The Gorge Magazine - Fall 2017

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LITTLE LIBRARIES Treasures for Reading

PADDLE TO PORTLAND A SUP Journey

FALL FOLIAGE A Photo Essay

8/25/17 9:43 AM

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220 SW Second Street

THE DALLES (541) 298-4451 122 E 2nd Street

8/23/17 10:54 AM

Visit Historic Downtown

TROUTDALE the gateway to the gorge Take Exit 17 off I-84

Visit our many Specialty Shops, Art Galleries, Antique Shops, Fine Restaurants, and more!

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8/23/17 10:57 AM

CONTENTS : FEATURES

p.38

New School

World Class Academy offers high school students academic classes while traveling the world pursuing their sport

By Lindsay McClure

44 AUTUMN IN THE GORGE

A photo essay by Brian Chambers 50

MAKE HAPPY A HABIT October is Gorge Happiness Month, part of a growing movement to cultivate good health by spreading well-being

By Katie Roberts

World Class Academy students, alumni and teachers, from left, Vetea Boersma, Alex Thon, Rutger Bogard, Devin Kuh, Lindsay McClure and Blaine Baker. Photo by Michael Peterson.

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Discover your adventure…experience ours!

BEST WESTERN PLUS HOOD RIVER INN The perfect base for all the area offers on the Columbia River. River view guest rooms, dining at Riverside, Cebu Lounge, heated outdoor pool, spas, and sauna. Wine tasting passes and recreation packages.

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Northwestern Lake Riding Stables offers spectacular guided horseback rides! Our trails wander up and down hills, through creeks and streams, and offer stunning views of White Salmon and Mt. Hood.

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Delicious, locally roasted, fair trade, organic coffee, and fresh pastries.

For lunch try a savory panini or wrap with a fresh organic green salad. We also serve local wine and NW beer.

Dine inside or on our private patio.

Ask about our catering services.

Experience our fine wines from small lot production and winemakers regularly pouring at the tasting room. Stop by and see what Tetrahedron has to offer!

509-281-3100 • mugsco.com 120 West Steuben St • Bingen

Thursday-Sunday 11:00am-6:00pm 509-774-8323 • tetrahedronwines.com 421 State Street (Hwy 14) • Lyle

MARYHILL WINERY

MARTIN’S GORGE TOURS

Wine Press Northwest’s “2015 Pacific Northwest Winery of the Year”, 50+ award-winning wines, Tuscan-style terrace with views of Mt. Hood, Bocce, picnicking, live music every summer weekend from 1pm-5pm, tasting room, gift shop.

Guided tours for individuals, groups, families, or couples. Including waterfalls, wildflowers, wineries, breweries, trail hikes, scenic drives and more. Sit back and relax as we explore the hidden treasures of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area.

877-627-9445 • maryhillwinery.com 9774 Hwy 14 • Goldendale

503-349-1323 • martinsgorgetours.com

VISITOR INFORMATION CENTER: 1 Heritage Plaza, White Salmon, WA 98672 • 509-493-3630 • www.mtadamschamber.com

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CONTENTS : DEPARTMENTS

our gorge 12 PERSON OF INTEREST 14 VENTURES 16 BEST OF THE GORGE 20 HOME + GARDEN 24 LOCAVORE 26 STYLE + DESIGN 28 EXPLORE 30 WINE SPOTLIGHT 68 PARTAKE 74 EPILOGUE

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Courtesy of Laura Buchan

outside 56

THROUGH THE GORGE BY SUP Paddling down the Columbia River offers a new take on an old journey

By Daniel Dancer

Daniel Dancer

arts + culture

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BOOK BOXES An artistic collection of Little Free Libraries brings books, friendship and whimsy to Hood River neighborhoods

By Peggy Dills Kelter

wellness

A LIGHT TOUCH Dr. Ian Chambers provides chiropractic care through Network Spinal Analysis at his Bingen clinic

By Janet Cook

Paloma Ayala

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SINCE 1994

JEWELRY + HOME 305 OAK STREET HOOD RIVER 541-386-6188

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EDITOR’S NOTE

M

y kids and I discovered our first Little Free Library when one appeared a few blocks down the street from our house a couple of years ago. Suddenly, it was there where before there was a simple street corner. The magic of the small, bright blue box itself, with a fish head for a handle and a tree trunk for a base, would have been enough.

But inside were books! My son was uneasy with the idea of taking books from the little library. “Are you sure, Mom?” he said, looking around warily as if someone might be watching, ready to accuse us of stealing. I explained the concept to him, that we could take books that we wanted to read, and also drop off books that we were through with, for others to enjoy.

We picked out a few books and headed home. My son went straight to his bookshelf and gathered some books he’d outgrown. He insisted we go right back to the Little Free Library and drop them off, so we did. It was the beginning of our love for the little libraries. Nearly every day now when we walk home from school, my son and I stop to check the inventory. Sometimes, we vary our route to hit another Little Free Library a couple of blocks away. I love that it’s become part of our routine. And I love that people have placed these treasures on their property to promote reading and friendship and sharing. Writer Peggy Dills Kelter shines a light on Hood River’s Little Free Libraries, beginning on page 58. As you’ll read, the little libraries have come from diverse sources, created with the help of many people. Thank you, all, for helping to bring whimsy, more books and a bit of magic to Hood River’s neighborhoods.

In a similar vein, a group of community members are working to promote happiness this fall in the Gorge. For the second year in a row, October is Gorge Happiness Month. One Community Health, the area’s nonprofit health center, started the movement last year to mark its 30th anniversary. Gorge Happiness Month is expanding this year with activities and celebrations held in communities around the Gorge designed to “make happy a habit.” Happiness is tied to good health, and there are things we all can do to bring more happiness into our lives (page 50).

October 21 & 22

In fact, there are some things right here in these pages that make me happy, including Brian Chambers’ stunning landscape photos (page 44) and Daniel Dancer’s fun story about traveling down the Gorge by SUP (page 56). And there’s Kacie McMackin’s quintessentially fall recipe for leek and potato soup (page 68). Yum. Here’s to happiness, friends. Cheers!

FALL 2017 thegorgemagazine.com

—Janet Cook, Editor

FREE PARKING & ADMISSION

(541) 354-2865

www.hoodriverfair.org

LITTLE LIBRARIES Treasures for Reading

PADDLE TO PORTLAND A SUP Journey

FALL FOLIAGE A Photo Essay

ABOUT THE COVER Hood River photographer Brian Chambers got up before sunrise on a chilly November day to shoot dormant blueberry fields near Parkdale. As he was heading home, the rising sun created nice light on the surrounding orchards.

“I was drawn to this image as it had such great color,” Chambers says. “The ladder and the fan added a little extra interest and the mountain just looked awesome with the light making it stand out from the clouds behind it.” bcphotography.zenfolio.com

DIRECTIONS FROM I-84: CONTINUE ONHWY 35 FOR 8 MILES, TURN AT THE ODELL JUNCTION AND FOLLOW SIGNS TO THE FAIRGROUNDS.

When you have read this issue please pass it on to a friend or recycle it.

Together we can make a difference in preserving and conserving our resources.

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FALL 2017 JANET COOK Editor

where the Gorge gets

engaged

RENATA KOSINA Creative Director/Graphic Designer

JODY THOMPSON Advertising Director

JENNA HALLETT Account Executive

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Don Campbell, Daniel Dancer, David Hanson, Peggy Dills Kelter, Lindsay McClure, Kacie McMackin, Ben Mitchell, Katie Roberts

COVER PHOTOGRAPHER Brian Chambers

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Paloma Ayala, Brian Chambers, Daniel Dancer, David Hanson, Lindsay McClure, Kacie McMackin, Ben Mitchell, Michael Peterson, Henry Schifter, Kelly Turso

APLAND JEWELERS CUSTOM DESIGNS | RESPONSIBLY SOURCED GEMS | RECLAIMED GOLD & PLATINUM 541.386.3977 | 3RD & OAK ST., HOOD RIVER, OR | FACEBOOK.COM/APLANDJEWELERS BRIDAL RING ABOVE DESIGNED & CRAFTED BY KEN APLAND

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We appreciate your feedback. Please email comments to: jcook@thegorgemagazine.com

541-387-6700 GorgeProperty.com The Gorge Magazine is published by Eagle Magazines, Inc., an affiliate of Eagle Newspapers, Inc. 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 Eagle Magazines, Inc. Articles and photographs appearing in The Gorge Magazine may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the express written consent of the publisher. The views and opinions expressed in these articles are not necessarily those of The Gorge Magazine, Eagle Magazines, Inc., Eagle Newspapers, Inc., or its employees, staff or management. All RIGHTS RESERVED. PRINTED IN THE U.S.A.

Denise McCravey Broker/Owner OR & WA

VACATION HOMES Stay, Shop & Play 541-386-4845 OakStreetHotel.com

In the Oak •Street Hotel building • 610 Oak Street Downtown Hood River Serving the Gorge THE GORGE MAGAZINE : FALL 2017 9

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OUR GORGE person of interest p. 12 ventures p. 14 best of the gorge p. 16 home + garden p. 20 locavore p. 24 style + design p. 26 explore p. 28 wine spotlight p. 30

Active wear made by Hood River-based Totemmi is manufactured in the Pacific Northwest p. 14 Photo by Kelly Turso

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OUR GORGE : PERSON OF INTEREST

Record Producer to the Rock Stars

Ron Nevison’s storied career in rock music is the stuff of legend STORY BY DON CAMPBELL • PHOTOS BY HENRY SCHIFTER

Y

ou likely don’t know his name, but if you have any kind of affinity for classic rock, you surely know his work.

Ron Nevison is a record producer — that guy who rounds up the rock stars and turns them magically into million sellers with hit after radio hit — who helped develop what we came to know as ‘90s pop rock and the once-ubiquitous Album Oriented Rock (AOR) genres we’ve come to love and revere.

We could name drop a zillion ways from Sunday the artists he’s produced and you’d be impressed: the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, the Who, Ozzy Osborne, KISS, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Grand Funk Railroad, Jefferson Starship, Heart, Chicago — the list goes on and on, and to the tune of some 100 million records sold and dozens of platinum albums on his wall.

Nevison has built a sizable reputation, moving from doing live concert sound to the chief engineer’s chair at LA’s famed Record Plant recording studio, doing custom studio installations and mega-freelance production projects along the way. His curriculum vitae is dizzying and his accolades are a lengthy litany that includes four Billboard magazine Top-5 Producer of the Year awards and numerous Grammy nominations over a 40-plus year career in the music business. Oh, and the stories — rife with all the over-the-top rock-star excesses you might expect — that he can tell put him up in the rarified air of rock history.

Go ahead — Google him.

So how and why does a jet setting, world-famous hit maker land in White Salmon, Wash., to make his home, even though he’s still as active as he ever was in a nutty business that isn’t exactly looking for the next pop-rock sensation?

Nevison settles in over coffee at Tess and Patrik Barr’s Hood Crest Winery just south of Hood River, looking every inch the elegant gentleman, to answer that very question and a few dozen others about how he became the recording-industry legend that he is, and how a certain winery owner with whom we’re 12

sitting (wink, wink) is close to finishing a new album under his meticulous ear and artistic direction.

It was Paris in the early ‘70s when Nevison met a folk musician named Henry Schifter, who’d had some minor success with a record label owned by Johnny Rivers (he of “Secret Agent” fame) in Los Angeles. Nevison needed a ride to the airport, Schifter — a fellow American in a strange land — helped him out, and they’ve been friends ever since.

By the early ‘90s, Schifter had relocated his family from LA’s Laurel Canyon to Hood River to raise his daughters. “He kept saying, ‘Get your butt up to the Gorge,” Nevison says. “You gotta see this!”

There happened to be a concert in Portland in March 1991 with super-group Damn Yankees and Bad Company, two acts Nevison had successfully produced. He met Schifter at the concert, got him a hotel room, and the pair then ventured up the river the next morning in a rental car, touring around Mount Hood and Timberline Lodge. In their jaunt, they stopped by a house in Parkdale that Nevison fell in love with and bought within three months.

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Ron Nevison, opposite and above, has been working with local blues singer Tess Barr on production of a new album. Nevison, a renowned record producer with dozens of platinum albums to his name, calls White Salmon home.

“That’s how I got here,” he says.

He sold the house in the late ‘90s and relocated to White Salmon, a home base from which he wrangles a still-busy career. “I have the kind of lifestyle and career that I would have a month or two off at a time. So I wasn’t looking for a vacation house. I was living in Beverly Hills for 30 years. It seemed like the right thing to do.”

Though never married — “I never made the same mistake once,” he says with a smile — he is happily settled in the Gorge with an adorable 6-year-old daughter upon whom he dotes and shares custody with a woman who’s last name you might recognize but shall not find here in this story.

Nevison, whose mom was a piano teacher, discovered his voice early on and learned to sing. He also discovered he had a proclivity for understanding and building transistor radios. “It doesn’t surprise me that I made a career out of music and electronics,” he says, citing his love for the early German-made Raytheon CK-722 transistor available to the general public.

“I’m a lucky guy,” he says. “I was at the right place at the right time. It worked out for me, and I never really thought about.”

Does he have a formula? “How much money do you have?” he asks with a grin, only half-kidding.

He’s earned a place in the upper echelons of music production.

Can he hear a song and know it’s a hit? “I think so,” he says, though his track record says he knows so.

