TRIP PLANNER: WALLA WALLA PG. 62
I NSI D
A Dream Cabin in the Methow Valley
Cooking With Hops
Escape to Snoqualmie + North Bend
Hot Springs
E:
BESTES PL ACTIRE E TO TRHE PACIFITC S IN H WE NORT
FOR THE
ADVENTUROUS
SAY CHEESE:
LOCAL ARTISAN CHEESEMAKERS HONE THEIR CRAFT WASHINGTON’S DISAPPEARING GLACIERS
1889mag.com $5.95 display until March 31, 2023
LIVE
THINK
EXPLORE
WASHINGTON February | March
volume 35
Check out spring events in wine country
Roza Estates & Spirits (Silver Lake)
Spring Barrel Wine Tasting
PLAN YOUR TRIP AT VISITYAKIMA.COM
seaside is for Rain means rainforests
We can’t make the rain go away. But we can invite you to come for a long weekend in Seaside where you can hike through ancient rainforest to some epic views of Tillamook Rock Lighthouse. Oh, and plan on some biking, kite flying, river kayaking, salt water taffy enjoying and arcade playing, too.
@visitseasideOR seasideOR.com
Writer in Residence photography by Jason Hill Buzz Bissinger of Friday Night Lights in his element. (pg. 36)
Buzz Bissinger at his home in Long Beach.
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1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE 3
FEATURES FEBRUARY | MARCH 2023 • volume 35
40 Six Washington Cheesemakers to Watch Small, local and artisan is the new Washington cheese scene. written by Ryn Pfeuffer
44 Forced Retreat Known as the glacier state of the lower 48, Washington is losing the battle to global warming. written by Daniel O’Neil
50 A Medium Up Close Tacoma Art Museum’s Painting Deconstructed exhibition examines the art form’s diversity and artists’ approach. 4
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FEBRUARY | MARCH 2023
it’s your turn to hike . shop . ski . drink . bike . raft . art . skate . ride . birds . camp
GET INSPIRED
DEPARTMENTS FEBRUARY | MARCH 2023 • volume 35
LIVE 14 SAY WA?
Seattle’s Sunking sound; summiting Everest and others to overcome.
18 FOOD + DRINK
Pike Brewing’s new venue; mocktails; Weekend at Barbara’s. The Lodge at St. Edward State Park
22 FARM TO TABLE
Yakima Valley’s CLS Farms and its generational hops.
26 HOME + DESIGN
A Seattle couple’s Methow Valley passion project.
60
THINK 34 STARTUP
Perfumer Chelsey Owens and her Atelier Madrona.
36 MY WORKSPACE
Buzz Bissinger of Friday Night Lights.
38 GAME CHANGER
Coast Salmon Partnership focuses on habitat and restoration.
EXPLORE 56 TRAVEL SPOTLIGHT
Walla Walla Foundry and Foundry Vineyards.
58 ADVENTURE
Four hot springs for the adventurous. Kirk Hostetter/URBANADD
60 LODGING
The Lodge at St. Edward State Park. Lisa Thompson
26
62 TRIP PLANNER
10 11 70 72
A wonderful wine weekend in Walla Walla.
17 Editor’s Letter 1889 Online Map of Washington Until Next Time
COVER
photo by Eva Seelye (see Adventure, pg. 58)
6
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FEBRUARY | MARCH 2023
68 NW DESTINATION
A quick getaway to Snoqualmie and North Bend.
Find it all in one place.
