TGM_Summer_2017

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PADDLE CHALLENGE World-Class SUP Event

WIND AND WATER Decades of Gorge fun

GORGE WINERIES A Tour of Lyle

5/26/17 10:00 AM

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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!

Taste of Village Chinese RestauRant & Lounge { Cantonese and Mandarin Cuisine }

Troutdale Vision Clinic 277 East Columbia River Hwy Appointments (503)-328-8455 www.meltmassageme.net

Eye exams, diagnosis and treatment Eyewear styling to fit your lifestyle Most insurance accepted

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oRDeRs to go: (503) 666-7768 302 e. historic Columbia River hwy sun-thur, 11-10pm • Fri & sat, 11-10:30pm

gifts HomE dECoR EspREsso

We Buy & Sell AntiqueS

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5/24/17 7:57 AM

CONTENTS : FEATURES

p.54

In the Wind and On the Water Christopher Van Tilburg takes us on a dizzying journey through decades of Gorge watersports. While much has changed, the vibe remains the same.

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ABOUT A BRIDGE For 93 years, the Hood River-White Salmon Bridge has provided us with easy transit across the Columbia River. Often taken for granted—sometimes vilified—but capable of stark beauty, the bridge remains a stalwart presence in Gorge life.

By Peggy Dills Kelter

62 GORGE FROM THE AIR

A photo essay by Rick Brown

Brian Sprout

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Discover your adventure…experience ours!

MARYHILL WINERY 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.

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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.

Perfect for families, groups, and friends with trips for all ages and abilities. Guided rafting on the White Salmon, Deschutes, Clackamas Rivers, and more! Last minute reservations okay. For updates and specials follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

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13TH ANNUAL ART & WINE FUSION

Sat, July 22, 2017, 2-10 pm Amazing artisans, specialty wines from world-class local wineries, the best pressed ciders, local micro brews, local spirits, feasts from notable area restaurants, and entertainment.

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ANGELA'S DELI

Fresh Deli Cuisine. Providing the Gorge with healthy food. Organic, vegan and veggie options available.

Join us for a delicious breakfast, lunch and dinner and organic fresh fruit juices and smoothies. We're open Mon-Fri 7am-6pm

541-993-6440 107A W Humboldt St • Bingen

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

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CONTENTS : DEPARTMENTS

our gorge

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12 PERSON OF INTEREST 14 VENTURES 18 BEST OF THE GORGE 22 HOME + GARDEN 26 LOCAVORE 28 STYLE + DESIGN 30 EXPLORE 76 PARTAKE 82 EPILOGUE

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Margaret Malarkey

32 WINE SPOTLIGHT

Peter Marbach

outside 66

DOUBLE DOWN ON THE RIVER Competitors converge on the Gorge for one of the world’s premier SUP events

By Jennifer Gulizia

arts + culture David Hanson

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wellness 72

MADE FROM SCRATCH Food allergies spurred Teresa Langen to create a gluten-free bakery

By Cate Hotchkiss

Markus and Christina Norvick

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LIVE FROM THE UNDERGROUND A Hood River music studio offers a creative space for music lovers

By Don Campbell

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SUMMER 2017 : THE GORGE MAGAZINE

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SINCE 1994

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

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Sammy

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Live in Concert Saturday July 29 free with fair admission!

get your biscuits in the oven & your buns to the fair 90th annual hood river co. fair

JULY 26TH -29th a wide variety of entertainment nightly

L

ike so many others over the last few decades, I first came to the Gorge for the wind. I’d finished college and was floundering around for direction. When I didn’t find it at a “real” job, working in a law firm with an eye toward law school, I decided to take a summer off, move to Hood River and learn to windsurf. I lived in a two-bedroom house—one bedroom being a drafty enclosed porch—with one bathroom and five other people. We called it the Grim House, and it lived up to the name. I borrowed a board—a clunky but indestructible Me, circa late 1990s Tiga—and bought a couple of used sails at Windance. I spent a lot of time at the Hook struggling to learn how to waterstart and worked at a friend’s food cart parked at the Marina. On paper, it wasn’t much. But it turned out to be one of the best summers of my life.

What followed were two more summers. More and better gear. Slightly better houses, still with many roommates. Similar jobs. At some point, I knew simply that this was it for me. Not the houses or the jobs sought to give the most time on the water or the pure stoke with every waterstart, and then jibe, and then jump I nailed. No, here was it for me. I would live here, with the wind and the water, and figure out the rest.

I’ve heard many versions of the same story over the years. Writer Chris Van Tilburg has his own version, and takes us on a wonderfully fun, historical journey through several decades of wind and water sports in the Gorge, beginning on page 54. His story is our story. In the end, so many of us who came here for the wind ended up staying for many other reasons. But the wind and the water hold sway over us still, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

Writer Peggy Dills Kelter takes us on another journey, this one through the more than 90-year history of the Hood River-White Salmon Bridge (page 42). The bridge is often taken for granted by those of us who use it frequently. Sometimes it’s vilified. (The toll! The one-lane closures! The narrow lanes!) But when it opened in 1924, it simplified life for Gorge residents, who no longer had to take the small ferry across the river. The bridge has undergone many changes over the years, and a great deal more are in store. But I, for one, feel a bit more affinity for the bridge having learned more about it. ( We extend our gratitude to Arthur Babitz and the History Museum of Hood River County for providing us with so many wonderful historic images of the bridge.)

This being summer, there’s a whole lot more in here—including a story on the Hood River Cherry Company (page 26), a piece on the Naish Columbia Gorge Paddle Challenge (page 66), and a tour of the Lyle wineries (page 32). We hope you enjoy the long summer days in the Gorge—in the wind, on the water, or wherever you find joy in this special place.

—Janet Cook, Editor

SUMMER 2017 thegorgemagazine.com

admission: wed. thurs $8 fri. & sat. $10 Kids 6-12 $3 & under free ride bracelets will be on sale until 5pm wed. july 26th

EDITOR’S NOTE

Serving Hood River County since 1921

hrfair@hrecn.net

PADDLE CHALLENGE World-Class SUP Event

WIND AND WATER Decades of Gorge fun

GORGE WINERIES A Tour of Lyle

ABOUT THE COVER Fiona Wylde paddles upriver in the Downwind Double Down—two back-to-back downwinders from Viento to Hood River—at the 2016 Naish Columbia Gorge Paddle Challenge. Wylde, who grew up in Hood River and Los Barriles, Mexico, is ranked second in the world among female SUP competitors. Photo by Jennifer Gulizia gorge-usphoto.com

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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SUMMER 2017 : THE GORGE MAGAZINE

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SUMMER 2017

e Go h t e r e h w

rge gets engaged

JANET COOK Editor

RENATA KOSINA Creative Director/Graphic Designer

MICKI CHAPMAN Advertising Director

JENNA HALLETT Account Executive

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Don Campbell, Jennifer Gulizia, David Hanson, Cate Hotchkiss, Peggy Dills Kelter, Peter Marbach, Kacie McMackin, Christopher Van Tilburg

COVER PHOTOGRAPHER Jennifer Gulizia

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Paloma Ayala, Rick Brown, Jennifer Gulizia, David Hanson, Renata Kosina, Peter Marbach, Kacie McMackin, Markus and Christina Norvick, Michael Peterson, Brian Sprout

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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.

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

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Andrea Johnson/Maryhill Winery

Life is just better on the north side of the Columbia River Gorge

STAY, PLAY & ENJOY KLICKITAT COUNTY WASHINGTON

Finish a beautiful driving loop tour with a visit to our premium wineries, museums, colorful shops, farmers markets, and festive restaurants. Oh, and meet some of the friendliest folks around.

Join us on the sunny side of the Columbia River Gorge...WE KNOW SUMMER. Enjoy a scenic whitewater rafting excursion, kiteboarding or windsurfing, world-class fishing, cycling trails, or star-gazing at the Goldendale Obeservatory…Klickitat County has it all!

Whitewater Rafting

Farmer’s Markets

Maryhill Museum

Maryhill Winery

Dean Davis Photography

Maps and Activity Brochures available at: www.MtAdamsChamber.com • (509) 493-3630 • Highway 14 at the Hood River Bridge www.GoldendaleChamber.org • (509) 773-3400 • 903 Broadway, Goldendale

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OUR GORGE person of interest p. 12 ventures p. 14 best of the gorge p. 18 home + garden p. 22 locavore p. 26 style + design p. 28 explore p. 30 wine spotlight p. 32

TAC Aero, with Jeremy Young, left, and Brian Prange at the helm, is changing the face of aviation in the Gorge. p. 14 Photo courtesy of Tac Aero

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OUR GORGE : PERSON OF INTEREST

Lynn Orr

History Museum director brings experience and passion to her job STORY BY JANET COOK • PHOTOS BY MICHAEL PETERSON

L

ynn Orr is fascinated with objects. Historical objects in particular. Which is important given her current job as director of the History Museum of Hood River County.

“Objects have many stories to tell,” Orr says as she sits in a back room at the museum where many objects in the museum’s permanent collection are stored. “They tell about the time period when they were made and the people who used them. I’ve always been interested in the objects themselves.”

Orr arrived at the museum in the fall of 2015, perhaps a bit on the overqualified side but not less enthusiastic because of it. She was ready to move to the Gorge from her longtime home in Palo Alto, Calif., to join her husband, Brad Schrick, who had been living here for years and working for Insitu.

Before moving to the Gorge, Orr spent 30 years as curator of European art at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. She’d first started there as a volunteer after earning her Ph.D. in art history from the University of California, Santa Barbara. “Within three weeks, I knew that was what I wanted to do,” she says.

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Orr built a career as a well-respected curator, and also taught art history on the adjunct faculty at Stanford University, where, among other lessons, she taught students the difference between looking and really seeing—something one of her college professors had taught her, and which set her on her life’s path.

Although Orr’s specialties were 17th and 19th century European art, she has a wide ranging interest in art history; along with co-authoring numerous books on older European art, she most recently wrote Art Deco: 50 Works of Art You Should Know, published in 2015.

When Orr landed at the History Museum, she went from working alongside more than 300 employees at the Fine Arts Museums to overseeing a couple of dozen part-time volunteers. She came in as the fourth director in two years, arriving after a period of turmoil and organizational changes at the museum following a county investigation into what it deemed anomalous accounting and administrative practices.

“During that time, the volunteers really held the museum together,” Orr says. “It’s really a tribute to them. They’re so devoted.” Since Orr’s arrival,

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Lynn Orr, director of the History Museum of Hood River County, poses by a photo exhibit at the museum, above, and with other items in the museum’s permanent collection.

the museum’s functioning has stabilized and Orr has been working to create a more “outwardlooking attitude” at the museum.

“We want people to feel comfortable here,” she says. “We want people to see us as a participant and a co-sponsor of community affairs.”

Orr’s goal was evident with events surrounding a recent exhibit at the museum, Minoru Yasui and Social Justice, which focused on the Hood River native son’s work as a lawyer fighting for minority rights. ( Yasui, a young lawyer in Portland when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, purposely got himself arrested in order to contest the government’s policies on minorities imposed after the U.S. entered World War II.) Along with the special exhibit, the museum co-sponsored the screening of a film about Yasui and his work at the Columbia Center for the Arts, and also hosted a related event put on by the Oregon Humanities Conversation Project called, “Where are you From?

Exploring What Makes us Oregonians.”

In curating the Yasui exhibit, Orr said she felt it was important to draw parallels between the 1940s and today “in light of the present political climate.”

“That duality of historical context and the reality of what’s happening today is what I want to bring to the fore,” Orr says. “We want the museum to be a safe place for conversations that are sometimes uncomfortable.”

With the Yasui exhibit behind her, Orr and museum volunteers are working to put together an exhibit of wedding dresses from the permanent collection—which Orr will use to highlight the history of fashion and early settlers in Hood River—as well as an exhibit on Latino culture.

Orr has plans to rearrange the museum’s permanent exhibits to include the Japanese story as

well as the Latino narrative. “In a museum, it’s very important where displays are located,” she says. “Giving equal weight to the Japanese and Latino stories is very important.”

Orr also is working to have temporary exhibits in the museum’s atrium change every two to three months, and hopes to create a permanent place to display historic photographs from the museum’s extensive collection.

Orr has applied her curatorial skills even to the exhibit cases, commissioning a complete retrofit in laminated glass which was completed over the winter. The new cases now are not only safer but are more easily accessible for changing exhibits and moving objects within the cases.

Changing those objects and taking care that they’re stored properly is something Orr takes very seriously. She loves to share her enthusiasm for historical artifacts with visitors. Sometimes, she says, when the museum isn’t crowded, she’ll take a small group to the back room and show them the permanent collection. “I like to talk to people about the care of objects, how to store them and how to display them,” she says.

“The reason museums are so wonderful is that they have objects,” Orr says. “My goal is to have visitors really look at the objects. I want them to walk around and experience them.” It goes back to that difference between looking and really seeing.

“Because history,” she adds, “isn’t just old stuff.”

For more information, go to www.co.hood-river. or.us/museum

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OUR GORGE : VENTURES

Flying Ahead TAC Aero helps bring Hood River’s airport— and Gorge aviation technology—into the future STORY BY DON CAMPBELL • PHOTOS COURTESY OF TAC AERO

D

istinguished World War II flying ace Ken Jernstedt wouldn’t recognize the place now, or what it will soon become. But he darn sure would be proud of what it’s doing for Gorge aviation.

Jernstedt, who earned commendation for piloting his Flying Tiger over Burma in 1941-42, is the namesake of Hood River’s Ken Jernstedt Airfield-4S2, which might appear to most as a sleepy, little-used strip with not much horsepower under the hood. Though the former mayor, state legislator, and businessman died in 2013 at age 95, he would likely thrill to have learned that the Port of Hood River, owner of the public facility off Tucker Road, has some significant multi-phased airport improvements that will take this Basic Utility, Stage II airport into the future.

The Port has gotten word that it will receive over $2.5 million in state and federal grant funding for upgrades to the south taxiway and the north ramp and apron. One major funding component is a $1.3 million ConnectOregon VI grant for an “Aviation Technology & Emergency Response Center” at the airport that, according to the Port, “combined with FAA grants, Port funding and significant private investment, is expected to spur over $7 million in development at Hood River’s airport over the next few years.”

Helping fulfill this part of a 20-year Airport Master Plan is a group called Hood Tech Aerocorp, Inc., that works as the Fixed Base Operator (FBO) of what’s becoming a burgeoning operation. Under the name of TAC Aero, flying under the stick of TAC Aero president Jeremy Young and VP Brian Prange—two eager young men who spun off from the Gorge’s unmanned aircraft systems developer Insitu to found TAC Aero—Jernstedt Airfield will go from nearly abandoned by the FAA, to a crown jewel in the region’s aviation, aeronautics and high-tech realms.