And, though he has built a sizable network of successful songwriters and artists, he is constantly on the hunt.

Which brings us to a certain Hood River-based singer and winemaker named Tess Barr who is spit-shining a new album produced by a certain

Ron Nevison. How does that happen?

Barr saw the Heart gold record hanging in Hood River’s 3 Rivers Grill. “I knew he lived around here,” she says. “A lot of people know him.” Her husband, also her band’s guitarist, said, “Contact him.”

Barr is still a bit breathless about not only getting up the courage to pester him but actually working with him on this new, mostly original project. “She kept calling,” says Nevison, “and I kept saying no. But I finally said, ‘If you’re half as good as everybody says you are …’”

And the deal was inked.

They met at Divot’s, had lunch and started talking about a project. She recorded some demos and preliminary work began in Portland. But she and Patrik soon found themselves in Los Angeles.

“Ron said if you want to have an experience, go with the A Team.” Nevison’s A Team is small cadre of some of LA’s absolute finest studio musicians who, in a few short days, put a high-end gloss on her tunes.

All the pieces are nearly in place — with some final vocal tracks done here at the winery — and Barr couldn’t be happier with the result. “His ear is like nothing I’ve ever heard,” she says of Nevison’s ability to analyze not only each note, but the feel and mood of each song. “His timing is impeccable.

To which Nevison adds, “You’ve either got the voice or you don’t. She’s got the voice.”

Nevison is weirdly humble about his decadeslong career, claiming he does nothing, really, but coax great performances out of musicians and artists, crafting good songs that tell great stories.

Art or accident, Nevison’s results speak for themselves.

www.copperwest.com

We know the Gorge.

We know Real Estate.

Our team of 25+ professional Realtors is ready to put our local knowledge to work for you: buyer or seller representation, first time home owners, vacation and rental homes, commercial properties, and investment properties.

Hood River

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541-296-1045

Don Campbell is a writer and musician. He lives in Mosier and Portland and is a frequent contributor to The Gorge Magazine.

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OUR GORGE : VENTURES

Bringing it Home Totemmi’s Northwest-inspired active wear is designed and manufactured in the U.S. STORY BY JANET COOK • PHOTOS BY KELLY TURSO

W

hen Mollie Skopil and her business partners set out to launch an apparel company, their goal was to create a line that respected everyone involved — from suppliers to designers to manufacturers, and even the Earth. The result is Totemmi, a brand of

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active wear based in Hood River, and manufactured in the state of Washington.

“The mindfulness of how we do things, and the impact of what we do, is really key,” said Skopil, head of sales and marketing, who, along with founder Bill White and Annette Mattox, COO, make up Totemmi. The company, which was launched last year, produces primarily yoga wear, but also has T-shirts and sweaters made from organic cotton and alpaca wool by a Peruvian collective.

Totemmi’s yoga wear — called the performance collection — is made from fabric manufactured from recycled plastic bottles. “A pair of our yoga pants is made with nine plastic bottles,” Skopil said. In fact, the company has “bottle counts” for all of its active wear (demi shorts, four bottles; tank top, seven bottles; crop top, six bottles; strappy bra, four bottles).

“Potentially an outfit could have 16 bottles in it,” said White, who moved to the Gorge six years ago from the East Coast and brought with him a passion for manufacturing in the U.S. Skopil’s previous career had been in equestrian wear. Mattox had long worked in the apparel world — first for Nike and then Adidas. “When I left Adidas, I was over the whole consumption thing,” she said. “This was a great combination of my sensibilities and my background.”

For White, his dream of manufacturing something in the U.S. took hold in Totemmi. “I don’t know if folks here in the Gorge are aware of how good manufacturers are in the Pacific Northwest,” he said.

“There’s an amazing manufacturing capacity right here, and we were lucky enough to find one of these really high quality manufacturers in Washington.”

Totemmi’s fabric is made by a company called Repreve, based in Greensboro, N.C., which processes plastic bottles into fiber. The fiber then goes to a company in California that makes various fabrics from the fiber.

The fabric is sent to Totemmi’s manufacturer in Washington where all of the cut-and-sew and printing is done.

“It’s kind of cool to have the whole supply chain right here in the U.S.,” White said.

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Mollie Skopil and Annette Mattox, opposite inset, are head of sales and marketing and COO, respectively, of Totemmi. The company’s active wear is made with fabric manufactured from recycled plastic bottles.

White is betting that, just as people have begun to focus more on where their food and beverages come from, so too are they becoming more aware of where their clothes are made — and from what. “I want to bring ‘localism’ to apparel, with a thoughtful attitude to sourcing and manufacturing,” he said.

Totemmi’s designs are also Northwest inspired, as is the brand’s name, a play on “totem.” “All the artwork and design aesthetic is inspired from nature, from the Northwest,” Skopil said. The designs are imprinted onto the fabric through placed printing — rather than the more common repeat

print — which means each pattern piece is cut out and then the print is placed onto that specific piece.

“This allows us to create pieces that are more artful and are incredibly flattering on the body,” Skopil said.

The fabric used in Totemmi’s active wear has “come so far” since green-leaning companies first began making clothing from recycled plastic bottles more than two decades ago, according to Skopil. “It’s breathable, it dries quickly and it retains the dye,” she said. In addition, it’s very compressive, helping support muscles that are working. “The attributes of the fabric are amazing for performance.”

The company’s line of T-shirts and sweaters is designed to complement its active wear. Totemmi’s Peruvian partners manufacture the items from local, sustainably raised organic cotton and alpaca wool, generating employment in economically depressed areas of the country. “They are wonderful to work with,” Skopil said.

With a year under their belt, White, Skopil and Mattox are working to market Totemmi to the yoga world and beyond. “There are a lot of players in the apparel and women’s performance market,” White said. “The key is communicating who we really are so when people see us, they understand the difference.” He hopes customers see the value in paying a little more for “our product and our story,” he added. “We’re relatively competitive, but we’re never going to be able to compete with the big players” who are manufacturing their products overseas.

“I’m proud of what we’ve made so far,” he said. “I think we have credibility in terms of what we’re producing and how we’re producing it.”

For more information, go to totemmi.com.

Follow your feet to Footwise for everything Birkenstock.

Men’s | Women’s | Kids’

413 Oak St • Downtown Hood River Mon-Sat 10-6, Sun 11-5 • 541.308.0770

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Josh Partee

OUR GORGE : BEST OF THE GORGE

Hops Fest

Austin Smith/Bear Boot Productions

Maryhill Museum Benefit Auction

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Head to the eastern Gorge for Maryhill Museum’s Annual Benefit Auction on Sept. 16. Attendees will enjoy an array of hors d’oeuvres with select wines and brews. Items up for auction include exclusive dinners, trips, some of the region’s most celebrated wines and more. All proceeds support the museum’s annual exhibitions and programs. maryhillmuseum.org

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WAAAM Events

Michael Peterson

Downtown Hood River plays host to the popular annual Hood River Hops Fest on Sept. 23 from noon to 8 p.m. Nearly 50 breweries will be serving more than 65 fresh hop beers. The family friendly event (open to all ages until 5 p.m.; 21-and-over only after that) features a variety of food and craft vendors as well as a line-up of five bands playing live music throughout the day. Tickets, available presale for $15 ($20 day of ), include entry, a commemorative glass mug and five taste tokens. hoodriver.org

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The Western Antique Aeroplane and Automobile Museum in Hood River hosts its annual Fly-In Sept. 9-10. The event brings hundreds of antique airplanes and their pilots from around the region to WAAAM, where the planes are on display throughout the weekend. The event includes food vendors, kids’ activities and bi-plane rides. And don’t miss International Model A Day on Sept. 16 and Model T Driving School on Sept. 23 and Oct. 7. Space is limited to 10 students. waaamuseum.org

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Latino Art & Culture

Celilo Restaurant and Bar Pacific Northwest cuisine with an emphasis on locally grown products, extensive wine list, and full bar.

Carmen Sonnes artist

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The Columbia Center for the Arts hosts a celebration of Latino Art & Culture throughout September. During the month, all facets of the center — the gallery, theatre and studio/classroom — feature programming and events focused on Latino art. The featured artist in the gallery is Carmen Sonnes. A collective of Latino artists’ work is on exhibit in the lobby gallery, and the theatre hosts live performances by Milagro Theatre, as well as a screening of Latin Music USA. Art classes for kids and adults are held in the studio throughout the month. columbiaarts.org

Gorge Grown Harvest Dinner

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The annual Gorge Grown Harvest Dinner is Sept. 22 at Mt. View Orchards in the Hood River Valley. This fundraising event features a fourcourse meal from Chef Ben Stenn of Celilo Restaurant and Bar. The dinner kicks off with a cocktail hour featuring locally crafted beer from pFriem Family Brewers and Ferment Brewing Company. Dinner will highlight seasonal produce and local meat raised in the Gorge (along with vegetarian options).

Local wine with each course includes Analemma Wines, Dominio IV, Garnier Vineyards, and Idiot’s Grace/Memaloose Wines. gorgegrown.com

Open

Lunch (Fri-Sun) 11:30-3pm Dinner (Daily) 5pm-close

541-386-5710

Music Festival of the Gorge

celilorestaurant.com 16 Oak Street Hood River, OR celilorestaurant.com

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The third annual Music Festival of the Gorge expands this year to include two venues for live music: the Hood River Waterfront Park Amphitheater and Springhouse Cellar Winery & Tasting Room. The free, family-friendly event on Sept. 16 is a fundraiser to support school music programs in the Hood River County School District through the Matt Klee Scholarship Fund and Arts in Education of the Gorge. Live music at both venues will go from 1 to 10 p.m. The festival continues with after-hours music beginning at 10 p.m. at Camp 1805, Volcanic Bottle Shoppe and Slopeswell Cider Co. musicfestivalofthegorge.com

Full service catering Weddings • Private parties

Call Heather Sullivan

503-781-3749

catering@celilorestaurant.com

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OUR GORGE : BEST OF THE GORGE

Harvest Fest

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Celebrate Hood River’s harvest season at the 35th annual Hood River Valley Harvest Fest Oct. 13-15 on the Hood River Waterfront. This old-fashioned fall festival brings together more than 125 vendors offering seasonal produce, artisan food products, and arts and crafts. New this year is an expanded beer, wine and cider tasting experience, featuring the Gorge Cider Society, Columbia Gorge Winegrowers Association and Full Sail Brewery. A kids’ activity area includes bouncy houses, face painting and a petting zoo. hoodriver.org

Austin Smith/Bear Boot Productions

Fruit Loop

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Fall is the perfect season to hit the Hood River Valley Fruit Loop. Fruit stands along the 35-mile loop are in full swing, and many farms along the way offer U-pick apples and pears during the fall harvest season. Along with fruit stands, the route includes lavender, alpaca and chestnut farms, as well as wineries and cideries. Don’t miss the Pear Celebration Sept. 16-17 and the Heirloom Apple Celebration Oct. 21-22. hoodriverfruitloop.com

The Last Nutcracker

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The Last Nutcracker documentary film premieres Nov. 11 at Columbia Center for the Arts in Hood River. The film is a behind-thescenes look at the last season of the production, which ended with three performances in December 2016 after 19 years as a beloved Gorge holiday tradition. Documentary filmmaker Michael Peterson spent months with the dancers and teachers of Columbia Gorge Dance Academy — including the production’s founder, Nancy Clement — to create the film, which will also be available on DVD and video on demand. thelastnutcracker.com

Michael Peterson 18

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OUR GORGE : HOME + GARDEN

More than Just a Garden Healthy food and leadership skills grow at Raíces Cooperative Farm STORY BY JANET COOK • PHOTOS BY PALOMA AYALA

P

lanting a garden in the Gorge is a bit of a no-brainer. The soil is rich, the sun is warm and the season is long. Throw some seeds and starts in the ground in the spring, add water and enjoy fresh produce all summer and fall.

It’s a no-brainer, at least, if you have space for a garden. Not everyone does. That’s what a group of local Latinos concluded after taking a leadership course in 2009 through The Next Door, a Hood River social services agency serving the MidColumbia region. At the end of the course, the nine participants had to come up with a group project that they felt would improve their community.

“They decided they wanted to start a community greenhouse,” said Jody O’Connor, economic development program manager at The Next Door.

The organization couldn’t find a permanent location to build a greenhouse, so it ended up renting one. It was located in Pine Grove and served as a place where Latino families could grow starts in the early spring. They called it Raíces (roots) Community Greenhouse. But it didn’t solve the problem of gardening space.

“It showed them that what they really needed

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was land,” said O’Connor. In 2012, a property owner on Barker Road south of Hood River donated the use of a one-acre plot to the agency for a community garden. In addition, The Next Door received funding to build a greenhouse at the site.

“That’s really when the program began to come into its own,” said O’Connor, who has been the director of Raíces since its inception. The one-acre plot allowed several families to begin growing food at the site. At first, it was mostly members of the original leadership class. But as people began to see vegetables growing at the site, more would-be gardeners with no space of their own became interested.

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Residential and Commercial Design + Build More than two dozen families — about 100 community members — work garden plots at Raíces Cooperative Farm, including Manuel Garcia, Maria Antonia Sanchez and Julia Garcia, opposite, and Waldo Aparicio, above.

Now known as Raíces Cooperative Farm, the original one-acre plot was supplemented last year with another donated acre of farmland off Tucker Road.

