, there are plenty of trails in Missoula to take you right into the mountains. Among the most famous is the “M” Trail, which zig-zags up to the big, white “M” on Mount Sentinel, right by the university. Just short of a mile long, hike this trail just before sunset to get beautiful, panoramic views of the valley below. Trailblazers should also be sure to check out Blue Mountain, Pattee
JUNE | JULY 2019
Missoula has nearly every indoor and outdoor activity you could dream. It’s located at the confluence of three rivers and surrounded by seven wilderness areas, and you can kayak, raft or paddleboard your way through town.
MISSOULA, MONTANA
Montana Office of Tourism and Business Development
northwest destination
EAT Biga Pizza www.bigapizza.com Bernice’s Bakery www.bernicesbakerymt.com Burns St. Bistro www.burnsstbistro.com Caffé Dolce www.caffedolce.com Tamarack Brewing www.tamarackbrewing.com/ missoula Big Dipper Ice Cream www.bigdippericecream.com
STAY Shady Spruce Hostel www.shadysprucehostel.com DoubleTree by Hilton www.doubletree3.hilton.com The Ranch at Rock Creek www.theranchatrockcreek.com
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT Big Dipper Ice Cream is a must-stop in the summer. Brennan’s Wave is a manmade wave in the Clark Fork River. Tamarack Brewing is the spot for beer. A Carousel for Missoula is a good stop for travelers with kids.
Creek and Rattlesnake recreation areas, all within a fifteen-minute drive of any point in Missoula, with opportunities for hiking, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing. And for those willing to venture a little farther, the Bitterroot Valley to the south and the Mission Valley to the north are surrounded by mountain ranges with pristine lakes and endless peaks. Once back in town, there’s plenty of shopping, eating, music and fun to be had. If you’re here on a Saturday, be sure to check out the farmers markets at multiple locations downtown. After, head over to the Hip Strip to buy vintage clothes at Betty’s Divine and stop by Bernice’s Bakery for a slice of cake. Foodies will also find a home in Missoula. Biga Pizza is always a crowd-pleaser, featuring locally sourced, handcrafted pizza. If it’s in season, ask for the Flathead Cherry Pizza—you won’t be sorry. For large servings and good beer, Tamarack Brewing is the place to be, and you can’t beat Caffé Dolce for brunch. If there’s one thing Missoula’s known for, however, it’s its beverage scene. For a classy
cocktail in a casual atmosphere, hit up Plonk, a wine bar, or Montgomery Distillery. If you’re looking for beer, Missoula has endless options. Start with a Cold Smoke Scotch Ale from Kettlehouse Brewery and let the locals tell you where to head next. Looking for more of a caffeine buzz? Missoula excels at coffee and tea alike. Black Coffee Roasting Company, Clyde Coffee and Butterfly Herbs are all sure to get you ready for a day of adventuring. If you’re in search of a cultural experience, Missoula has plenty to offer. You’ll see public art installations across the city, and Missoula Art Museum has free admission. The Historical Museum at Fort Missoula also provides background on the area, with lots of walking opportunities to wear out kids. Listening to live music is also a must in Missoula. National acts regularly headline at The Wilma theater and Kettlehouse Amphitheater, and you can see local and up-and-coming artists at the Top Hat most nights. There’s nothing better than ending a day of Missoula adventures than stomping your feet to some tunes at one of Missoula’s many music venues. JUNE | JULY 2019
Holiday Inn Downtown Missoula www.ihg.com/holidayinn
PLAY The Wilma www.logjampresents.com/ venue/the-wilma Missoula Art Museum www.missoulaartmuseum.org Historical Museum at Fort Missoula www.fortmissoulamuseum.org Top Hat www.logjampresents.com/ venue/top-hat-lounge Rattlesnake National Recreation Area www.bit.ly/rattlesnakerecarea A Carousel for Missoula www.carouselformissoula.com Draught Works Brewery www.draughtworksbrewery.com Kettlehouse Brewery www.kettlehouse.com “M” Trail www.alltrails.com/trail/us/ montana/the-m-trail The Union Club Bar & Grill www.unionclubbarandgrill.com
1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE 85
1889 MAPPED The points of interest below are culled from stories and events in this edition of 1889. Oroville
Bellingham Friday Harbor
Olympic National Park
Port Townsend
Aberdeen
Okanogan Newport
Marysville Everett Seattle
Wilbur Waterville
Bellevue
Port Orchard
Shelton
Colville
Coupeville
Port Angeles Forks
Republic
North Cascades National Park
Mount Vernon
Tacoma
Spokane Davenport
Renton Kent Federal Way
Wenatchee Ephrata Ritzville
Montesano Olympia
Mount Rainier N.P.