VISITANCHORAGE.NET
CONTRIBUTORS
JACKIE DODD Writer + Photographer Beervana
JASON HILL Photographer My Workspace
DANIEL O’NEIL Writer Forced Retreat
“I may be biased, but the Pacific Northwest has the most outstanding breweries and overall beer scene. No matter how many breweries I visit, there always seems to be a new one somewhere within driving distance that I haven’t tried yet. Maybe it’s the fact that the majority of the hops grown on this continent come from the Yakima Valley region, maybe it’s our superior water supply, or possibly the farmto-fermenter mentality of our brewers, but there is no greater place than here to be a craft beer fan.” (pg. 18)
“When I was asked to photograph Buzz Bissinger, I was like, ‘Why does that name sound familiar?’ After a quick Google search, Friday Night Lights came up. My dad, who was a football coach, loved this book, and I remember it in the house. Buzz and his wife, Lisa, couldn’t have been nicer—they even let my dog, Bucky, inside their home and gave him treats.” (pg. 36)
“Going into this assignment, I figured Washington’s disappearing glaciers would mean less water for kitchen faucets and irrigation sprinklers. But our glorious Pacific rains will guarantee that. Instead, I learned how the absence of glaciers will challenge wild salmon the most. Protecting the habitat of these iconic fish has become more urgent than ever.” (pg. 44)
Jason Hill is a freelance photographer currently residing in Portland, Oregon. A native of San Diego, he has lived in the beautiful Pacific Northwest for the past 18 years.
Daniel O’Neil documents the Pacific Northwest with words and photographs. He grew up skiing and snowboarding on Mount Hood, hence his connection to the mountains here. Daniel lives in Gearhart, Oregon, with his wife, daughter and two Shiba dogs.
Jackie Dodd is a writer, photographer and cookbook author serving up beer-infused recipes in Seattle.
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FEBRUARY | MARCH 2023
DANIELLE DAVIS Illustrator Six Washington Cheesemakers to Watch “What better project for an artist and self-proclaimed ‘foodie’ than illustrating cheese varieties? My creative process often begins with experiential research, and this assignment was—deliciously—no exception. In addition to occasional tasty research perks, my favorite part of the illustration process is utilizing shadows and texture to give depth and distinct illustrative style to a piece. This was all-around a really gouda project to work on. (Sorry—I couldn’t resist!)” (pg. 40) Danielle Davis is a Spokanebased freelance graphic designer, illustrator and fine artist. When she’s not dabbling in the creative realm, Danielle is usually spending time outdoors with her husband, Jon, and their four small children.
EDITOR
Kevin Max
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Allison Bye
WEB MANAGER SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER OFFICE MANAGER DIRECTOR OF SALES BEERVANA COLUMNIST
Aaron Opsahl Joni Kabana Cindy Miskowiec Jenny Kamprath Jackie Dodd
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Cathy Carroll, Melissa Dalton, Rachel Gallaher, Joni Kabana, Kerry Newberry, Daniel O’Neil, Ryn Pfeuffer, Lauren Purdy, Ben Salmon, Jen Sotolongo, Cara Strickland, Corinne Whiting
CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS
Jackie Dodd, Gemina Garland-Lewis, Jason Hill, Kim Rose Adams, Eva Seelye
CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS
Danielle Davis
Headquarters
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1627 NE 3rd St. Suite 300 Bend, OR 97701
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FEBRUARY | MARCH 2023
1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE 9
FROM THE
EDITOR
WE START this issue addressing the problem of climate change and what that means for Washington’s glaciers. Known as the glacier state of the lower 48, Washington has hundreds of them high in the Cascades, but they are all substantially melting. The implications of this devolution are well addressed in “Forced Retreat” on page 44. One bright star in the emerging climate crisis has been Washington’s hops. By far the dominant grower of the jewels of craft beer, Washington is the leader in volume, acreage and innovation. Turn to page 22 and read about one of the preeminent generational hop growers, CLS Farms in the Yakima Valley. Spring brings shoulder season opportunities. One of those is hitting area hot springs before they are clogged with others. In Adventure on page 58, we look at four natural hot springs where you can ditch the crowds by putting in a little hiking effort up front. Sometimes going a little farther down the trail leads to the solitude you need.
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Perhaps more ubiquitous these days than natural hot springs is the local artisan cheesemaker. Many of the best don’t have a major retail presence. Some operate almost exclusively on word of mouth. In our feature on page 40, you’ll find six such cheesemakers around the state whose products aren’t widely known but are life changing for those in the know. Our Trip Planner in this issue takes us to Walla Walla, where the sipping and cycling season is just getting underway. The distinct taste of Walla Walla wine is alone worth the drive, but the food culture built around the wine industry is world class, also. Cycling out and into the vineyards is one way to experience Walla Walla, and probably the best. If you want to remain well planted in your comfort zone, have a Weekend at Barbara’s, or two. This cocktail from Aerlume in Seattle is Oxley gin-based with a splash of rhubarb liqueur. Enjoy the infused bubble. Cheers!