More than two-dozen families — about 100 people — work individual plots at both sites. Most families have a four-foot wide row that extends 200 feet.

Families that have a garden plot also get veggie starts and soil amendments in the spring at no charge. Each family is responsible for their garden row, and must also contribute 10 hours throughout the season to “group work,” including things like weeding and preparing the garden in the spring, working on irrigation lines, and general clean up.

Along with providing families with vital space for growing nutritious food, Raíces also serves as a forum for learning leadership and business skills. Through collaboration with the Northwest Cooperative Development Center, O’Connor has helped facilitate ongoing skills development in self-governance and running a cooperative.

“They’ve helped the group work to build skills around working as a cooperative, including learning how to run a meeting, how to have elections and creating by-laws,” O’Connor said. The group held elections for the second time this year, and is governed by a 13-member board. In addition, they’ve formed committees to address specific issues at the farm.

“I think that’s a key piece of why we’re valuable,” O’Connor said of the Raíces program. “We’re teaching about leadership, and about the process of how to address issues.” On a cooperative farm, those issues range from sharing the water to respecting others’ space and ideas to working together to solve the myriad of small problems that inevitably arise.

As the group works to build leadership and cooperative skills, meanwhile, “people are growing a lot of vegetables,” O’Connor said. In late summer, both farm plots were thriving, with produce ranging from herbs to soaring stalks of corn. The cooperative did a self-evaluation at the end of last year’s harvest season, coming up with a list of 11 “things we do,” which members ranked in order of importance. “Improve member family health” was number one.

The garden has had a real impact on members’ health. O’Connor tells of one family whose daughter was struggling with obesity. “It was really stressful for the whole family,” O’Connor said. With the help of nutrition and healthy lifestyle classes offered through The Next Door, they learned the importance of a healthy diet and joined Raíces. “Now they eat a lot of

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Courtesy of Raíces

HOME + GARDEN

The greenhouse is used for drying peppers in the fall. Manuel Garcia and Indalecio Guzman, above right, at work at the farm, which includes two one-acre plots south of Hood River.

vegetables and she’s a lot healthier. Also, she’s teaching her younger siblings and her friends about healthy eating.”

Much of the food grown goes directly to feed the families who grow it, but some members sell produce through a CSA run by The Next Door and at the local farmers market. Others use the fresh produce at family owned restaurants.

And the greenhouse — the original seed of an idea for Raíces — has proved valuable; the cooperative grows starts in it beginning in late winter, and conducts a community plant sale in spring to raise money to support the program. Last spring’s plant sale raised nearly $5,000.

Like any group of people working together, the Raíces members have their ups and downs, their squabbles and differences of opinion about how

things should work. The Raíces board decided, for example, to charge an annual $20 membership fee for the first time this year. At first, the move was controversial among farm members, but it’s proved beneficial. “It created a lot of buy-in,” said O’Connor. Attendance at the monthly meetings has increased, and the money raised was used to install an automatic irrigation timer system, which has helped all the farmers.

O’Connor continues to be a steady presence for the group, but has increasingly moved to the background. “I’m still there if they get stuck,” she said. “But they’re doing most of the work.”

She has noticed that at their meetings, group members also talk about other important things going on in their community besides the farm. “The leadership skills are going to carry out into the community,” she said. “I feel really proud seeing how the group has come together to get things done.”

For more information, go to nextdoorinc.org/Raíces.

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OUR GORGE : LOCAVORE

Growing Community Mt. View Orchards’ Katrina McAlexander finds creative ways to keep her family farm thriving

K

atrina McAlexander’s three-generation orchard story is, like many successful farm stories, one of adaptation, a savvy, simple brand of entrepreneurship and a big, hopeful heart. Her grandparents started buying Parkdale farmland in the 1930s, shortly after emigrating from Switzerland. They ended up with 100 acres of pears and apples along the West Fork of the Hood River. In late summer they took the harvest to the packing house and got paid enough to carry the family through the next winter and spring.

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STORY AND PHOTOS BY DAVID HANSON

By the time McAlexander’s parents bought the farm in 1974, that model of farm to packing house was wearing thin financially. Ruthie and Lyle McAlexander opened a fruit stand at the farm, inviting the community and the increasing number of tourists to buy directly from them. It worked and kept the farm afloat as the Fruit Loop tourism grew in the Hood River Valley.

In 2014, McAlexander, a nurse practitioner, bought the farm from her parents. The fruit stand remained successful and the farm had grown to more than 300 acres of pears, apples, peaches and cherries, but it still wasn’t enough for her to make her land payments. She needed fresh ideas.

“In college, I didn’t like the taste of beer,” McAlexander says. “So I started making cider. I’d buy an unpasteurized gallon of apple juice, pitch in some yeast and nutrients and let it sit under my bed. There were some interesting results but I got pretty good at it and eventually took a real class at Washington State.”

Cider’s nothing new to a fruit-growing region like Hood River. A century ago farmers would often pay laborers in cash and hard cider. Now with cider back in vogue as a craft beverage, McAlexander’s college experiment is part of her farm’s business plan, along with a new outdoor event site and an innovative fruit CSA in which members buy into the farm in the spring (when all farm budgets are tight) in exchange for weekly deliveries of fresh fruit through the growing season. All the new ideas and side hustles help keep the business solvent, but they also bring something equally valuable to the farm: people.

“To be honest, I don’t want to buy copious amounts of land and keep expanding the growing operation,” says McAlexander. “I want to find ways to use the land I have. My parents were educators and we believe in sharing the farm with the community. I want the farm to be like a big living room.”

Now McAlexander wants to make wine and sell it at the event site. Like most things she’s tried, it requires a hopeful pioneering spirit.

“I don’t know if it’ll work,” she admits. “No one’s growing grapes in Parkdale. But how great would it be for people at a wedding to clink their glasses with wine and cider that was grown on the property?

I like trying new things.”

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Katrina McAlexander grew up on her family’s Parkdale farm, and is now the third generation to own Mt. View Orchards. She’s continually adapting the farm — including making cider from her orchard’s apples — to make it viable.

Farming communities have always relied on tight-knit cohesiveness and an openhearted sense of community to help one another during branding or harvest or inclement weather. It’s no different today, as harsh immigrant laws have pinched the migrant labor force orchardists have relied on for decades — sometimes employing the same family of pickers and pruners for multiple generations. This year McAlexander has shared a few of her crews with other orchardists whose regular labor didn’t arrive out of fear of deportation.

But the sense of community in the farming world faces new, more existential challenges as Hood River Valley’s economy has shifted toward recreation and high-tech industries. Many of the farmers around McAlexander are entering their twilight years. Hopefully, McAlexander represents another turn of the wheel in our region’s farming legacy, a new way to interact with a diversified community that includes the occasional tool sharing with a neighbor, but also making hard cider and using her orchard’s event space to host weddings and local organization fundraisers.

McAlexander spends half her week providing health care to area residents, including the homeless population and mentally challenged individuals in state care facilities. The other half she spends at home, on her farm, making food and cider and maybe wine and doing everything she can to keep the big living room of a farm open and welcoming to her community.

“It’s not just about my family line,” she says. “It’s a bigger concept than just holding onto a legacy. It’s a forward outlook, too. Our small family farms are treasures. If we lose them we can’t get them back.”

For more information, go to mtvieworchards.com

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David Hanson is a writer, photographer and video producer based in Hood River. Find his editorial and commercial work at ModocStories.com and weddings at CascadiaStudios.com.

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OUR GORGE : STYLE + DESIGN

Sculpting the Natural World Wood sculptor Laura Buchan draws on nature for inspiration

BY PEGGY DILLS KELTER • PHOTOS COURTESY OF LAURA BUCHAN

W

ood sculptor Laura Buchan of Stevenson, Wash., admits that in her youth she was “a dirty little wild child that ran free.” No Barbies or princess dresses for her; rather, she hung out with her two older brothers exploring the natural world around Bozeman, Mont. She helped hunters field dress deer, built forts, examined plants and searched for interesting insects.

Today, in her studio near the shores of the Columbia River, elegant wooden sculptures, some resembling arthropods, plants, marine animals and extinct dinosaurs, emerge from rough wood that Buchan has carefully chosen, laminated, carved and sanded to a surface that feels and looks like the finest silk.

Buchan attributes her artistic interest in depicting nature to those youthful years exploring the outdoors with her siblings. Some of her work looks like carcasses opening to reveal the underlying skeletal form. But rather than be repulsed by her subject matter, viewers find themselves mesmerized by the

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beautiful forms. “I’m obsessed with all these things in the natural world that are typically considered grotesque, things that we have really negative reactions to,” she says. “Maybe I’m trying to prove that there’s so much beauty there.”

Indeed, there is so much beauty in all of Buchan’s work. Huge schematic but expressive drawings hang from the walls of her studio, each one a careful plan for a sculpture that initially resembles a laminated sandwich-like stack of a variety of rough wood boards. Her woods of choice include maple, walnut, roasted poplar, cherry, and alder.

She even uses sapwood. “Most woodworkers don’t like it at all, but I will pick boards and put in some sapwood on purpose,” she says. “I never know exactly how it’s going to end up, but I usually wind up with something interesting.” Her pieces range in size from eight inches to 12 feet.

Buchan came to sculpture as her medium after a professor at Western Oregon University told her he could see from the way she drew that she would be good at making three-dimensional works. At first she ignored his insistence that she sign up for a sculpture class; she had come to WOU to study American sign language (her brother is profoundly deaf, and

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Laura Buchan creates intricate wood sculptures of all sizes from her studio in Stevenson, Wash. Much of her work is inspired by animal forms.

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Buchan learned to sign as a toddler); art was just for fun. Finally, though, she registered for the class. The first assignment hooked her. Buchan would show up to the wood shop at 6 a.m. and work feverishly for as long as possible.

“I quit everything and got sucked in,” she says. “I was working with wood from the beginning. I tried ceramics and hated it. It was messy in a wet way, not a dry way. I’m a control freak, and you don’t have control over the process in ceramics. You make a thing, put it in the kiln, and it comes out a different thing.”

That same insistence on controlling the outcome is her rationale for not oiling or applying finishes to her sculptures. “I used to put finish on things, but I spend so much time on these, and I get it just the way I want it,” she says. “Putting finish on it completely changes it.” Indeed, those viewing her art have a compulsion to touch and stroke the silky surfaces. It’s hard to believe that her sensuous forms were created from slabs of rough wood using noisy power tools. In fact, she loves tricking the observer. “I’m constantly trying to do things with wood that you wouldn’t expect wood to do. I made a jellyfish with tentacles and people thought the tentacles were made with fabric. I like trying to push the medium.”

Buchan had to learn through trial and error how to use those power tools. “In school I learned to think but I didn’t really get taught how to use the tools. I had to figure out a lot of it on my own.” She continues, “I’ll use any tool that gets the job done.”

“Getting the job done” also means building crates for galleries and museums, an offshoot of her work as a fine artist and sculptor. When an art institution ships a piece from their collection, a perfectly designed crate must be made to protect the art. Buchan and her partner get called on by art institutions to make those special shipping containers. Buchan not only enjoys the income from this work, but also delights in getting up close and personal with the magnificent works of art under her temporary care.

Buchan, 32, has been working as a sculptor since she was 18. But as she adamantly insists, “I’m not a wood carver for hire. People can’t quite figure me out.

I’m this small female body person, making these weird, big things.” In the Gorge, she’s finding inspiration to make more of those beautiful big things. Lucky for the rest of us that “dirty little wild child” has found room to roam here as well.

For more information, go to Instagram.com/laurabuchansculpture Peggy Dills Kelter is an artist and writer. She lives in Hood River and is a frequent contributor to The Gorge Magazine.

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OUR GORGE : EXPLORE

Vista Ridge The Mount Hood Wilderness trail rewards hikers with idyllic alpine meadows and big mountain views

STORY AND PHOTOS BY BEN MITCHELL

A

t first blush, place names don’t always make sense in the Columbia River Gorge (e.g., the extremely wet Dry Creek Falls near Cascade Locks), but Vista Ridge requires no guesswork to discern the origin of its name.

Located in the Mount Hood Wilderness, Vista Ridge is a popular trail nestled just below the

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northern face of Mount Hood and as its name suggests, it boasts some impressive views, particularly those of the Hood River Valley, Mount Hood, and other Cascade Range volcanoes.

There are many different hiking options accessible from the Vista Ridge Trail, mainly because it hooks up with the Timberline Trail that now circumnavigates Mount Hood once again after a flood washed out a portion at the Eliot Branch back in 2006 (the Forest Service reconnected the roughly 40-mile trail last fall). I recently did the hike to Elk Cove: a gorgeous alpine meadow that offers towering views of Mount Hood, framed by a rocky amphitheater.

I like the journey to Elk Cove for a couple reasons. For one, it avoids the Ladd Creek crossing to the west that must be traversed if you’re trying to do the loop through Cairn Basin, which is another popular hike. There are a few creek crossings on the way to Elk Cove, but they’re pretty mild, even in a high-precipitation year in the middle of the afternoon (glacial creek and stream crossings are always more treacherous in the afternoons due to rising temperatures increasing snowmelt). Plus, the hike is just under nine miles round trip but only gains 2,000 feet in elevation, making it a satisfying workout, not a difficult one.