Young and Prange (along with majority partner, Insitu founder and aeronautics giant Andy von Flotow)

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have helped fuel the airport’s growth since Hood River-based TAC Aero’s founding in 2013. In addition to the ConnectOregon VI grant, the Port and TAC Aero will take advantage of an FAA grant of $1.2 million, and a Critical Oregon Airport Relief (COAR) program grant of $103,000 to fund rehabilitation, design and construction on the facility’s south taxiway. Ultimately the project will bring the Jernstedt Airfield into compliance with necessary FAA standards with a series of taxiway, aircraft and fuel tank relocations, plus the addition of a 25,000-square-foot, three-bay hangar.

But that is certainly not the full extent of what’s happening at our little airfield. In addition, TAC Aero has been busy, according to Young, “bringing affordable aviation, payload and ISR to the area.”

What that means in layman’s terms is 14-hour days, seven days a week to enable the company to offer a full array of aviation offerings, including flying lessons, aviation services that include

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TAC Aero’s president Jeremy Young, opposite left, and vice president Brian Prange pose with some of the company’s airplanes at Hood River’s Ken Jernstedt Airfield. Among its many services, the company offers flight training, above.

FAA-mandated aircraft maintenance, regular airport services like aircraft parking and fuel, and the fun stuff, like biplane rides around the Hood River Valley and Mount Hood.

But perhaps more importantly, it has developed affordable manned-aircraft programs and services that might also be effectively deployed

using drone technology, which is heavily FAAregulated. And this just may point the way to where the aviation facility’s future lies.

ISR stands for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, and means aerial information gathering using high-tech cameras and other sensing devices. Think of it as equipping regular small aircraft with the same sensitive devices that might be found on high-tech drones, but enabling them to operate at the same high level of accuracy and efficiency at a more affordable cost.

We’re talking major ISR functionality for agricultural, forestry, geology, search and rescue and many other applications.

Young and Prange met at Insitu while deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, working on the Sky Eagle drone. “You see the way these technologies are used,” says Prange. “It’s a military application, like GPS was in the ‘80s. We got really excited about how valuable the data, the sensors, could be used in a commercial marketplace. The only way to do that was to blend the manned aviation into it because of the regulatory environment.”

This area has been called the Silicon Valley for drones, or perhaps more appropriately, offers

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OUR GORGE : VENTURES Prange, “the Silicon Sky.” There has been an influx into the region with Insitu, Hood Tech, Cloud Cap, Boeing, and others. “Tech companies that have nestled in this little valley—most of the public doesn’t have an inkling,” Young says. “We use our aircraft to test those payloads. So we take manned aircraft, but with all the goodies that are on drones, fly that way, and make it affordable. It brings the technology to the customer, like, now.”

Though founded four years ago, TAC Aero only took over the airport’s operation a year ago, growing from a handful of employees to some 25, and from two airplanes to 22, including a new float plane and a designation as a service provider and trainer for the popular Cub-Crafter line of tail-wheel planes.

“We just wondered why no one was doing this,” says Young.

Both come from long lines of aviation pedigree.

Prange’s grandfather served as a military pilot.

Young traces his lineage back through a couple of generations of military pilots, though he opted to explore aviation in other ways.

Young arrived in Hood River 12 years ago to work at the nearby Western Antique Aeroplane & Automobile Museum before signing up at Insitu.

“That passion for aviation goes back to my grandfather,” he says.

As the FAA moved toward ultimately shutting down the under-used facility, the Port of Hood River formed an advisory committee that Young led for a number of years. “We felt the airport was a valuable asset to the community,” he says. “TAC Aero went from just doing payload stuff to providing aviation services,”—including a flight training academy.

Yakima’s Club-Crafters, a leading aircraft manufacturer, took notice. It had taken the old

TAC Aero has helped fuel the Hood River airport’s growth since taking over operations a year ago. The company’s services range from aircraft maintenance and recreational airplane rides to high-tech applications of aviation technology.

Piper Cub aircraft idea and expanded it, and now uses TAC Aero for factory training, drawing from a worldwide clientele, which includes training Alaska bush pilots. The airfield now includes a complete maintenance shop for servicing these and other craft that need yearly service mandated by the FAA. The Hood Tech TAC Aero umbrella also recently purchased an aviation hardware parts company called Columbia Airmotive, out of Troutdale, to further expand their reach of services. Eight sub-companies lie under that expanding umbrella, including Hood Tech Vision (high-tech cameras for the UAV market); TAC Aero Ag (doing agricultural reconnaissance and analysis); TAC Aero Training Academy; Emergency Services (working

with the Forest Service for wild-land fire analysis); and others related to aviation.

And still, there’s time to offer recreational biplane rides to tourists and others who want to experience the thrill.

“The best way to think about all this,” offers Prange, “is three primary pillars of expertise: aviation management, training and commercial aviation services.”

Management includes the daily operation of the airport. Training includes—among a broad community outreach of public school STEM programs all the way to government/civilian education—a very specific regimen of what’s called “tail wheel” instruction that provides a comprehensive, detailed training on small craft who’s rear wheel touches the ground, instruction they feel makes for better-trained pilots.

The mantra, says Prange, is “We train aviators, not pilots. We train them to think, not just pass a test.”

Lastly, commercial services, says Prange, “includes supporting all the tech firms that we have here, commercializing that technology, and being on the leading edge of aerospace, of all the things Oregon is actually leading in with technology.”

A walk around Jernstedt Airfield shows an unfolding story of opportunity and community support. It is helping shape a burgeoning aviation/ aerospace industry with significant long-term implications for the health of the region.

We think Ken Jernstedt—from wherever he now flies—would be happy to clear them for takeoff.

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 : BEST OF THE GORGE

Splash for Pink

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Big Art

Michael Peterson

The 8th annual Splash for Pink is June 24 on the Deschutes River in Maupin, hosted by the Imperial River Company. The breast cancer fundraiser includes two rafting trip options, a volleyball tournament, live music, a kids activity area, a barbecue, drink tasting and more.

Your group can even reserve a pink raft for the 13-mile trip which takes you down Class III and IV rapids. The event has raised nearly $100,000 over the last seven years for breast cancer awareness and care in the Gorge and Central Oregon. maupinoregon.com

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The Hood River Big Art Walking Tour, now in its third year, features new art installations in several locations. The outdoor sculpture gallery of public art includes more than 20 works by local and regional artists as well as others from around the West. The art pieces are located downtown, on the Waterfront and in the Heights. A map of the walking tour is available online and in various locations around town. art-of-community.com

Maryhill Winery Concerts

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The Maryhill Winery Summer Concert Series brings a fun and talented line-up to the eastern Gorge amphitheater this year. The series includes Santana (June 25, sold out); Michael McDonald and Boz Scaggs (Aug. 12); ZZ Top and The Doobie Brothers (Aug. 26); Steve Winwood (Sept. 9) and the Goo Goo Dolls and Phillip Phillips (Sept. 17). The 4,000-seat amphitheater is integrated into the natural slope of the winery’s expansive outdoor lawn, offering panoramic views of Mount Hood and the Columbia River Gorge as well as the surrounding estate vineyards. maryhillwinery.com

Jesse Larvick 18

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Mt. Adams Country Bike Tour

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The beautiful southern slopes of Mount Adams are the site of the 15th Annual Mt. Adams Country Bicycle Tour on June 24. The event includes four different courses: the 11 1/2-Mile Family Fun Ride; the 51-Mile Loop; the 54-Mile Forest Loop; and the 105-Mile Infinity Ride. The rides are safety-supported and include snack/rest stops, as well as optional box lunch and post-ride meals. The tour is a fundraiser that supports charity and service groups in Trout Lake. troutlakewashington.com

White Salmon River Fest

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The 12th Annual White Salmon River Fest, hosted by Wet Planet Whitewater in Husum, takes place June 27-28. The River Fest gathers together the local boating and non-boating community for celebration, education, whitewater rafting and kayaking, food, dance and more. The event includes a symposium, a kayak race and other events, a community service project at Northwest Park, a kids river art project and a community rafting trip. wetplanetwhitewater.com

Starry Night at the Museum

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Maryhill Museum hosts a family-friendly overnight campout and stargazing experience at the museum on July 15. Volunteers from Rose City Astronomers will provide telescopes to give visitors awe-inspiring views of the summer night sky. Catch glimpses of the Milky Way, the Andromeda Galaxy, Sagittarius and maybe even some meteors. Troy Carpenter from the Goldendale Observatory will be on hand to provide stargazing information and inspiration. maryhillmuseum.org

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OUR GORGE : BEST OF THE GORGE

Maryhill Windwalk

7 Max Dubler

The historic Maryhill Loops Road is the site of the first annual Maryhill Windwalk: a music and gravity sports festival. Held Labor Day weekend, Sept. 1-3, the festival highlights are downhill skateboarding and street luge. Other sports include inline skating, classic luge, gravity bikes and drift trikes.

Competitors will navigate 22 turns on the 1.8-mile racetrack.

After each day of racing, an all-ages music festival will take place at Ekone Park in Goldendale. maryhillwindwalk.com

pFriem Anniversary Party

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pFriem Family Brewers celebrates its Golden Birthday this summer with a party on Aug. 5 from 4 to 9 p.m. Hood River’s Waterfront Park Amphitheater, across from the brewery, will host live music by Planet Fly as well as Purple Haze — a Tribute to Jimi Hendrix featuring Ralph Woodson. The free, family-friendly event includes lawn games, kid’s entertainment, food and plenty of pFriem beer. pfriembeer.com

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Celilo Restaurant and Bar

Kiteboard 4 Cancer

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

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The 11th annual KB4C is July 14-16 at the Hood River Event Site. The festival is a fundraiser for Project Koru, a Hood River nonprofit that empowers young adults with cancer through outdoor adventures and community. KB4C’s main event is a 6-hour endurance kiteboarding race designed to embody the battle that someone facing cancer endures every day. The festival also features the Boards of Hope art exhibit and auction, kids activities and live entertainment. kb4c.org

Open

Farmers Markets

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

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It’s summer time and farmers markets are in full swing throughout the Gorge. Here’s the scoop on where to get your locally grown fruit, produce and other fresh goods.

GOLDENDALE May thru first week in October Saturdays, 9 a.m.-2 p.m.

Ekone Park HOOD RIVER May thru third week of November Saturdays, 9 a.m.-1 p.m.

5th and Columbia, downtown Hood River MERCADO DEL VALLE June thru September First and Third Thursdays, 4-7 p.m.

Atkinson Drive, downtown Odell MOSIER Mid June thru September

2017 Oregon A-List Award

541-386-5710 celilorestaurant.com 16 Oak Street, Hood River, OR Ben Mitchell (both images)

celilorestaurant.com

Sundays, 4-7 p.m.

First Street, downtown Mosier THE DALLES June thru second week of October Saturdays, 9 a.m.-1 p.m.

City Park, Union and E. 5th Street STEVENSON Mid June thru first week of October Saturdays, 10 a.m.-1 p.m.

199 2nd Street, downtown Stevenson WHITE SALMON Mid June thru first week of October Tuesdays, 4-7 p.m.

White Salmon City Park

Full service catering Weddings • Private parties

Call Heather Sullivan

503-781-3749

catering@celilorestaurant.com

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OUR GORGE : HOME + GARDEN

Farming, the Old-Fashioned Way Taylor & Andrea Bemis work the land—and some side gigs—at Tumbleweed Farm in Parkdale STORY AND PHOTOS BY DAVID HANSON

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ne frigid morning in January, Andrea Bemis, a petite 33-year-old wearing a muddy rain jacket and rubber overalls made for an Alaska fisherman, had a close call with the record-setting winter and a 50-pound bag of chicken feed. She wasn’t even a hundred yards from the small aluminum-sided farmhouse she shares with her husband Taylor when she fell and sunk into four feet of powder. Henry, her occasionally obedient Labrador rescue dog, was present but of no help, and Taylor was away working ski patrol at Mount Hood, which Andrea could see in the distance as she finally scrambled out of her cold pit. She wrestled the chicken feed onto her shoulder and continued to the coop. Her farm’s egg producers would not starve.

Andrea is a farmer, cook, and author. She has over 47,000 followers on social media. They tag along to see the simple, delicious recipes she invents from farm-fresh ingredients. They see glimpses into her life as a working farmer at Tumbleweed Farm in Parkdale. They even see Henry sometimes, and hear about him eating too many fallen tomatoes or stealing a half dozen eggs. It’s not 22

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Taylor and Andrea Bemis, opposite, work the land at their Tumbleweed Farm in Parkdale. The couple grow produce for their 56-member CSA and also have a booth at the Hood River Farmers Market.

uncommon to wonder if what she presents is fantasy. Social media dream lives are easy to cultivate. Andrea’s food photos are as pretty as their idyllic farm facing Mount Hood, but she and Taylor do not live in a fantasy. They live on a farm and it’s real enough to kill a small woman under a mound of snow and chicken feed.

Taylor and Andrea are a rare type of farmer in the Hood River Valley. They grow market produce—greens, turnips, tomatoes, beets, carrots, eggs—on a small scale. Scattered among the orchards of the Hood River Valley, Tumbleweed and a few similar farms such as Wildwood and Saur Farms cultivate less than 10 acres in high-value produce grown from seed in hoop houses without the use of chemicals and pesticides. It’s not technically “organic” (the actual label requires an expensive and onerous certification that only makes sense for large producers), but it’s as natural and old-fashioned as it gets.

Making a living this way is a hustle. Andrea and Taylor rely on a CSA membership—individuals buy a “share” of the farm each spring, ensuring the farm meets its bottom line, and Tumbleweed delivers them a weekly box of fresh produce throughout the growing season. Each week they deliver 56 CSA boxes of veggies to Hood River and Portland members. Additionally, they supply local restaurants and sell at the Hood River farmer’s market each Saturday.

“CSA members pay up front so it’s scary,” Andrea says. “We worry about letting people down. What if things don’t grow or the deer eat all our lettuce? But we make it work and it’s satisfying to know that people are feeding their families with something we worked so hard to grow.”

Taylor grew up on a small farm and orchard in Massachusetts, which he soon left to chase skiing in the west. He and Andrea, a Portland native, met at a summer job on a Montana dude ranch. Andrea noticed Taylor playing basketball, though it’s still unclear who approached whom.

