The Gorge Magazine - Summer 2023

TURN LEFT AT BAKEOVEN ROAD

A day trip to the desert takes travelers on a journey through time

By

Campbell

ARTS + CULTURE

60 AN ART POP-UP GOES PERMANENT

301 Gallery celebrates five years as an artists’ collective

By Janet Cook

WELLNESS

64 HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL

A family’s farm gives them comfort through di icult times

By Kacie McMackin

RIVER OF WATER, RIVER OF SAND

Search and recovery diver Archer Mayo plies the Columbia for lost items

By Janet Cook

OUR GORGE

10 PERSON OF INTEREST

16 VENTURES

20 BEST OF THE GORGE

22 LOCAVORE

26 CREATE

30 EXPLORE

34 IMBIBE

70 PARTAKE

74 YOUR GORGE

Lance Koudele

Courtesy of Archer Mayo

Kacie McMackin

Don

Adobe Stock/ Bob

Carol@DonNunamaker.com

RealEstateinTheGorge.com

HoodRiverProperties.com

WHITE SALMON $699,000: Contemporary townhouse with a spectacular view of the Columbia River. Open floorplan when you enter the on main: kitchen, dining & living room w/engineered hardwood floors. Kitchen has SS appliances, granite countertop on eating island. Slider to the view deck. Two bedroom suites on the lower level w/full bathrooms and wall to wall closets. Energy e icient mini-splits & low maintenance living w/HOA covering snow removal & exterior maintenance(paint, and roofing) landscaping and road maintenance. RMLS 23500117

When I came to the Gorge in the early 1990s to spend a summer learning to windsurf, most of the other newbies here were just like me — twenty-somethings eager to spend time on the river riding the wind. There weren’t a lot of young kids hanging around the Hatchery or Doug’s Beach or Rufus back then (The Event Site and the sandbar didn’t yet exist). We were the first generation of boardheads. But many of us eventually put down roots, had our own kids and raised them in this place that first drew us with those steady summer westerlies.

Over the years, I’ve loved watching the next generation grow up playing in the wind. These kids are doing things on the water, at a much younger age, than we ever imagined (for starters, kiting and wingfoiling weren’t even a thing when I arrived here). Chris MacDonald is one of those kids. His wind-loving parents began spending summers windsurfing in the Gorge in the early 2000s. When their kids came along, they got them on the water early; both were kiting before they were teenagers. Chris took up wingfoiling in 2020 and now, at age 17, is ranked second in the surf-freestyle category of the GWA Wingfoil World Tour. Writer Ruth Berkowitz caught up with Chris between wingfoil sessions at the Hatchery, and you can read her story beginning on page 10. Look for him and all the other kids out on the water doing what they do. They’re fun to watch.

This issue is packed with other interesting stories, too. Hankering for a road trip but don’t want to stray too far from the Gorge? Consider a day trip to the desert. You’ll feel far away in the sometimes-otherworldly landscapes to the east and south of here, plus there’s lots of fascinating history along the way. Check out writer Don Campbell’s story beginning on page 42 and see if it doesn’t whet your appetite for a little adventure.

HOOD RIVER $885,000: Need lots of space? Here it is: 6 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, 2200 sqft on corner lot in a great neighborhood w/easy access to whatever you need in Hood River. Originally built to be an elder care home is now a very large residence. Attached garage has been used for activity area. Features include a separate business o ice, heated tile floors in both bathrooms, all bedrooms are ethernet wired, nonbarrier transitions, fully fenced backyard w/gazebo & water feature, heated driveway & front entry walk. RMLS 23101399

Speaking of whetted appetites, turn to page 22 for a story about Édeske Patisserie, where pastry chef and master of chocolate Tamara Bartucz Biscardi and her husband James Biscardi are creating delectable (and beautiful!) European-style desserts in downtown Hood River. Writer Molly Allen was the lucky one who got to do the story, but in the interest of disclosure, at some time in the last few months I may or may not have eaten an entire box of Édeske chocolate bon bons in one sitting. Don’t judge.

You may notice that this issue of the magazine has a different look. We refreshed our style, modernizing fonts and changing up the design a bit. We hope you like it as much as we do.

Enjoy this issue and have a great summer!

HOOD RIVER $1,500,000: Mt.Hood, Mt.Adams, East Hills views on 2acre Eastside parcel! Beautiful home features 3 levels: Lower has separate entry to ADU 1BR, 1BA, 969sqft, full kitchen; Upper is full ensuite w/loft landing; Main has primary BR w/view balcony, o ice/ BR, half bath, Great room w/vaulted ceiling, cathedral windows & rock/granite fireplace, dining & kitchen w/granite countertops, stainless appliances. View of Mt. Hood from south facing windows. Mt. Adams view from upper BR & kitchen. Private roadway, fenced backyard, RV parking. RMLS 23493036

541-490-5099

Oregon & Washington Broker

— Janet Cook, Editor

About the Cover

Action photographer Bob Stawicki of White Salmon took this photo of wingfoiler Chris MacDonald, 17, going inverted off the Hood River sandbar. Stawicki is out on the river in his signature Zodiac inflatable on most windy days, photographing wingfoilers, kiters, windsurfers and paddlers. “For me, it’s about the ac tion and anticipating the shot,” he says, “being there, in it, as it’s happening.”

iwasphotographed.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.

tonewheights

SUMMER 2023

EDITOR

Janet Cook

CREATIVE DIRECTOR & GRAPHIC DESIGNER

Renata Kosina

ADVERTISING DIRECTOR

Jody Thompson

ADVERTISING SALES

Kim Horton Rachel Harrison

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Molly Allen, Ruth Berkowitz, Don Campbell, Michael Hanson, Kacie McMackin, Ben Mitchell

COVER PHOTOGRAPHER

Bob Stawicki

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS

Michael Hanson, Lance Koudele, Jesse Larvick, Kacie McMackin, Ben Mitchell, Bob Stawicki

TO ADVERTISE IN THE GORGE MAGAZINE

please contact Jody Thompson jthompson@thegorgemagazine.com

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THE GORGE MAGAZINE 600 E. Port Marina Way, Suite B and C P.O. Box 390 Hood River, Oregon 97031

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GORGEOur

Michael Peterson

22

Pastry chef Tamara Bartucz Biscardi puts the finishing touches on a glazed mousse cake at Édeske Patisserie.

Jesse Larvick

story by RUTH BERKOWITZ • photos by RICHARD HALLMAN and provided

Chris MacDonald

AT 17, A LOCAL WINGFOILER IS PUSHING THE SPORT TO NEW HEIGHTS

CHRIS MACDONALD IS ONE of the few wingfoilers who can land a 1080 — three full rotations in the air. Think a whirling top, a spinner dolphin. At 17 and currently ranked second in the surf-freestyle category of the

Global Wingsports Association (GWA) Wingfoil World Tour, MacDonald has been diligently working on this latest trick so he can wow the judges when he competes in June in the Canary Islands, Spain.

The use of a wing-shaped sail with a board can be traced to the early 1980s when windsurfing pioneers Jim Drake and Uli Stanciu took inspiration from flying fish and their ability

to launch themselves out of the water using their fins. They designed and patented a wing rig for use on top of a surfboard. A few years later Tom Magruder took his invention, the “wind weapon” — a wing sail attached to a mast that was attached to a surfboard — out in the Gorge. But the foil technology wasn’t there yet, and instead windsurfing began to gain traction.

It took another thirty years for the wing to resurface, and the story is murky. According to Wingsurfing Magazine, Slingshot co-founder Tony Logosz of Hood River was experimenting with an inflatable wing-shaped sail and came out with prototypes for what he called the “Slingwing” in 2011. Another local trailblazer, Ken Winner, was also designing inflatable wings. Still, not much happened for a few years until surf foiling emerged in Hawaii and watersports legend Kai Lenny combined hydrofoils and wings. In an April 2019 video, Lenny holds a foil board and wing, walks toward the beach, and says, “I’m about to chart something really fun. I’m not sure what to call it. It’s kind of something between windsurfing and kiting.” The video went viral, and the sport took off.

Some attribute the popularity of winging to its relative ease of use and versatility. Compared to kiting, wingfoiling is safer, simpler and less cumbersome. It’s easier to learn than kiteboarding or windsurfing, but it can also be as extreme as you want it to be; experienced wingfoilers like MacDonald use the wing to launch high into the air and push the sport to new levels.

Sponsored by F-One, a French company, MacDonald is one of the few American riders in the GWA. This year, he is competing in numerous events around the world, from Cape Town, South Africa, to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Last year, MacDonald placed first in the 2022 surf-freestyle competition in Silvaplana, Switzerland, and he won the event again at this year’s competition in Tauranga, New Zealand, in March.

When he isn’t competing, MacDonald trains mostly at the Hatchery and in La Ventana, Mexico. He has the passion, skill, and what his father calls the “it” to potentially win the world title. His father, also named Chris, attributes some of his son’s natural ability to years spent jumping on the trampoline and

Chris MacDonald wingfoils at the Hatchery, opposite top; learning to windsurf with his dad at age 4, and on the podium at the GWA Youth World Cup in France last year, opposite bottom.

learning to maneuver his body without hurting himself. He also has the tenacity to practice a trick over and over again. In addition, the support of his parents has been key. “I’m just the caddy, now,” his father jokes, but in the beginning, he and his wife, Nicole, were instrumental in paving the road for his success.

For many teenagers, the Covid pandemic stunted their growth. But for MacDonald, who kited at the age of 12, the pandemic provided him the opportunity to take his middle school classes online in the morning and then beeline it from his home in Fairfax, Calif., to Crissy Field near the mouth of San Francisco Bay. With no tra c, the father-son duo could be on the water in less than thirty minutes.

It just so happened that a group of talented riders also would nish their work or school

early and they, too, would sneak their gear into the Presidio (the park was o cially shuttered for a few months early in the pandemic) to play on the bay. Like many young kiters, MacDonald, 14 at the time, thought winging was “lame,” calling it “an old-person’s sport.”

But his dad was eager to get him to transition from kiting to winging after Chris Sr. had a “kitemare” at San Francisco’s Ocean Beach. On an extremely windy day, his leash line came undone while he was self-landing his kite. e kite lines wrapped around his left index nger, severing it in half. Miraculously, someone found his nger in the sand and brought it to the hospital just in time for doctors to reattach it.

After the accident, Chris convinced his son to give winging a try. It took MacDonald about four days at Crissy Field to learn to stay upwind. In a short time, he was riding the swell at Fort Point and mastering front and back ips. He no longer thought winging was

Chris MacDonald rides at Crissy Field in San Francisco, near his former home, where he learned to wingfoil in 2020 during the pandemic.

Sometimes you just need to go for a RUN

Shortt Supply

Hood River, OR

Best Running & Outdoor Store in the Gorge

lame. It gave him freedom — freedom from the Covid lockdown and freedom to play on the water. “It’s hard to describe winging,” MacDonald says. “It’s like ying or snowboarding on a fresh powder day.”  at summer, the MacDonald family packed their RV for their annual pilgrimage north to the Gorge. ey camped in a friend’s meadow and played on the river daily. MacDonald continued to spend hours

BUILDING CUSTOM HOMES

on the water and the wing became like another appendage. At the end of August when it was time to return to the Bay Area, MacDonald learned that his freshman year of high school in Marin County was going to be online, so he chose to remain in the Gorge, enrolling in Hood River’s Options Academy online program.