The Vista Ridge Trailhead is no secret, so if you’re looking for Walden Pond-esque solitude, this is probably not the ideal hike — even if it is in a wilderness area. On a summer weekend when many of the wildflowers are at peak, parking at the trailhead can be tight. On those perfect, warm, sunny, windless fall days, as the colors start to turn, expect the same.

For me, this is a hike that lives up to the hype. Heading south from the trailhead, follow a dusty path through the trees until you come upon a wilderness registration kiosk (self-issued permits are required May 15 through October 15). Hang a right toward Mount Hood and pass through an eerie forest of trees bleached white and bent at odd angles due to the heat of the Dollar Lake Fire that tore through the area during the late summer of 2011. Mount Hood peeks through snags, and the views get even better as you continue the mostly gradual climb up Vista Ridge, exposing the Hood River Valley, Mount Adams, Mount Rainier, and the windmills of the Gorge’s eastern dry side, as well as extensive views of the Dollar Lake burn.

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Hikers get up close and personal with Mount Hood on the Vista Ridge Trail. The terrain includes mountain streams like the one at Elk Cove, opposite bottom, as well as the aftermath of the Dollar Lake fire, above left, which tore through the area in 2011. Elk Cove, above right, offers stunning views of Coe Glacier.

After about 2.5 miles of hiking, Vista Ridge connects with the Timberline Trail (turn left), largely built by the Civilian Conservation Corps during the 1930s. Hugging an exposed ridge, hikers in this section are rewarded with sweeping views to the north of the aforementioned landmarks, including that of Laurance Lake. Soon, you will come across the idyllic alpine meadow of Wy’East Basin (a great preview for Elk Cove), featuring crystal-clear, babbling mountain streams, and a great opportunity to get Adams, Rainier, and St. Helens all in the same photo.

There isn’t too much climbing on this portion of the Timberline Trail, with the exception of a few instances where you will hike down, then up from a drainage area. There are accompanying stream crossings, though most can be cleared with a single, healthy hop. Others may require some scouting and some trekking poles, but are still fairly tame. I would recommend some binoculars, too, to get an even closer look at Mount Hood.

After less than two miles on the Timberline Trail, the basin of Elk Cove comes into view. Hike down into the meadow and look up to marvel at Mount Hood, with a stunning view of the crumpled Coe Glacier. Park yourself on a rock near the creek that filters through the meadow and have some lunch or a snack, then turn around and retrace your path back to the trailhead.

Again, there are many other options for hikes from the Vista Ridge Trailhead, including a quick side trip to Dollar Lake, which the burn was named after. For more complete directions, go to OregonHikers.org.

of time spent on Forest Service roads. From Hood River, take Highway 281 to Dee, then make a right onto Lost Lake Road. After about six miles, turn left onto FS Road 18, also known as Lolo Pass Road. Bear left onto FS Road 16 after about three miles and continue your climb onto the unpaved FS Road 1650, which will appear on your right in about 5.5 miles. Follow this until you see a fork in the road; keep left and you will reach the parking area for the trailhead after just a few minutes. Despite the bumpy, unpaved road, a two-wheel drive passenger car should have little trouble reaching the trailhead.

Ben Mitchell is a writer and frequent contributor to The Gorge Magazine. He lives in Hood River.

Getting There Although the drive from downtown Hood River is only about 32 miles, it takes a little over an hour to reach the Vista Ridge Trailhead due to the amount

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OUR GORGE : WINE SPOTLIGHT

Garnier Vineyards

An “exit strategy” turns into a second career for businessman Tom Garnier STORY BY DON CAMPBELL • PHOTOS BY MICHAEL PETERSON

O

wning a vineyard and capturing wine in a bottle might sound romantic, but it’s best to remember that it’s basically farming. And farming is fraught with peril.

Ask Tom Garnier.

He wasn’t a farmer when he purchased the storied 300-plus-acre Mayerdale estate on Highway 30, just outside Mosier proper, in 1999. You know it by the palatial and ornate Colonial Revival home at the big curve in the road that looks grandly down on acres of cherry, apple and peach trees and grapevines, with a heart-stopping view west down the Columbia River. Heeding counsel from his grandfather, who had a profound influence on his life, Garnier recalled his elder’s edict to “work with your hands as well as your head.”

With a kind of timeless, and prophetic, wisdom, Garnier offers the sum of that knowledge: “The day you become a farmer,” he says, “is the day you buy a farm.”

It’s been a long haul, but Garnier, a Midwest transplant, has built his farm into a verdant and productive spread replete with the somewhat exterior-restored Mark A. “Markie” Mayer mansion, a tasting room, and an array of sumptuous grapes and wines — including the production of some 1,500 to 2,000 cases a year of Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Merlot, Viognier, Nebbiolo, Primitivo, Grenache and Syrah.

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wine and a picnic

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Tom Garnier, opposite, has been growing fruit and expanding the vineyard acreage at his Mosier property, the historic Mayerdale estate, since buying it in 1999. His Garnier Vineyards tasting room, above, overlooks some of the 100-plus acres of vineyards.

A geologist by schooling, a carpenter by trade, and the founder and president of Wilsonville’s globally known engineering-design firm SSI Shredding Systems, Garnier was sort of looking for an “exit strategy.”

“I didn’t know what an exit strategy was,” he says. A friend explained that if his company were to be sold, he’d need something to do. And Mayerdale became the focus. A windsurfing friend who also sold real estate in the Gorge noticed the property for sale in 1996. “I thought, wouldn’t it be fun if a bunch of friends bought 400 acres,” he says. “Nobody wanted to be a farmer.”

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Garnier Vineyards’ grapes are sold to a host of Willamette Valley wineries, and are also used to produce Garnier’s own wines, which are available at select retailers and restaurants in the Gorge as well as the Portland metro area and elsewhere in the Northwest.

His friend got the listing and needed an offer. Garnier, in it mostly for the mansion’s restoration possibilities, low-balled it and got rejected. A couple of years later, owner Grant Wilson called and asked if the offer was still good. “I thought I’d buy it, have a white house and life would be beautiful,” he says.

Instead, at the counsel of several of the farmers who lived on the property, he gave farming a go, attempting to harvest 160 acres of Bing cherries in 2000. And then the rains hit.

Garnier quickly realized the fragility of farming — the packing plant cut him off on the third day of harvest because the cherries were split — but he grew curious about making cherry wine and other uses for his fruit. He trucked a load of cider apples to a friend’s winery in Dundee, which caught the interest of Argyle Winery’s Allen Holstein and Rollin Soles, who wondered about Garnier’s ability to grow wine grapes. The pair made the trip east, and identified three good sites for planting vines.

Near the current tasting room site, behind and up the hill from the mansion proper, acres went in and Garnier soon found himself supplying grapes for one of the Willamette Valley’s best-known wineries. “They

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wanted tons per acre,” he says. “In the valley, it’s hard to guarantee how much they can produce, because of being rained out and other things.

They needed tons an acre. Land in Dundee was getting expensive, and they needed producers.

You gotta have a source.”

And for a number of years, starting in 2004-05, Garnier was among them. Because of lush and loamy soil, the right climate and low elevation, Garnier found purchase for selling his grapes to other producers, too.

But inevitably, a farmer runs into a surplus.

What to do? “Argyle said, make your own wine,” says Garnier. He and his general manager at SSI, Jerry Dettweiler, found some books on winemaking and crafted 90 gallons.

“Making wine is one thing,” he says. “Carrying it through the aging process is another. We did fermentation, but didn’t mind it very well.” There were no real faults to the wine, he says, “but it wasn’t great. You could tell. That was the first year.”

The science and craft began to grow on him.

He put in 100 acres of grapes. He learned about the cooperative nature of various grape growers and wine producers throughout the area and lauds them for their help.

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DISCOVER THE AMAZING WINES

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THE NEXT GENERATION OF WASHINGTON WINE can be found in the heart of the incredible Columbia Gorge.

Five amazing wineries only 75 breathtaking minutes east of Portland.

For individual winery info: WINERIES OF LYLE.COM

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The historic Mayerdale Mansion, above, was originally built in 1913 on what was called the Mayerdale Orchard and Ranch. Tom Garnier has partially restored the house.

As business grew, with winemaker Anna Matzinger on board, Garnier converted an existing residence and garage into the Garnier tasting room, open weekends through October. The vineyard now produces wine grapes for a host of wineries, including A to Z, Eola Hills and J. Christopher. You’ll find the Garnier label at fine establishments around the greater Gorge area, as well as in the Portland metro area, including New Seasons markets and Fred Meyer stores, and elsewhere in Oregon and Washington.

Though Garnier and his wife have no plans to live in the Mayerdale mansion, he does hope to finish it one day, and continues to deliver presentations about its colorful history — the infamous Markie Mayer’s attraction to Mosier, his friendship with the flamboyant financier Diamond Jim Brady,

Mayer’s purchase of 232 acres of Mosier land in 1910 from George Sellinger and his grand remodel of the Sellinger home. It’s the stuff of legend.

But for now, exit strategy complete, Tom Garnier is happy with his role at the vineyard and winery. “There’s always some crisis,” he says. “Farming is preparation meeting opportunity.”

And that opportunity, under a warm autumn sun, is spread over hundreds of idyllic acres of rich Mosier farmland.

For more information, go to garniervineyards.com.

Don Campbell is a writer and musician. He lives in Mosier and Portland and is a frequent contributor to The Gorge Magazine.

Beauty Freedom Truth Love

Love

Underwood Winery & Tasting Room Open Wednesday through Sunday 1900 Orchard Road

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Hood River, OR

541-716-0140

www.anichecellars.com

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T CABERNE N O N G I V U SA

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NGTON WASHI

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Wine Tasting Tips

CONFIRM HOURS

Gorge wineries and tasting rooms vary in their hours and days of operation.

Call ahead or check websites to make sure the tasting rooms you want to visit are open. It’s also a good idea to call ahead if you’re planning to visit with a large group.

DRESS FOR THE WEATHER

Dress appropriately, especially if you plan a vineyard picnic or tour. In the Gorge, in summer, that usually means sun and wind. But it can also include light rain, and temperatures can vary depending on where you are in the Gorge.

DON’T WEAR FRAGRANCES

We have everything from edibles to concentrates and incredible crafted glass work from local artists.

Perfume and cologne can interfere with the subtle aromas in wine.

ASK ABOUT FEES

Some wineries charge a fee for tastings. Some will waive fees with a purchase, so ask if this is an option.

TASTING TIPS

Generally, white wines are tasted first, followed by red wines and then dessert wines. It’s okay to skip any of the wines on a tasting list by politely declining. If you’re genuinely interested in purchasing a particular wine, it’s okay to ask for a second taste.

WHAT TO DO

Swirling the wine in your glass helps aerate the wine’s many aromas. When tasting, hold the glass by the stem rather than the bowl as holding it by the bowl can disturb the temperature of the wine. Inhale before taking a sip to appreciate the wine’s aromas. Likewise, swirl the wine around in your mouth once you sip to coat all the surfaces.

HIP TO SPIT

You don’t have to drink all the wine in your glass. Toss the unwanted wine into the dump bucket provided for this purpose. You can also spit all or a portion of your tastings into a spittoon or cup.

PACE YOURSELF

Don’t try to visit too many wineries in one day. Keep in mind that tasting room samples are usually one-ounce pours, and a typical glass of wine is 4-6 ounces. Know your limit and stop when you reach it.

ASK QUESTIONS

Tasting room servers (who are sometimes the winery owners themselves) love to share their knowledge about their wine and the stories of their wineries.

HAVE A DESIGNATED DRIVER

This will ensure your wine tasting adventure is fun and safe for you and others.

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Award winning wines, friendly staff, bocce courts, dog-friendly and a beautiful deck. Come see us!

welcoming tasting room & patio

5.5 scenic miles south of hood river on hwy 35

541.386.1277 / wyeastvineyards.com Open Daily 11-5 or so

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New School

WORLD CLASS ACADEMY OFFERS HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS ACADEMIC CLASSES WHILE TRAVELING THE WORLD PURSUING THEIR SPORT Story by Lindsay McClure • Photos by Michael Peterson & courtesy of World Class Academy

Main photo by Michael Peterson.

Photos above by Lindsay McClure and Blaine Baker (top right).

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Lindsay McClure, World Class Academy program director, and Blaine Baker, head coach, on the White Salmon Sandbar, above.

Opposite, World Class students in various locales around the world, including the Gorge’s Lyle Sandbar, Costa Rica and Spain.

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Blaine Baker

IMAGINE an academic setting where students count the days until the start of the school year — instead of counting the days until school is over. At World Class Academy, the only back-to-school blues are the shades of crystal blue water where students train each afternoon. As World Class Kiteboard Academy program director, I’ve heard comments from the students as spring break approaches each year about changes we should make to the academic calendar. They think it would be great if they didn’t have to go home for spring break. They want to stay at school, but take a little break from academics.

Everyone involved with World Class Academy understands that school doesn’t have to be a burden. It doesn’t have to be something to get through. Imagine a school where students don’t want to leave!

NOT ONLY ARE STUDENTS AT WORLD CLASS GIVEN THE OPPORTUNITY TO SEE THE WORLD, BUT STUDENTS FROM AROUND THE WORLD BECOME CLASSMATES AND CLOSE FRIENDS.

Elijah Chilton

World Class Academy is a world-traveling college preparatory high school based in White Salmon, Wash. World Class combines rigorous academics with an athletic training program — kayaking, kiteboarding or climbing — that allows top young athletes to come up through the ranks in their respective sport.