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SHOP LOCAL
photo by Annette Archuleta
Stop by Local, our curated online shop of cool goods made by businesses in the Pacific Northwest. Find outdoor gear, leather goods, specialty foods and more. Or show your state pride with 1889 T-shirts, hats and other apparel. Buy local. Feel good.
I found the bees working overtime at the dahlia farm in Green Bluff. We picked peaches, got cantaloupe and even had ice cream—Green Bluff is a great place for a day of fun around Spokane.
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1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE
11
FeedIt Creative
SAY WA? 14 FOOD + DRINK 18 FARM TO TABLE 22 HOME + DESIGN 26
pg. 21 A creative, changing menu and an extensive wine list shine at Walla Walla’s Kinglet.
Olympic National Park • Pacific Beaches & Hoh Rain Forest Wild & Scenic Rivers • Kalaloch Beach • Historic Towns
From Sea - to -Summit & Canal - to - Coast Four Seasons
Port LudLow Port HadLock Chimacum
Adventures for All
Jefferson County - the Heart of the Olympics www.EnjoyOlympicPeninsula.com 360-437-0120
Start your Journey at the
Olympic Penisula Gateway Visitors Center The “Log Cabin” at Hwy’s 104 & 19
Visit Seattle/Alabastro Photography
written by Lauren Purdy
Photo, at left: Andrew Valantine
Tidbits + To-dos
ca mark le you nd r ar
say wa?
The Met Grill Cocktail Classes Join the esteemed bar team at this iconic Seattle institution to explore the world of craft cocktail making February through March. Rich in tradition, The Met is housed inside the historic Marion Building, which dates to 1903. The 60-foot black marble bar is a popular gathering place for guests to meet while keeping up to date on the stock market and the fates of Seattle’s sports teams while imbibing over some of the cities’ most popular libations. Patrons can now discover how to make themselves— such as how to best utilize sparkling wine when mixing cocktails and the history behind Irish whiskey. Registration is available online.
Lunar New Year Celebration Year of the Rabbit Look no further than south Seattle’s International District for a brightly festive Lunar New Year Celebration. The International District is the Northwest’s bustling hub for Asian American food, entertainment and landmarks. The community will host an all-day food and cultural festival February 4 to welcome the year of the rabbit. The festival will include vendor booths, dance performances and music on the main stage at Hing Hay Park and along South King Street. The festival will also feature a food walk where participants can sample menu items from Chinatown and International District businesses from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Entry is free. www.seattlechinatownid.com/experiences/lunar-new-year
www.themetropolitangrill.com/events-news
ur yo ar
camark y len our da r
k d ar m en
l
National Nordic Museum
ca
Jónsi “[Untitled] Artwork” The National Nordic Museum will present an immersive artwork created by Jón Þór Birgisson, more commonly known as Jónsi, the lead singer of the renowned Icelandic post-rock band Sigur Rós. The showcased artwork was specifically crafted for the Seattle Nordic museum and illuminates the natural ocean connections between Seattle and its Nordic sister city of Reykjavik. To accompany the visual components of the exhibit, Jónsi also composed an audio installation, which was augmented by a choir composition and field recordings to simulate the experience of a wave traveling the length of the gallery. To immerse guests into a marine atmosphere, the scent of seaweed harvested from the Pacific and North Atlantic oceans will be tinctured, distilled and dispersed through the room. The exhibit will be open to museum guests March 17 through June 30. Tickets can be purchased on-site or online. www.nordicmuseum.org/exhibitions/jnsi
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FEBRUARY | MARCH 2023
say wa?