“ e best freestyle spot is right here at the Hatchery. It’s perfectly set up with the swell and the wind,” MacDonald tells me while chatting in the dining room of his family’s new Hood River home, where we can see the Hatchery from his living room window. A few days later, I venture across the river to watch him on the water. MacDonald, wearing his signature yellow helmet, is persistent at mastering his tricks, which today are a 1080 and Rad-7, a double- ip corkscrew maneuver. “I tried about 50 times and got half of them,” he says when he’s back on shore after his session.

Adventure photographer Richard Hallman has been watching and photographing athletes for decades. He compares MacDonald to Kai Lenny. “Once in a while, if you’re lucky, you get to see somebody who de es the norms of what is possible,” he says. “In adventure action sports, these people come along and rede ne the nature of a particular sport. I have had the good fortune to witness this in a young and talented kid named Kai Lenny. When he was just 12 years old, I saw a kid who was going to change the face of windsur ng, kiteboarding, and then big wave sur ng. Kai took those sports and grew the level of freestyle accomplishment in them. I see this again with a young winging phenom named Chris MacDonald. Watching Chris on his wing is watching the next generation of watersports athletes. He is out there going higher and farther than all his contemporaries.” In the winter, the MacDonald family migrates south to La Ventana, Mexico. ey used to stay for a few weeks, but since 2020 when school went online and MacDonald’s passion for winging soared, they opted to camp out for many months. is gave MacDonald the time to hang with a posse of groms (the a ectionate term for young watersports enthusiasts) who have helped MacDonald develop as an athlete and put in the 10,000 hours needed to master the sport.

“We have a lot of fun pushing each other to new levels,” MacDonald says. One time, when the groms were sailing downwind in Baja, MacDonald crash-landed a 360 and felt a sharp kick. He thought his foil had hit him, but he knew that wasn’t possible since his board was bobbing more than ten feet away. He looked down and saw a two-foot-long barracuda latched to his calf. “I punched the sh,” he says, nonchalantly. e sh bit not once, but twice, piercing MacDonald’s skin. Back on land, he was rushed to the hospital, an hour away in La Paz, where he received twenty stitches and now has the scars to prove it.

Adversity breeds strength. As MacDonald competes against riders from all over the world, he recognizes that he came to the sport at the right time. Indeed, he is at the forefront, pushing the boundaries and inventing all kinds of tricks. MacDonald has a simple piece of advice for anyone wanting to get into wingfoiling. “Don’t give up right away,” he says. “It’s worth it!”

Follow Chris MacDonald on Instagram: @chris.mcdddd

Ruth Berkowitz is a mediator and writer living in Hood River.

Chris MacDonald boosts it on a light-wind day at the Hatchery. Currently ranked second in the surf-freestyle category of the GWA Wingfoil World Tour, he’ll travel to far-flung competitions this year when he’s not training in the Gorge.

Richard Hallman

Sometimes you just need to go for a HIKE

Shortt Supply

Hood River, OR

Best Running & Outdoor Store in the Gorge

Pedal to the Metal

MT. HOOD RAILROAD’S RAILBIKES TAKE RIDERS ON A TREK LIKE NO OTHER

WE HAVE NO IDEA WHAT TO EXPECT, my birthday-surprise staycation compadres and me. We wait, as travelers do, at a train station for the next train. Or so we think. The tracks are quiet, we are antsy. A beautiful late-spring day, sunny and still. Suddenly our “train” comes rambling into view: some 10 or so tandem cars, open, looking like automobiles with train wheels and no bodies rolling down the rails. Oh, and pedals.

Pedals. Like a bike.

We pick up our jaws off the platform and giggle a little. The giggling would rarely stop over the course of our ensuing two-and-ahalf-hour trek. This is the famed Mt. Hood Railroad Station in downtown Hood River. Rather than a train ride up into the Hood River Valley for a dinner excursion or a winter trek on the railroad’s popular Christmas Train, we are among the early adopters of the company’s newest offering: railbikes. Pedal-

and-chain-driven with magically muscular e-power for the less physically motivated, the railbikes will take us on a genteel amble up into the verdant valley for a view few have seen, courtesy of company CEO Scott Webster and his vision.

Off we go and quickly become immersed in the beauty that is Hood River. We cross the bridge over the river, lulled by its flow, and find ourselves deep in scenery not visible from any

The Mt. Hood Railroad railbikes take riders on a two-and-a-half-hour trek from Hood River to the headquarters of The Fruit Company in Pine Grove and back, for a roundtrip of about 11 miles.

story by DON CAMPBELL • photos courtesy of MT. HOOD RAILROAD

road. It’s a bit of a shock to the senses at rst, seeing things you don’t normally see. We pedal for a bit, to get the feel, and then try out the throttle for some easy movement at little physical expense, coasting uphill along the riverbank, marveling at the beauty so close to town proper. Waterfalls, evergreens, orchards, vineyards, farms and rough-hewn barns, homes and ranches. It’s pastoral, idyllic, but with bike-pleasant motion.

And pedals.

Scott Webster comes from hardy stock. He grew up in this area. His grandparents migrated out from the Bronx, New York, to found Webster Orchards, which would grow to some 1,000 acres all together. He and his brother Addison ventured o to college and careers, then came home in the late ‘90s to purchase the operation from their aging parents, and eventually their partners. Running up steep debt, the brothers sought a value-added proposition to propel the business, and thus started a fruit company, focusing on online and gift-shop sales.

Business was brisk through the rst several years with gift sales and guest visits exploding. But in business, there are always headaches and dark clouds. e 2008 downturn and credit crisis in the economy hit them hard. Undaunted, they pressed on, envisioning something akin to a new phenomenon in this unique region: agritourism.

“It took us 14 years to get to a position to try and realize this dream,” Webster says, “to create an environment where customers could come in and experience something like the Tillamook Creamery.” Which, it should be noted, pulls in over one million tourists a year.

His company — with help from two dedicated partners, including longtime general manager Ron Kaufman — had in 2001 begun refurbishing the enormous Diamond Fruit packing building in Pine Grove into an elegant, nationally recognized gift shop featuring local fruit packaged in gourmet gift baskets, towers and boxes, and a heritage museum dedicated to local agriculture.

But their latest acquisition stands to change the company complexion to further embrace the visitor experience. ough the Fruit Company — with its open oor plan where visitors can watch the gifts being made — and museum remain the main draw, Webster’s company, Mt. Hood Capital Investments, LLC, was able to purchase the nance-plagued Mt. Hood Railroad out of receivership in January 2022.

e railroad, according to Columbia Gorge News reporting in January 2022, also “serves the lumber industry and more speci cally, Cascade Forest Products, which has recently expanded operations in Odell. Cascade Forest Products doubled their track availability giving the railroad increased business on the freight side of operations. To assist the increase in business, the Mt. Hood Railroad has leased an additional locomotive from Locomotive Servicing Company.”

But Webster had an even broader vision. A visit to Joseph, Oregon, led him to Joseph Branch Railriders, where he experienced rsthand the giggling joys of railbikes. “My wife and I were together,” he said of the adventure. “We would just smile, out in nature, no steering, talking and laughing and enjoying the experience.”

Undergoing some serious research, he and the company found one of the few suppliers of the pedal-powered tandem cars in Colorado and made their rst railbike order. ey put them on the Mt. Hood Railroad tracks last year and launched their inaugural season.

“We had some issues with the bikes,” o ers Webster, “like vibration, chains popping o and other little weird things, but we worked out most of the bugs.”

HOOD RIVER ATHLETIC

WE HAVE THE MEMBERSHIP TO FIT YOUR NEEDS: 1 DAY TO 1 YEAR

The tandem railbikes are equipped with electric motors that o er a boost to the pedal power. The route follows the railroad tracks through forests and orchard land.

For the 2023 season, the Mt. Railroad Railbikes will offer 13 bikes, with the promise of a new, better prototype bike — which Webster calls “the Cadillac” — for 2024 that includes basically four-wheel drive, a shorter chain and beefier e-assist.

Webster is also excited about some other new experiences his businesses will offer this season. With the recent purchase of a bike tour company, e-bike rentals will be available at the train station as well as tours that include portions of the Historic Columbia River Highway State Trail. There will also be orchard and vineyard tours powered by a tractor-driven, 14person “Universal Studios” trailer, as Webster calls it. Lastly, The Fruit Company will offer more in-depth “factory” tours for a behindthe-scenes look at gift-box creation.

Obviously, there’s no racing on railbikes, but there is the need for speed. My wife and I cruise up and scream down. We easily maneuver one of the few working railroad switchbacks. We take a break at The Fruit Company, with a full view of Mount Hood in all its glory, for refreshments, a couple of fresh apples, gifts and a tour of the museum,

where we fall in deep lust with a refurbished old ranch pickup.

Heading for home, we scoot back across the Hood River bridge, then coast and freewheel our way into the station. Along with our fellow railbikers, we bask for a few minutes in what we’ve just done and where we’ve been.

There was more than a little self-satisfied giggling. To learn more, go to mthoodrr.com

Don Campbell is a writer and musician. He hides out at a secret fortress on a hilltop in Mosier and is a frequent contributor to The Gorge Magazine.

The railbikes trip includes a stop at The Fruit Company in Pine Grove, where riders can browse the factory, gift shop and heritage museum, with its exhibits detailing the agricultural history of the Hood River Valley.

Traffic Jam at WAAAM 2

e annual Tra c Jam car show comes to the Western Antique Aeroplane & Automobile Museum on JULY 8 from 8 am to 5 pm. e event is a fundraiser for the museum and features food, fun, music and vehicle judging. Antique autos will be on display inside and out, with some available for rides. Admission is $20 for adults, $10 for kids and includes the museum entry fee. waaamuseum.org

SIC Gorge Challenge 1

e SIC Gorge Challenge takes place JULY 21-23 in Hood River featuring competitions in all paddle divisions, foiling and wing foiling. e 12th annual event, held in memory of Steve Gates, is a three-day celebration of water sports based at the Hood River waterfront. In keeping with Gates’s vision of evolving the event, it has expanded from its inception as the “paddle challenge” to include wing foiling and SUP foiling. Gates and his team at Big Winds brought the Challenge to life in 2011, and the event has become one of the most beloved and competitive races in the country. To register, go to paddleguru.com/ races/SICGorgeChallenge2023

Mosier Fest 3

On Saturday, JUNE 24, the Mosier Community School comes alive with Mosier Fest, the town’s largest annual event. e day-long free celebration features local food trucks and o erings from local restaurants and shops, a beer/wine/cider garden, art and vendor booths. An outdoor stage hosts live music, including the Norman Sylvester Band, blues from the internationally renowned Lloyd Jones Struggle, progressive bluegrass from Missoula, Montana’s Hardwood Heart and more. Gates open at noon. mainstreetmosier.com