Ellensburg Colfax
Chehalis
South Bend
Yakima Pomeroy
Cathlamet
Richland
Kelso Longview
Prosser
Pasco
Dayton
Walla Kennewick Walla
Goldendale Vancouver
Stevenson
Live
Think
Explore
22 Frog Hollow Farm
40 Solar Spirits
72
Jetty Island
23 Mizuna
43 Lake Chelan Community Hospital
74
Steepwater Surf Shop
24 Foxtail Farm
44 Little Cascadia
76
Inn at Langley
34 Seattle Seawolves
46 Moondance Kayak
78
Mount Rainier National Park
36 Birch & Crow
48 Warm Current camps
84
Missoula, Montana
86 1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE
JUNE | JULY 2019
Asotin
Point Roberts Marina
So close you are already there... Deep Water Entrance • US Fuel Prices • Laundry and Showers • Convenience Store • US Customs Clearing • Pet Friendly • Chandlery • Restaurant •
HOME TO POINT ROBERTS RACE WEEK - STARTING 2020 -
www.PointRobertsMarina.com
PH: 360-945-2255 FAX: 360-945-0927 prmarina@pointrobertsmarina.com
Until Next Time
Adventures of an Eastern Washington Transplant written by Laura Kostad | illustrated by Allison Bye
“I LIKE YOUR hat,” she said, pointing to my trucker hat, which proudly sported a Cascadia flag. “Thanks!” We were rounding up students after recess at the Pasco elementary school where we worked. “Say, are you into hiking and camping and stuff?” she asked. “I’ve been trying to meet more people to do things with.” “Yes!” I responded, perhaps a little too enthusiastically. Two weeks later, her Mazda 3 was loaded down and we were en route to a place I’d never heard of—Quincy Chain Lakes. Southwest of Quincy off White Trail Road between I-90 and the Columbia, the Quincy Chain is an unexpected desert oasis—hidden below horizon by vast, geometric crop fields, the pools are nestled in jagged coulees formed by glacial floodwaters thousands of years ago. It was essentially my first overnight backpacking trip, and I was woefully underequipped. My weenie dog, Louie, padded about, eager to hit the trail as I pulled my pack from the backseat. A sleeping pad, bulky high-pile fleece blanket and bed pillow were haphazardly lashed to it with assorted bungee cords, and I was toting a soft-sided cooler. Luckily, the Ancient Lakes Trail was short, and my friend had a two-person tent. With arms full, we looked like rookie glampers as we transitioned from gravel to dirt. What never ceases to astound me about Eastern Washington is the rawness of the land. It looks as though the Ice Age ended just recently. A thin sheet of rough yellowed linen blankets the land, casually draped over abraded rocky crust. Agates and basalt that the First Nations’ ancestors once napped into tools lay totally undisturbed where they were left hundreds and thousands of years before.
88 1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE
JUNE | JULY 2019
Another way of looking at it—it was mid-May and we were in rattlesnake country. We had a run-in with one of those scaly reptiles. My friend shrieked, as with horror I watched the serpent raise itself from the grass, rattling its warning. At our retreat, the snake turned tail and slithered away. I promptly scooped up Louie and we continued our encumbered trek—utterly terrified—to the first lake, which cascaded via waterfall into the basin beyond. Sheer awe— the remnants of Eden were laid out before us. After making camp, we set out to explore the coulee, transfixed by the ethereal beauty aglow in the setting sun. That night we sat under the stars and established the foundation of what’s budded into one of my most cherished friendships, swapping stories and realizing the familiar soul between us. On the way home, my new friend announced that after school let out, she was embarking on a two-week road trip through the Southwest and was looking for someone to accompany her. Without hesitation, I volunteered. It’s a decision I will never regret and one that’s led me to crave the adventure awaiting me beyond my doorstep— that wildness inherent in taking to the road to reach the trails and natural splendor at the end of them.
VisitVancouverUSA.com
Washington’s Magazine
TRIP PLANNER: MOUNT RAINIER NATIONAL PARK PG. 78
One Backyard Reading Room
Yep—the Spicy Pineapple Margarita
A Week in Hong Kong
June | July 2019 SUMMER GETAWAYS
Outdoor Summer Adventures GEAR FIT FOR THE TASK
1889 mag.com
1889mag.com $5.95 display until July 31, 2019
LIVE
THINK
EXPLORE
WASHINGTON June | July
volume 15