To achieve this, each program travels the globe with teachers, coaches and books in tow, moving from training spot to training spot. We spend from a few days to a month in each location before moving somewhere new. The kiteboarding program will start the 2017/18 school year in the Gorge, while North America still has enticing wind and weather for kiteboarding.

From here, we will head out on a California road trip, then travel to Brazil, South Africa, Morocco and Italy before finishing the school year with graduation in Spain.

World Class Academy was created in 2001 in Missoula, Mont., as a private, accredited high school for the world’s top junior whitewater kayakers in grades 9-12. The school moved its base to White Salmon in 2010. In January 2014, the school started its kiteboarding academy, and a program for climbing was born in the fall of 2016. The formula of mixing students’ passions with their education has proven to work well regardless of the sport, helping to create an en-

Devin Kuh

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Elijah Chilton

vironment where students are not only reaching their full athletic potential but their academic potential, as well.

My involvement in World Class began in 2013 as we prepared to launch the kiteboarding program, which opened its doors with a pilot semester that took students through Costa Rica, Panama, the Dominican Republic and southern Texas. Starting from that first semester, the growth of the kiteboarding program was steady as we went from two students to three, to six, to 11 and then to our enrollment cap of 16.

As the literature teacher for World Class Academy, I find that the following sentiment by Mark Twain reflects the value of our experience: “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrowmindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.”

Not only are students at World Class given the opportunity to see the world, but students from around the world become classmates and close friends. The kiteboarding school has enrolled students from the United States, Canada, Turks and Caicos Islands, Mexico, Germany, Austria, France, Jamaica, Australia, New Zealand, Poland, Lithuania, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

World Class Kiteboard Academy alumnus Rutger Bogard of Hood River discovered the academy after taking local kiteboarding lessons. “I learned how to kiteboard at Cascade Kiteboarding in Hood River,” Bogard said. “My instructor was WCA head coach Blaine Baker, and he told me about WCA. I attended Hood River Valley High School for another year before enrolling in World Class my senior year.”

Touring the globe with World Class is a formative experience that leaves students and staff forever changed, often more open-minded, kind-hearted and curious about the world.

Lindsay McClure

Students Tom Seager and Sean Karam have an after-school session in Cabo de la Vela, Columbia, opposite top. Opposite inset, students study at Yosemite, in Northern California. Opposite bottom, Blaine Baker teaches a calculus class in Columbia. Above left, students help a local farmer vaccinate cows in Ecuador. Above right, a morning strength workout in Palomino, Columbia.

No matter where in the world we are located, one of the biggest challenges at World Class is figuring out how to fit a maximum amount of action into each day. We start each day early, with a morning workout that is designed to complement our afternoon athletic training. After the workout, we transition to a family-style breakfast and then we hit the books. Literature, math, science, foreign language, social studies and media classes meet as they would at a traditional school, with lectures, projects, homework, essays — and, yes, exams.

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Making History Come Alive…

World Class graduate Kit Griffiths catches air at the Speed Spot in Dakhla, Morocco, below. Inset, a World Class Academy session in the Gorge, where the school year begins. As the weather changes, the globetrotting, mobile school will pick up and head south — first to California, then to Brazil, South Africa, Morocco and Italy before finishing the school year with graduation in Spain.

VISIT OUR HISTORIC Hood River Photo Blog: historichoodriver.com DISCOVER culture and history through fresh, engaging exhibits, and exciting programs EXPLORE hands-on activities and educational displays for families and children of all ages

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Lindsay McClure

Devin Kuh

After lunch and another round of classes, we take a quick break as students transform into athletes and teachers put on their coaching hats. Next, we gather for the kite meeting. At this time, the head coach goes over the training plan for the day, explaining the wind forecast and where we will be practicing. Then, we hustle to the beach and launch our kites. Each athlete has his or her own goals, and they routinely meet with the coaches to review the steps they need to follow to achieve their goals.

Kiteboarding is a unique sport with many distinct disciplines. At World Class, a majority of students practice freestyle riding, but we also have athletes that practice park riding, old-school, big air, strapless freestyle, wave riding, foil racing and twin tip racing. Some of the World Class athletes are solely focused on one discipline, whereas others embrace a variety of riding styles. With all of this going on, we often break into smaller groups based on riding style and ability. Each group splits off with a coach and will spend the rest of the afternoon in a circuit, practicing.

Tom Barss, a World Class alumnus from Wilmot, N.H., has answered a lot of questions from his friends and family members about attending the academy. “The hardest thing for people to understand is that I actually learned a lot,” Barss said. “Some people find it hard to believe that you can get a great education while traveling around the world and kiteboarding every day.”

The World Class experience is often enriched when academics, cultural immersion and athletics combine to leave an indelible imprint on the minds of students. Participation in the restoration of the riparian zone below the former site of the Condit Dam on the White Salmon River has been one of these experiences. In environmental science and biology classes, students learn about the ecology of a healthy stream and the impact that dams have on our waterways. Students also learn about how the removal of the Condit Dam caused sediment to deposit at the mouth of the White Salmon River where it meets the Columbia River.

This sandbar is a popular kiteboarding launch for World Class Academy and a beach that didn’t exist before the removal of the dam. World Class has been playing a hands-on role in the riparian zone restoration project as part of the service-learning component of the school year. These experiences open the door to conversations about the pros and cons of hydroelectric power and the impact of the dams on the Columbia River and its tributaries.

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Michael Peterson

Stewardship of the world’s waterways is a tenet of the World Class mission statement.

However, so is the commitment to competitive athletics, and the Columbia River wouldn’t be an appealing place to practice kiteboarding if it weren’t for the dams that slow down the flow and raise the level of the river. In many cases, competitive athletics and care for the natural world go hand-in-hand, but sometimes the two are at odds with each other. Last fall, students were given the opportunity to ponder this complex relationship and then articulate and discuss their opinions on the issue. World Class will continue to work on the riparian zone restoration project this year.

This fall, when you see a train of vans full of young kiteboarders show up at your local kite beach, chances are it will be the World Class Academy.

Come say hello and share a session with us on the river.

For more information, go to worldclasskiteboardacademy.com Lindsay McClure is a writer and digital media producer who grew up in Hood River. Working at World Class Kiteboard Academy has given her the opportunity to share her love of literature, photography, travel and kiteboarding with motivated student-athletes.

5thelementsalon.com 16 Oak Street #201 • Hood River 541-386-6555 THE GORGE MAGAZINE : FALL 2017 43

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Gorton Creek in the Columbia River Gorge and Conboy Lake National Wildlife, opposite.

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Autumn in the Gorge A photo essay by Brian Chambers

My primary photographic goal is to capture and share the beauty and restorative power that can be found in the natural world. I love trying to balance the artistic components of photography with the technical challenges of capturing an image. Success in landscape photography requires spending time in nature: watching sunrises, staring at the rising moon, sitting beneath a star-filled sky, hiking into the wilderness to try and capture the unique light that can make a scene come alive. My motivation comes from those special times when all of the components come together to make an image that moves people and preserves that moment. bcphotography.zenfolio.com When not chasing the light, Brian Chambers works as a veterinarian. He lives in Hood River with his wife and son.

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THE GORGE GREEN CROSS

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Explore...

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S P E C I A L

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Visit the Western Antique Aeroplane and Automobile Museum and see one of the largest collections of still flying antique vehicles in the country. A large new expansion has recently opened to accomodate more cars and antique engines, and allow for an expanded Kid’s Zone. Open daily from 9am-5pm.

Designers, goldsmiths, and craftsmen, we make and repair in our state-of-theart workshop. Ken Apland brings 38 years of experience as a goldsmith and gemologist, so whether you need to have old jewelry redesigned, an heirloom restored, or an entirely new design made we can create it using reclaimed metals and responsibly sourced gems.

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You will find a great combination of home decor items plus unique artisan jewelry. Twiggs has beautiful glassware, ceramics, candles, wall decor, and more.

This is the perfect place to find gifts for brides and bridesmaids.

We are artists and professional jewelers.

If you are looking for something special, we can custom design it. We work with silver, gold, platinum and more. We can use your stone or work with you to find the perfect stone for your needs.

Hood River Jewelers also carries beautiful timepieces, diamond jewelry and designer collections.

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Help a Stranger

Call MOM & DAD to say I love them

Smile!

Make ‘Happy’ a Habit STORY BY KATIE ROBERTS | EVENT PHOTOS COURTESY OF GORGE HAPPINESS MONTH

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Happy to live in the Gorge

Tell my co-workers

king I like wor

with them

OCTOBER IS GORGE HAPPINESS MONTH, PART OF A GROWING MOVEMENT TO CULTIVATE GOOD HEALTH BY SPREADING WELL-BEING

W

hen you think of happiness, what comes to mind? Most people don’t realize that happiness is a skill people can learn, practice and use over the course of a lifetime. But thanks to a new movement introduced through Gorge Happiness Month last fall, thousands of people in the Columbia River Gorge are shifting their thinking about happiness. They’re recognizing that it’s up to them to take action if they want to feel happier. They’re also viewing this choice as a way to genuinely contribute to not just their own sense of joy but the health and wellness of their communities.

Science tells us that 40 percent of our happiness is genetic, 10 percent is environmental, and the rest is in our control. Research shows we can make choices that can directly impact our happiness factor. We can also be proactive and strategic about inviting joy into our lives, specifically by adopting three daily habits: “gratitudes”; acts of kindness; and moments of silence.

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These habits are proven to be so powerful that they collectively form the cornerstone to Gorge Happiness Month, which kicks off October 1. What’s more, the program, which runs for 31 days, has an audacious yet awesome goal this year: to get everyone in the area to make happy a habit. On both sides of the river, people of all ages and backgrounds are invited to participate in dozens of regional events and activities that capitalize on handy tools and empowering trainings. And, of course, all are encouraged to practice “The Daily 3” habits.

Gorge Happiness Month didn’t just “happen.” It surfaced last year in response to a question about how One Community Health, the Gorge’s first and only nonprofit federally qualified health center, wanted to recognize its 30th anniversary of service as well as its people, patients and partners.

“There had been some discussion about having a community-wide picnic or some celebratory activity at our main locations in The Dalles and Hood River,” says David Edwards, CEO. “But then someone sort of challenged us

Gus Reed, 8, celebrates at the Hood River Kick-Off Party for Gorge Happiness Month, above left. Sandy Williams and Betty Bentley, residents of Flagstone Senior Living in The Dalles, play the Happy Dice game, above right. Social scientist Ellen Donoghue, opposite, teaches a workshop on happiness habits.

Inviting joy into our lives

and suggested we do something better and that would support our mission.

This really spurred our thinking and inspired us to tie our efforts to the reason we exist — to advance health and social justice for all members of our community.”

Striving to make a meaningful, more lasting impact, Edwards hired Emily Reed, a Mosier resident and marketing/branding consultant. Reed has a passion and track record for helping create healthy, vibrant communities. Out of her discussions with One Community Health came the idea of not just an

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anniversary event but an entire month-long program packed with numerous activities, centered on the “science of happiness.”

“It’s a fact that happiness is good for your health and wellness,” Reed says.

“Given this, we decided to motivate people to experience more happiness.”

The grassroots program featured kick-off parties in Goldendale, The Dalles, Hood River and Stevenson. People enjoyed ice cream, hand massages and stations for coloring, moments of silence, gratitude, and interesting information on happiness — including the science behind it, the strategies to achieve it, and the benefits of making it a habit. Participants also engaged in the “Meet-a-Future Friend” activity, which gave people like Kelsey Culbertson and Rachel Rabey a structure for meeting and creating an instant connection.

“I went to the kickoff event at the Hood River Library on a whim,” Culbertson says. “It was sort of out of my element, but I thought I’d just pop in, and I was so happy I did. I happened to meet Rachel, and it turned out our girls are about the same age. Since then, we’ve had opportunities to get together and gone to our respective daughters’ birthday parties. She’s just someone who radiates nice, positive energy and has a lot of openness.

I thought she’d be a nice person to get to know better, and ever since then, it’s been a very easy friendship.”

This year even the skeptics might want to take the challenge, joining in on what’s both a fun and effective way to grow personally while contributing to their community. Last year, participants noted that “The Daily 3” led to greater self-awareness, brought about a surprising sense of inner calm, plus instilled within them a new desire to accelerate the value and gifts they bring to the world.

“Although most people know on some level that they have a choice in how they react to anything that comes their way, many people are unaware of the power they have to grow inner-strengths such as compassion, gratitude, resilience, confidence, calm, etc.,” says social scientist Ellen Donoghue, Ph.D., who offers classes (available through Hood River Community Education) on cultivating inner strengths. “In learning these skills, they can actively reduce sensations of anxiety, fear, doubt and judgment in ways that greatly enhance a lasting sense of well-being, or happiness.”

While such classes might be attractive to some people, Gorge Happiness Month offers a diversity of ways to get involved either individually or as a business/organization — or both. As Edwards says, there’s something for

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& communit y

everyone, and that’s exactly what helped the initiative go viral, evolving from a seedling of an idea to a movement embraced by community members from all walks of life, up and down the Gorge.

Making happiness a habit may feel tough at times but given the success of last year’s Gorge Happiness Month, it’s clear the three habits work. At the close of Gorge Happiness Month, Reed and Edwards analyzed participation and abundant feedback from a diverse cross-section of voices. The message they got? It wasn’t just that Gorge Happiness Month worked, but that people wanted to do it again.