PRESENTED BY

JUNE 24

Mosier Community School

Georgia Schofield

Courtesy of WAAAM

Starry Night at the Museum

4

Camp out on the lawn at Maryhill Museum and look deep into the universe through telescopes provided by Rose City Astronomy. e annual Starry Night event on JUNE 24 is a campout and stargazing experience like no other. Tent and RV sites are available by reservation, or just come for the stargazing. Check-in begins at 4 p.m. Volunteer astronomers will be on hand with the telescopes to give visitors awe-inspiring views of the summer night sky over the Columbia River Gorge. Learn about the stars during a twilight conversation or explore the museum, which will be open late. maryhillmuseum.org

Gorge Downwind Champs 5

A week-long festival of downwind paddling, the Gorge Downwind Champs takes place JULY 10-15. Buses will shuttle paddlers between event headquarters at the Skamania County Fairgrounds and the launch at Home Valley Park. e headquarters is open to the public, with beer garden proceeds bene ting the Gorge Canoe Club. gorgedownwindchamps.com

Century of Wonder Exhibit

6

Local landscape photographer Peter Marbach spent two years traveling throughout the state to photograph the more than 250 Oregon State Parks as part of a centennial celebration by the Oregon Historical Society. An exhibit of the photos ran at OHS for six months last year to mark 100 years since the beginning of what has become one of the most popular state parks systems in the country. e exhibit has been traveling the state since then, and it comes to the History Museum of Hood River County in July, where Marbach will give a talk about the project at a reception on JULY 19 from 7-9 p.m. e event is free, with donations welcome. e exhibit runs from July 3 to Sept. 30. hoodriverhistorymuseum.org

Peter Marbach

Georgia Schofield

Maryhill Museum

Embracing the Sweet Bounty of the Gorge

ÉDESKE PATISSERIE GROWS FROM MARKET BOOTH TO A BRICK-AND-MORTAR SHOP

THE BOUNTY OF FRESH PRODUCE that can be sourced throughout the Hood River Valley and Columbia River Gorge is plentiful. For many, that’s precisely why they have chosen to call this special place home. That sentiment rings true for business owners Tamara Bartucz Biscardi and James Biscardi who launched Édeske Patisserie in May 2022.

“The community is invested in knowing

where their food comes from,” says James. “We were looking at creating a sustainable lifestyle, where the land could provide. Now, the land provides for this business.”

Édeske Patisserie is a European-style chocolate and dessert shop that has grown quickly thanks to the enthusiastic support of the community and visitors alike. But as with any small business, it took plenty of perseverance, dedication and creativity to build it from dream to reality — from a booth at the farmer’s market to a brick and mortar shop on Cascade Avenue in Hood River.

Tamara and James met while working on a cruise ship. Tamara, who is Hungarian, studied pastry and chocolate in the Netherlands and worked in various patisseries to master her craft. James was the videographer for the company’s whole fleet but happened to be on the same ship

story by MOLLY ALLEN • photos by JESSE LARVICK

during Tamara’s contract in 2018 while she was working as head pastry chef.

After meeting on the ship, the two kept in touch, maintaining a long-distance relationship across land, sea and multiple countries. “When we were o the ship, we would meet for a month in America or he would come to Europe,” Tamara says.

During Tamara’s rst trip to the U.S., the couple took a road trip around Oregon. “We drove down the coast, east toward Bend and ended up in Hood River. I said if I ever moved to America, it would be here,” she says.

After Tamara’s last contract aboard the ship ended, the couple had planned for her to move to the U.S. so they could be together. But the onset of the pandemic foiled those plans. Because of the restrictions on travel, Tamara moved back to Hungary in March 2020.

“We made a pact that whichever country opens up rst, the other will jump and go,” says Tamara.

It was Hungary that opened up rst, in July 2020. “I put everything in storage in Portland and bought a one-way ticket,” James says. e couple got married in Hungary and were nally able to make their way back to the Gorge together in August 2021.

e Biscardis had every intention of starting this business. After months of market research, along with Tamara receiving her work permit, they applied to be a part of the Hood River Farmer’s Market and were quickly accepted. While they knew it would be a great way to introduce their products to the community, it was the connections made that were the biggest bene t.

“We got to meet and know our customers,” Tamara says. “We built up a community that is excited for us and is rooting for us.”

e Biscardis took the time to introduce themselves to every person who stopped by their market booth to gaze upon stunning chocolates and gourmet desserts. “People were really excited about it,” James says. “As a new business we only had a small amount to invest. We needed that proof of concept and watched that grow all summer.”

e market was also an incredibly bene cial avenue for the couple to meet area farmers and to make connections with other small business owners. “We met all the farmers that produce the fruit we’re looking for and built those relationships with them,” Tamara says. “ anks to the market, now I know who to call.”

ose grower and farmer connections have allowed Tamara and James to work with ingredients of the highest quality. “It’s great to go to a farmer and say, ‘I want to put this in our product,’”

Buy · Sell · Lease · Invest

James Biscardi and Tamara Bartucz Biscardi, opposite bottom, create fine European patisseries including meringue Dutch tartlets, left, and chocolate bon bons, above. Each color of the bon bons is a di erent layer of "painted" cacao butter.

locavore

into the business. e opportunity to utilize a commercial space at the community college in e Dalles was helpful. But as popularity and demand grew, the couple realized there was a need for a di erent kitchen space.

After securing a storefront at 512 Cascade Avenue, they began to work on setting up a production kitchen and retail space — a dream that may not have come to fruition without the support of the community. ey put countless hours of work into their space, including building their front counter by hand. But additional funding was needed to get the patisserie open. While they were hesitant to launch a crowdsourcing campaign through Kickstarter, they nally did and were overjoyed with the way the community was willing to help them realize their dream.

“ e community we grew into with the market showed up for us. It blew our minds,” says Tamara, noting that their funding goal was reached and surpassed in just nine days.

says James. “Killer Tomato Farm has strawberries so good that we had never tasted anything like it.” Blackberries are also sourced from Killer Tomato, while blueberries are sourced from Red Tractor Farm and apples and pears are often sourced from Mt. View Orchards and Grateful Vineyard. e couple is also using locally sourced honey and eggs and even incorporating liqueurs from Hood River Distillers into their products.

Dessert and chocolate avors from Édeske rotate based on seasonality, which allows Tamara to be creative in their o erings. “We want to use what is available right now and what is available here,” Tamara says. “All of the fruit available here, we use from local farmers.”

All the money they made from the market each week was put back

Now, they’re thrilled to be welcoming the community into their shop with a selection of individual desserts and handcrafted chocolates. Walking through the front door, you’ll nd a display of items such as seasonal fruit tartlets, choux pastries, mini mousse cakes, bon bon chocolates and more. Édeske also takes custom orders for larger desserts, as well as creating dessert tables for wedding receptions and other local events.

“I like to say that we are a avor business,” says James. “Everything is about taste and getting ingredients as fresh as possible.” To learn more, go to edeskepatisserie.com

Molly Allen is a food, beverage and travel writer who lives in Hood River.

Nate is a second-generation Realtor and offers his clients a high level of integrity, transparency and great service. As a local small business owner (Dog River Coffee) and a former Planning Commissioner, Nate is a sharp resource for buyers in this dynamic Real Estate market.

With over 17 years in the industry, Julie is one of the area’s leading Realtors. In addition to her energy and experience with smooth transactions, Julie has committed countless hours serving on Real Estate boards at the state and local level, 2x Realtor of the Year, and volunteers for local non-profits.

The Way West

A PHOTO EXPLORATION

BY MICHAEL HANSON

motion becomes comfortable and the interactions with strangers keep me seeking more assignments. But my work life shut down in Spring 2020. I was home and the calendar was relatively empty. Perhaps, I thought, this was a good time to experiment with a different type of photography.

For most of my adult life, I’ve found comfort in packing bags and traveling throughout the U.S. for photography assignments. Sometimes I go places simply out of curiosity. The

I grew up in the South and attended a small university in Lexington, Virginia, where I volunteered at an education center that had been Sally Mann’s childhood home. Mann is a ne-art photographer known for her sometimes-haunting black-and-white images taken with old antique view cameras. Many critics consider her one of the most accomplished photographers of her generation. I have always admired her work and her approach to ne-art storytelling.

In her book, Deep South, Mann references a British historian who pondered the visceral link between the American South and Europe. He proposed that the two lands share a familiarity in their “lingering aftertaste of defeat.” ere’s little doubt the American South has a complex, mournful existence.

Now I live in the Paci c Northwest. Dropping into the Gorge from the Columbia Plateau, the still waters of the Columbia River appear as a lake, drifting reluctantly toward an inevitable fate of salinity. Photographers have documented the beauty of this region for more than a century. It’s unlike any other place in America and deserves the praise, but

I’ve always wondered what this place looked like before we altered the course of the river. I can’t help but see a river sunk beneath a lake.

e wet plate process was the main form of photography through the 1800s and early 1900s. It begins by adding a layer of collodion to a plate of glass and then submersing that coated glass into a silver nitrate mix, causing the plate to become light sensitive. While under a red light, the glass plate is put into a lm holder. I use an old 4x5 eld camera to expose the plate. Returning to my makeshift darkroom in the back of my truck, I develop the plate and ‘ x’ it, allowing the plate to be removed from the darkroom. It’s a messy process. My clothes and skin are stained brown. e chemicals often do not do what I want. I pour too much. e wind blows too hard. Unwanted streaks cover the image. I don’t know why things happen the way they do but the results feel magical.

As Covid life set in, I began to explore my own method of documenting my home. How can a river be so complex? e same waters that carry remnants of our ushed and buried mistakes also provide refuge for a

species that, despite many hurdles, or dams, continue to ght to return home. A centuries-old falls where salmon surrendered to a waiting net now rests at the bottom of a dark pool. I see a world where past and present collide into a complicated scene and think perhaps the British historian was only half right. e South is not the only American landscape that has su ered the weight of defeat.

e mysterious, unpredictable images that appear on a plate of glass under the red light of my headlamp feel appropriate, messy and complicated. e river still hides something beneath. Hood River photographer Michael Hanson's exhibit, The Way West, opens August 4 at the Columbia Center for the Arts with a reception during First Friday. The exhibit runs through the end of the month.

story and photos by BEN MITCHELL

The “Easy” Way up Mount Defiance

THERE’S MORE THAN ONE WAY TO HIKE TO THE ROOFTOP OF THE GORGE

WHEN DESCRIBING the Columbia River Gorge, travel writers — at least those who live outside of the area — will often proclaim to their readers that the canyon walls of the Gorge “tower over 4,000 feet high,” or something to that effect.

While there aren’t too many points along the Columbia River that crest that elevation, the 4,000+ number is typically referring to Mount Defiance. A 6-million-year-old shield volcano (age according to OregonHikers.org, which is an excellent hiking resource), Defiance is considered the highest point in the Gorge, looming imperiously over the Hood River Valley. Its radio

The view from the summit of Mount Defiance includes the Columbia River and Mount Adams, top. The Gorge can be seen from the access road, above At left, a peek at Mount St. Helens from the trail.

tower-festooned peak can be seen from many miles away, and it’s typically the last place in the Gorge to give up its snow in the spring — a time when local lore dictates that it’s nally safe to plant tomatoes in your garden without worry of frost.