Nadi Mama
Street Eats The latest location from Nadi Mama, famous for Capitol Hill’s Mamnoon, brings the full spectrum of popular Levantine (defined as the region centered around modern Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine and Jordan) street foods. Opening February 6, Street Eats builds off the popularity of nearby sister restaurant and aims to broaden the experience to those looking for a quick bite or pantry goods in Seattle’s continuously booming South Lake Union neighborhood. The restaurant is offering curated, classic Middle Eastern dishes as well as customizable build-yourown-bowl options featuring a wide variety of proteins, vegetables and Mamnoon’s famously flavorful sauces for take away.
Semiahmoo Uncorked
www.nadimama.com/streeteats
Semiahmoo Uncorked This winter, savor award-winning Spanish wines masterfully paired with seasonally inspired menus at Semiahmoo Resort. Adjacent to the Canadian border, this is the perfect stop for foodies and wine enthusiasts either as a pit stop on your way to see British Columbia or as a stand-alone weekend coastal getaway at the nearby Salish Sea. On February 17, the Semiahmoo culinary team will take guests through a tour of Spain featuring wines across the region, including Rioja, Ribera del Duero, Cava, paired with five Spanish inspired courses sourced from local r purveyors and farms. ou AR y k D Reservations are online. ar m EN L www.semiahmoo.com CA
FEBRUARY | MARCH 2023
1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE
15
Will Matsuda
Seattle’s Sunking, Bobby Granfelt and Antoine Martel, are redefining electro-jazz-hop.
Listen on Spotify
Musician
Hang Out, Make Music The friends behind Seattle’s Sunking go wherever the sound takes them written by Ben Salmon BOBBY GRANFELT and Antoine Martel started watering the seeds of what would become their Seattle-based electro-jazzhop duo, Sunking, back in 2015. They didn’t really mean to, though. “We’ve played in bands together since we were, like,15. We’re some of each other’s closest friends,” said Granfelt. “So it’s never like, ‘Let’s meet up and try to do this (specific) thing.’ It’s more like, we just hang out and make music together. It’s sort of what we’ve always done.” That one particular 2015 hang session turned out to be quite productive, however. Inspired by the music of experimental hip-hop fusionist Flying Lotus (among others), Granfelt played what he calls a “really simple” beat, then dozed off while Martel fleshed out a full song. The next day, the duo revisited what they’d done and decided it was dope. “And then we made like sixty more of those,” Martel said, “and that’s what ended up becoming the first two albums.” He’s talking about Sunking’s 2019 self-titled debut and its follow-up, Smug, released in late 2022. Both effortlessly 16
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capture the vibes of Granfelt and Martel in musical form: Meandering and unhurried, gentle but intense, ultra-cool, open-minded and ready for whatever and wherever the music takes them. The duo doesn’t so much make songs as vignettes that seem to materialize out of nowhere, hover stylishly for sixty to 120 seconds, and then fade out without a fuss. Musically, they’re built from skittering beats, pulsing synths, funky guitar licks, skronky horns, glitchy drones and other sounds that find their way into Sunking’s sonic stew. “There are no rules when we’re together,” Martel said. Both Granfelt and Martel are also in High Pulp, the Seattlebased psychedelic jazz band that’s getting bigger and busier by the day. And they love being a part of that journey, they said. But Sunking provides them with more freedom to make creative decisions and follow whatever path they want to follow—or not. “We can spend hours on a song and then realize that we don’t really like it and just walk away from it, and that’s OK,” Granfelt said. “We might have a loose direction we’re headed, and if something we make doesn’t fit into that, we’ll put it to the side, but that doesn’t mean it’s gone forever,” he said. “To go through that process and to understand how much we’re in control of this project has been creatively inspiring.”
Lisa Thompson
say wa?
Lisa Thompson kicks cancer to the curb to climb the biggest peaks.
Bibliophile
Personal Summit One woman’s story of survival, resilience and standing atop the world’s highest mountains interview by Cathy Carroll
SEATTLE’S Lisa Thompson learned resilience and self reliance while climbing mountains throughout the Northwest and around the globe. Faced with breast cancer in 2015, she drew upon the lessons of climbing to triumph over the disease. Her memoir, Finding Elevation, released in January, explores motivation, the human spirit, finding one’s own happiness and facing fears head on. Thompson has summited Mount Everest, and was the second American woman to summit K2, the world’s second highest mountain and considered the deadliest. She has stood on top of the highest mountains of all seven continents.