They lived a nomadic life for a while, but eventually went back to Taylor’s family farm for three seasons of apprenticeship that exploded any romantic notions Andrea might have had about the farming life. She stuck with it and started cooking and blogging in her free time. She and Taylor stuck together, too, married in 2011, then bought nine acres of untamed horse pasture in Parkdale, the place on the Oregon map where their two needs met: potential farmland and skiing.

PM

A

Designing modern homes in the Gorge since 2005 Paul McKean Architecture www.pmckean.com

Residential and Commercial Design + Build • Design Services • New Construction • Remodeling • Weatherization • Roofing

541.386.7283 www.greenhome-designbuild.com 1824 Cascade Ave., Hood River, OR CCB#182083 • WA#GREENHC917JM

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OUR GORGE : HOME + GARDEN

It doesn’t take long for a farmer to connect with his new place. “From March through September one of us has to be here every day to keep starts going, to water, to feed the chickens,” Taylor says. “You’re trapped in it, but not in a bad way. It feels good.”

A farmer’s margins are thin. The days are long and there’s little budget for hired help. For small market farms like Tumbleweed, there’s no federal crop insurance to hedge against nature’s sometimes cruel disposition. Most CSA farmers need second jobs. Taylor ski patrols at Mt. Hood Meadows. Andrea used to work in Hood River cafes. But two years ago, based on her successful recipe and story blog, Harper Collins offered her a book deal. She spent that

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In addition to working the farm, Andrea Bemis maintains a popular recipe and story blog which she started several years ago to chronicle her farm life. She recently published a cookbook based on the blog, Dishing up the Dirt.

winter in Hood River cafes writing her city-to-farm-to-cook story. She crafted new recipes in her wood-stove-warmed kitchen and shot the finished dishes in a makeshift DIY photo studio that would make MacGyver proud.

The book’s complete. It arrived to Andrea via UPS and, since this is a true modern farm story, the UPS man was in on the celebration and posed for a selfie with Andrea upon delivery of the first copy.

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“It’s hard to say if in 20 years it’s still going to be Andrea and me,” Taylor says, “or if we’re going to have this totally dialed farm with people working for us. We’re just trying to continue growing our CSA and building relationships with customers and restaurants.”

Dishing Up The Dirt Andrea’s cookbook and memoir tells the story of Taylor and her starting Tumbleweed and details the challenges and joys of running a small farm. Broken down by seasons, the recipes utilize farm fresh ingredients in simple, affordable, highly nutritious dishes. Find the book at Hood River’s Waucoma Bookstore and have it signed at Tumbleweed’s farmer’s market stand each Saturday.

THE GORGE’S ONLY FULL-SERVICE BEAD, ROCK, AND MINERAL EXTRAVAGANZA

Courtesy of Andrea Bemis

For more information, go to dishingupthedirt.com

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.

Gorgeous Jewelry, Creative Custom Design and Local Handmade Fun

(541) 387-4367 • www.sparklingcreationsonline.com 409 Oak Street • Downtown Hood River, Oregon

Do not operate a vehicle or machinery under the influence of marijuana. For use only by adults twenty-one years of age or older. Keep marijuana out of the reach of children.

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OUR GORGE : LOCAVORE

For the Love of Cherries Hood River Cherry Company produces some of the sweetest fruit around STORY BY CATE HOTCHKISS • PHOTOS BY MARGARET MALARKEY

I

n 1993 with no farming experience and a fourth child on the way, husband-wife team Katy Klein and Brad Fowler planted their first cherry orchard on 60 acres high up in the Hood River Valley. Why? “Because we love cherries,” Fowler says. And because they were ready to branch out from their logging business. “We wanted something different,” Klein says. “Something the family could do together.”

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They set the bar high: their cherries had to be as sweet and plump as those Klein savored as a child growing up in Pine Grove where her father had a small orchard. “My dad let his cherries tree-ripen, but that’s a dangerous thing to do,” she says—at least if you’re trying to earn a living as a cherry farmer.

According to Klein, most commercial farms start picking their cherries when they reach 15 to 17 brix—an industry measure of sweetness. Klein and Fowler don’t pick their cherries until they reach the peak of ripeness—at least 21 brix—which leaves little room for error. “You have to be on your game,” says Fowler, who throughout the growing season vigilantly monitors the sugar levels of seven varieties of cherries on their now over 300 acres. Once he says Go, their crew starts picking with no more than a day’s notice. But even with perfect timing, things don’t always go as planned.

“Five years ago, a block of the biggest, most beautiful cherries we’d ever seen started showing signs of being overripe after just two days of harvesting,” Klein recalls. “We were in full panic mode.”

Normally, they have five to seven days to harvest. Heavy-hearted, they left that section unpicked. “We were never really sure what caused it. Some unknown factor beyond our control reminded us that even though we think we are in control, it is not so. Mother Nature is always ultimately in control.”

Klein and Fowler are the first to admit that they do things the hard way—but their growing standards are just part of it. While most growers take their cherries to a big warehouse for distribution, Hood River Cherry Company packs and sells its cherries—which doubles its labor force and costs. During the peak of harvest, the company employs nearly 400 people, including many area high school and college students, so that the whole treeto-box process can be done by hand to prevent bruising the delicate fruit.

Within an hour of handpicking the cherries, the team gently pours them bucket by bucket into cold water at a packing house nestled in the orchard. Next, they handselect and pack cherries that are at least size 10.5-row. In the cherry industry, row sizes range from about 8.5 to 12—the smaller the row number, the larger the cherry.

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summer time

Fresh

Katy Klein and Brad Fowler, right and above, have been growing cherries in the Hood River Valley for nearly 25 years. Their company, which has become a family affair, grows several varieties and also produces jams and chutneys.

In the meantime, Klein—from her office in a renovated sawmill building— sells the day’s boxes and arranges for them to be shipped the next day by truck or plane to stores across the country. “I’m sometimes up until 3 a.m. selling cherries,” Klein says. “I’m exhausted. Brad is exhausted. But we’re getting hundreds of emails pouring in from everywhere—heartfelt emails like, ‘I haven’t had cherries like this since I was 12 years old.’ It makes it worthwhile. It keeps the passion for what we’re doing alive.”

The cherry rush usually starts in mid-July with sweet, dark Bings, the first variety to ripen. It’s as if their long-awaited arrival unleashes the succulence of summer itself. Creamy-yellow-fleshed Rainiers come next, followed by buckets of exquisite reds: Lapins, Skeenas, Sweethearts, Reginas, and Vans. Each variety is only available for two to four weeks and sells out quickly. “We’ve gained an international cult following,” Klein says. “We have cherry stalkers. We have movie stars that call up, they have their own buyers. It’s amazing.”

While Klein and Fowler plan to expand their acreage to meet the swelling demand, they will cap it at 500 acres. “You can’t tree-ripen if you have thousands of acres,” Fowler says. They say they’ll also continue to harvest a relatively low tonnage of fruit per acre to ensure the cherries get the most nutrients possible. Like grapes, cherries don’t like to be crowded, Fowler explains. “Wine growers figured out a long time ago that to get the best wine, you’ve got to go down to two tons per acre rather than six or eight tons per acre,” he says.

If you’re wondering how our winter’s off-the-charts snowfall affected the cherry trees, there’s good news. “The trees loved it,” Fowler says. “They were snuggled up under the snow—it was like a constant blanket.” And with the gift of a lush, wet spring, he expects an especially bountiful crop this year.

You can find Hood River Cherry Company’s cherries at New Seasons Market and Whole Foods in the Pacific Northwest. In the Gorge, you can pick some up at the main office at 1745 Orchard Road in Hood River. Klein encourages visitors to call ahead (541-386-2183) and follow them on social media for updates. For more information, visit HRcherrycompany.com.

organics / ProDUcE DUcE ry DEli & bakEry afooD mEat & sEafooD winE & bEEr floral

Q

HUcklEbErry’s rry’s natUral ral markEt

ROSAUERS SUPERMARKETS

1867 12th St., Hood River // rosauers.com

Seasonal. Handmade. Delicious.

Open Tuesday - Saturday at 5PM www.pinestreetkitchen.com

541-436-3443

Based in Hood River, Cate Hotchkiss writes about health, wellness and lifestyles for national and regional magazines. She blogs at www.gorgegirlruns.com.

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OUR GORGE : STYLE + DESIGN

Woodworking as Meditation Furniture maker Ben Newman crafts one-of-a-kind pieces with skill and mindfulness

BY JANET COOK • PHOTOS BY MICHAEL PETERSON

L

ike many artisans, woodworker Ben Newman feels most at home when he’s in his shop. It is here, among the neatly organized tools and carefully stacked boards of all sizes and kinds that hours can go by unmarked except by the slow, incremental progress on a current project; where day can turn to night without the slightest observation.

“My woodworking is a really meditative thing for me,” Newman said. “Being able to be alone with the wood, losing track of time. I’ll be working and all of a sudden it’s 10 o’clock at night. I feel like that’s something that’s hard to achieve.”

Newman started on his unlikely path to this place when he was a teenager. He grew up in Chicago, with parents whom he calls “not artistic at all.” With little exposure to arts and crafts—let alone woodworking or building—and even less to nature and the outdoors, Newman found himself in the Idaho wilderness, where friends had invited him to help them build yurts in their off-the-grid settlement.

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“It was a shock, but it was never difficult,” Newman said. “It was totally where I wanted to be.” He taught himself as he went, completing four large yurts in a year along with fences and small pieces of furniture. He returned to Chicago and worked in a cabinet-making shop for a time, then landed a job in Vermont doing historical restoration on the Vanderbilt and Robert Frost estates. “There was lots of stonework,” said Newman. “We couldn’t use power tools, so it was all hammer and chisel.”

It was hard and lonely work, but the skills he learned propelled him, upon returning to Chicago, to his next career: mounting and restoring historic artifacts. He worked for galleries and private collectors, restoring broken pieces of antiquity from Egypt, Asia and the Middle East, and designing and building display mounts using brass, steel, rosewoods and hardwoods.

Newman often worked on very valuable, centuries-old artifacts in his Chicago shop— many of them Egyptian. “Tombs preserve things really well,” he said. It was delicate, stressful work—“you don’t want to make mistakes”—but also fascinating. “I once restored a 5,000-year-old sarcophagus that had the same joints as we use.”

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Ben Newman followed an unconventional path to his career as a woodworker, including working in historic home restoration as well as restoring and mounting historic artifacts for museums and galleries. He now crafts fine furniture for clients around the country from his workshop in White Salmon. (Product photos courtesy of Ben Newman)

Some of Newman’s clients—many of whom were wealthy, private collectors—began hiring him to build furniture for them. It was in the design and creation of custom pieces of furniture that he found his passion.

Newman built up a clientele that provided him with fairly steady work. With clients in Chicago but also elsewhere around the country, he knew he could live just about anywhere. Yearning to return to the West, he moved to the Gorge two years ago, setting up shop in a building off Jewett Boulevard in White Salmon. He’s currently building a woodshop on his property in Underwood which he hopes to finish later this year.

Newman’s move came with a learning curve. “It was really incredible moving here—all the wood has different names,” he said. Western walnut, for example, as opposed to eastern walnut. “There’s also much more of a consciousness about woods here than there is in Chicago,” he added. “But ‘rare’ isn’t as coveted as much here as it is there.” Many of his Chicago clients want unique pieces, according to Newman, ensuring that no one they know has anything remotely similar.

Newman works collaboratively with clients when designing a piece of furniture. If the client lives elsewhere, he has them send pictures of the space where the furniture will go, and of other furniture in their house. They discuss wood. He makes freehand drawings, then modifies and perfects the drawings until the piece is exactly what the client wants.

Then, he loses himself in the work.

“Getting into woodworking at a younger age taught me a lot about patience,” said Newman. “It’s planning out how to not make mistakes, and then dealing with the mistakes you do make. It’s transferred into all aspects of my life.”

Along with the meticulous design process, Newman does most of his sanding by hand, eschewing power sanding. “The way I look at it, when you’re sanding you’re actually cutting,” he said. Hand sanding allows more control.

Newman has made a lot of furniture with mahogany and rosewoods, but he doesn’t have a favorite type of wood. “It depends on the project,” he said. “I fall in love with a specific board. How it looks.

How it acts.”

Recently, Newman was working on a pair of cabinets for a long-time Chicago client, who had commissioned them for sculpture displays. Before that, he’d finished a mahogany and rosewood dining table for a client in Dallas.

The possibility of building chairs to go with the table was in the works.

“I feel super lucky, even though sometimes it’s like, ‘Wow, that’s a lot of sanding,’” Newman said.

“I feel like the dream I had actually happened.”

For more information, go to bennewmanfurniture.com

Carol@DonNunamaker.com RealEstateinTheGorge.com HoodRiverProperties.com

$699,000 Parkdale Unbelievable Views - Mt. Hood & Mt. Adams & Upper Valley. Solid Cedar Chalet on private, wooded 1.43 acres.

2925 sqft, 3 levels with bedroom & bath on each level. Wooden deck on three sides on main level, view balcony facing Mt. Hood from upper level master, separate entrance with patio on the lower floor.

Lots of storage throughout with an oversized detached 2 car cedar garage. Great location for outdoor activities, close to Mt. Hood.

Parkdale $734,000 Exceptional Custom Craftsman Home on 2.5 acres! Built by The David McClure Co. in 1994 this 5 bed/4 bath home exemplifies woodworking artistry and fine attention to detail.

RMLS #16602581

Trout Lake $775,000 White Salmon River Frontage! Custom lodge home, 6.88 +/- acres on the banks of the WS River; 4 bed/3.1 bath, 2 kitchens, fenced pasture w/horse barn, 3-car detached garage. RMLS# 16084030

541- 490-5099 • 800-544-1930 Oregon & Washington Broker

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OUR GORGE : EXPLORE

Cottonwood Canyon Oregon’s newest state park beckons visitors with solitude and beauty STORY AND PHOTOS BY PETER MARBACH

T

he cell phone alarm stirs me at 4:30 a.m.

I light my camp stove and wipe the desert crust from my eyes. I peek out from my river level tent to see a quickening dawn. With coffee mug in hand, I leap into my truck and hasten up to the Starvation Lane overlook of the John Day River to witness first light in Cottonwood Canyon State Park.

The bold scent of sage dominates my senses as I scramble down grassland punctuated with 30

boulders and blooming balsamroot. The scenery unfolds just as I remember it from my first blush of discovery here a decade ago. What impresses me the most, as it did 10 years ago, is the overwhelming gift of silence and solitude of this ancient place of wonder.