In addition to being the highest point in the Gorge (4,960 feet according to the U.S. Forest Service), it’s often heralded as one of toughest hikes in the area, too. I don’t have a speci c citation for the latter point, but I’ve often heard that climbers use De ance as a training hike in preparation for summitting Mount Hood.

at is, however, only if you’re hiking De ance from the most-commonly used trailhead, Starvation Creek, which is located all the way down at river level in the Gorge, making for a brutal 11-mile hike (up and back), during which you are subjected to nearly 4,900 feet in elevation gain. If you’re like me and 1) don’t have any interest in climbing Hood, and 2) have knees weaker than a teenager on a rst date, then that’s a hike you’re probably not looking to do either.

While Starvation Creek is the most well-known trailhead for reaching Defiance, it’s not the only one. Located just south of Defiance (the non-Gorge side) and a 45-minute/18-mile drive from Hood River is the aptly named “Mount Defiance South Trailhead,” which allows you to hike to the top of the peak in a mere 1.6 miles via the equally aptly named “Mount Defiance Trail” (#413).

That being said … it’s still not an easy hike. Any way you slice it, hiking Mount Defiance will give your calves a workout, and in 1.6 miles (one way), you’ll see 1,145 feet in elevation gain, making for a short, but steep, ascent. For directions to the trailhead, which are a bit complicated, I recommend using OregonHikers.org, NWhiker.com, or the U.S. Forest Service website.

First, the bad news. The hike is still kind of a slog, heading on a mostly straight path up through the trees. Also, as I alluded to before, the top of the mountain is a complex of radio/microwave towers, wire

fences, and other communications-related infrastructure, so you won’t get that tucked-away-into-the-wilderness vibe of other hikes, and you’ll have to get creative with your framing so that no metal boxes or towers from the summit make it into your Instagram photos.

All that aside, the hike is very much worth doing, at least once. Being the tallest peak in the Gorge, Mount Defiance is a worthy adventure to tick off your hiking bucket list. Also, the prominence of Defiance means you get some killer views — especially if you take a quick detour (more on that below).

The directions for the hike are pretty straightforward: from the trailhead, head north and up the Mount Defiance Trail #413, and you’ll stay on this trail all the way to the radio tower summit. Most of the time, you’re in a dense coniferous forest, but a couple of talus slopes on the way provide a great spot for water breaks and give you a nice little amuse-bouche for what you’ll see at the top, with a good view of Mount Hood and glimpses of Bear Lake and Mount St. Helens.

After sweating your way to the summit (congrats!), you have an option to extend your hike by continuing along the section of the Mount Defiance Trail that makes a loop just below the summit, crossing National Forest Road 2821 twice in the process. You can also do this before you reach the summit if you like (take care to not to head off the loop and onto the section that goes down to Starvation Creek; if you come to a fork with the Mitchell Point Trail #417, you’ve gone too far and should turn around).

This will add another 1.25 miles or so (40-ish minutes) and around 400 feet of elevation gain to your hike, but it’s totally worth it,

due to the north side of Defiance offering some truly incredible views of the Gorge, Mount Adams, Mount Rainier, and Mount St. Helens. I would even argue you get better views here than you do at the top.

After completing the loop and heading back down to the start of the hike, you have another option for a detour: Bear Lake. This small lake provides a decent place to have lunch and/or cool off after your hike, with a good view of Mount Defiance to boot. However, like other alpine lakes in the Mount Hood area, it doesn’t really have much of a beach, and can be silty and muddy. Bear Lake is accessible via the Bear Lake Trail #413A, which appears on your right about half a mile before the Mount

Defiance South Defiance Trailhead, and hiking it will add another 1.4 miles and 400 feet of elevation change to your hike (there and back).

If that’s not your cup of tea, skip it and head back to the car, then tell all your friends you finally made it to the highest point in the Gorge.

The summit of Mount Defiance looms over Bear Lake, above. Opposite, radio towers and other infrastructure come with being the tallest peak in the Gorge.

story by JANET COOK • photos by LANCE KOUDELE and KATE SCHWAGER

Soča Wine Shop & Bar

AN EXPLORATION OF OLD WORLD WINES IN DOWNTOWN WHITE SALMON

PERUSING THE MENU AT SOČA WINE SHOP & BAR IN WHITE SALMON, I read through the selection of wines by the glass. There are sparkling wines, whites and reds, a couple of intriguing-sounding rosés, and three orange wines.

Wait, what?

Admittedly, I’m not familiar with orange wine. I ask co-owner Bethany Kimmel about this, and her response embodies everything about the shop and wine bar, where you’ll find a diverse selection of bottles for sale as well as nearly two dozen wines by the glass and a delightful appetizer menu.

Without making me feel the least bit unenlightened, Kimmel tells me that orange wines — sometimes called amber wines or skin-contact wines — are white wines made using the techniques that produce reds, namely by macerating the grape skins with the juice. The result is a white wine that has more characteristics of a red, including texture, tannins and color. Orange wines can vary from a light hue that would be hard to differentiate from a traditional white, to a deep amber-orange.

Although orange wine has risen in popularity recently, its origins are ancient. Archaeological evidence of skin-contact wine production dating to 6000 B.C. has been found in what is now the Republic of Georgia. Some believe these were the first wines ever produced.

From the menu, I order a glass from a Savoie, France, winery. It does not disappoint.

Unpretentiousness coupled with intriguing wines from across the pond — mostly France and Italy, but also from Slovenia, Austria, Germany and a smattering of other wine regions — define the Soča Wine Shop, which opened last December and has quickly become a lively hub in downtown White Salmon. Hundreds of bottles line the walls of the cozy, light-filled space. Café seating offers patrons a place to enjoy a glass from the rotating menu. A newly built patio increases the seating capacity and offers a peek at Mount Hood.

Co-owner Bethany Kimmel, below, helps curate the wine selection, which features bottles from Italy and France as well as other mostly Old-World wine regions.

e bottle shop and wine bar is the brainchild of Jure Poberaj and Nina Jimenez, who also own the White Salmon Baking Co. It’s named after the Soča River, which runs through western Slovenia where Poberaj is from. He was born 200 yards from the Italian border, across which lie the vineyards of storied winemaker Josko Gravner, Poberaj’s uncle.

Poberaj moved to the Washington D.C.area when he was 6 years old after his dad was hired to coach the U.S. Canoe and Kayak team. He became a competitive kayaker himself, and later moved to Oregon to attend Portland State University. Eventually he found his way to Hood River, where he met Jimenez while they were both working at Celilo Restaurant. e robust wine program at the restaurant stirred Poberaj’s imagination.

“ at sparked my interest, and it went from there,” Poberaj said.

He and Jimenez, a pastry chef, opened their bakery in 2015 and it quickly gained a following in White Salmon and beyond with its wood- red baguettes and mouth-watering baked goods. Along with learning the craft of wood- red baking, Poberaj pursued his growing passion for wine. With his family connections, he sourced unique and interesting wines from his home region for the bakery’s weekly Pizza Night, which they launched in part to showcase wines from outside the region.

Expressive

Two Locations:

Co-owners Jure Poberaj and Nina Jimenez drew inspiration for the shop in part from showcasing wines at their other business, the White Salmon Baking Co.

Kate Schwager

S uperb summer sipping

finely crafted wines, mountain & vineyard views

“ ere are so many great wines in the Gorge, but we wanted to o er folks wines from elsewhere,” Poberaj said. “At rst, we focused on wines I was familiar with, and then it spread to all of Italy and so on.” Along the way, he and Jimenez planted a three-acre vineyard on their property outside White Salmon, where they grow nebbiolo, friulano and ribolla gialla. ey just released their rst wines in May.

Mt. Hood Winery

For years, the couple had their eye on a long-empty building in White Salmon on Main Avenue next to City Hall. “We always said if we could ever get that building, we’d open a wine shop,” Poberaj said. e stars aligned last year and they were able to buy it. e couple approached Kimmel, a neighbor and a winemaker in her own right, to partner with them and run the shop on a day-to day-basis. Kimmel produces and bottles her own wine under her label, e Color Collector, focusing on gamay, a grape cultivated mostly in Beaujolais, in the French Alps, and in the Loire Valley.

After several years of producing under alternate proprietorship arrangements, including at Analemma Wines in Mosier and Son of Man cidery in Cascade Locks, she now has her own small production facility on her property outside White Salmon. She has an acre of vineyard planted in gamay and chasselas, a white grape grown mostly in Switzerland.

Poberaj and Kimmel’s combined knowledge and connections with di erent producers have created a symbiotic partnership. “Bethany is very knowledgeable about France, and I know a lot about Italy,” Poberaj said.

For Kimmel, exploring wines from diverse regions helps her as a winemaker. “I feel like there’s so much to be gained by tasting wine from around the world,” she said. “ e knowledge of what’s possible and what’s out there as far as avor and texture — it can push you further.” She brings that same passion and extensive knowledge of wine to her role at Soča, where she co-curates the wine

Along with making wine under her own label, The Color Collector, co-owner Bethany Kimmel manages the day-today operations of the wine shop and bar.

selection and manages the shop during operating hours.

Kimmel and Poberaj combine their expertise to source wine for the shop. “We’re trying to create a balance of price and style,” Kimmel said. “We want to represent lots of styles and regions.” Her goal is to ensure that anyone who walks in the door can find an intriguing bottle of wine that falls within their price range.

When sourcing wines, Kimmel and Poberaj also focus on how they’re produced. “The wines we’re most interested in are the ones made by winemakers who are thoughtful and intentional in their practices,” she said. This can range from natural and biodynamic wines to winemakers who are “pushing the limits of what’s possible.” One wine for sale in the shop was bottle-aged underwater.

“We like to find wines that are aging differently, or maybe a winemaker is plowing fields with a horse,” she said. “Anything that helps define the wine.”

Some orange wines could fit the bill — in particular, those produced by Josko Gravner, Poberaj’s uncle, who I later learn pioneered

the resurgence of orange wines some twenty years ago as part of his mid-career U-turn from conventional winemaking methods to more ancient techniques, including fermenting in large amphorae imported from Georgia.

Knowing this makes it all the more satisfying to have discovered orange wine at the Soča Wine Shop. I leave with a bottle of Kimmel’s Color Collector gamay noir and a plan to return soon.

To learn more, go to socawineshop.com

Soča offers a cozy bar and café seating in the light-filled space, as well as a newly opened outdoor patio. The menu features a rotating selection of wines by the glass and small bites to accompany them.

2022 Platinum Awards Leader 103 Career Plasnums

GENERAL TIPS FOR VISITING GORGE WINE COUNTRY

(Courtesy of the Columbia Gorge Winegrowers Association)

Consider hiring a designated driver.

Refrain from wearing heavily scented items, such as perfumes and lotions. Even lipstick can a ect your wine tasting experience. Allow the day to be lled with the aromas of wine!

Explore varietals unfamiliar to you. Often these can be a delightful surprise.

Ask questions of tasting room sta . Gorge residents are proud to live here and serve local wines, and love to share wine knowledge with others. Ask sta where to have dinner, or where to stay, hike and play.

Don’t be afraid to use the dump buckets. It is not a sign that you don’t care for a wine, and no one will be o ended if you spit out a wine or dump what is left in your glass. On the contrary, most wine sta appreciate that it may be necessary to not swallow every wine in order to maintain your wine tasting pleasure and maintain your palate.

Try a mid-week excursion. Often tasters who visit on a weekday nd the tasting rooms more intimate and the experience more oneon-one.