In light of all of the challenges you’ve confronted in your life, what were the challenges (and rewards) of writing a book? I joke that writing about climbing mountains is tougher than actually climbing mountains. The process to create Finding Elevation took almost seven years. There were many months when I didn’t write at all and secluded weekends when words seemed to flow onto the page effortlessly. The experience was humbling, maddening, exhausting and ultimately incredibly rewarding. The greatest unexpected benefit was how cathartic writing became for me. In early drafts, I glossed over things like painful childhood memories and coming to terms with cancer. Digging deeper not only forced me to reconcile pain and emotions that I’d buried but it made Finding Elevation a much richer memoir that, I hope, will resonate with readers. Tell us about your decision to leave a hard-earned corporate career for pursuing your passions. I read a sign this summer that said, ‘Remember when all you wanted is what you have today?’ Those words made me stop and think back to making the decision to shift gears from relying on a corporate paycheck to counting on myself to make it happen. Making the decision was excruciating, and people that I love and deeply respected thought that I was making a devastating mistake. And I wasn’t sure that they were wrong.
FEBRUARY | MARCH 2023
What I know now is that when it’s up to you alone to make something happen, when you no longer have a safety net, that’s when the magic happens, that’s when you find out how bad you want something. Realizing that very few decisions are permanent also helped me to overcome the fear of quitting my job. I’ve learned that when you do something that you love, all you have to do to be successful is be yourself, and that’s very freeing. What is life like for you now? I get to talk about mountains every day, which is a dream! Through my company, Alpine Athletics, each day I get to help athletes from all over the world prepare for their next mountain adventure. Today I spoke with a woman who is improving her climbing skills in preparation for K2 this summer, then I helped a climber finalize his training plan for a rapid ascent of Aconcagua. After that I crosscountry skied with my dog. In between, I worked on some website updates and created some social media posts. I usually speak one or two times per month which takes a lot of preparation because I like to tailor each talk to the audience. I’ve also started scheming my next mountain adventure. I’ve just returned from Nepal where I co-lead an all-women’s expedition of 21,129 foot Cholatse. Climbing with such a strong team of women, learning their stories, and sharing their commitment to promote more diversity in the mountains was deeply meaningful for me, and I am going to do more of it! 1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE
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food + drink
Beervana
Pike Brewing’s Reinvention written and photographed by Jackie Dodd
Photo: Fire & Vine Hospitality
Pike Brewing opens a new venue in Ballard and with a menu from Ethan Stowell.
Cocktail Card recipe courtesy of Aerlume / SEATTLE
Weekend at Barbara’s
18 1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE
“WE REALIZED that most people THIS Block IPA to commemorate the who live here only go to Pike Place space’s opening and debut the brand’s Market when they have guests in town. new look. If we want to be a place for locals, we The new location feels both wholly have to go where the locals are,” said new and entirely familiar. The comfort Pike Brewing president Drew Gillespie and reliability of the Pike brand offers about the decision for an additional lo- beer that tastes like home but also excitcation for the historic brewery. ing, food that is unique but also known, Evolution is about growing with a space you’ve never been to but you your consumers while staying true also seem to be acquainted with. to the core of who you are, he explained. Of all the breweries in Washington, A quintessential hometown brewery a state with more than 450, Pike is posmostly visited by out-of-towners was sibly the most beloved. A reputation an identity marker that needed for not just good beer, but good to change. Gillespie and his people. A workplace that is team took over a space in known for being welcomthe bustling Ballard Ave. ing, a space that fosters in the former Bramling goodwill, and a founder Cross space in Seattle’s that has a reputation craft beer heavy Ballard for kindness and hard neighborhood. work, all add up to a With menu consultabrewery you want to root tion from Seattle’s celebrity for in a city with more than restaurateur Ethan Stowell their fair share or brewerPike Brewing’s new the food is both pub-appro- head brewer, Leslie Shore. ies with heart. priate and elevated—a perIf Ballard pub crawl is on fect match to the thoughtful yet highly your list of things to do in 2023, make drinkable beer selection. sure to show up to Pike Taproom and The new location is just a build- order a pint and some food. If it’s not, ing block in the brand’s redesign that make sure to add this activity to your included both new logos as well as a to-do list as soon as you’re able. new head brewer, Leslie Shore. Shore teamed up with the talented team 5205 BALLARD AVE. NW SEATTLE at Ballard fan-favorite, Stoup Brewwww.piketaproomballard.com ing, to collaborate on New Kidz on
• 11/2 ounces Oxley • 3/4 ounce Rhubarb Liquor • 1/2 ounce lemon juice • 1/2 ounce fennel simple syrup • 2 dashes rhubarb bitters
FEBRUARY | MARCH 2023
Combine first three ingredients, shake hard over ice, stain into a chilled coupe. Use a flavor blaster to deliver the infused bubble on top of the cocktail. The bubble can stay intact for up to 30 seconds or so for a longer infusion of the smoke, or lucky recipients can pop it and enjoy the aroma.