To experience Cottonwood Canyon State Park is to go on a journey through time, paying homage to its volcanic origins dating back millennia up through the recent history of ranching in the area. From its headwaters in the Malheur National Forest, the John Day River has carved through 16 million years of basalt to forge dramatic canyons, creating what feels like a land before time that leaves me speechless.

With more than 8,000 acres, Cottonwood Canyon is the second largest and most recent addition to Oregon State Parks. Western Rivers Conservancy purchased the lands on either side of the river from the Murtha Ranch in 2007 and slowly conveyed ownership to OSP. Western Rivers recognized the need to protect the critical cold-water tributaries that feed into the river here, which serve as vital spawning grounds for steelhead.

The welcoming feel of the park’s visitor’s center incorporates the architecture and ranching heritage of the region, including a working windmill, an old barn and other farming implements. The nearby campsites are minimal, spacious and spare, which helps preserve the raw, rugged character of this high desert gem.

Cottonwood Canyon offers something for all levels of outdoor interests, from gentle day hikes and quiet, riverside camping to daylong treks into remote canyons for those seeking a slice of solitude. The park boasts the largest herd of California Big Horn Sheep in Oregon, and is a fisherman’s paradise—offering one of the best runs of spring and fall Chinook in northeastern Oregon. New this summer is a free trail bike pilot project for visitors to enjoy riding along the flat trails on both sides of the river.

The park entrance is also a popular put-in spot for rafters and float fishermen. River levels and flow can fluctuate from year to year, but safe rafting usually begins in earnest around Memorial Day weekend.

At day’s end, I return to the overlook to watch the shadows slowly rise up the canyon walls from the river bottom, akin to watching a time-lapse in real time. Back at the campground, I settle in for the

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Cottonwood Canyon State Park offers plenty of dramatic scenery, including an overlook above the John Day River, opposite top, from a riverside campsite, opposite inset, and along the Pinnacles Trail, opposite bottom. The entrance to the visitor’s center, above left, incorporates the ranching heritage of the area. Float fishing, middle, and camping under the starry desert sky are other draws to Oregon’s newest state park.

night, staring at the star-laden dome above, so many stars that the blackened sky barely registers.

Come August, visitors from around the world will descend upon Oregon’s high desert country to observe the solar eclipse on Aug. 21. While the park may lie just outside the center of the path of totality, it would be the perfect place to escape from the masses on clogged highways, breathing in the scent of sage and taking in a landscape of silence and solitude that will remain unchanged for a millennium of celestial events to come.

For more information, go to oregonstateparks.org.

Peter Marbach is a photographer and writer who lives in Hood River. He’s a frequent contributor to The Gorge Magazine.

Getting There Distance: 65 miles Driving Time: 1 hour, 10 minutes From Hood River, take I-84 east to Biggs Junction. Take exit 104 and follow US-97 S to Wasco.

From Wasco, take OR-206 E toward Condon for 15 miles to the park entrance.

Making History Come Alive…

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

300 East Port Marina Drive • Hood River hoodriverhistorymuseum.org • 541-386-6772 Follow us on Facebook and Twitter OPEN: Monday-Saturday, 11am-4pm

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OUR GORGE : WINE SPOTLIGHT

Lyle Wineries

STORY BY JANET COOK • PHOTOS BY RENATA KOSINA

A tour of five Lyle wineries showcases the pioneering spirit and quality of wine coming from this unique area of the Columbia Gorge AVA

B

y the time we cross the bridge over the Klickitat River on Highway 14 and slow to enter Lyle, Wash., our guide, Martin Hecht, had already given us a brief history of Memaloose Winery.

“Memaloose makes mostly reds, and they finish on the dry side,” Martin said, as he pulls into the winery parking lot. “They have a nice little tasting room overlooking the Lyle Sandbar—a good place to learn to kite. And behind us is the Balfour-Klickitat recreation site.” He gestures to the north as five of us climb out of the tour van.

Martin, of Martin’s Gorge Tours, has been in business for 10 years, driving tour groups to wineries and breweries and, most recently, leading guided hikes in the Gorge. He clearly loves what he does (“It’s fun, I feel like I’m crashing people’s parties”) and with his amiable demeanor and sense of humor, he instantly feels like one of our group, rather than just our guide.

Memaloose is our first stop on an afternoon wine tasting tour of five wineries in the Lyle area. I’d visited several of them on different occasions, but I hadn’t been to some of them in a while. And I’d never done a tour of all five in one afternoon, nor with Martin as chauffeur.

At the Memaloose tasting room, it’s hard to know whether to cozy up to the bar to sample a flight, or take a glass out onto the deck overlooking the Lyle Sandbar, with its stunning views up and down the Columbia River. Fortunately, it’s possible to do both. And when you visit Memaloose, it’s like getting two wineries in one.

Rob McCormick and his son, Brian, arrived in the Gorge in 2001 from Sonoma, Calif. Brian, the winemaker, was intrigued by the terroir of the Gorge, and believed he could make the style of wines he truly wanted to here. Planting vineyards near Lyle and also in Mosier on the Oregon side of the Columbia, where Brian named his organic farm and vineyard property Idiot’s Grace, the McCormicks first began making wine under the Memaloose label—focusing on Rhone Valley varieties. Soon after, Brian established the Idiot’s Grace label.

The McCormicks now have a total of five estate vineyards on both sides of the river, with further expansion planned. Idiot’s Grace has become the winery’s primary label. Between the two, the McCormicks

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produce an eclectic mix of nearly two dozen reds and whites as well as a Rosé.

“We’re one of the few all-estate wineries in the Gorge,” says Trevor Hertrich, sales and marketing director for Memaloose and Idiot’s Grace. Brian strives to “match the grapes to the region,” according to Hertrich. Having vineyards on both sides of the river, in different parts of the Columbia Gorge appellation, allows Brian to

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Award winning wines, friendly staff, bocce courts and a beautiful deck.

Come see us!

Memaloose tasting room manager Laura Schiferns, above, pours tastes at the winery in Lyle. Martin Hecht, opposite top, points out a Gorge landmark from the tasting room deck. Trevor Hertrich, opposite bottom, is the sales and marketing director for Memaloose and Idiot’s Grace.

experiment with multiple grape varieties. “We’re 10 years in, and we have 20 different grape varieties growing,” Hertrich says. “Some have stood out to us.”

Brian’s winemaking style is “very hands-off,” he adds. “The impetus behind it is to channel the Gorge, to let the grapes speak for themselves.” The McCormicks are building a new, larger winery facility and tasting room at the Idiot’s Grace vineyard in Mosier, which will open later this year.

As we leave Memaloose, I find myself hoping that this tasting room remains open, in its beautiful perch above the Lyle Sandbar. But I take solace in the fact that, either way, the wines will remain the same.

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

DISCOVER THE AMAZING WINES

AND STUNNING BEAUTY OF

LYLE, WASHINGTON

THE NEXT GENERATION OF WASHINGTON WINE can be found in the heart of the incredible Columbia Gorge, only 75 breathtaking minutes east of Portland.

For individual winery info: WINERIES OF LYLE.COM

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Our next stop is just down the road at Tetrahedron. This new winery, established in 2015, opened its downtown Lyle tasting room last year with owner and winemaker Kelly Johnson at the helm. Johnson, who grew up in Lyle, went on to earn a degree in biology at Washington State University. Headed for what she thought would be a career in biotech, she wound up in Napa working in the lab at Trinchero Family Estates, the second largest family owned wine company in the U.S. with dozens of brands in its portfolio.

Kelly Johnson, owner and winemaker at Tetrahedron, pours tastes at her Lyle tasting room. Johnson also runs Big River Laboratories.

As she monitored quality control in the Trinchero lab—eventually becoming lab director—Johnson began making her own wine on the side. After 13 years, she decided to return to her hometown and start her own winery. She named it Tetrahedron, which is the shape of a water molecule. “Wine is mostly water,” she says.

It’s also a play on words; the cleaner the water, the more perfect the tetrahedron. She applies that to winemaking, doing as little as possible to the grapes—striving for “excellence and longevity through simplicity.”

Johnson buys most of her grapes locally, and is slowly ramping up production. Last year she produced 850 cases, up from 300 in 2015. A self-proclaimed “lab geek,” she also runs Big River Laboratories from a room at the back of the winery. She currently has a couple of dozen clients—winemakers as well as cider and kombucha producers—for whom she does an array of testing.

We grow wine…

A simple path from dirt to bottle allows the personality of the grape, the nature of the vineyard and the character of the vintage to clearly express themselves.

Organically Grown Estate Wines from the Columbia Gorge AVA WI NESOF THEGOR GE. COM 3 4 S TA TE STR EET ( HWY 14) LYLE, WA SHI NGTO N

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As Johnson pours tastes of her Tetrahedron Golden Ratio and her Charbono (made with the rare Italian varietal which she brings up from a friend’s vineyard in California), she chats about her passion for wine and the science of winemaking.

By the time I’m tasting the red dessert wine, I’m unsure whether it’s the science or the winemaking skill—or both—that makes Johnson’s wines so drinkable, but I do know that Tetrahedron is an up-and-coming player in the local wine scene. I’m excited to see where Johnson takes it.

Alexis Pouillon talks wine at his Domaine Pouillon tasting room, whose French decor invokes the winemaker’s roots.

We leave Lyle and head up into the hills to Domaine Pouillon, perched on a grassy flat off the LyleSnowden Road. Whenever I pull up to the tasting room here, I feel like this is the other life I’d like to live: on a farm and vineyard, close to nature, with a winery and an 80-year-old windmill that pumps water from a well. Owners Alexis and Juliet Pouillon could probably disabuse me of my romantic notions with a couple of days of hard work during harvest. But they so clearly love their life here as pioneers in the Gorge wine scene, it’s obvious they’re exactly where they should be.

Inside the light-filled tasting room whose French décor is a nod to Alexis’s roots, we begin tasting our way through a delightful list of whites and reds. Midway through, Alexis stops in, his wild gray hair wind-blown, his face flushed from having been outside—probably walking the rows of his vineyard.

EXTRAORDINARY WINES. UNPARALLELED DESTINATION.

Our BOUTIQUE WINERY takes pride in producing high-quality wines sourced from the FINEST VINEYARDS in the region. We specialize in Cabernet, Merlot, Zinfandel, Syrah, and Chardonnay. Come sample our wine, relax on our patio and enjoy stunning VIEWS of the Columbia River and Mount Hood.

Tasting Room Open Daily 10 - 6

jacobwilliamswinery.com • Find us on Facebook 541-645-0462 • 3 Avery Rd (Avery Park HWY 14), Wishram, WA

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The Pouillon’s vineyard and farm is certified biodynamic, which is a holistic way of farming that views the farm as an entire ecosystem in itself. “It’s treating the land as an organism,” Alexis explains.

“The best thing is going out there and being out there and observing what’s going on,” he says. He spends a lot of time walking among his vines, and he believes his close connection to them throughout the year gives him a sense of how his wines will taste from year to year.

Alexis combines his biodynamic farming practices with years of experience in vineyard management in the Rhone Valley of France as well as in Napa and Sonoma. “I make wine in the old world style because that’s what I like,” he says. But he also savors the nascent nature of the Gorge as a wine region, and is excited to see where it will go. What intrigues him about the Gorge wine region is “making not just what the people want but what the region dictates.”

Luke Bradford, owner and winemaker at COR Cellars, pulls a sample from his barrels. Bradford opened the new tasting room at his 13-year-old winery last year.

As we drive away from Domaine Pouillon, I take one last look at the farm and vineyard, the windmill spinning steadily in the breeze. I hate leaving here, this fantasy of my alternate existence, but I know I’ll be back.

We head back down the hill to COR Cellars where owner and winemaker Luke Bradford invites us to enjoy the picnic lunch we packed. I hadn’t been to COR since it opened its brand new tasting room last year and—wow. I peek into the former, tiny tasting room which was part of the production facility, and which was really just a room where you could taste. (Did I mention tiny?)

Then we head across the courtyard to the large, new, modern tasting room whose expansive windows bring in the views of the Lyle hillsides and the

wine and a picnic

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Fabulous Wines OF THE COLUMBIA GORGE REGION Standard Tasting • Reserve Tasting Tour & Tasting • Barrel Tasting Cellar Tasting • Connoisseur Tasting Award Winning Wines • Amazing Mountain Views OPEN DAILY YEAR ROUND 11am-6pm

1900 Orchard Road

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Hood River, OR

541-716-0140

541-386-2882 4200 Post Canyon Drive, Hood River OR, 97031

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dramatic landscapes of the eastern Gorge. Eyeing the concrete fireplace with a stack of freshly cut wood beside it, and the comfy modern furniture all around, I realize I could spend a lot of time here.

After we finish our lunch and do some tasting, Bradford invites us to sample some goods from the barrel room, then takes us on a tour of the winery. He shows us the vineyard, planted in Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling. “We’re in the transitional zone here between whites and reds,” he explains. “The wind slows down the ripening by a month.” He plans to plant more vines, capping it at about five acres. He sources the rest of his fruit from other Washington vineyards in the Gorge, as well as from eastern Washington.

Along with the tasting room, Bradford also built a new, open production building and prepped an adjacent site where another production and storage building can be added later as the winery grows.

And growth seems inevitable. In its 13 years, COR has already garnered some enviable awards and considerable press. Bradford’s youth and winemaking skill, as well as his quality, affordable wine, has attracted attention from wine critics and others. COR’s new tasting room was even featured recently in Sunset magazine.

Syncline Winery’s tasting room, opposite, and grounds, above, are an inviting place to sip the winery’s award-winning wines.

Bradford, ever grounded, seems unfazed by the attention. “It’s just nice to have some space,” he says. “Sometimes you want to go wine tasting and get the whole spiel, and sometimes you just want to go and sit in a corner.”

We depart COR and head west along beautiful Old Highway 8 to our last stop, Syncline Winery. Tucked in among the hillsides and oak trees endemic to the area, Syncline’s tasting room is in a barn that also serves as the winery’s production and storage facility. Surrounding it are several acres of estate vineyards.

James and Poppie Mantone are the big kids on the block in Lyle, having launched Syncline in 1999—five years before the Columbia Gorge became a federally designated American Viticulture Area. After falling in love with wine while studying organic chemistry at Purdue University, James headed west to Oregon and worked at wineries in the Willamette Valley. He met Poppie at one of them, the two melded their dreams of starting their own winery and followed their intrigue for the terroir of eastern Washington to Lyle.

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THE COLUMBIA FROM SOURCE TO SEA

An ongoing documentary project supporting efforts to restore the ancient Pacific salmon runs back to Canada.