Have fun. Don’t take it too seriously. After all, wine is about enjoyment on your personal level. Drink what you like and enjoy with others.

WINERY & VINEYARD

Our family has been growing grapes and making wine in a sustainable manner for 30 years in New Zealand and 12 years in the beautiful Columbia Gorge. South Hill, located in Underwood, Washington, is one of the highest-elevation vineyards and wineries in the area, has spectacular views of the Columbia River, Mount Hood, and the Hood River Valley, and is just 20 minutes from Hood River and an hour from Portland. We look forward to sharing our award-winning wines and our story with you. Enjoy the breathtaking view while sampling our wines outdoors in our picnic area, or for rainy days we have a spacious seating area in our working winery.

Google reviews:

• We had a fantastic time enjoying the wine and scenery and talking with the owners. The view from the tasting area was breathtaking, and the wine was the best we had tried in the Hood River gorge. It was quiet and peaceful. 10/10

• Visiting South Hill is a great experience, from the spectacular views to the world-class wines. From the first sip you can tell the Jones family has over 30 years experience in the industry!

Our tasting room is open Friday-Sunday, 12-5 pm, April through mid-November. No reservation is needed for parties under 6. Call us for larger groups.

801 Scoggins Rd., Underwood, WA • southhillvineyards.com • 541-380-1438 • southhillwine@gmail.com

TURN LEFT AT BAKEOVEN ROAD

A DAY TRIP TO THE DESERT TAKES TRAVELERS ON A JOURNEY THROUGH TIME

STORY BY DON CAMPBELL

squad of quail and a solo skunk skitter o my home road as I aim east toward a blazing golden-orange, 6:06 a.m. sunrise. It is beautiful and prophetic, somehow. is time of day the world is full of promise and has yet to get crazy. Nothing says summer like a road trip. It is calm, the winds and rain having subsided, and morning is inching its way toward warm. Conditions are perfect.

I want some peace and few people. I want some Oregon history in real time, not photos or exhibits in a museum. I want to drive on quiet roads and avoid tra c. I want to get lost.

Motoring through easy morning tra c on Interstate 84 gets me quickly past e Dalles. I pull o at exit 87 to Highway 197 south toward Dufur, Bend and greater Central Oregon. No tra c. I let my mind wander as I drive through gently rolling wheat elds and vineyards. O in the haze I see Mount Hood. I roll past Dufur and Tygh Valley and drop gently into Maupin, that riverside idyll for shing and rafting.

OUT OF THE HEAT, INTO THE FIRE

Crossing the Deschutes River bridge, I spy my rst turn — Bakeoven Road — just at the south end of the span. I’d learned of this fabled slab of blacktop not long ago and am anxious to put myself on it. Turning left and passing the popular Maupin City Park, and crossing the small bridge over Bakeoven Creek, I begin to wend my way up the aggressively serpentine roadway into high-desert country.

e story goes that Bakeoven was a stage stop along the old e Dalles-Canyon City wagon road, the precursor to the modern-day Bakeoven Road. Gold was discovered in Canyon City in the early 1860s and an intrepid, entrepreneurial e Dalles trader lit out with a pack train of our. Misfortune befell him as he crossed the Deschutes River at a spot now known as Sherar’s Bridge. According to the Central Oregonian, “Indians drove o his horses during the night. He was left stranded until other travelers along the route would come by. Undaunted by the loss of his horses, he constructed a rough adobe and stone bake oven, and made bread, which he sold to prospectors and miners on their way to the gold elds of Canyon City.”

It grew to be a bustling burg with a stage stop, post o ce and more, and prospered for many years, before roads and routes shifted. e old ranch and outbuildings remain at the original site.

e 25-mile climb out of Maupin o ers overwhelming panoramas, giving a hint to those older times. I am on top of the world with grand plateau vistas that stretch to vast horizons in every direction. Sun-baked

old homesteads, barns and outbuildings and other historic relics still dot the landscape, irresistible for any photographer or writer.

Having said that, on the way up I passed by the Bonneville Power Administration’s Maupin Station, a marvel and major grid point of towering powerlines — and a nod to modern technology and energy. I then quickly found myself at yet another thoroughly modern contrivance: the State of Oregon’s Bakeoven/Daybreak Solar Project, in partnership with Avangrid Renewables, a leading U.S. sustainable energy company. e project, according to the state’s website, is a “solar photovoltaic energy generation facility.”

Good for Oregon.

Moro and the Columbia River crossing of Biggs Junction. But a quaint junction of its own sits here — Shaniko.

History tells us that Shaniko was once a thriving hub of commerce. According to the State of Oregon’s “Oregon Ghost Towns,” Shaniko, formerly known as Cross Hollow, “served as a transit hub for the Columbia Southern Railway. At the time, the town lay at the heart of 20,000 square miles of wool and wheat land. By 1901, Shaniko was Wasco County’s fth largest city. It had the largest wool warehouse in the state, in which four million pounds were stored and sold.”

In 1903, Shaniko earned the nickname “Wool Capital of the World.” at same year the town shipped over one million bushels of wheat and more than 2,000 tons of wool, amounting to some $3 million in wool sales alone. “A year later in 1904, the wool sales were up to $5 million. Shaniko saw con ict in Oregon’s Range Wars, and was one of the rare places where shepherds fended o the cattlemen. … e good times wouldn’t last.”

A change in rail lines disrupted its growth and it faded into history’s mists. Hearty souls made several attempts to revive it, but it remains little more than a quick tourist stop. But a worthy one. e old Shaniko Hotel looks like it only closed yesterday. Still standing is the antiquated city hall, its post o ce, Ravens Nest, is Ole House, various old farmhouses, the quaint (and apparently still functioning) Shaniko Wedding Chapel, rusting antique cars and farm equipment, and so much more.

CHASING GHOSTS

I come to the junction of Bakeoven and Highway 97, a major trade route through this part of Oregon. South leads to the heart of Central Oregon — Madras, Redmond, Bend and beyond. North takes you to Grass Valley,

The Bakeoven/Daybreak Solar Project.

The historic Shaniko wedding chapel.

Adobe Stock/Scott Ripley

A panoramic view of Maupin, with the Deschutes River flowing below it, from Bakeoven Road.

Don Campbell

Adobe Stock/Danita Delimont

e Seven Directions Antique shop and popular ice cream parlor have temporarily relocated next to the hotel, due apparently to an unfortunate semi-truck accident in August 2022. Renovation is underway. About the only things open are the Shaniko General Store and a small gas station. Life is quiet, save for the steady stream of trucks and tra c on the highway.

One curiosity is local radio — yes, you read that right — under the banner of Dead Format Radio, 99.9 on your FM dial, that plays continuous classic rock transmitted in a 10-mile radius. Worth noting too that back near the Bakeoven Road-Highway 97 junction is a tall forest of modern tele- and radio-communication towers,

your vacation just got a lot better

that provides me — a habitual radio-channel scanner during road trips — a plethora of clear radio signals pulled from Yakima, Wash., the entire Columbia River Gorge, deep into Central Oregon, and even KGON from Portland, a ording me every genre of music, talk, religious, and sports programming, including the delightful KWSO 91.9 FM station from Warm Springs. And I have plenty of cell phone service, which will be short-lived.

The Northwest's best selection of eMTB and Mountain Bike Demos and Shuttles in Hood River 208

Photo: Santa Cruz Bicycles

A historic photo shows stagecoaches outside the Hotel Shaniko sometime before 1912, left. At right, the modern-day Hotel Shaniko. Below, Dead Format Music in Shaniko.

Don Campbell

Wikipedia /orig photo by B. B. Bakowski

Wikipedia /Ljlabarthe

JOURNEY THROUGH TIME

For many, the tiny hamlet of Antelope plays a signi cant part of Oregon history. Turning left onto Highway 218 out of Shaniko, I snake my way down hairpin turns into this town that was once absorbed by the pious zealotry of Eastern guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh and his devotees. In 1981, looking to build a peaceful and self-su cient heaven on Earth, the Bhagwan moved his operations from India to Wasco County, setting o a years-long battle with residents. Taking over the 64,281-acre Big Muddy Ranch, the guru established Rajneeshpuram (often known as Rancho Rajneesh), investing over $100 million to raise a self-contained city, building an airstrip, housing, maintenance and recreation facilities, and other infrastructure for some 7,000 of his followers.

To establish voting power, Rajneeshpuram began buying property in Antelope to build a political base, enraging the locals. As well, the group established Zorba the Buddha restaurant and other small businesses while taking over the town council.

Today, Antelope seems frozen like a photograph. A few residents still live there, and barely recognizable remnants of the Bhagwan’s reign still exist. Still, it holds a significant place in history.

Rajneeshpuram during a festival in 1983, left. Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh drives through Rajneeshpuram in 1982, middle. Right, an abandoned building in Antelope.

Wikipedia/Samvado Gunnar Kossatz, both images

Adobe Stock/ Katrin Meyersiek

Eighty-four miles east of Portland,

THE DALLES

emerges between rolling sun-drenched hills and rough basalt cliffs.

Come and experience the great outdoors here. Hiking, biking, fishing and water sports abound. And in the city itself, there's wine tasting, drive-in movies, delicious food and live music almost every night. You'll never run out of things to do in THE DALLES . Come explore for yourself.

As for Rajneeshpuram, it has been reborn as the Washington Family Ranch, a Young Liferun religious youth camp. The ranch itself was purchased by Montana billionaire Dennis Washington in 1991, who donated it to Young Life in 1997. Young Life offers two camps now, one for middle-school-aged youth, and one for high schoolers. Some of the guru’s infrastructure efforts remain, either being remodeled or repurposed. Young Life has done an amazing job of

transforming Big Muddy into a model youth camp. The facility is available for retreats and other gatherings. The road through the camp is public for deeper ventures into the rugged high-desert country out toward the Painted Hills. The drive in to where the ranch sits is a geologic and geographic wonder.

ALL IN A DAY’S DRIVE

It was a good day. Much of where I traveled was via the “Journey Through Time” Oregon Scenic Byway that spans five Oregon counties and comprises portions of U.S. Route 97, Oregon Route 218, Oregon Route 19, U.S. Route 26, and Oregon Route 7. The John Day River meanders through much of it. The 39-mile drive from my home base in Mosier to Maupin was an easy hour. To cover the Bakeoven Road ramble was another dawdling hour with stops for notes and photographs and a rare quiet filled with birdsong and fresh air. With some hair-raising switchbacks, the eight-mile dip into Antelope was made better with delicious views out into arid desert country, marked with sagebrush, juniper and bunch grass. Sixteen miles from Antelope is the Washington Family Ranch and it’s a drive not to be missed for its grandeur. All that and I was back at home well before sundown.

Don Campbell is a writer and musician. He hides out at a secret fortress on a hilltop in Mosier and is a frequent contributor to The Gorge Magazine.