From the children who colored “happy” chalk art on school sidewalks to Hood River Mayor Paul Blackburn sharing gratitude for a thank-you note he received from someone doing an act of kindness, people spoke up about how Gorge Happiness Month brought joy, new perspectives, creativity, peace and a sense of hope into their lives. Melanie McCloskey, who coordinated the hand massages and held a series of life-coaching workshops, came away pleasantly surprised. She plans to offer both again this year.

“With both the hand massage and the workshops, it was really impressive to see how many people participated,” McCloskey says. “People were just excited and enthusiastic. I thought it was great, particularly considering this was just the first year for Gorge Happiness Month.”

Another key finding: the opportunities to grow happiness made a difference that’s still ongoing today.

In fact, Rabey says she’s carrying the lessons learned forward in her teaching assistant job at Mosier School.

“Life is so busy, and school can be hard at times for kids,” she says. “If they just stop for a minute and pause to be grateful, reflective, or just think about what was great that happened that day, it can reset their minds. That’s what Gorge Happiness Month did for me, and I’ll definitely be using this in my job.”

No doubt, this month of happiness taps into a global movement that many people worldwide are increasingly embracing. Here in the Gorge, it created connections. It promoted learning. It inspired change. It even helped ease anger, uncertainty and fear in a difficult election year. And this October, people throughout the Columbia River Gorge will do it all again. Individuals and businesses are all encouraged to participate.

“We want people to know that everyone is invited,” Edwards says. “This is really all about influencing our environment and becoming better people and a better community. In a very literal sense, happiness is a positive, productive investment. And what we now know from Gorge Happiness Month is that growing happiness is a high-touch, capacity-building movement that’s very ennobling

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EXPERIENCE THE COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE LIKE NEVER BEFORE...

FROM THE SEAT OF AN ELECTRIC ‘PEDAL ASSIST’ BICYCLE! • Exclusive and custom tours available to discover the area's finest u-pick orchards, vineyards/wineries, lavender farms and beyond.

Kids at The Dalles Farmers Market write thank-you cards. During Gorge Happiness Month, there will be a Thank You Writing workshop as well as opportunities at various events to write thank-you cards.

as well as enabling. It’s what our people need for their health. It’s what our community needs to help build connection, work together effectively, and live amongst each in purposeful, thoughtful and productive ways.”

Katie Roberts is writer who lives in Hood River.

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JOIN THE MOVEMENT: GORGE HAPPINESS MONTH Here are some of the ways you can participate in Gorge Happiness Month.

For more information, go to gorgehappiness.org.

CALENDAR Poses a different challenge each day (e.g., hide money in the pocket of a coat, let someone go in line in front of you, treat a friend to lunch, etc.).

CLASSES Examples include family game night, yoga, journal making, zumba, cooking classes, ukulele lessons, orientation hikes, happy movies, walking groups and workshops on happiness.

EVENTS WITH HAPPINESS BOOTHS • Opportunities to do handmade thank-you cards, do acts of kindness in exchange for free ice cream, take a moment of silence with coloring.

• Hand massages.

• “Meet-A-Future-Friend” exercise, based on a study shown to create friendships.

GIVE-AWAYS Businesses/organizations may wish to provide coffee, drinks, gems and fun surprises/trinkets, as well as help spread the “happiness” message on social or traditional marketing methods.

GROUPS Government and social organizations, retirement homes, schools, leadership teams, nonprofits, religious organizations and others can host a month of activities to grow happiness or make simple gestures, such as setting out gratitude jars for staff members to drop in their notes of appreciation.

DAILY EMAILS Provide inspiration to staff or friends every morning, adding in a reminder of the calendar’s challenge of the day.

APP Download it to help track daily gratitudes, acts of kindness, and a timer for moments of silence.

HAPPINESS INDEX SURVEY • Take the survey through the website or downloadable App. • Learn your own personal score as well as how the Gorge compares to more than 50,000 others around the world — the answer might surprise you.

• Describe happiness in one word; find out how others describe it, too!

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OUTSIDE

Through the Gorge

by SUP Paddling down the Columbia

River offers a new take on an old journey

B

STORY AND PHOTOS BY DANIEL DANCER

lessed by the current and a moderate east wind, we glided along in the Columbia’s wide-river solitude, the sun reflecting ahead in hundreds of blinking diamonds, the rhythm of the wavelets gently lapping on the bow of my little craft like a metronome. It was 100 degrees out and we were hot. Beacon Rock trailed just behind, Multnomah Falls in all its majesty was just coming into view up ahead.

Dying for some shade, we spied a rocky little island up ahead on the Washington side and paddled toward the shelter of its north side for a respite. It was a typical day in our spot to spot SUP adventure down the Columbia River from Mosier to Portland.

It was a late-summer paddle in 2015 from The Hook to Viento with my girlfriend, Leslie, that gave me the idea of paddling the Columbia River in segments, all the way from Mosier to Portland — kind of like the way people hike the PCT or Appalachian Trail. I’d been carrying my inflatable Airus SUP around in my car for a couple of years exploring coastlines and lakes, but hadn’t really used it much on the Columbia outside of the Hood River area. Being a kite surfer, I came quickly to love the contrast of being out on the river when it’s calm, the clear water revealing gently waving aquatic plants, huge darting carp and sometimes salmon or an old wrecked boat just below the surface.

It amazes me that such intricate and techy sports like windsurfing and kiteboarding both arrived on a mass scale — in the Gorge, at least — before the advent of the relatively simple concept of standing up on a paddleboard with a long paddle and making one’s way across the water. I have a picture of my 5-year-old self on Balboa Island in California standing up on a glossy plywood paddleboard, a direct relative of today’s boards.

Now, due to its simplicity and ease of use, its wide appeal has eclipsed both kiting and windsurfing and morphed into all kinds of specialties: surfing, riding river rapids, down-winding, yoga performing and general lazing along across the water. I prefer the latter, though I’ve begun to downwind on longer boards designed for staying on the big, high-wind, rolling swells and OMG what intensity, what exercise, what ungraceful spills! It’s in the extreme sports category, though, and not for everyone.

What I am presenting here is a different beast entirely, “uber-relaxSUPing!” Inflatable SUP’s work

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best, given the need for a shuttle between put-in and take-out. With a little thought and planning, just about anyone can do it. All that’s needed is a love of travel and a yearning for adventure.

I explored on Google Earth and figured we could paddle to Portland in nine segments: Mosier to Hood River to Viento to Home Valley to Stevenson to Bonneville Dam to Beacon Rock to St. Cloud to Rooster Rock, to the houseboats along Marine Drive: the end! Each section is roughly six to 12 miles long. Three hours on the water is all that is needed for most sections, allowing for little explorations and occasional swims along the way.

Paddling the stretch from Home Valley to Stevenson on a windless, 100-plus degree day had me ditch my clothes entirely and fall in the water when I got too hot. On another day, a strong current and a lively east wind made for a testy passage across the river from Stevenson to the old submerged locks at what was once known as the Cascades Rapids. On the way, Leslie and I watched a kayaker surf the substantial wake behind the giant rolling wheel of the Sternwheeler.

Once across, we carried our inflatable SUPs up the old stairway onto the parkway of Thunder

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Paddling under the Bridge of the Gods, opposite, is dramatic, as is passing by Cape Horn, opposite inset. Dozens of fishing platforms line the Washington shore west of Cascade Locks, left. Passing Beacon Rock, above, on a SUP offers a unique view of the landmark.

Island, which juts out into the river by Cascade Locks in idyllic green, shady beauty. No one was around except a young lady reciting poetry in a flowing white dress perched in the sweeping bows of a multi-trunked old growth Fir. We explored a bit and then took our boards back down the old stairs and prepared for our most momentous passage yet: paddling under the Bridge of the Gods.

Here the Columbia narrows and the current becomes the fastest on the river. Propelled by a nice easterly breeze we swiftly flew under the Bridge of the Gods high above us. Once through, I made my way over to the start of a long stretch of 50 or so Indian fishing platforms on the Washington side and waited for Leslie to catch up. We tied up our crafts to a landing jutting out into the river, climbed up and toasted our accomplishment with a container of tequila and grapefruit juice.

We were half-way to Portland.

We contemplated the legend of the once magnificent natural bridge that spanned the river here thousands of years ago when Table Mountain broke apart and sent down a massive slide that temporarily dammed the river. And then we noticed the salmon. First one, then another, then scores of them jumping, leaping high all around us. It was jaw-dropping. In our 30-minute rest there I saw more salmon in the river than all my years of playing on the Columbia combined. It was quite a spectacle, and no one around but us. Not a single fisherman. And that’s the way it always was on our water-trail explorations — complete peace, no one around, just us and the river and, that day, the salmon.

On Memorial Day, the conditions were perfect for the leg of the trip I’d been most excited about: St. Cloud to Cape Horn to Rooster Rock.

After launching, we almost aborted the trip because, contrary to the weather report, the wind direction was westerly. It doesn’t take much of a headwind to spoil a good SUP day. But up ahead I could see a wind line and calm water beyond, so we persisted down the river. The basalt cliffs

of Cape Horn rise from 500 to 2,500 feet, and from any vantage point they are spectacular. Up close, under welcome shade, we paddled next to four distinct waterfalls that crashed from high above into the river. Several varieties of flowers were in bloom along the cliffs and with the sounds of the clinking and splashing falls all around us, and no one else around, it was all we could do to leave and move on to the party scene awaiting at Rooster Rock, our take-out spot.

As of now, we have yet to make the journey down our final segment: Rooster Rock to the houseboats off Marine Drive — what we have decided to call “Portland.” This looks like an exciting stretch with three good-size islands and the confluence of the Sandy River to explore. I can’t wait for just the right day this fall.

Daniel Dancer is a long time activist for preserving the beauty and wildness of the Columbia Gorge. He lives in the environmental community he founded in the hills above Mosier and operates an artist-in-residence program called Art For the Sky.

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888-509-4210•OREGON-EBIKES.COM THE GORGE MAGAZINE : FALL 2017 57

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ARTS + CULTURE

Book Boxes

An artistic collection of Little Free Libraries brings books, friendship and whimsy to Hood River neighborhoods STORY BY PEGGY DILLS KELTER • PHOTOS BY PALOMA AYALA

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y friend’s granddaughter calls them “The Fairy Houses,” and indeed, the small, brightly colored boxes perched on posts around town do resemble homes for small, enchanted beings. No fairies live within, though, except for those waiting to be discovered inside the covers of books.

Welcome to the wonderful world of Little Free Libraries, a project started in 2009 in Wisconsin. The original creator, Todd Bol, wanted some way to honor his mother, a school teacher and avid reader. In his front yard, he placed a homemade container designed to look like a one-room schoolhouse, and filled the box with books. He added a sign that said, “Take a book, leave a book,” and his neighbors did just that.

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Soon, more small houses were appearing everywhere, and the humble tribute to Bol’s mother became a worldwide organization. To date, more than 50,000 Little Free Libraries exist, far surpassing the 2,000-plus public libraries created with the generosity of Andrew Carnegie in the early 20th century.

The Little Free Library mission statement says, “The Little Free Library is a non-profit organization that inspires a love of reading, builds community, and sparks creativity by fostering book exchanges around the world.” In the Gorge, book lovers and artists are getting in on it, too. Charming miniature libraries are popping up everywhere, nestled in neighborhoods, thanks to some dedicated local community members.

Lucy Fine, a recent Hood River Valley High School graduate, created and installed some of the early little libraries as her EA (Extended Application) project. Every student at HRVHS is required to complete a project that shows an interest in a subject outside the constraints of school. Fine had seen some little libraries while visiting friends in Seattle. “We didn’t have any in

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Hood River,” she says. “I decided it would be a really nice addition to our cute town. I wanted to leave a lasting impression on the community and I really enjoy reading. I combined my love for reading, my love for art, and my love for this community.”

Fine’s small houses were built by local contractor Mike Kitts, and painted by Fine herself.

You can visit them at the Children’s Park and the Hood River Aquatics Center. Visitors are welcome to take a book, and encouraged to leave a book.

Shelley Toon Lindberg, director of Arts in Education of the Gorge, teamed up with the Hood River County Library to expand Fine’s project.

With funding from ArtPlace America (through a partnership with the Libraries of Eastern Oregon), Lindberg hired local sculptor and carpenter Rod Stuart to build 15 small structures.

Stuart is known for his fanciful faces, sculptures and architectural forms made from scrounged materials. True to form, he hunted for materials at construction site discard piles and the scrap bin at Krieg Millwork. “I’m a scrounger and I’ve been a dumpster diver since I was 20 years old,” Stuart says. Thanks to his thriftiness, 98 percent of the

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Megan Eckman: Flatteringly Flat 2

Readers peruse colorfully painted Little Free Libraries on Montana Court, opposite top, and Kesia Court, opposite bottom, where they’re encouraged to take a book, and leave one. Another little library sprouts through tall landscape grasses on West Prospect, above.

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ARTS + CULTURE

A Little Free Library on May Street, above left, is filled to the brim with books. Another one on Montello Avenue, with a tree stump for a base, is a popular destination for kids.

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materials used to build the libraries was free. Stuart added clever details to the tiny buildings, from architectural trim to handles that look like noses.