Love

Underwood Winery & Tasting Room Open Wednesday through Sunday

For more information, booking speaking engagements, and ways to support the project, contact marbachphoto@gorge.net • 541-490-2254

www.anichecellars.com 38

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S uperb summer sipping finely crafted wines, mountain & vineyard views

Syncline’s estate vineyards include several acres on their winery property, as well as a small vineyard located nearby—for a total of about eight acres. The Mantones have meticulously studied their property over the years, keeping data on flora and other observations in order to plant the best fruit for each site. They plan to plant more estate vineyards over the next few years in order to source more of their fruit locally. Like the Pouillons, the Mantones farm their vineyards biodynamically.

Mantone is credited with being the first to plant some of the Southern Rhone varietals that are now commonly grown in the area, including Mourvedre and Cinsault grapes. He also was one of the first to use concrete fermenting tanks, imported from France.

We taste the winery’s Rosé and Mourvedre, followed by three very different Syrahs made with grapes from different vineyards, then head out to the winery grounds where hammocks and Adirondack chairs beg to be lounged in. Finally, reluctantly, we load up in Martin’s van to head home.

As we chat about the great wine we’d tasted and the interesting people we’d encountered during the day, it strikes me how diverse the Lyle wineries and tasting rooms are. Yet all the winemakers share in the bond of pioneering this fascinating and not always predictable winegrowing region, and of exploring and experimenting and shaping where it will go in the years ahead.

Alexis Pouillon perhaps best voiced a sentiment I heard expressed in different ways throughout the day.

“In Napa, they’re in the third generation, and they’re now getting wines that express the region,” he says. “Here, we’re still young, but the Gorge is so unique. From east to west, it varies so much. Still, it will take a couple of generations to figure out what grows best here.”

In the meantime, the Lyle wineries are producing plenty of intriguing wines to tide us over.

Mt. Hood Winery Wine tasting daily from 11 am to 5 pm

2016 - Oregon Winery of the Year / Oregon Wine of the Year - 2014 Pinot Noir, W ine Pr ess Northwest 5 4 1 . 3 8 6 . 8 3 3 3 / 2882 Van Horn Dr. Hood River, Oregon / info@mthoodwinery.com /mthoodwinery.com

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Discover Beautiful

HOOD RIVER OREGON :

Summer brings a flurry of activity to Hood River, from watersports and outdoor adventures to special events happening throughout town. The beautiful (if windy) weather all summer long makes it a great time to explore Hood River, from the unique shops, jewelers and eateries in the historic downtown district to the many retailers and other worthy attractions in the Heights. Come see what all the excitement is about in the hub of the Gorge. Come, stay, shop and play in Hood River!

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S P E C I A L

A D V E R T I S I N G

S E C T I O N

mark etpl ace: ho od ri ver

WAAAM

APLAND JEWELERS

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.

1600 Air Museum Road • 541-308-1600 waaamuseum.org

216 Oak Street • 541-386-3977 info@aplandjewelers.com

HOOD RIVER JEWELERS

GOOD NEWS GARDENING

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.

Find everything you need for your summer veggie garden plus herbs, vines, roses, shrubs, trees, annuals and perennials.

We also have a great selection of seeds, fertilizers, soil, tools, and decorative pots.

Visit our Garden Café for breakfast or lunch, the daily menu includes: salads, sandwiches, homemade desserts, tea, espresso. We use fresh, organic sustainably-grown food right from our garden.

415 Oak Street • 541-386-6440 hoodriverjewelers.com

TWIGGS 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.

305 Oak Street • 541-386-6188 Find us on Facebook

1086 Tucker Road • 541-386-6438 goodnewsgardening.com

HOOD RIVER COFFEE ROASTERS We have changed our name from Hood River Coffee Co. to Hood River Coffee Roasters to better reflect what we do! For 26 years we have been the Gorge’s premier roaster supplying fine restaurants, espresso bars, grocery stores, and we even sell our fresh-roasted coffee by the pound to retail customers, like you! We are open MonThurs, 9am-5pm and Fri, 9am-3pm.

1310 Tucker Road • 541-386-3908 hoodrivercoffeeroasters.com

COLUMBIA GORGE PRESS

The Only Full Color Sheet-fed Press in the Gorge posters / rack cards / postcards brochures / newsletters / magazines presentation folders / direct mail pieces 541-386-1234 • 419 State Street, Hood River

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ABOUT A FOR 93 YEARS, THE HOOD RIVER-WHITE SALMON BRIDGE HAS PROVIDED US WITH EASY TRANSIT ACROSS THE COLUMBIA RIVER. OFTEN TAKEN FOR GRANTED—SOMETIMES VILIFIED—BUT CAPABLE OF STARK BEAUTY, THE BRIDGE REMAINS A STALWART PRESENCE IN GORGE LIFE.

STORY by Peggy Dills Kelter PHOTOS by Michael Peterson and from the Collection of the History Museum of Hood River County

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“Tomorrow the people of the mid-Columbia will witness an event which is destined to be epoch-marking... the Hood River-White Salmon Bridge will be opened to traffic and the great water barrier presented by the Columbia River will cease to exist as between the communities which adjoin the north and south banks of the mighty river. What this great connecting link is going to mean ultimately to this section is beyond even the imagination of our greatest optimists.”

—THE HOOD RIVER NEWS, DEC. 5, 1924 THE GORGE MAGAZINE : SUMMER 2017 43

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ABOUT A

n early December 1924, the welcoming cheers for the new bridge across the Columbia River vastly outnumbered the tears shed in saying goodbye to the mid-Columbia River’s ferry system, which for years had carried passengers, fruit and livestock across the river. Principle bridge investor Leslie Butler, owner of the local Butler Bank, drove the last spike into the bridge decking. The mighty bridge, constructed and privately owned by the Oregon-Washington Bridge Company, was open for business.

For the first few hours, a total of 1,200 vehicles, pedestrians, and livestock traveled across the bridge free of charge, but at 4 p.m. the toll keepers in the tollbooth (originally located on the Washington side of the river) went to work, collecting fares from all manner of travelers. Charges were as follows: A drove of animals, “including cattle, goats, hogs, horses, mules and sheep on foot, 10 head and under, each $.10.” A passenger vehicle with seats for two, 75 cents; trucks over four tons $5.

A few days before the official completion and opening of the bridge, C.M. Hurlburt, a supervising engineer, responded to a wager made by a local car dealer who bet the engineer that the bridge would not be open to traffic before 1925. Hurlburt replied that not only would the bridge be finished,

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but he himself would drive a car across it before Dec. 1. With 200 feet of decking still to be installed, Hurlburt made good on the challenge, laying down 5-by-16 inch planks set end to end over which his vehicle would travel.

To keep the rear of his car from slipping, he loaded three large bridge workers on the back to act as ballast.

The slightest slip off the planks would have sent the car and its passengers plunging 90 feet into the river. Luckily, Hurlburt was able to steer the car safely. The Hood River News reported, “A stiff wind was blowing, but Hurlburt made the trip without incident. He put the car in low gear and gave the other occupants of the car plenty of time to admire the scenery.

On completing the trip, he turned the car around and drove it back over the same route…C.M. Hurlburt was Major Hurlburt during the unpleasantness with Germany, and he confesses that his exploit of Saturday is very tame alongside the job he and his men had in France, where they were trying to build highways faster than the Boche guns could destroy them.”

The possibility of building a bridge was first proposed by some local Hood River businessmen and several engineers from the state of Washington.

They succeeded in getting permit approval from the federal government, and found funding initially through some principle investors, followed by a campaign to sell shares to local citizens in communities from Trout Lake to Bingen, Parkdale to Mosier, Goldendale to Lyle. By June 1923, they had raised the initial $75,000 needed, pledging to all investors that they would likely receive eight percent return on their investment. With that, the OregonWashington Bridge Company began designing the bridge in earnest.

Construction began in August 1923, when the water level of the river was low enough to proceed. John’s Lumber & Timber Company of White Salmon cut one million feet of lumber for the bridge. The American Bridge Co. in Ambridge, Penn., fabricated 1,800,000 pounds of steel, then shipped it via the Panama Canal. Construction moved quickly, thwarted only by weather, erratic water levels (no local dams had yet been built), and a few accidents.

The Hood River News reported one such mishap on April 24, 1924.

“While working on one of the piers of the Oregon-Washington bridge here, C. Mason met with injuries which at the outset were expected to be fatal.

He was standing on a plank when it broke, and he pitched head first to the

Leslie Butler, top, owner of the Butler Bank in Hood River and principle bridge investor, drives the last spike into the Hood River-White Salmon Bridge on Dec. 6, 1924. The photos on this page and the inset on the opening spread show the bridge before the lift span was added.

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beams 35 feet below. It is believed that he tried to throw himself outward toward the water after he had commenced to fall, but he landed with his head tightly wedged between two timbers and partly in the water…On Tuesday evening, despite reports that Mason was dead, he was doing remarkably well and there was no indication that the brain was injured.”

The bridge was finished in December 1924, but winter weather delayed the more grandiose opening event celebrating the bridge’s completion until the summer of 1925. Fortunately, that same bad weather didn’t do any harm to the new bridge, as reported in the Hood River News on Jan. 9, 1925. “As expected by Engineer Hurlburt and others who have watched the breakup of the ice in the Columbia in other years, the new Hood River-White Salmon bridge escaped all damage when the thick ice covering of the river broke up and commenced to move downstream last week end…Some of this ice was between six and twelve inches thick, but when the movement commenced it was slow and the floes did not pile up as might have been the case if the current had been swifter.”

A.E. Lane, a rancher from Washington, was particularly thankful that the bridge withstood the ice floe on a cold December day in 1924. He had injured his hand, and blood poisoning had set in. “The Hood River-White Salmon bridge brought me here last night to have my hand taken care of. In the old ferry days I would have remained at home suffering another night.”

On July 4,1925, the bridge was officially dedicated. By all accounts it was a grand event, with speakers and dignitaries, a baseball game, picnics, “fancy airplane flying with stunt planes,” a dance at Koberg Beach, and “a fat ladies and a fat men’s race.” One day earlier, investors in the bridge received their first dividends—$2.74 per share.

The Hood River-White Salmon Bridge, above, as it looked before being modified to accommodate the reservoir created by Bonneville Dam in 1937. The bridge’s lift span was added in 1940, below, allowing for a vertical clearance of 150 feet at ordinary pool level when open. The control room in the lift span, opposite, has been modernized since it was built nearly 80 years ago. (Michael Peterson)

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By 1926 the bridge was particularly popular. That year, 22,000 pedestrians, 67,400 autos, 67 stages, 178 motorcycles, 12,000 trucks and 304 horsedrawn vehicles paid their tolls and crossed over the bridge. The cost of crossing via the bridge was comparable to the ferry system, which in 1923 charged $1 for a car with four passengers. Still, some balked at the price, and even tried to avoid paying. Harrowing accounts of toll dodgers give pause. One such driver shut off his car lights as he approached the bridge, then sped across the structure to avoid paying. Another driver backed up across the bridge when he realized the crossing would not be free. Over the years, toll prices have fluctuated a bit but have not kept up with inflation.

By today’s monetary equivalent a 1925 trip across the river (75 cents) would cost a vehicle with passengers around $13.

A decade or so after the bridge was constructed, the Oregon-Washington Bridge Company was faced with new expenses when Bonneville Dam was built, raising the Columbia River’s water level to such an extent that larger sea-going vessels could no longer pass under the bridge. A huge remodel of the bridge was required, including the addition of a lift span that would allow a maximum vertical clearance of 150 feet at ordinary pool level. The work was completed in 1940, with most of the costs being reimbursed to the company by the federal government.

By the 1950s, the private owners of the bridge were ready to sell, and the Oregon legislature had just enacted a law permitting the acquisition of interstate toll bridges by municipalities, including ports. Rumor has it that the Oregon-Washington Bridge Company approached many different public entities about buying the bridge, but the Port of Hood River was the only one interested.

An editorial in the Hood River News on Dec. 1, 1950, implied that there was rancor between E.M. Chandler, one of the bridge’s engineers as well as a major initial investor, and the citizens of Hood River, stating “Chandler is being bought out. Eliminated from the scene, as it were. As more than one have said, it is well worth any reasonable price to see him go.” The editorial went on to suggest that purchase by the port would clear the way for “the eventual THE GORGE MAGAZINE : SUMMER 2017

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ABOUT A

toll-free status of this bridge. Possible rate reductions in the interim will help.” Upon purchasing the bridge, the port made many upgrades to the structure, moved the toll booth to the Oregon side of the bridge, and reduced the bridge fares for passenger cars (50 cents); bicycles (35 cents); pedestrians (25 cents); and trucks (dependent on the number of axles, but no more than $2.50).

The original bridge was decked in wood, but was later re-decked with steel. Those musically inclined enjoyed crossing the bridge during this time, as the bridge was reported to “sing.”

Indeed, video captured by KGW TV in 1980 shows a man with a baton conducting the steel instrument as it hums renditions of “Happy Birthday” and “Old Man River.” According to Genevieve Scholl, communications and special projects manager for the Port of Hood River, a fairly recent upgrade to the steel decking left it mute.

While the bridge may not sing anymore, some claustrophobic or acrophobic travelers who cross it are apt to scream expletives or recite calming prayers each time they cross. Scarier still, when the lift span is raised (about 12 times per year) travelers and their vehicles must wait on deck as the tall ships pass under the bridge.

No amount of reassuring words from the experts will calm some travelers’ fears, even though over the years the bridge has been frequently inspected for any structural issues. In 1950, when the port purchased it, engineers “found that the bridge is sound of structure. It is wide enough—only two and one-half feet narrower than the proposed bridge at The Dalles…with improvements, it can stand for 50 years or more.”

More than 90 years after the first vehicle crossed the Oregon-Washington Interstate Bridge (initially known as Waucoma Bridge, a native name meaning “place of the cottonwood trees”), many users still consider themselves daredevils each time they cross. The 9-foot, 4-inch wide lanes were not built for today’s log trucks, tractor trailer rigs, RVs or SUVs. Lost side mirrors are a daily event. Extra wide loads are encouraged to cross the Columbia at Cascade Locks or The Dalles.

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Michael McElwee, executive director of the Port of Hood River, above, climbs the lift span on the Hood River-White Salmon Bridge. The Port, which owns the bridge, raises the span about a dozen times a year for vessels to pass. It also does maintenance lifts once a month. The lanes of the bridge, which are a little more than nine feet wide, were built when cars were smaller, and horse-drawn carriages smaller still.