The road through the former Big Muddy Ranch, now the Washington Family Ranch. Don Campbell, both images

please inquire at www.atinroofbarn.com

With breathtaking views of the hills and orchards of the White Salmon River valley, the barn takes center stage for celebrations. The only venue in the Gorge to offer covered ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception locations; entertaining options are abundant at Tin Roof Barn. Magic loves it here…

Tristan & McKenna August 2022

wedding photos courtesy of Indwell Weddings

photos courtesy of Ali Rae Photography

RIVER OF WATER

RIVER OF SAND

SEARCH AND RECOVERY DIVER ARCHER MAYO PLIES THE COLUMBIA FOR LOST ITEMS

STORY BY JANET COOK PHOTOS COURTESY OF ARCHER MAYO & BY JANET COOK

A 26-foot aluminum research vessel weighing 4,000 pounds isn’t the kind of thing that gets lost in the Columbia River every day. Nevertheless, it happened. In April 2017, four researchers from the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission were conducting a routine sea lion count below Bonneville Dam. What started as a calm morning turned blustery by the time the boat headed back upriver from Phoca Rock, a mid-river outcropping across from Multnomah Falls. A large wave broke over the bow, capsizing the boat. All four crew members were rescued from the water after the boat sank; one later died of his injuries.

The tragedy left the $85,000 boat at the bottom of the river. When specialized recovery divers came from Seattle to look for the boat, they were unable to find it despite knowing exactly where it sank.

It was a mystery tailor-made for Archer Mayo.

Mayo, of White Salmon, has a dive and recovery business himself called Underdog Dive, and specializes in finding items lost in the Columbia River and other nearby bodies of water. It’s usually smaller items — things like phones, keys, foils, fishing rods, drones, outboard motors. Last year, he recovered two bicycles from the bottom of the Willamette River near downtown Portland; they fell in when their unclad riders took a late-night dive from a floating dock after the annual World Naked Bike Ride.

When Mayo learned of the sunken boat in 2019, he set out to find it. “Between Rooster Rock and Beacon Rock, the river is so wild,” he says. “It’s below the dam so it has wild currents and tides. It’s the most beautiful part of the Columbia.” He spent every Friday throughout the summer diving in search of the boat. After nearly three months

scouring “every square foot of 10 miles of river,” he found it — not far from where it sank.

“I found it by persistence, looking at anything, chasing down every little thing I saw,” he says. “The reason I couldn’t find it initially was because I didn’t understand that there are two rivers. There’s the river of water and the river of sand.” The boat was almost totally buried under sand and silt at the bottom of the river, with only about 10 square feet of aluminum visible. To extract the boat, he built a dredge, moved 22,000 pounds of sand and brought the boat to the surface using floatation bags.

“It was one of the best days of my life,” Mayo says. “I wish I had something to search for all the time. I love to do it.” For Mayo, it’s not just the satisfaction of finding a lost item — although that’s certainly

rewarding. He loves the whole process, from the story of how an item was lost to forming a hypothesis about its most likely location to the actual diving.

“I get to meet people who are just really interesting,” he says. “And ninety percent of the time, I get their stuff back.”

Mayo, who had been doing dive recovery for a couple of years before the lost boat search, calls that his “graduate program” on the Columbia.

“I really learned a lot about its hydrodynamics and buoyancy,” he says. “I have a very different understanding of the river now.”

Mayo spent his childhood on the East Coast and in California, depending on where his father, a naval officer, was stationed. He learned to windsurf when he was 12 in Charleston, South Carolina, and read about the Columbia Gorge in the pages of Windsurf magazine. After college at the University of Alabama followed by a Peace Corps stint, he earned a master’s degree in industrial design at The Savannah College of Art and Design.

In 2000, on his way to settle in San Francisco, Mayo detoured to the Gorge for two weeks of windsurfing in the place that had held a mythical status for him since his youth. Then he headed south to the Bay Area, but when he hit San Francisco traffic he had a change of heart. He turned around and drove back to the Gorge, eventually settling in White Salmon.

Mayo became a certified scuba diver in 1989, but he’d been freediving for several years before that. “I would dive in the low visibility rivers in Charleston,” he says. “I got pretty confident diving in those conditions.” Still, he didn’t think much about diving in the Columbia River during his early years here.

He put together a life managing real estate, working as a fundraising auctioneer and pursuing his artistic path as a sculptor. He and his wife had two kids. In 2010, he was offered a six-month artist’s residency in Freemantle, Australia, where his interest in dive recovery was piqued after a visit to the Western Australia Shipwrecks Museum. He began working with maritime archaeologists and conservators who studied the hundreds of shipwrecks along the coast of Western Australia — many dating to the Dutch spice trade.

Mayo was captivated by shipwrecks and began creating shipwreck artifacts as part of his residency. For him, discovering a wreck was only part of the intrigue; he became fascinated by the entire story — the people, their lives, the possibilities of what transpired leading up to the tragedy. In a You Tube video about his shipwreck-related artwork, he describes the discovery of two late-19th century shipwrecks deep in the Indian Ocean during the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight

Archer Mayo points to an underwater rock outcropping on his sonar, above. Previous pages, Mayo with a prop he recovered in the barge channel near Mosier, and bringing up a sunken research vessel near Multnomah Falls.

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370 which went missing in 2014, vanishing without a trace. The shipwrecks were discovered incidentally by sonar during the search.

“Why is it so interesting to me?” he says. “I guess because it happened in the middle of nowhere and nobody knows what happened. Everybody who was involved died that day, most likely. To me, that loss story is so tragic and so interesting and so human.” He conjectures about what might have happened on those ships — very possibly an explosion of the coal cargo bound from Great Britain to Asia. “And then, one hundred-plus years later, we come across it by accident while looking for another vessel.”

After he returned from Australia, he bought a small boat and a side-scan sonar, which he used to identify interesting places to freedive. “For a few years I just did freediving until I got serious about staying down longer and actually finding things,” he says. One day, he got a call from an acquaintance who needed his help. His wife had lost a diamond pendant in the Hood River Marina while at their daughter’s sailing practice.

“I was showing it to a friend and the pendant popped off the chain and fell through the dock,” says Katie Skakel, of Mosier. “Archer went through thick, thick river muck and found it. I was so thrilled!”

Mayo’s reputation spread, mostly through word of mouth and referrals from Portland-area dive shops. He dives year-round, but business picks up considerably during the summer and fall. “I start getting more calls when salmon-fishing season starts, and then it really picks up toward late summer with swimmers losing rings, keys, expensive glasses and iPhones off the marina docks,” he says. “Midsummer also has lots of foils to be recovered.” About half of Mayo’s recovery missions are done from his boat, the Retriever; the rest are from docks or beaches.

As with shipwrecks, it’s the stories that intrigue him. “There are so many compelling human stories in this business,” he says. “People losing their immigration documents, heirloom jewelry, fishing rods they’ve had since 1955.”

When he dives in the Columbia, Mayo says he feels like he’s truly discovering some-

Archer Mayo poses with a Rolex and its owner, left. He recovered the watch from the Columbia River near Vancouver. At right, he brings up a fishing rod from the Columbia near Drano Lake.

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and its many nuances. “I have absolutely fallen in love with this body of water,” he says.

Mayo also has an assistant who’s proven invaluable. ree years ago, he became a mentor through e Next Door. He took his mentee, Danny Johnson, for his rst boat ride and began teaching him about dive recovery. Now Johnson, 16, is his right-hand man. “He’s such a smart person,” Mayo says. “He’ll look at something mechanically and come up with an answer.” Whenever Johnson is available, he accompanies Mayo on recovery dives, driving the boat and setting up all of Mayo’s dive equipment. “He knows how to do all the procedures. I literally trust him with my life.”

thing every time. “We love to go to Hawaii, we love to freedive,” says Mayo, who enjoys diving with his second wife. “But to me, it isn’t nearly as interesting to dive where you can see everything and everything is known.” He has “tools” to help him, including his high-frequency, state-of-the-art sonar system and a “dive scooter” that helps him maintain his location in the current. But he attributes much of his success nding lost objects to his deep understanding of the river

As summer gets underway, Mayo is ready for his busy season. He ticks o a list of typical items lost in various locations: phones and jewelry in the Hood River Marina; rental car keys in Nichols Boat Basin; expensive shing rods at Drano Lake. And then there are things like the $10,000 Rolex he recovered for someone downriver near Vancouver last summer, and an expensive boat propeller which he located near Mosier after starting with a very large search area. And of course, there were the naked bike riders’ bicycles.

No matter what kind of item he’s looking for, big or small, Mayo pours the same level of enthusiasm bordering on obsession into recovering it — which is part of why he’s usually successful.

“ e river,” he says, “is every bit as interesting underwater as it is above it.”

To learn more, go to underdogdive.com

Archer Mayo and his assistant, Danny Johnson, prepare gear for a dive near the Bingen Marina. Johnson drives Mayo’s boat, the Retriever, sets up equipment for recovery dives and is a whiz with any mechanical issues that arise.

Janet Cook

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An Art Pop-Up Goes Permanent

301 GALLERY CELEBRATES FIVE YEARS AS AN ARTISTS’ COLLECTIVE

THERE WAS A TIME when the old walkin safe with its massive vault door at the back of the historic Butler Bank Building in Hood River was the most interesting attraction in the place. Now, it’s merely a sideshow to the artwork on display in 301 Gallery, which this summer celebrates five years since its start in the building as a pop-up gallery for a group

of local artists over the Fourth of July holiday in 2018. The weekend pop-up was such a success that the building’s owner, Steffen Lunding, offered to let the artists use the space through August. Then, since he still didn’t have a tenant, he said they could stay through the end of the year. After that, the artists signed a lease. Since then, 301 Gallery has evolved into one of the most renowned art galleries in the Gorge, if not the region.

It’s hard to separate the gallery from the space itself, since the two seem symbiotic. The historic building at the corner of 3rd and Oak streets was designed by acclaimed Portland architect A.E. Doyle in the early 1920s for Truman Butler, who, along with his father Leslie,

story by JANET COOK | photos courtesy of 301 GALLERY

BILL STURMAN

BRIAN CHAMBERS

CATHLEEN REHFELD

CAROLYN CRYSTAL

CHRISTINE KNOWLES

JOSEPH RASTOVICH

KATHRYN WATNE MICHELLE YAMAMOTO

operated the Butler Banking Company. The bank, which had been located at 2nd and Oak since its founding in 1900, moved into the new building in 1924.

Five years later, the country plunged into the Great Depression. The Butler Banking Company failed in 1932 and the building sat empty for years. Over the next decades, it housed a variety of tenants including the Hood River County Courthouse, U.S. Bank and the City of Hood River’s administrative offices. With each successive tenant, modifications to the once-elegant Egyptian Revival-style building detracted ever more from its original grandeur.

Holes spanning several feet in places were drilled in the original plaster ceiling to accommodate updated mechanical systems. The holes were left to gape, hidden behind a suspended ceiling that covered the original plaster work with two-foot-square ceiling tiles and fluorescent lighting. The huge windows fronting 3rd Street were painted over, much of them blocked by the dropped ceiling so that light filtered in only through the bottom portion.

When Lundin bought the building in 2011 and began renovating it, he aimed to bring back as much of its original splendor as possible. He even hired plasterers from Portland to restore the ceiling, which required making seven new plaster knives to match the building’s original mouldings.

The group of artists who moved in for the original pop-up shop were all working and exhibiting artists from the Gorge, many of whom had long known each other. As their weekend pop-up settled into something more enduring, the artists formed a collective and set some parameters: member artists must live and work in the Gorge, and everyone shares duties, including working in the gallery two days per month and serving on committees.