When the buildings were completed, Stuart passed them on to local artists Mark Nilsson, Cynthia Caudill, and Matt Gerlick’s HRVHS art students to paint them. The results are richly colored little libraries that brighten up many local neighborhoods.

As gorgeous as the little buildings are, it’s what’s inside that counts. Local community members have stepped up to become stewards of their neighborhood free libraries. The stewards ensure that the book supply is refreshed and tidied up on a regular basis. Different neighborhoods have different needs — some libraries are filled primarily with children’s books, while others appeal more to adult readers.

Thus far, the stewards have not reported any inappropriate additions to their free libraries, although they sometimes remove promotional pamphlets. One steward, Sheila Ford Richmond, says, “I try to get people to put books in that they love; don’t just put books in that you’re trying to get rid of.” Suzanne Warren, another steward, says, “I saved up books that I’d been given as gifts, that people left at my house, and that friends donated. I also volunteer at the library so I peruse the free book shelf for interesting titles to bring home to my little free library.” For Richmond, refreshing the book supply also requires some cleaning of her little house. The birds like to visit her library as much as the neighborhood kids do, requiring regular scrubbing of the roof.

All of the library stewards, both local and from afar, agree that the little free libraries have helped them get to know their neighbors and enhanced the sense of community in their neighborhoods. Bol, on a TED Talk, says the libraries “have turned strangers into friends.”

Perhaps Wyatt Townley, the Kansas Poet Laureate from 2013-15, says it best. “And so, I think we need more, not less, community in this day and age. I think we need more, not fewer, readers and thinkers in this day and age, and I think the Little Free Library addresses both of these needs in a single, graceful gesture.”

In addition to the libraries created by Lucy Fine and Arts in Education of the Gorge, other independent little libraries have popped up around the community. To find them, you can also visit Little Free Library.org, or keep your eyes open while walking the neighborhoods to find more of these treasures.

Approach quietly though; the fairies may be sleeping.

Peggy Dills Kelter is an artist and writer. She lives in Hood River and is a frequent contributor to The Gorge Magazine.

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Fall Arts Events FALL FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS The West Columbia Gorge Chamber of Commerce hosts the 3rd annual Fall Festival of the Arts Sept. 23-24 at Glenn Otto Park in Troutdale.

The festival is a weekend-long celebration of art, and features live music, wine tastings and food vendors. Regional artists selected by jury will display their work for sale inside the Sam Cox Building and outdoors at Glenn Otto Park. In addition, Troutdale galleries, restaurants, shops and services will be open throughout the festival. fallfestivalofthearts.com

a b e h in d - t h e - s ce n e s d o cum e n ta ry film

COLUMBIA GORGE ORCHESTRA ASSOCIATION The Columbia Gorge Orchestra Association kicks off its 2017-18 season with a production of Jason Robert Brown’s The Last Five Years, by CGOA’s theater group known as Stages. The production runs Sept. 8-16 at the Bingen Theater. On Oct. 15, the CGOA Jazz Collective presents an afternoon of big band jazz, from funk to bebop and beyond at the Wy’east Performing Arts Center. The CGOA Sinfonietta presents an evening of Disney classics, from Star Wars to Frozen, Oct. 20-22 at the Wy’east Performing Arts Center.

And Stages presents Samuel Beckett’s classic Waiting for Gogot, running Nov. 10-19 at the Wy’east Performing Arts Center. Tickets are available at gorgeorchestra.org.

Filmmaker Michael Peterson takes a rare glimpse at one of Hood River’s most beloved traditions that began 19 years ago.

This film showcases the many lives that have been touched by the production as it leads up to the final performance.

SENSE OF PLACE SERIES The Sense of Place lecture series kicks off its 8th season in October. The series, put on by Gorge Owned, takes place the third Wednesday of every month, from October through March, at the Columbia Center for the Arts.

Oct. 11 — The Bonneville Landslide: A Bridge of the Gods Before Lewis and Clark, by Nick Zentner Nov. 8 — The Gorge Latino Experience, a panel discussion moderated by Dr. Lynn Orr Dec. 13 — History Slam: An Improvisational View into our Past, by Arthur Babitz and Scott Cook Jan. 10 — Hanford: Our River Runs Through It, a panel discussion moderated by Columbia Riverkeeper’s Dan Serres Feb. 14 — Steamboats and Captains of the Columbia, by Captain Tom Cramblett March 14 — River of Hope: Salmon Dreams and the Columbia River Treaty, by Peter Marbach

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WELLNESS

A Light Touch

Dr. Ian Chambers provides chiropractic care through Network Spinal Analysis at his Bingen clinic STORY BY JANET COOK • PHOTOS BY BEN MITCHELL

W

hen Dr. Ian Chambers graduated from New York Chiropractic College in 1998, he began practicing in a busy clinic in upstate New York. After several months, he noticed that, for many of his patients, he seemed to be adjusting the same vertebrae over and over.

“I didn’t see a lot of long-term, sustainable change,” Chambers said. “I was seeing people being maintained at a certain level.” As an enthusiastic new practitioner, Chambers was quietly disheartened.

At around that time, he sustained a soccer injury that caused him a lot of sciatic nerve pain. He went to see a fellow chiropractor whom he respected. But after several months of treatment, he found the pain getting worse rather than better. He heard about someone who practiced “light touch” chiropractic, a different methodology that he knew little about. But he was desperate for relief and figured he had nothing to lose, so he scheduled an appointment.

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“She laid a light touch on my spine and I felt my body let go,” Chambers said. He went through a series of treatments and, as he began to feel better, set out to learn more about the technique he was undergoing, Network Chiropractic. Developed in the 1980s by Dr. Donald Epstein, Network — also known as Network Spinal Analysis — is an offshoot of traditional chiropractic that uses a series of light touches along the spine with the goal of aiding the nervous system in re-establishing the communication of proper nerve signals between the brain and the body.

“It’s working more with the brain rather than just pushing bones around,” Chambers said.

Epstein called the technique Network because it views the body as a network in which everything is linked. In some ways, Network harkens back to the origins of chiropractic in the 1890s, when it was designed as a comprehensive health care system focused on the nervous system, not just as a method to treat ailments.

“The job of the nervous system is to control and coordinate all the other systems of the body,”

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Dr. Ian Chambers, opposite inset, practices Network Spinal Analysis, a form of chiropractic care, on patients in his Bingen clinic, and shows a model of degenerating vertebral discs, opposite bottom.

Chambers said. “If the nervous system is compromised, then any of those systems can be compromised.” He explains the difference between traditional chiropractic and Network like this: “Traditional chiropractic is adjusting the nerve root where it attaches to the bone; it’s taking pressure off one nerve root. Network works to clear tension from the whole nervous system.”

After Chambers began being treated with Network, he was astounded by how much better he felt. Not only did his soccer injury symptoms disappear, but he was sleeping well and handling stress better. “I was profoundly blown away by the results and how I felt,” he said. He began attending Network seminars and trainings, and became one of the first chiropractors to be certified in Network Spinal Analysis.

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Chambers has been practicing Network ever since, first in New York and then after moving to the San Francisco Bay Area — a “hot spot” for Network, according to Chambers — where he practiced at clinics in Marin County before opening his own clinic in Santa Cruz. Chambers also was a member of the International Teaching Staff for Network Chiropractic from 2001 to 2011.

Seeking a better quality of life, Chambers moved with his wife and two children to White Salmon two years ago. He began practicing at a clinic in Bingen, then took over the clinic and renamed it Columbia River Wellness when the previous chiropractor retired.

Chambers’ practice has grown quickly, which he attributes partly to being the only chiropractor in the area practicing Network. There are a few Network practitioners in the Portland area, but “it’s a relatively underserved area,” he said.

“I’m really excited to bring it to the Gorge,” Chambers said. “The Gorge community is so wonderful, there’s a lot of openness to new things. Even

Patients at Columbia River Wellness undergo a thorough exam and, often, are referred for x-rays and imaging to show structural issues, as part of their Network treatment.

people in the medical community are really open. I have a number of referring doctors.” Chambers has seen his own profound experience with Network repeated again and again with patients. It’s turned him into what he calls a “purist,” practicing only Network Spinal Analysis.

Practicing Network allows Chambers to treat people of all ages. “Our approach is so gentle, we can treat babies through seniors — our oldest patient is 97,” he said. Chambers treats patients on a continuum. Level 1, or “relief care,” helps with immediate pain. Level 2, known as “corrective care,” addresses underlying problems leading to pain and “dis-ease.” Level 3 is “wellness/maintenance care.”

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Fine Art Landscape Photography from the Gorge and Beyond

R

bcphotography.zenfolio.com BrianChambersPhotography@gmail.com Connect with me on Facebook and Twitter

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Back to School

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Dr. Chambers learned about Network Spinal Analysis after being treated for a soccer injury. He was one of the first chiropractors to be certified in Network nearly 20 years ago.

Helping patients reach and remain at that third level is satisfying for Chambers. He cites a study of 2,800 Network patients conducted by the Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology at University of California, Irvine. The study found that patients reported improved well-being in a variety of categories — including physical state, mental/emotional state, response to stress, life enjoyment, and overall quality of life — after Network care for as little as one month and up to and beyond three years. In the study, 95 percent of patients reported that their expectations had been met, and 99 percent wished to continue Network care.

“The study also found that there was no ‘cap’ to the benefits people received from Network care,” Chambers said — which he knows firsthand from his own experience. That’s part of what keeps him as passionate about Network now as he was when he first discovered it nearly 19 years ago.

“My goal is to help people feel better,” he said. “But the bigger picture is to help them function better.”

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OUR GORGE : PARTAKE

Leek and Potato Soup RECIPE AND PHOTOS BY KACIE McMACKIN

This silky, simple soup is one of my very favorite things to make as the weather begins to turn cool in the fall. The soup is hearty enough to invoke all the coziness of autumn, but bright enough to still feel summery. This recipe is perfect with some crusty, toasted bread. It doubles and freezes well, too.

Ingredients.

•

4 tbsp unsalted butter, divided

•

1/2 tsp extra virgin olive oil

•

1 1/4 lb thinly sliced leeks, white and light green parts only (ends discarded)

•

1 qt low-sodium vegetable stock

•

1 cup water

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1 1/2 lb russet potatoes , peeled and cubed

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1/2 cup half-and-half

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1/2 cup heavy cream

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kosher salt

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freshly ground black pepper

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Mascarpone cheese or créme fraîche (optional)

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very finely minced Italian parley or chives

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Maldon sea salt or flake salt

Directions: To clean the leeks, place the sliced leeks in a large bowl and cover them in cold water. Agitate to loosen any dirt that is hiding in the layers. Lift the leeks from the water bath into a strainer and drain.

In a large, heavy-bottomed pot, melt 2 tablespoons of butter with a 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil. Add in the leeks, a 1/2 teaspoon of salt and a few turns of pepper. Sauté the leeks for about five minutes on medium high heat until they have softened a bit. Reduce the heat to low and continue to cook the leeks for another 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they are very soft and tender.

Add the broth, water, and potatoes to the pot. Bring it to a simmer and cook, uncovered, for about 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are completely cooked and soft. Move the pot off of the heat before stirring in the cream, half and half, and the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter.

Using an immersion blender, purée the soup until smooth. If you don’t have an immersion blender, transfer the soup in batches to blender and purée until smooth. Leave the plug off, covering the small hole with a thickly folded towel. This allows some of the steam to escape so you’re not creating any pressure.

Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Transfer the soup to bowls, top with a little mascarpone cheese or crème fraîche, a pinch of flaky salt and the fresh herbs. For a variation, top the soup with fried parsley — heat a couple of tablespoons of olive oil until shimmering in a pan and fry the whole leaves for about 30 seconds, transfer to a paper towel to crisp and cool.

Pair with…

Springhouse Pinot Noir 2012 Wy’East Vinette’s Cuvee Pinot Noir 2014 Analemma Rose of Pinot 2015

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Kacie McMackin is a food blogger, writer and photographer at gorgeinthegorge.com. She is a frequent contributor to The Gorge Magazine.

THE GORGE MAGAZINE : FALL 2017

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EAT + DRINK

BRIDGESIDE

THE ANDREW’S EXPERIENCE

BACKWOODS BREWING COMPANY 509-427-3412 • backwoodsbrewingcompany.com 1162 Wind River Hwy • Carson

541-374-8477 • bridgesidedining.com Exit 44 off I-84, Cascade Locks

Pizzeria • drafthouse theater • arcade • frozen yogurt It’s the pizza -25 years of authentic east coast thin crust pizza

Backwoods Brewing is family owned and located in Carson, WA. Established in 2012, we offer delicious beers, hand-made pizzas, have outdoor seating, and welcome all ages.

Stunning views next to the Bridge of the Gods – Bridgeside (formerly Charburger) still serves tasty char-broiled burgers plus an extensive menu of breakfast items, chowders, fish & chips, fresh salad bar, sandwiches, and desserts. New name, new management, but historic charm and western artifacts remain. Serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

541-386-1448 • AndrewsPizza.com 107 Oak Street • Hood River

On-line ordering • Eat in • Take out • Delivery

Open daily: 11:30am-9pm

BRODER ØST

541-436-3444 • brodereast.com 102 Oak St. Suite 100 • Hood River Offering Nordic inspired breakfast and lunch to the gorge. Something new and exciting for the whole family to enjoy. Come try traditional recipes such as aebleskiver (danish pancakes), swedish meatballs, norwegian lefse (potato crepes) and lots more!