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Relax&Recreate IN SCENIC HOOD RIVER

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Visit our

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A barge passing under the bridge, as seen from the top of the north tower of the lift span. The horizontal clearance between the two concrete piers of the bridge’s shipping lane is less than 250 feet—considered by most experts to be far too narrow for most vessels.

The opening, according to the Port of Hood River’s Michael McElwee, “represents the greatest navigational hazard on the entire Columbia-Snake River inland waterway system.”

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Barge pilots on the river below also insist the bridge is no longer wide enough. The giant river barges must negotiate a 250-foot opening, considered by experts to be 200 feet too narrow. Recently, port captain Fred Harding wrote, “Many gray hairs have been produced by the current span on many a crew. Over the 30-plus years I have been watching the Columbia River, this bridge has been known to be struck more than all other obstacles on the entire river system.” Port of Hood River Executive Director

WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY & VIDEO SERVICES BY MICHAEL PETERSON 541-399-2259 · michaelpetersonphotography.com

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Gorge Grown Food network connecting farmers & consumers since 2006 WHAT WE DO: Michael McElwee concurs. “The lift span opening represents the greatest navigational hazard on the entire Columbia-Snake River inland waterway system.”

According to McElwee, it will take approximately $300 million to plan, design and construct a new bridge. The port is working diligently to find the funding, and hopes to have a new bridge in place by 2025. Last year, over 4 million vehicles used the bridge. In addition to vehicle lanes, the new proposed design calls for wide asphalt-covered lanes just for bicyclists and pedestrians, with benches where travelers can rest and admire the views.

Scholl says, “What’s so exciting about the bike/ped crossing is so many of the folks who live in White Salmon work in Hood River. It’s an alternate way to commute to work.”

An advertisement in the Dec. 31, 1924, Oregon Journal states, “The great $500,000 bridge over the Columbia River has opened…Hood River invites you—citizens of the West and East—to enjoy her hospitality and spend your vacation this coming summer and autumn, where there are natural grandeurs on every hand—and good roads to reach them.”

Almost 100 years later, the communities of the Columbia Gorge still welcome tourists—with a caveat to fold in their side mirrors, or risk losing them, when crossing the great Hood River-White Salmon Interstate Bridge.

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

Custom illustration for people & businesses. www.karynservin.com Phone: 503-539-6099 THE GORGE MAGAZINE : SUMMER 2017

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5/31/17 8:31 AM

Experience Skamania County, Washington!

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SKAMANIA LODGE ZIP LINE TOUR Take in the beauty of the majestic Columbia River Gorge and surrounding mountains; experience a tour full of adrenaline and adventure as you fly suspended by a cable through the moss covered firs of the rain forest canopy. Fully guided, open daily.

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WHITE SALMON VINEYARD Enjoy our award winning wines and stunning views! Join us Thursday – Monday 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. for tastings or call ahead to schedule your vineyard tour. We are located 1.7 miles West of the Hood River Bridge in Underwood, WA.

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SKAMANIA COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: 167 NW Second Avenue, Stevenson, WA 98648 • 800-989-9178 • skamania.org

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DAN & KATHY HUNTINGTON, REALTORS Rural property and view homes on the Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge. Expertise, integrity, passion for the beauty of the Gorge.

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WILD COLUMBIA SALMON Smoked & Seasonal Fresh Fish King Chinook, Blue Back Sockeye, and Steelhead. And wild mushrooms.

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MARTIN’S GORGE TOURS Guided tours for individuals, groups, families, or couples. Including waterfalls, wildflowers, wineries, breweries, trail hikes, scenic drives and more.

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HAWK MERLIN STUDIOS ART GALLERY-Artistic storytelling resides in this collaborative space.

WRITER’S DEN-An inspirational retreat for stories to unfold and characters to develop. CREATIVITY LAB-An environment for questions, possibilities and solutions.

509-427-4747 • hawkmerlinstudios.com 113 SW Russell Ave. • Stevenson

COLUMBIA GORGE INTERPRETIVE CENTER The first human imprints in the Gorge were left by the Indian cultures that flourished here for thousands of years. Explore the natural and cultural history of this beautiful region. Open daily 9-5.

800-991-2338 509-427-8211 990 SW Rock Creek Dr. • Stevenson

CARSON RIDGE LUXURY CABINS Rejuvenate at our romantic getaway cabins. Soak in a spa tub with lavender bath salts. Enjoy a relaxing in-cabin massage. Dream it and we’ll work to deliver it.

509-427-7777 • CarsonRidgeCabins.com 1261 Wind River Rd • Carson

SKAMANIA COUNTY CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: 167 NW Second Avenue, Stevenson, WA 98648 • 800-989-9178 • skamania.org

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IN THE WIND AND ON THE WATER

CHRISTOPHER VAN TILBURG takes us on a dizzying journey through decades of Gorge watersports. While much has changed, the vibe remains the same.

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A windy day at the Hatchery, above, circa 2013 (Jennifer Gulizia). Inset, professional windsurfers Pete Cabrinha and Rhonda Smith-Sanchez pose in a 1948 Buick at the Hood River Marina in 1985 while in town for the Gorge Pro-Am Slalom race. The photo was taken for the company that made Terzo roof racks (Brian Sprout).

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t’s black dark and you’re fading from the long night drive. The roadway is a gray blur, the yellow line is fuzzy, and the tape deck you installed yourself stopped working at the Oregon border. You wrote your last final exam five hours earlier and, with your car jam packed with windsurf and snowboard gear, plus your mountain bike, you left right from class. You opted out of the summer internship at school and the landscaping job back home. All for the pursuit of chasing an obscure, unquantifiable phenomenon of nature: wind.

At Biggs Junction, you stop for coffee, watery truck-stop variety. You fix the cassette deck by twisting wires together and then wedge the unit with a piece of cardboard. After midnight, you pull into Hood River and make your way to a room you rented for the summer. The boughs of the towering conifer— you will later learn these are the area’s signature Douglas Fir—are rustling in the wind and wrestling with your future. Uncertainty is the theme that wafts through the night sky.

Although you’ve arrived, you’re agitated because it’s windy: you missed an epic day on the river today, and last week, and last month. Windsurfing causes anxiety when you miss it, and euphoria when you hit it spot-on. You will never get used to these opposing spirits.

Several years before, your first vision of this land was while hunting for chukar on the parched dry steppes out east, beyond Lyle and past Arlington. One day, in the late 1970s, you see tiny flecks of color dancing on the water. What do they call this amalgamation of surf and sail? Windsurfing, it turns

THE ANDREW’S EXPERIENCE

out, is known by strange and vivid monikers like boardsailing and sailboarding and just sailing.

Nuclear, you learn, is a colloquial term for the blasting west wind, referencing Hanford Nuclear Reservation upstream. As in, “It’s nuking, let’s go sailing.” Your life will never be the same.

First duty: get a job. You’re hired as a bartender, a job you will keep for five summers of glory days. Next up, get some better gear. The stuff for the lake isn’t small enough or strong enough for high velocity winds and the gargantuan wind waves that roll upstream, against the current of the Columbia River.

You try to buy a tiny sail from Bart Vervloet at his shop in Bingen. A sign on the door says: Gone to the coast, back in a few days. In a few days you try again: Bart is windsurfing at the Hatch, the

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The River City Saloon, above, on a no-wind afternoon in May 1985.

A windmeter, opposite left, clocks upwards of 30 knots at Maryhill during Labor Day weekend, 1983. Bingen Bart Vervloet, at left in photo opposite right, poses at his windsurfing shop in June 1986 with fellow sailors Rob McCutcheon and Joe Beauguess. Bingen Bart’s morning radio spot, “Bart’s Best Bets,” gave daily wind forecasts through much of the 1980s and ‘90s. (Brian Sprout)

Spring Creek Fish Hatchery, with the trunk of his pink ’57 Plymouth full of spare parts because stuff in the early days is not designed for extremes. Help yourself, keep sailing, and pay me tomorrow, he says. When you finally get the sail, it’s an RAF, rotating asymmetrical foil, the best of the era.

Gear evolves, rapidly. The harness vest is replaced with a seat like a diaper and then a strap for the waist. Boards progress from eight-footers to truncated round-nosed spoons to pointy flip tips. Epoxy hits the scene and everyone goes faster and higher. Colors mutate from fuchsia, chartreuse, and lime to teal, burnt orange and dusky rose. Masts are aluminum 15 footers; they morph to two pieces, then fiberglass, and then, years later, carbon, after which they transform again to skinny carbon. You become a team rider.

A guy named Doug Campbell sails a place he thinks no one will ever sail because of the brambles he climbs over to get to the water. It eventually becomes a state park. A guy named Jeff Casper shows up with a funky helmet he invented and tries a back loop over and over until he lands one. Guys named Brian Carlstrom and Bruce Peterson start building boards and sails respectively. Carlstrom’s shop will still be in operation three decades later. So will Peterson’s.

Windsurfers start doing front loops. And then double front loops. A guy named Tom Magruder shows up with the Wind Weapon—singlehandedly inventing a sport that will expire. A guy named Cory Roeseler shows up with a kite and water skis—nearly singlehandedly inventing a sport that will explode.

You go windsurfing after work, at night, under a full moon. The stealth session is otherworldly.

202 State Street Downtown Hood River (541) 386-4464 2ndwind-sports.com

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Then, at some point, it becomes too much. Summer after summer of sailing all day, working at night, and squeezing in mountain bike rides and volcano descents and coast trips. You have to go back to school.

You have to get a real job. Eventually, you have to make a decision. You have to leave or you have to stay.

So we stay.

Finish school. Make a career. Start a business. Have kids. We become teachers and nurses, business owners and restaurateurs. Non-profit board members, school volunteers, soccer coaches. All the while, we continue to glide and jump, soar and sky, catch the wind, ride the waves.

Town grows up, too. The windsurf shops stay, but become fewer and start selling kayaks, kitesurfing gear and clothing. Restaurants get nicer. We get a shoe store, and a Walmart. Kayaking blossoms. So does mountain biking—eventually there’s more than one trail in Post Canyon. One day people stop grumbling about the terrain and snow at Mount Hood Meadows and just ski the mountain—charging fast, expertly.

Businesses morph too: it turns out that carbon fiber windsurfing technology is good for other stuff like car parts, cell towers, high-def cameras, and drones.

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Watersports in the Gorge have expanded to include things like kayaking and kitesurfing, as well as stand-up paddling and outrigger canoeing. The culture and excitement of the wind and water is as alive today as it was in the early, heady days of windsurfing in the 1980s and ‘90s. (Michael Peterson)

But we can’t sit still, it’s not in our nature, nor is it the nature of windsurfing. So come the many permutations. Kitesurfing goes through similar growth: lighter, faster, higher, stronger.

We learn on twintips and two line kites. Then, kitesurfing evolves. We try stand-up paddling, prone paddling, surf skiing, kayaking, river surfing, outrigger canoeing. We become mountain bikers and ski mountaineers. We pick up Nordic skate skiing and buy a cyclocross bike.

The waterfront metamorphoses in tandem with town. In comes the Event Site, a coffee roaster, a pizzaria, a brewery, a park, and segregated kite and windsurf launches. We now have picnic tables, grassy launches, paved trails, and outdoor showers.

Yet with all the changes, the vibe is the same. The stoke reeks of pushing the limits of technology, of hedonism, of commitment to fun and fitness, and of finding balance between obsession with wind and water and practicality of life.

We continue to invent and innovate. Because kitesurf foiling isn’t enough, a few guys put a foil on a windsurf board and then a stand-up paddleboard.

A guy named Josh Sceva brings a dilapidated, unseaworthy six-person outrigger canoe to town. He repairs it and starts a club. Soon thereafter we have a fleet of outrigger canoes and surfskis on the river.

More tools for our quiver. More means to be on the water and in the wind. More comradery.

We head to the water as someone in the city might drop in to the gym for a pickup basketball game with buddies: drop by, see who’s sailing, kiting, windsurfing or paddling. Find your friends, on the water, in the wind.

And then, kids off to college, career wellseasoned, house in town paid for, we still can’t rid ourselves of the obsession that started decades ago.

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Professional windsurfer Phil Soltysiak, above, from Canada sails near the end of the Hood River Sandbar last summer (Brian Sprout).

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We take a Monday lunch break from the office, zip down to the water to kite or paddle or sail. An hourand-a-half lunch is just enough time, if we don’t bother with eating. Bernie and Mike are there, too, the latter having doffed his suit and tie for a wetsuit and harness. Andrew and Johnny show up. We don’t talk much, we’re all due back at work soon.

After work we go back to the Event Site for another quick session. Or, if the wind dies, we squeeze in a hot lap in Post Canyon: one hour, 10 miles, as fast we can. Off season, we head to Baja, now a regular sojourn, to windsurf, kitesurf, surf, stand-up paddle, mountain bike and trail run. We go back to places we have windsurfed forever like Cabarete and San Carlos but also explore new places with kite gear like Jericoacoara and La Bocana. But we always come back to this place with its familiar basalt walls, a 100-mile stretch of a 1,200-mile river, and dueling snow-clad volcanoes.

With all the newness and the passage of an era, some things don’t actually change much. Life is still centered around the search for wind and waves, but also now singletrack trails and mountain descents.

The vibe is broader: more sports, which are more highly refined. Technology changes our modus operandi. Long ago we had to dial a phone number and listen to a recorded message of the wind speeds updated hourly. We talked with buddies on CB radios to get on-site reports. Now we check our phones and computers all day, watching the wind, eyeing the weather, and Googling snow and trail conditions.

This is still the same place, exemplified by the iconic ice cream store that bears the name of Mike Kitts, a guy who showed up decades ago and went higher than everyone else on a board that was lighter than anything else.

You try, again and again, to explain this lifestyle to anyone on the “outside.” But you can’t.

It’s not a question of growing up—we grew up, the town grew up, windsurfing matured and morphed and migrated, technology exploded.

The question we answered long ago is not one of growing up, but rather of what kind of grown up we wanted to be. We came for the wind. We stayed for the community. And we’re still in the wind on the water. It’s only sustainable and self-fulfilling because of that commitment you made 30 years ago, to drive with a broken cassette deck and a carload of gear, into the dark night, into the Gorge.

Christopher Van Tilburg is the author of “Mountain Rescue Doctor: Wilderness Medicine in the Extremes of Nature” and “Search and Rescue Stories: A Mountain Doctor’s Tales of Risk and Reward.”He lives in Hood River and is a frequent contributor to The Gorge Magazine.

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Gorge

FROM THE

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Air

By Rick Brown I have always been very interested in aviation and originally intended to be a naval aviator.