“It’s running a business,” said Sally Reichmuth, an oil painter who also handles finance and operations for the gallery. “We have a financial team, a curating team, a marketing team, a housekeeping and facilities team. Everybody has additional responsibilities besides their two days a month on the floor. And that’s on top of being full-time artists.”

Ted Olson, also an oil painter, handles marketing. “We do it all except the external maintenance on the building,” he said. The member artists bring to the gallery a diverse range of skills in both the arts and the business of art, including years in arts organization, show curation, graphic design and marketing, business operations, art education, facilities management and public art installations and murals. With their assorted backgrounds, the gallery members bring a “collective depth and diversity of experience” that helps create a dynamic gallery experience, Olson said.

Functioning as a “flat” organization, with all 15 member artists involved in the gallery’s day-to-day operations and decision-making, can be challenging, but it has worked out well for 301 Gallery. “It’s a big group but it seems to manage itself,” Olson said. The non-hierarchical structure also turned out to be an advantage when the pandemic hit.

“We don’t have paid staff, so our overhead is lower,” Reichmuth said. “Our facility itself, our building, was also helpful during those times. It’s not a small space. It’s big and open.” After shuttering for two months at the start of the pandemic, the gallery opened “gingerly,” according to Reichmuth, and survived the roller coaster that was 2020. Then, in 2021, the gallery had its best year yet. “We called it ‘euphoric travel,’” Olson said. “People wanted so badly to get out of the house and spend money, it was interesting to see the surge.”

IN JULY 2023, 301 Gallery celebrates five years of continuous operation offering the best in fine arts from around the Columbia Gorge region. Stop by 301 Gallery to enjoy paintings and prints, sculpture, photography, ceramics, glass, metals, and jewelry.

301 Gallery is open every day, from 11am to 5pm. See you soon!

Through all the ups and downs over the past five years — and particularly the last three — 301 Gallery has maintained a steady course, building on its strengths: the artists and the art. “A sense of place permeates the original artwork of 301 Gallery’s member artists, and this has become the overarching aesthetic” of the gallery, said Olson. “It’s that passion for place.” You can see it as you walk through the gallery among the artists’ wide range of paintings, ceramics, sculpture, photography and other mediums.

Something akin to a sense of place extends also to the gallery’s home in the heart of Hood River. “One thing that’s important for any business downtown is the connection to other businesses,” Reichmuth said. The gallery has built relationships with fellow downtown businesses and worked to create mutually supportive events. In February, 301 hosted the “Sugar Show,” featuring local confectioners Édeske Patisserie, Ingrid’s Cheesecakes and Canyon Road Chocolates, alongside the ceramic work of Polly Wood and several other member artists.

In July, as part of the gallery’s fifth anniversary celebration, 301 is teaming up with Waucoma Bookstore to feature famous writers and artists alongside the work of guest artist Tom Callos, a printmaker and portrait artist. Recently, the gallery entered into a relationship with Sustain Home where art and home furnishings are shared between the businesses to help clients visualize beautiful settings and environments.

“We’re going to continue to team up with other local businesses because that’s how downtown Hood River works,” Reichmuth said. “Hood River is a very community-oriented place. It’s something our patrons sense, even if it’s not explicitly obvious to them. They pick up on that sense of community in the way we and other businesses operate.”

The top-tier art and the beautiful space bring people in to 301 Gallery, but it’s the artists — whoever happens to be working in the gallery on any given day — who can turn a simple walk-through by a visitor into a meaningful encounter. Olson calls the gallery “the crossroad of the universe.”

“As we each work our shifts, we encounter people from everywhere and anywhere,” he said. All of the artists have “six degrees of separation” stories, and countless other visits with patrons who wander in that are simply memorable in their own right. “It’s always fun, it’s always so positive,” Olson said.

Reichmuth believes that’s one thing that makes the 301 Gallery experience “really different” than most. “It’s not like a retail shop where you hire someone to be there. This is part of the success. It’s artists that are passionate about art and their work, but who also make that connection with people,” she said.

If needed, they can always resort to showing visitors the walk-in safe. But these days at the old Butler Bank Building, the art and the artists of 301 Gallery are much more interesting.

To learn more, go to 301gallery.com.

KRIS JOY

MELANIE THOMPSON POLLY WOOD

SALLY REICHMUTH

SUE SUTHERLAND SCOTT MACDONALDTED OLSON WILL RICHARDS

Hope Springs Eternal

A FAMILY’S FARM GIVES THEM COMFORT THROUGH DIFFICULT TIMES

HOPE RANCH SITS just over the crest of Pine Grove. e 22-acre farm belonging to the Roulette family is nestled between farmhouses with a double-mountain view. As you pull in and park in their make-shift lot alongside their crisp white lavender shop and climb from the car, you’re likely to feel the cortisol in your system dissipate. e murmur of industrious honeybees and the dusty- oral scent of lavender lls the air.

Up the sloped grass lawn sits the family’s sweet ranch house, which is the center of everything. North of the house are two large elds peppered with a dozen or so black and white cows, a large chicken coop, and a larger barn.

Ivy Roulette helps a customer at the family’s lavender stand, right, which also features fresh-cut flowers, including make-your-own bouquets. The stand is part of the Roulette’s Hope Ranch lavender farm in Pine Grove.

Adjacent to the lavender sprawls the family garden. Fruit trees, an over-zealous plot of strawberries, beds of leafy greens, eager tomatoes and root vegetables are in full force. e door to the kids’ playhouse is open, the greenhouse is bursting with baskets and starts. ere’s an

story by KACIE MCMACKIN | photos by BETHANY FRANGER and KACIE MCMACKIN

Kacie McMackin

Kacie McMackin, both images

old barn that holds, among other things, a blue 1952 Chevy pick-up truck that Mike brought home one day for Ivy as a gift. To know Mike and Ivy is to understand that the surprise delivery of a vintage truck is akin to a husband presenting his wife with a pair of diamond earrings. To know Mike and Ivy is to know what love looks like.

Mike and Ivy’s farm is a physical manifestation of their love story. Prior to moving to Hood River, they lived on a thirty-foot sailboat in Long Beach, Calif. Mike worked as a re ghter and paramedic, Ivy as a high school art teacher. After a decade of living with 17 square feet of oor space and saving up, they came to the Gorge where Ivy had vacationed as a child, and they fell in love with the area.

“Nothing’s as beautiful as the Hood River Valley,” Ivy says. ey bought their property in 2009 and named it Hope Ranch, which is Ivy’s middle name (and her grandmother’s name).

Mike and Ivy are rst-generation farmers and they relied on the expertise and advice of others as they worked to turn their land into the functional farm it is now.

“Our neighbor and his wife took us in and they said, ‘You can’t maintain these elds without having animals on it. Come on, we’re going to go buy cows together!’” Ivy recalls with a laugh. First came the cows, then the kids: Grace, Ben and Olivia. Mike commuted to Portland for work, often gone for days at a time, while Ivy stayed home raising and educating the kids, and tending the farm.

Mike and Ivy Roulette bought their farm in 2009 and settled into the ranch life, including raising their three kids, from left, Grace, Ben and Olivia, who help out on the farm and at the lavender stand.

Bethany Franger

Kacie McMackin

“All that stu on the farm is her,” Mike says gesturing to Ivy. “She’s had three babies in the back seat and a sick calf in the front seat driving to the vet.” On his days o , they all worked together maintaining the farm, selling beef and a bit of hay, mostly to locals.

Having a lavender eld was always part of the dream. After nearly a decade, they nally began transforming the south swath of their property. ey invested in the plants and irrigation, prepped the land and got 10,000 plants into the ground in the summer of 2019.

e plants wintered over, but in spring 2020, as the Covid pandemic was settling over the world, the ground became saturated with rain.

e wet spring ultimately contributed to the damage of over half of their fragile new plants.

On Mother’s Day, Ivy returned from the lavender eld dejected. “I said to Mike, ‘We’re losing all these plants.’ Hillsides of plants were just … dead. May and June were terrible.”

While losing the lavender was devastating for the Roulette family, things were about to get worse. As they tried to wrap their minds around the loss of the plants, Mike began experiencing tingling in his right arm.

“We were watching the plants die, die, die, and Mike’s arm started getting numb,” Ivy recalls.

On July 20, he had an MRI that revealed a large cancerous tumor in his brain. e next day, at home, Mike had a seizure, and he was transported by life- ight to OHSU in Portland. Two of the paramedics that came to get Mike, and Mike’s doctor, Nic Buser, happened to be good friends of the family. Nic’s wife, Heather, drove a rattled Ivy into Portland, and proceeded to let their friends know what was going on.

Mike and Ivy Roulette have faced challenges, including losing most of their initial lavender crop and a cancer diagnosis, with the strength of their love and support from their community of friends and neighbors.

Kacie McMackin

“I don’t know if this is just bragging on this amazing place,” Ivy says, “but we were crumbling, everything was coming to implosion, and it was an instantaneous rally.”

Mike had brain surgery on July 24, and the next day, while Mike and Ivy remained at the hospital, more than a hundred people gathered in their masks and work clothes under the hot summer sun to pull out thousands of diseased and dead lavender plants.

“I had started doing it myself and, emotionally, I couldn’t take it,” Ivy says. “Someone else needed rip it all out, and they did. We’re most lucky because of the community we’re in. People really leaned in.”

Soft Footbed Sandal

Kacie McMackin

Mike and Ivy returned home to their farm and family, and Mike began his recovery and oral chemotherapy. e lavender eld was a clean slate. Due to Mike’s illness, he was unable to return to his high-demand job. ey turned their focus to the present: their kids, their love, their farm.

In the summer of 2021 they began distilling lavender oil and saving the hydrosol, a byproduct that they turned into a freshening spray. eir old barn wall was quickly covered in drying bundles of fragrant

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lavender. ey built the small, white shop building and Hope Ranch Lavender o cially opened on Father’s Day 2022. Locals came, as well as visitors from all over the world. ey began selling pure oils, dried lavender, fresh-cut ower bouquets, room and linen sprays, bath salts, lavender extract and culinary lavender.

As 2022 ended, Mike’s cancer returned. He had a second brain surgery early this year. He continues doing chemotherapy, and in midApril he nished a round of radiation.

Hope Ranch Lavender opened for the season on June 1. e Roulettes plan to continue replanting their lost lavender and improving the shop. Eventually they’d like to build a structure where they can host events.

“We’ve always been the type of people who work, then build what you can, and then do it again and again and again,” Mike says.

“Organically letting things grow,” Ivy adds, her hand covering Mike’s.

Making future plans for their farm, writing new chapters of their love story and their family’s story, feels a bit like new lavender plants — fragile but resilient.

“As far as being in the situation we’re in, we’re about as lucky as we can get,” Mike says. Like their farm, they’re full of hope. To learn more and order from the online shop, go to hoperanchlavender.com

Landscape Architects

Kacie McMackin is an avid cook, writer and owner of Kings & Daughters Brewery. She’s a frequent contributor to The Gorge Magazine

Culinary lavender and bath salts, as well as other items made from Hope Ranch lavender, are available at the stand and from the online store.