CASA EL MIRADOR FAMILY MEXICAN RESTAURANT 541-298-7388 • casaelmirador.com 1424 West 2nd Street • The Dalles

Gift shop • Special event room & terrace

CELILO RESTAURANT & BAR 541-386-5710 • celilorestaurant.com 16 Oak Street • Downtown Hood River

Celilo began with a desire to honor the bounty of this region and a commitment to a healthy and sustainable future. Our ever-changing menu reflects the seasonal highlights of the region’s growers and foragers. We offer the most innovative in fresh, local cuisine as well as an award-winning wine list, full bar, small plate menu, and happy hour daily from 5-6pm.

#broderost

Quality Mexican food prepared with the freshest and finest ingredients. Warm, friendly service and a lively atmosphere. Indulge in generous portions of flavorful sizzling fajitas, fish tacos, savory enchilada dishes and daily specials.

Drink specials & Happy Hour menu from 4-7pm, Mon-Fri. Full service bar, take-out menu, gift certificates and catering services. Open for lunch and dinner 7 days a week.

CLOCK TOWER ALES

CROOKED TREE TAVERN & GRILL 541-352-6692 • cooperspur.com 10755 Cooper Spur Road • Mt Hood/Parkdale

541-386-4502 • dogrivercoffee.net 411 Oak Street • Downtown Hood River

Located in historic downtown The Dalles. Clock Tower Ales is the family friendly place to be! Extensive outdoor seating on our deck, live music on the weekends, upscale pub style lunches, chef inspired dinners, handcrafted cocktails, local wines, and over 30 craft beers on tap! Enjoy a bit of history, sit back and relax, it’s always a good time at the tower!

Home cooking takes on a broader significance at the Crooked Tree Tavern & Grill. Draw a 30-mile circle around our cozy community bar and restaurant, and chances are your meal is sourced from a combination of the outstanding local farms, ranches, wineries and breweries that are part of the Hood River Valley’s culinary renaissance.

Named one of ‘America’s top 10 coffeehouses’ by USA Today

We look forward to serving you!

541-705-3590 • clocktowerales.com 311 Union Street • Downtown The Dalles

Dinner daily from 5pm • Lunch Fri-Sun 11:30-3pm

DOG RIVER COFFEE

Full service espresso bar featuring Stumptown coffee Breakfast burritos, pastries and more Caffeinating your adventures since 2004 Open: Mon-Fri, 6am-6pm & Sat-Sun, 7am-6pm

Open Daily: 11am-close

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EAT + DRINK

everybodysbrewing.com White Salmon, WA

EL PUERTO DE ANGELES III

EVERYBODY’S BREWING

FULL SAIL BREW PUB

541-308-0005 1306 12th Street • Hood River, on the Heights

509-637-2774 • everybodysbrewing.com 151 Jewett Boulevard • Downtown White Salmon

541-386-2247 • fullsailbrewing.com 506 Columbia Street • Downtown Hood River

Authentic Jalisco Cuisine. We provide a great dining experience and freshly prepared platters delivered to your table with Mexican hospitality by our friendly staff. Enjoy good food, good folks and good times. Offering daily lunch and dinner specials served all day. Happy Hour Mon-Fri 2-5pm.

Enjoy our outdoor patio (open weather permitting).

See for yourself why Everybody’s Brewing is a local favorite!

We brew 15 different styles of beer plus seasonal selections onsite. The menu is filled with affordable food choices made with high-quality local ingredients. The atmosphere is warm and family-friendly. Enjoy the stunning Mt. Hood view from the outdoor deck, listen to free live music on Friday nights. Open 11:30am to Close

If there is one thing a brewer loves more than great beer– it’s great food and great beer! Our northwest-inspired menu complements our award-winning brews and features seasonal, local ingredients. Swing by for a pint, grab a bite, tour the brewery or just soak up the view. Open daily at 11am serving lunch and dinner. Guided brewery tours are offered daily at 1, 2, 3 and 4pm and are free of charge.

KICKSTAND COFFEE & KITCHEN

McMENAMINS EDGEFIELD

Sun-Thu 10am-9pm, Fri & Sat 10am-10pm

INDIAN CREEK GOLF COURSE & DIVOTS CLUBHOUSE RESTAURANT

541-436-0016 • kickstandcoffee.net 1235 State Street • Hood River

503-669-8610 • mcmenamins.com 2126 SW Halsey Street • Troutdale (off Exit 16)

Located in the heart of the Hood River Valley just minutes from downtown. Breathtaking views of Mt. Hood and Mt. Adams from our covered patio. Full service bar and fabulous northwest cuisine at a reasonable price.

Your everyday vacation spot! Open to the public.

KickStand uses seasonal, locally sourced ingredients and a blend of foreign and domestic cooking styles to create unique world flavors. Breakfast menu, plus our own donuts, fresh daily! House-roasted Ten Speed Coffee.

Lunch and dinner menus offer healthy salads, burgers, sandwiches and entrees. Beer, wine & cocktails.

The Black Rabbit Restaurant uses ingredients from Edgefield’s own gardens, grown using organic methods – herbs, vegetables, fruits and flowers that flourish throughout the property’s 74 acres. We use these in seasonal specials and throughout the menu whenever possible. Stop in for a fresh taste.

Open Daily for Lunch & Dinner. Happy Hour 3-6pm.

Open daily 7am. Outdoor patio. Firepit. Kid-friendly.

Ales, wines and spirits are crafted onsite.

541-308-0304 • indiancreekgolf.com 3605 Brookside Drive • Hood River

PFRIEM FAMILY BREWERS

PIETRO’S PIZZA

REMEDY CAFÉ

541-321-0490 • pfriembeer.com 707 Portway Avenue, Suite 101 • Hood River Waterfront

541-386-1606 • pietrosrestaurants.com 107 2nd Street • Hood River

541-716-4020 • remedyjuice-cafe.com 112 Third Street • Downtown Hood River

pFriem artisanal beers are symphonies of flavor and balance, influenced by the great brewers of Belgium, but unmistakably true to our homegrown roots in the Pacific Northwest. Although they are served humbly, each glass is overflowing with pride and a relentless aspiration to brew the best beer in the world. We’ll let you decide.

Pietro’s is proud to serve the same famous original thin pizza crust and pizza sauce that has made us a Northwest favorite over the years. We use only the freshest and finest cheese and toppings. Proud to be locally owned and operated with four locations: Hood River, Milwaukie, Beaverton and Salem. Dine in, take out, online or delivery.

Open Daily: 11:30am-9pm

Open Daily 11am-10pm

Recharge at Remedy Café with organic and satisfying breakfast or lunch bowls, burritos, curry, smoothies, juices, or hot drinks. Vegan and paleo options, created from scratch from the best quality organic and local ingredients.

Kombucha on tap. Locally roasted, organic espresso.

Free WiFi. Open Mon-Fri 7am-5pm Sat & Sun 8am-5pm.

Dine-in or take out. Order ahead online or call us!

THE GORGE MAGAZINE : FALL 2017

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EAT + DRINK

RIVERSIDE & CEBU LOUNGE 541-386-4410 • riversidehoodriver.com Exit 64 off I-84 • Waterfront Hood River

RIVERTAP PUB & RESTAURANT

541-296-7870 • rivertappub.com 701 East 2nd Street • Downtown The Dalles (I-84, Exit 85)

SOLSTICE WOOD FIRE PIZZA

Diners seek out newly remodeled Riverside for some of the best food and views in the Gorge, and Cebu for great bar food and drinks. Fresh menus change seasonally—plus an award-winning wine list. Enjoy indoors, on the deck, or in our popular Cebu Lounge.

Showcasing delicious local foods, hand crafted beers, wines and spirits of the Columbia River Basin in a relaxed atmosphere. Friendly staff, family dining, and the best garden patio in The Dalles!

Inventive, thin-crust pizzas, seasonally inspired entrees, & sublime s’mores. Creative cocktails, craft beers, wine, & ciders on tap. Family dining & kids play area.

Vegan & gluten-free options.

Cebu Lounge Happy Hours: Mon-Fri 4-6pm

Enjoy Happy Hour daily, 3pm-6pm and Live Music every Friday, Saturday and Sunday!

Heated patio & waterfront views across from the park Wood-fired & Gorge-inspired!

STONEHEDGE GARDENS

541-436-0800 • solsticewoodfirecafe.com 501 Portway Avenue • Hood River Waterfront

541-386-3940 • stonehedgeweddings.com 3405 West Cascade Avenue • Hood River

541-386-7423 • sushiokalani@gorge.net 109 First Street • Downtown Hood River

SUSHI OKALANI

TAD’S CHICKEN ‘N DUMPLINS

“The best outdoor dining in the Gorge.” –NW Best Places We are a favorite among locals and visitors. Our cuisine is a classic, European blend that utilizes fresh, local ingredients and pairs well with our select wines. Our gardens are the perfect setting for weddings. Full-service catering available.

“Romantic setting and the best meal I had in town.”

–The Los Angeles Times

Come find us in the basement of the Yasui Building, the local’s favorite spot for fresh fish, Pan-Asian Cuisine, and a rockin’ atmosphere! Lots of rotating specials, creative rolls, and a large sake selection means you’re always trying something new! Private rooms are available for groups up to 20 people. Take-out menu available online. Open for dinner nightly at 5:00, closing hours change seasonally.

We are nestled on the banks of the Sandy River in Troutdale, OR–the gateway to the Columbia River Gorge. We are located halfway between Portland and Multnomah Falls.

Serving exquisite American cuisine since the 1930s. The menu includes: Seafood specialties as well as traditional steak, chicken, and pasta dishes; a full bar, and our famous home-style chicken ‘n dumplins. Open every night for dinner.

503-666-5337 • tadschicdump.com 1325 East Historic Columbia River Hwy • Troutdale

gorge in the gorge

A local guide to the best food, drinks, farms, and markets! gorgeinthegorge.com

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EAT + DRINK

5TH ANNUAL

TARWATER TAVERN tarwatertavern.com 130 E Jewett Blvd • White Salmon

Longtime Portland bartender-owner, Chris Joseph (Berbati’s Pan, Blue Monk, Morrison Hotel) brings his love of booze and Red Sox to White Salmon.

Stop in to try some of the finest handmade cocktails, beer, wine, cider, & kombucha, the Gorge has to offer.

We have two outside seating areas. Ask for Amy’s famous shrubs or infusions. Visit our website. Open 4pm-2am

WALKING MAN BREWING 509-427-5520 • walkingmanbeer.com 240 SW 1st Street • Stevenson

Nestled in Stevenson, WA just minutes from the Bridge of the Gods, Walking Man has become a destination for beer enthusiasts and gorge travelers. Experience the charm of a small community craft brewery. Enjoy our dog-friendly beer garden or cozy up with a pint and a bite in the brewpub.

Gorge Giving A PUBLICATION HIGHLIGHTING NON-PROFITS IN OUR COMMUNITY.

Make sure you are in the 2018 edition.

Please visit our website for seasonal hours.

CAFÉ & GRILL

Award Winning Oregon Newspaper Publisher’s Association

WET PLANET CAFÉ & GRILL

WHITE SALMON BAKING CO.

Off the beaten track, outside and delicious. From a perfect espresso in the morning with a fresh pastry, to one of the best burgers in the Gorge! Farm-to-Table menu, including freshly caught Salmon. Enjoy great food paired with local brews, cider and wines on our outdoor patio, while watching the rafters and kayakers have fun on the White Salmon River.

Wood-fired artisan breads, pastries, espresso, with a café serving breakfast and lunch. Regional and Italian wines for sale. Stop by and check out Monday Pizza Night!

Hood River News Advertising, 541-386-1234

Monday, Thursday and Friday 7-3:30 Saturday and Sunday 8-3 Closed Tuesday and Wednesday

The Dalles Chronicle Advertising, 541-296-2141

509-493-8989 • wetplanetwhitewater.com 860 Highway 141 • White Salmon (Husum)

509-281-3140 • whitesalmonbaking.com 80 Estes Avenue • White Salmon

Open daily 8-6.30 PM, Memorial weekend - End of Sept

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for WINTER 2017/18!

On Stands December 8th

For advertising, contact Jody Thompson:

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OUR GORGE : EPILOGUE

Orchardists line up at downtown Hood River packing houses during harvest for fruit weighing, circa 1910. (Photo from the Collection of the History Museum of Hood River County.)

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THINKING OF YOUR NEXT HOME IN THE GORGE? THINK LOCAL!

JEFF SACRE

STEVE WOLF

VIRGINIA HILLYER

NMLS - 140302, MLO - 140302

NMLS - 114305, MLO - 114305

NMLS - 339123

Sr. Mortgage Specialist

Sr. Mortgage Specialist

Sr. Mortgage Specialist

102 3RD STREET | HOOD RIVER, OR 97031 Looking to Purchase or Refinance?

CALL US TODAY!

541.436.2662 directorsmortgage.net

This is not a commitment to lend. Information deemed reliable but subject to change without notice. Subject to credit approval.

Restrictions may apply. Call for Details. Consumer Loan License NMLS-3240, CL-3240.

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THE E C N E I EXPER

CALL US TODAY

THRILL OF FLIGHT

844.359.2827

LEARN TO FLY

3608 Airport Dr. | Hood River, OR 97031 | TacAero.com

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