Eventually, this became an impractical idea, because I grew tall enough to make it quite challenging and determined that significant parts of the military life were not a good fit for my personality. When I became interested in photography, aviation photography seemed like a dream that would require more financial resources than I had. However, lessons from mentors made me realize it wasn’t so impossible after all.

I have always found old airplanes the most interesting, so I was naturally drawn to WAAAM in Hood River. Some of the friends I made there managed Classic Wings, now part of Tactical Aeronautics, and they hired me for an aerial photography shoot. I quickly found that flying in the Gorge is special. The scenery, both manmade and natural, is breathtaking from the air.

Being able to fly down the Gorge to Multnomah Falls, then back east to Mount Hood for a circuit around the mountain is a dense adventure of scenic delights I’m sure I won’t be able to experience in too many other places.

For more information, go to rabimaging.com.

Above: At the end of Saturday events of the 2016 Hood River Fly-In, I flew a photo flight in a Super Cub owned by Tactical Aeronautics with six Stearmans. This is the Stearman 70 prototype from WAAAM, a one-of-a-kind aircraft, leading two of the famous Stearman trainers, one in Army and one in Navy colors.

Right: On a scenic flight down the Columbia Gorge with Classic Wings, now a part of Tactical Aeronautics, looking south down the Hood River to Mount Hood. There is haze in the picture from agricultural fires and the still conditions.

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A few years ago I did a commercial shoot with Classic Wings, now a part of Tactical Aeronautics. The shoot included a scenic flight down the Gorge. This picture shows Hood River and a view looking west down the Columbia Gorge.

This view looking up the Gorge to the east is during a turn south near Multnomah Falls on the way back to Hood River.

Bonneville Dam is visible a few miles up the Gorge.

I’ve always loved how much is going on in this image. There is a tug and barge on the south side of the river preparing to go through the locks at the Bonneville Dam. Often, I try to focus on recognizable landmarks while taking aerial landscapes.

Bridge of the Gods is one of my favorite bridges in Oregon. I find it so difficult to find a pleasing angle from the ground, but on my scenic flight down the Gorge, it was glowing in the late afternoon light.

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Flying on the Washingtom side of the river and looking south, we could see these small lakes, a small sliver of the river and Mt. Hood. We were approaching the dam from the east.

RICK A. BROWN Oregon based editorial and commercial photographer specializing in aerial, aviation,

and environmental portraiture photography.

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Imaging THE GORGE MAGAZINE : SUMMER 2017

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OUTSIDE

Double Down on the River Competitors converge on the Gorge for one of the world’s premier SUP events STORY AND PHOTOS BY JENNIFER GULIZIA

I

n the fall of 2010, Steve Gates, owner of Big Winds in Hood River, watched the live stream of the Battle of the Paddle in Dana Point, Calif.—at that time, the biggest SUP Race on the planet—and saw the potential for a similar event to be held in the Gorge. Gates reached out to locals Doug Hopkins of Boards & More in White Salmon, and Nick Stuart, then with Naish USA, to share his ideas for forming a SUP event.

Gates believed the “friendliness of the town of Hood River along with the incredibly beautiful and spectacular environment” created a unique setting for a stand-up paddleboarding festival. Together, the three men created the Columbia Gorge Paddle Challenge and held the inaugural event in the summer of 2011.

Over the past seven years, the event has become one of the premier stand-up paddleboarding races in the world. It attracts elite SUP racers as well as recreational paddlers from around the U.S. and many other countries. In the last few years, the event has brought competitors from Australia, Germany, France, Denmark, the Netherlands, Canada, Tahiti and New Zealand. Paddlers travel from afar to experience the world-class downwind conditions that the Columbia Gorge has become known for.

“The Gorge event is always a must for me every year,” said Connor Baxter, currently ranked the number one male SUP competitor in the world. “It is by far one of the best downwind runs around.

With the combination of the course race, it really separates the men from the boys. Plus, the community of Hood River is so nice and welcoming.”

Baxter and hundreds of SUP racers will once again converge on the Gorge this summer for the 7th Annual Naish Columbia Gorge Paddle Challenge, held Aug. 19-20 at Hood River Waterfront Park.

One of the biggest draws of the event is the downwind race. Starting at Viento State Park, competitors paddle the famous Viento Downwinder, an eight-mile, upriver run that tests both swell riding skills and endurance. This stretch is known for its strong west wind—consistently averaging 20 to 30 knots—which opposes the current running from the east to create large river swells. With easy river access, a unique setting, and consistent winds and swell, the Viento Downwinder has quickly become a world-class downwind SUP run.

Generating the most buzz in the SUP community is the Downwind Double Down, where elite class competitors try to outdo each other in two back-to-back Viento Downwinder runs. The back-to-back

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runs, in which paddlers’ times in both runs are combined, provides a serious test of skills and endurance. This race is open to competitors who are skilled in downwind conditions and are in excellent physical shape. As in years past, the open class competitors will paddle one run of the famous Viento Downwinder.

Though the course record for the Viento Downwinder is just under an hour, most experienced competitors take up to an hour-anda-half for each run. The wind and current both come into play in determining the time it takes to paddle the course. The downwind races are scheduled for Saturday, but are subject to change depending on weather; the schedule is adjusted as necessary to provide the best conditions.

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The 7th Annual Naish Columbia Gorge Paddle Challenge brings competitors from around the world to the Gorge for two days of stand-up paddling races. Along with course racing, the event features a legendary downwinder as well as a kids race.

Another highlight of the Naish Columbia Gorge Paddle Challenge is the course races. This portion of the event provides an exciting race scene for the competitors and is a favorite for spectators. The courses are set close to the shoreline and beach at Waterfront Park, taking the racers right into the bay at the park to execute a series of tight, challenging buoy turns only a few feet from the cheering crowd. In addition to the elite and open classes, the event has expanded over the years to include age-based course races for kids under 18. The “Grom Races” are hugely popular and hotly contested among the best young paddlers from across the country.

Fiona Wylde, who hails from Hood River and is currently ranked second in the world among female paddlers, looks forward to this event every

year. “Having all of my friends and fellow paddlers visiting from all over the world, enjoying amazing world-class paddle conditions, is amazing to see,” she said. “The event itself is one of the best run events and the downwind portion of the race makes it the most fun race of the year.”

In addition to the SUP races, there are free demos, live music, and various food vendors onsite throughout the two-day event.

NAISH COLUMBIA GORGE PADDLE CHALLENGE

Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 19-20 • Hood River Waterfront Park For more information, go to gorgepaddlechallenge.com Jennifer Gulizia is a Hood River-based photographer and frequent contributor to The Gorge Magazine

RIDE WITH US!

.com

• Lessons (Beginner to Advanced) • Rentals/Demos • Guided SUP Tours • Downwind Shuttle Service

207 FRONT STREET • HOOD RIVER • 541-386-6086 • 888-509-4210 • BIGWINDS.COM

SALES • DEMOS • RENTALS

Increase your smiles per mile HOOD RIVER

207 Front Street • oregon-ebikes.com • 888-509-4210 THE GORGE MAGAZINE : SUMMER 2017 67

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ARTS + CULTURE

Live from the Underground A Hood River music studio offers a creative space for music lovers of all ages STORY BY DON CAMPBELL • PHOTOS BY PHOTOS BY MARKUS AND CHRISTINA NORVICK

T

rains still rumble down along the tracks, off Hood River’s Industrial Way, but they don’t stop at the Union Building loading docks like they used to, even though the goods coming out of the place these days are just as ripe, vital and delicious as ever.

Where fruit was once cold-stored, loaded and unloaded in this ancient brick-and-mortar subterranean spot, music now spills out year-round, nearly seven days a week. Tim Snyder’s Underground Music Station, which he opened in January 2016, offers a range of services for a music-hungry community.

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Through sweat, passion and dedication, Snyder and a crew of musicians, friends and family— many of them skilled laborers, and all of whom worked for beer and food—converted this abandoned basement in the hundred-year-old landmark into a multi-use space for music lessons, recording, performances, band camps, karaoke, both private and public events, and perhaps most importantly, a place where budding musicians can meet, flourish and create.

A former general contractor with a specialty in heating and air conditioning (“Because I’m small and able to get into tight spaces,” he says), Snyder had an epiphany while lying under a house one day. “I did this,” he says, “to get out of construction. People always say, ‘Find out what you love and figure out a way to get paid for it.’”

A professional drummer himself, he was teaching lessons out of his garage and longed to do it full time. With less and less emphasis on the arts in public schools, and with the help of Pasquale Barone, owner of the Union Building, his vision became a full-time venture.

“My dream had been to give drum lessons

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An extensive collection of one of a kind designs from Jamie Joseph, available every day

The Underground Music Station includes space for music lessons, a recording studio and a stage for live performances. Mike Andrews, above, is the studio’s recording engineer.

out of a really tiny box up on the Heights,” says Snyder, who lives with his wife and two kids in Parkdale. “But Pasquale had the building. We talked to him and worked out a lease. No one had been in this space for 70 years.”

Where there was once only four enormous columns and a big cold and empty space, Snyder and company enclosed several rooms for private and group lessons (including woodwinds, brass, strings, piano/keys, and drums); after-school and pro band rehearsals; recording; a performance area with stage, sound and lighting; and room for storage and an office. He kept the funky flavor of the concrete and cork interior.

“We’re up to almost 100 full-time students,” says Snyder. Some 50 of those are under the instruction of Ian Meyer, who studied at Portland Community College and Portland State University, where he received a bachelor of music in music education, with special training in music education techniques for grades K-12—including an emphasis in instruments and wind ensemble.

Snyder, a youthful 45, rounds out his staff with Daniel Hawkins and Kyle Lee, who teach guitar; Roman Fey who does bass instruction; drum teacher Sean Stewart; as well as Snyder himself, and sound engineer Mike Andrews.

They work amid a bustling scene of incoming and outgoing students, in rooms adorned with all manner of instruments—from full drum kits, walls of guitars, a baby grand piano, Hammond organ and other keyboards, and comfortable furniture.

A small private loan and a successful Kickstarter campaign helped Snyder defray the cost of the expensive permits and engineering required to make the space habitable. One of the perks of donating to the Kickstarter fund was, for a hefty donation, receiving donor dedication-naming rights to one of the rooms, which is how the Matt Klee Room came to be.

“Matt was a local musician and all-around superb gentleman,” Snyder says. “He passed away in a bicycle accident up in Whistler (B.C.). He played in bands. There is also a Matt Klee Memorial Fund, so we do a festival twice a year called the Music Festival of the Gorge. All the proceeds go toward music education in our local schools, mostly the ones that are underfunded.”

UMS fills a gap left by school music education budget woes by also doing outreach with local public schools and even traveling as far as Centerville,

LAUNCH PARTY JULY 7 First Friday 6pm - 8pm

TRUNK SHOW JULY 8-10 Saturday, Sunday & Monday 10am - 6pm

310 Oak Street, Downtown Hood River 541.386.7069 chemistryjewelry.com

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ARTS + CULTURE

Local high school student Wyatt Scully, right, records a song with Underground Music Station owner Tim Snyder on drums. The studio has nearly 100 music students, learning a variety of instruments from saxophone and flute to keyboards and drums.

LIFESTYLE PHOTOGRAPHY

Portfolio at silviaflores.com

Wash. “We do rhythm classes and bucket drumming with the kids,” he says. “We even had a rock concert or two in the gyms at May Street School and Westside School, where we played for elementary kids doing Led Zeppelin songs. At May Street, Kelly Beard, the principal, actually got up and sang.”

Looking for all the world like the Beatles’ Cavern Club hangout in Liverpool, the place thrums from shortly after school lets out until 8 p.m. on most days. In addition to a steady stream of private lessons, there are after-school band practices, other local groups that rent rooms to rehearse, public concerts for local acts as well as touring bands that regularly draw 150 to 200 attendees, and private parties (including karaoke-themed events). Nearly all the staff play in local and regional bands, and the community at large has been generous with donations, including the grand piano and a drum set or two.

“We’re 90 percent word of mouth,” says Snyder, and word is traveling fast. “We have a website and a Facebook page, but we really are underground. Pasquale and his wife Jacquie are incredibly supportive of the arts. People have been coming out of the woodwork. When you do something like this, it seems to bring out the best in people, whether they’re a musician or not.”

Summer will find the place busy with lessons and summer band camps, as well as more all-ages shows to enable kids to have more exposure to live music. “We have some really talented high school and middle school bands who don’t have a venue to play. This summer we’re going to be doing quite a bit of that,” says Snyder. Camps will include offerings like “Intro to Instruments,” where kids have a chance to play various instruments as well as listen to music and watch music videos. Out of that group will spawn various bands of promising students who will spend half of every day learning their instrument, and the other half learning to play together.

This 1,800-square-foot incubator that is the Underground Music Station has created musical sparks in the community, whether it’s igniting a budding interest in learning to play an instrument, having fledgling musicians come together to form jazz or rock bands, or offering a place to throw a show.

“I spent many nights wondering if I was crazy,” Snyder says, “and just imagining the worst things happening—the roof caving in, just trying to imagine having walls in here, will it stink, will I have security issues. So far, we’ve been very fortunate. Some skilled laborers who are also musicians have totally pulled it together.”

For more information, visit undergroundmusicstation.com.

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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SQURL

25 Years of Blues Radio in the Gorge

By Don Campbell

Y

ou might know him by the orange posters, the rambunctious live blues shows, or that voice that cuts through even the dreariest Friday nights on KMSW, deejaying a rollicking mix of blues, gospel, soul, Zydeco and American roots music.

Mostly, it’s that ice-pick, attention-grabbing voice—a let’s-get-this-party-started mix of roots music knowledge, a zeal for authenticity and heart, and absolutely no fear for offering his own oblique, informed and often entertaining opinions.

Among a select cadre who only needs one name, he is known simply as Squrl. Steve Curley is the given name that’s never used, and this year, he celebrates 25 years in Gorge radio. It’s icing on the cake for a well-lived life that includes producing scores of memorable blues shows and outspoken political presentations at various venues along both sides of the river, a love of motorcycles, and a zest for taking care of business.

It was on May 4, 1992, that Shannon Milburn, then program director of The Dalles’ Q104 radio station, ran into Squrl who was postering for an upcoming live Squrl Productions show. “I told him I always wanted to do a radio show,” the avowed blues lover, record collector, and Pennsylvania native says. “Shannon said, ‘You sell the advertising and I’ll give you two hours.’”

Thus was born one of the longest running, locally sponsored shows in the region. Squrl, who moved to the Gorge in 1985, began with four sponsors, which he has grown to a loyal 14, and the two hours evolved into four. His radio home now is KMSW, 97.3 FM/102.9 FM. Tune him in live or stream him on the Internet. It’s the voice of an old friend.