Kacie McMackin, both images

Feel Better, Move Better,

Brian Scrivens, MD Carly Jackson, PA-C

MEYER LEMON & LAVENDER

Shortbread Cookies

Ingredients

COOKIES

• 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter, softened

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar, plus more for topping

• 1 cup confectioner’s sugar

• 1 Tbsp. culinary lavender

• 1/2 tsp. Kosher salt

• 2 tsp. Meyer lemon zest

• 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, sifted

• 2 tsp. lavender extract

• 1 egg yolk

GLAZE

• 2 Tbsp. Meyer lemon juice

• 2 Tbsp. water

• 1 tsp. lavender extract

• 2-2 1/2 cups confectioner’s sugar

Directions

In a stand mixer, whip the butter and granulated sugar until it has creamed into a frosting-like consistency. Add in the cup of confectioner’s sugar and combine. Add in the culinary lavender, lemon zest, and egg yolk. Mix to combine.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour and salt, then add it, one cup at a time, to the wet ingredients, mixing until just combined.

Transfer the dough to a large piece of plastic wrap, shape it into a log and seal it up. Chill the dough in the refrigerator for at least one hour.

Preheat your oven to 350˚F and prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper. Flour your work surface. Working with half the dough at a time, use a rolling pin to spread it out into a sheet that’s about a quarter-inch thick. Using a knife as a cookie cutter, cut out your cookies. Lay the cut cookies one inch apart on the cookie sheet. Sprinkle each cookie with a pinch of granulated sugar. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the cookies begin to brown very slightly on the sides. Rotate them halfway through baking. Move the cookies immediately to a cooling rack. Continue to bake the rest of the cookies.

While the cookies are cooling, make the glaze. Put the lemon juice, extract, and water in a small bowl. Add in the confectioner’s sugar, a half cup at a time, stirring until you have a slightly thick but still drizzle-able glaze. Once the cookies are cooled, drizzle each one with a little bit of the glaze. Allow to set for about 30 minutes, or until the glaze is firm to the touch. The cookies will store well for a few days in an airtight container. This recipe makes about 40 small cookies.

Recipe and photos by KACIE MCMACKIN

Kacie McMackin is an avid cook, writer, and owner of Kings & Daughters Brewery. She’s a frequent contributor to The Gorge Magazine.

BACKWOODS BREWING COMPANY

509-427-3412 • backwoodsbrewingcompany.com

1162 Wind River Hwy • Carson

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

Open daily: 11:30am-9pm

BRIDGESIDE

541-374-8477 • bridgesidedining.com

Exit 44 off I-84, Cascade Locks

Stunning views next to the Bridge of the Gods – Bridgeside (formerly Charburger) serves tasty char-broiled burgers plus an extensive menu of breakfast items, chowders, fish & chips, salads, sandwiches, and desserts. Serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner with friendly service.

Gift shop • Special event room & terrace

BRODER ØST

541-436-3444 • brodereast.com

102 Oak St. Suite 100 • Hood River

Offering Nordic inspired breakfast and lunch to the gorge. Something new and exciting for the whole family to enjoy. Come try traditional recipes such as aebleskiver (danish pancakes), swedish meatballs, norwegian lefse (potato crepes) and lots more!

We look forward to serving you!

#broderost

CASA EL MIRADOR FAMILY MEXICAN RESTAURANT

541-298-7388 • casaelmirador.com

1424 West 2nd Street • The Dalles

Quality Mexican food prepared with the freshest and finest ingredients. Warm, friendly service and a lively atmosphere. Indulge in generous portions of flavorful sizzling fajitas, fish tacos, savory enchilada dishes and daily specials. Drink specials & Happy Hour menu from 3-6pm, Mon-Fri. Full service bar, take-out menu, gift certificates and catering services. Open for lunch and dinner 7 days a week.

CELILO RESTAURANT & BAR

541-386-5710 • celilorestaurant.com

16 Oak Street • Downtown Hood River

Celebrating over 17 years, Celilo began with a desire to honor the bounty of the Northwest. 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.

Open Tuesday-Saturday from 5pm

DOPPIO COFFEE

541-386-3000 • doppiohoodriver.com

310 Oak Street • Downtown Hood River

Relax on our beautiful patio in the heart of Hood River. Enjoy a hand crafted, in-house roasted espresso drink. Serving breakfast and lunch all day: panini sandwiches, fresh salads, smoothies and fresh baked pastries and goodies. Gluten free options available. Free Wi-Fi and our patio is dog friendly. Our tables are spaced apart and disinfected after each guest.

EL PUERTO DE ANGELES III

541-308-0005

1306 12th Street

• Hood River, on the Heights

We are open and happy to serve you. Authentic Jalisco Cuisine. We provide a safe dining experience. Enjoy good food and good times. Offering daily lunch and dinner specials, served all day. Happy Hour Mon-Fri. Outdoor dining available (weather permitting).

Open Daily 10am-9pm Dine-In or Takeout

EVERYBODY’S BREWING

509.637.2774 • everybodysbrewing.com

177 E. Jewett Boulevard • White Salmon

Everybody’s Brewing sits perfectly nestled on the cli s of White Salmon, WA, overlooking the beautiful Columbia River Gorge. With award-winning beers, a globally-inspired food menu, and jaw-dropping views of Mt. Hood, you’ll quickly discover why Everybody’s is a Gorge favorite.

Visit Website for Updated Hours | Indoor/Outdoor Dining and Takeout (Order Online or Call)

GRACE SU’S CHINA GORGE

RESTAURANT & TIGER LOUNGE

541-386-5331 • chinagorge.com

2680 Old Columbia River Drive • Hood River

A Gorge favorite known for authentic flavor and friendly service. Proudly serving Hunan and Szechuan cuisine since 1978. From our family to yours, we’re honored to have you at our table!

Open Tue-Sun, closed Mon. Call or visit Facebook.com/ ChinaGorge for updates on takeout & dine-in service.

GROUND ESPRESSO BAR & CAFE

541-386-4442 • groundhoodriver.com

12 Oak Street • Downtown 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. Nitro cold brew on tap.

THE LITTLE SEVEN SEVEN RANCH HIGHLAND BEEF

509-767-7130 • L77Ranch.com

Grass-Fed Highland Beef from our ranch to your home. The L77 Ranch Shop is tucked away in the woods in Lyle. Highland Cattle can be viewed from the roads as you travel through the ranch. See all we have to offer in an open airy space. We stock a full selection of premium steaks, roasts, ground beef and more. Email for our Local Price List. By appointment only.

THE OLD TRUNK • TREATS &TIQUES

541-354-1181 • oldtrunkr.com

2958 Dee Hwy • Hood River Valley

Our Artisanal Soda Fountain serves creations made from our local fruit. Sodas are made from small batch syrups. House-made Soft Serve combines Tillamook (or dairy free) ice cream and our fruit. Floats, milkshakes, and espresso drinks are also featured. Stop by for a fresh treat and enjoy it in our farmette, or peek at what’s new in the Antique Store!

PFRIEM FAMILY BREWERS

541-321-0490 • pfriembeer.com

707 Portway Avenue, Suite 101 • Hood River Waterfront

pFriem artisanal beers are symphonies of flavor and balance, influenced by the great brewers of Europe, 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.

Open Daily | 11am-9pm

REMEDY CAFÉ

541-716-4020 • remedycafehoodriver.com

112 Third Street • Downtown Hood River

Organic juice, smoothies, bowls, burritos & salads. House-made almond and coconut milks. Vegan and paleo options. Best quality organic and local ingredients. Organic espresso. Order Online - RemedyCafeHoodRiver.com

Dine-In, Takeout and Curbside Options. Kids Corner. WiFi. “Where Healthy Food and Your Cravings Meet!”

RIVERSIDE & CEBU LOUNGE

541-386-4410 • riversidehoodriver.com

Exit 64 off I-84 • Waterfront Hood River

Welcome to Riverside, where you’ll find the best food, drinks and views in the Gorge. Dine indoors or outdoors on the waterfront with fresh menus changing seasonally, a wine list with the area’s best selections, and 14 taps with all your favorite local breweries. Serving breakfast, lunch and dinner with the freshest ingredients grown and harvested by thoughtful, intentional local growers.

SOLSTICE HOOD RIVER

541-436-0800 • solsticehoodriver.com

501 Portway Ave • Hood River Waterfront

A destination dining experience that unites friends, families, & community with a love of wood-fired pizza, shareable appetizers, and gluten friendly offerings. Inspired by the Gorge & seasonal harvests from our neighboring farms, our food & beverage menus are chef-driven & handcrafted. Walk-ins welcome! Reservations for in-house dining & takeout at our cafe/pizza truck available on our site!

SUSHI OKALANI

541-386-7423 • sushiokalani@gorge.net

109 First Street • Downtown Hood River

We are the local’s favorite spot for fresh fish, Pan-Asian cuisine, and a huge sake selection, all available to-go only. We offer curbside pickup, 7 nights a week. With creative rolls, rotating specials, and fresh sashimi and nigiri, we also offer staples like Teriyaki, Tempura, and stir-fry dishes to satisfy all tastes. Phone orders only, starting at 4, pickup 5-8pm. Check IG & FB for specials and current menu.

THUNDER ISLAND BREWING CO.

971-231-4599 • thunderislandbrewing.com

601 NW Wa Na Pa Street • Cascade Locks

A popular brewery and taproom situated in the scenic Columbia River Gorge. Known for its award-winning craft beer and delicious food offerings, which visitors can enjoy while taking in the breathtaking views of the river and mountains. Well-behaved dogs are welcome on the patio. A unique experience for beer lovers and nature enthusiasts. Please visit website for current hours.

OUR GORGE your Gorge

Photographer Teresa Dalsager was climbing Beacon Rock last summer when she took this photo of her friend, Christine Troy, on the southeast corner route. “It was such a beautiful day,” she said. “It’s just magical being in the Gorge anyway. When you get to do something you love in a place you love, it’s meaningful.” Dalsager has been climbing for many years, but more consistently over the past five years. “When you’re hiking Beacon Rock, don’t be alarmed when you’re standing at the lookout at the top and helmets pop up,” she said, noting that it’s a popular destination for climbers as well as hikers.

the photographer

TERESA DALSAGER spent her first years in Stevenson, where her parents grew up, before moving with her family to Portland. She started dabbling in photography during her career as vice president of training for a large corporation. “I was always the one who said, ‘We should take photos,’ and I started picking up the camera,” she said. After retiring in 2013, she turned her passion for photography into a second career. She and her husband moved from California to Troutdale in 2016 and she spends much of her spare time — when not working photography jobs — in the Gorge, where she still has family. teresadalsager.com

Home sweet home.

Cyndee is a NW native and has called Hood River home for over 20 years. One of her greatest joys is helping others buy and sell Real Estate in the Gorge. She is proud to be one of the top producers at the top brokerage in the region and is licensed in OR & WA. Are you thinking of listing your home? Is it time to buy your dream property? Work with Cyndee to make your goals come true in 2023!

HHHHH

Cyndee was amazing! She was on the job for several months before our property even listed. She took initiative to investigate issues involving county regulations and deed/ title issues. As out-of-state sellers, Cyndee helped us clean and prepare the property for sale using her incredible local network. She advised on local market trends and sales strategies for maximum returns. So grateful! — Thelma H.