ECO FRIENDLY ACTIVEWEAR DESIGNED IN HOOD RIVER MANUFACTURED IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST FROM CERTIFIED RECYCLED FABRIC

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WELLNESS

Made From Scratch Food allergies spurred Teresa Langen to create a gluten-free bakery

STORY BY CATE HOTCHKISS • PHOTOS BY PALOMA AYALA

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n the late 1990s before gluten-free diets were a trend, Teresa Langen of Hood River was attempting to give up gluten—but not by choice.

She’d been suffering from a number of health problems including digestive issues, itchy skin, depression and fatigue, all of which had worsened over time. Yet, she continued to power through the days, raising her three girls while working full-time as a food-quality assurance manager for corporate Starbucks. She put self-care on the back burner—until her body crashed.

“When I couldn’t drive from the Gorge to Portland without pulling over to take a nap, I knew I had to get some help,” Langen says. After

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consulting with her doctor, who suspected that her ailments stemmed from a wheat allergy, Langen eliminated wheat from her diet for about a month. “I started feeling so much better,” she says. When she reintroduced it, her symptoms flared. At that point, she knew she had to live without it, she says.

Wheat allergies are part of an array of gluten-related disorders (GRDs) that are on the rise, affecting nearly 10 percent of the U.S. population, according to a 2014 article published in the journal Clinical and Experimental Gastroenterology. GRDs also include celiac disease, gluten sensitivity, and skin and neurological disorders. People with GRDs have adverse reactions, which vary in nature and severity, when they ingest gluten—a protein found in wheat, barley, rye and sometimes oats. While each GRD has its own diagnostic criteria and treatment guidelines, following a gluten-free diet is recommended for all gluten-related conditions.

The problem for Langen was that wheat was the mainstay of her lifelong passion—baking. “There were a few gluten-free cookbooks out there, but everything was horrible,” she says. “I can’t tell you the number of times I tried to make my own gluten-free bread and failed miserably. But I just kept trying.”

Her tenacity paid off. A pivotal moment was when she baked a moist, delicious loaf of sandwich bread by creating a custom blend of gluten-free flours and starches—the success of which she attributes, in part, to her background as a food chemist. From there, she began reformulating her favorite recipes, from fancy cakes to chocolate chip cookies, while documenting everything in a lab book. Little did she know that by reinventing her recipes, she would also reinvent her career.

Flash forward to 2017 and Langen has a thriving baking business, Columbia Gorge Gluten Free, which she launched four years ago. “I wanted to let other people with dietary issues know that glutenfree can taste good,” she says. “Plus, I realized that there was a market for it in Hood River.”

Her first wholesale customer was Doppio Coffee on Oak Street. Doppio was looking for a way to offer fresh, gluten-free baked goods without creating them from scratch, Langen explains. Each week she delivered frozen, unbaked muffin batter and scones, which Doppio then baked in-house each

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Don’t Let Foot Pain Ruin Your

Summer Superhero Activities!

Teresa Langen and her assistant Grace Haessler, above, bake everything from cakes, pies and cookies to bread, savory hand pies and quiche—all gluten-free. Langen, who suffered health problems for years before turning to a gluten-free diet, used her background as a food chemist to perfect her gluten-free baking methods and ingredients.

morning, a system that Langen replicated for other local coffee shops. “Teresa’s products are great,” says Carin Agren, who recently took over the ownership of Doppio with her partner Mike Van Sisseren.

“Sometimes I’ll have one of her muffins just because of the taste, not because it’s gluten-free.”

After outgrowing a small, leased commercial kitchen in Hood River, Langen and her husband purchased a building in Bingen, previously the Big River Diner, which they’ve been renovating in stages.

So far, they’ve modernized the kitchen and created a storage area in the former dining room. In about a year, they plan to build out a retail space, but in the meantime, they’ve opened a drive-through where you can pick up sweet and savory treats to pair with your Gorge adventures: soft, chewy pretzels for the trail, rustic bread for wine tasting, or peanut butter chocolate chip cookies just because you need them.

You can also place special orders such as seasonal fruit pies and birthday cakes. “We do a red velvet

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cake with cream cheese frosting that people love,” Langen says. More than 90 percent of the company’s ingredients are sourced from within a 100-mile radius: gluten-free flours from Bob’s Red Mill in Milwaukie, Ore.; handcrafted cheeses from Cascadia Creamery in Trout Lake; and seasonal produce from the Gorge.

In January, Langen added a full-time baker to her team, Grace Haessler, who, like Langen, experienced a health crisis that prompted her to overhaul her diet. After graduating from college in Maine, Haessler was working on the East Coast when she was diagnosed with granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA), a rare and serious blood vessel disease which affected her lungs. “The treatment for it was heavy steroids and chemotherapy,” Haessler says. The steroids helped her condition, but wreaked havoc on her overall health, she explains. “I was jittery I had so much energy from them. I felt like I could throw tires. I was moody, depressed and gained a lot of weight.”

After treatment, Haessler moved to the Gorge to live near family. She soon visited a naturopathic physician whose guidance “completely opened my eyes about nutrition,” she says. “I started looking into nutrient-dense food and

Baked goods from Columbia Gorge Gluten Free are available at a variety of restaurants, coffee shops and markets around the Gorge, as well as at the company’s drive-through bakery in Bingen—which will eventually be a retail space.

what nutrition really is.” Haessler began experimenting with recipes that nourished her while avoiding ingredients that made her body hurt. She’s now been in remission for nearly four years, which she attributes to changes in diet and lifestyle. At the bakery, she’s helping Langen expand the menu with vegan and grain-free options.

“What I’d like for us to become is a source for people with food allergies or sensitivities of all sorts—a place they can come and get a treat once in a while,” says Langen, adding that she also avoids using corn and soy products. “If you can’t eat something, don’t think of it as missing out—think of it as opening up a whole new world of deliciousness.”

Learn more at columbiagorgeglutenfree.com. Also, look for them at farmers’ markets in Hood River and White Salmon this summer.

Based in Hood River, Cate Hotchkiss writes about health, wellness and lifestyles for national and regional magazines. She blogs at www.gorgegirlruns.com.

Meet our new Optometrist, Daniel Nolan, OD

Accepting New Patients

Indian Creek Family Eye Care would like to welcome Dr. Daniel Nolan to the Gorge.

A native Canadian, Dr. Daniel Nolan grew up in Alberta, Canada. He completed his Bachelor of Science in Biology degree at Dalhousie University in 2010 before travelling to Texas were he obtained his Doctor of Optometry degree from the University of Houston in 2015. Post-graduation, Dr. Nolan worked in Houston practicing comprehensive optometry and is adept in all manners of correcting vision, as well as in the diagnosis and non-surgical management of many eye diseases.

He gladly provides pre and post-operative care for LASIK and cataract procedures. He has proudly

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worked with underserved populations in Northern Mexico during medical mission trips through Rotary International and looks forward to joining future mission opportunities elsewhere.

He is bilingual and is pleased to offer exams in Spanish.

Dr. Nolan is excited to be joining the team at Indian Creek Family Eye Care and to be joining the community of Hood River. He is looking forward to getting to know the community as he cares for their vision. Outside of work, he enjoys traveling, skiing and hiking and exploring the Columbia River Gorge with his beautiful wife Morgan.

541-386-1700 1700 12th Street, Suite A Hood River, Oregon

icfec.com • find us on Facebook

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Live Here.

GIVE HERE.

The Gorge Community Foundation supports the quality of life you care about right here at home.

We help donors create charitable endowment funds, then work with them to support the causes they care about and the projects that inspire them.

Since 2003, the Foundation has made over $1 million in grants.

You can start an endowment fund now with a tax-deductible contribution or include the Gorge Community Foundation in your estate plans.

Learn more at gorgecf.org or call 541.354.2009.

GORGE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION

Hood River • Portland • Oregon Coast NATUROPATHIS PRIMARY CARE• MASSAGE THERAPY CHIROPRACTIC CARE• LIFESTYLE AND HEALTH CO ACHING

HoodtoCoastHealthcare.com • 800·277·0117 Our Specialties are: Hormone Balancing, Women's and Men's Health, Thyroid and Metabolism Issues, Auto-Immune Disease Management, Cardiovascular Disease Prevention, Pediatrics, Fatigue, Chronic Pain and Fibromyalgia Supportive Treatments, Massage and Chiropractic Therapies, and many more ...

Our doctors strive to optimize each patient's health and well-being utilizing years of first hand knowledge, extensive training, and the most effective treatments currently available.

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OUR GORGE : PARTAKE

Lemon Spaghetti RECIPE AND PHOTOS BY KACIE McMACKIN

Lemon Spaghetti has become a staple in our house from spring through early fall. It is wonderfully flavorful, and incredibly simple to make. It’s something that our whole family loves.

All you need is some spaghetti, lemon, fresh basil, olive oil, garlic, and red pepper flakes. We often serve this alongside a small, bright salad or garlicky roasted chicken. It makes a great leftover lunch too!

Ingredients.

• • • • • • • • •

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1 lb spaghetti or thin spaghetti 1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil , divided 1 large garlic clove, very thinly sliced kosher salt 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes zest of 1 lemon shaved Parmesan cheese large handful of basil, thinly sliced or torn

Directions: Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and allow it to cook for only 30 seconds. Remove the pan from the heat and wait an additional 30 seconds before transferring the garlic and oil to a glass dish. Add the other 1/4 cup of olive oil to the garlicky oil, and set aside to cool.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

Cook the spaghetti until al dente. Drain and rinse with cold water until the pasta is cooled. Transfer to a large bowl.

Add 1/2 cup of lemon juice to the dish with the olive oil and season to taste with kosher salt.

Pour the dressing in with the pasta and toss to combine. Allow it to sit for 10 to 15 minutes, tossing a few times, so the pasta absorbs some of the dressing.

Transfer the pasta to a serving dish. Sprinkle with red pepper flakes, lemon zest, plenty of Parmesan, and basil. Enjoy immediately.

Pair with…

Springhouse Pinot Gris 2015 Wy’East Pinot Gris 2015 Syncline Picpoul 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.

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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, 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

Gift shop • Special event room & terrace

541-436-3444 • brodereast.com 102 Oak St. Suite 100 • Hood River

541-298-7388 • casaelmirador.com 1424 West 2nd Street • The Dalles

CASA EL MIRADOR

CELILO RESTAURANT & BAR

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!

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. Happy Hour margaritas, drink specials and new 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

541-386-5710 • celilorestaurant.com 16 Oak Street • Downtown Hood River

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

DOPPIO COFFEE

EVERYBODY’S BREWING

FULL SAIL BREW PUB

541-386-3000 • doppiohoodriver.com 310 Oak Street • Downtown Hood River

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

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

Relax on our patio, right in the heart of downtown…enjoy a hand-crafted espresso drink made with locally roasted, fair trade and organic coffee. Serving breakfast and lunch all day: panini, salads, smoothies, and fresh baked goods (vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free options). Local beers on tap, and local wines by the glass or bottle. Free Wi-fi and our patio is dog-friendly. Open daily at 7 am.

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 7 days a week, 11:30am to closing

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.

GROUND ESPRESSO BAR & CAFE

INDIAN CREEK GOLF COURSE & DIVOTS CLUBHOUSE RESTAURANT

KICKSTAND COFFEE & KITCHEN

541-386-4442 • groundhoodriver.com 12 Oak Street • Downtown Hood River

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

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

Get your daily fuel for your Gorge sports and activities here!

A long time locals favorite coffee house and eatery, Ground features fresh in-house roasted coffee, house made pastries and cookies with lots of gluten free options. We make our soups from scratch every day and source mostly local and organic ingredients. Feel like a having a brewski? Local beer and cider on tap.

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.

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

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

McMENAMINS EDGEFIELD

PFRIEM FAMILY BREWERS

REMEDY CAFÉ

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

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

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

Join us by the fire pits for free live music played under the alder and maple trees on Tuesday and Thursday nights.

Or sneak inside the cozy Little Red Shed for a wee cocktail or a crisp and hoppy IPA to quench your summer thirst.

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.

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!

Ales, wines, ciders and spirits are crafted onsite.

Open Daily: 11:30am-9pm | Fri-Sat: 11:30am-10pm

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EAT + DRINK

RIVER CITY SALOON

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

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

River City Saloon, an iconic Hood River fixture, is back under new ownership. Our entire menu is served until midnight along with 16 taps, a full bar, and live music most nights.

Enjoy a comfortable atmosphere with seven big-screen TVs, darts, pool, and ping pong. Open: Mon-Fri, 4pm-2:30am; Sat & Sun, noon-2:30am; family friendly every night until 9pm.

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. Serving breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week.

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!

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

Live Music every Friday, Saturday and Sunday!

541-387-2583 • Find us on Facebook 207 Cascade Avenue • Downtown Hood River

Join us for $5 Happy Hour plates Monday-Friday

SOLSTICE WOOD FIRE PIZZA

RIVERTAP PUB & RESTAURANT

Enjoy Happy Hour daily, 3pm-6pm and

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

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

SUSHI OKALANI

TAD’S CHICKEN ‘N DUMPLINS

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.

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.

Outdoor dining & waterfront views across from the park

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

Celebrating 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. Visit our website.

Open 4pm-2am

Look for our summer issue, June 2017.

FReSH LOCAL FOOD

A publication by the Hood River News highlighting the growing array of producers and the flourishing “LOCAL FOOD FIRST” movement in the Gorge.

Reserve your ad space for the Fall issue contact Hood River News, 541-386-1234, or email: cmarr@hoodrivernews.com Story ideas can be submitted to: cmarr@hoodrivernews.com

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

The area’s premier lifestyle publication

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.

Please visit our website for seasonal hours.

FALL 2017 Reserve Ad Space Now! On Stands September 8th

CAFÉ & GRILL WET PLANET CAFÉ & GRILL 509-493-8989 • wetplanetwhitewater.com 860 Highway 141 • White Salmon (Husum)

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.

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

never miss another issue

SUBSCRIBE

$19.99 FOR ONE YEAR $29.99 FOR TWO YEARS (4 issues per year mailed to your home)

Order online at thegorgemagazine.com or call 541-399-6333

For more information, contact Janet Cook: jcook@thegorgemagazine.com or 541-399-6333 For advertising, contact Jody Thompson: jthompson@thegorgemagazine.com or 425-380-9582

Read the magazine online, too! www.thegorgemagazine.com

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OUR GORGE : EPILOGUE

The Hood River-White Salmon ferry “Panama” circa 1917, which cost $2 per crossing for a car and driver. (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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