The besT in AlAskA VAcATions Denali Rail Tours • Multi-Day Packages • Sightseeing Excursions
Nicole Kandi
food + drink
CRAVINGS INDIAN FOOD Cozy Kathakali is usually bustling, and for good reason. Their food is fresh, delicious and served in generous portions. The giant, varied dosas are one of the stars of the menu, but this is also a great place to sample the many breads available. Regardless of your preferences for Indian food, there’s something here for you whether you never waver from butter chicken, or you’re feeling adventurous. 11451 98TH AVE. NE KIRKLAND www.kathakali-juanita.com
COOKIES You can wander into Bell’s Cookie Co.’s Green Lake store and buy your cookies out of the case, or you can order for local delivery or fast shipping throughout the country. The box I sampled in Spokane stayed the perfect consistency as I made my way through it over nearly a week. You’ll find some comfortingly familiar flavors like red velvet, snickerdoodle and confetti, or you might want to try something new, like the Columbian corn, s’more, or vegan and gluten free double chocolate cookie (which was a favorite of mine). 6900 E. GREEN LAKE WAY, SUITE D (WITH LOCAL AND NATIONWIDE DELIVERY) SEATTLE www.bellscookieco.com The Pathfinder is a hemp-based non-alcoholic spirit that joins the new creative mix of mocktails.
Gastronomy
The Pathfinder written by Cara Strickland THERE ARE PLENTY of reasons you might not feel like drinking at any point, but until recently there haven’t been interesting, adult options for those times. That’s changing, and the Pathfinder is one of the reasons why. It’s a non-alcoholic hemp-based spirit (with no CBD or THC) with all the complexity of something with booze, similar to an amaro. In fact, you might want to add it to an alcoholic drink. But you can also use it to create a zero-proof Negroni or give some bitterness to a spritz. If you love the bottle, like I do, it may be because it was designed by the great mind who also did all the branding for Hendrick’s gin. Find it in a growing number of bars around Seattle and the rest of the country and order it online to try it yourself.
Atticus Coffee & Gifts, a quirky Spokane spot, has a retail space in the front with unique gifts, loose tea, coffee and all the amenities for both, but it also has a charming cafe in the back with baristas ready to whip you up a hot chocolate after some ice ribbon skating, a latte to get you through the rest of the work day, or a cup of loose tea to help you unwind (or wake up). 222 N. HOWARD ST. SPOKANE Atticus Coffee & Gifts on Facebook
PRETZELS While there is plenty to offer at Ballard gem Tall Grass Bakery, many love it for its handmade pretzels, made in the Munich-style. The outside is crusty and the inside is pillowy soft. Catch these while they’re hot and you’re in for even more of a treat. 5907 24TH AVE. NW SEATTLE www.tallgrassbakery.com
BORN AND BELOVED IN SEATTLE AVAILABLE NATIONWIDE www.drinkthepathfinder.com
20 1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE
HANDCRAFTED HOT DRINKS
FEBRUARY | MARCH 2023
food + drink
BEST PLACES FOR
EATING WITH KIDS BIG HOUSE BREW PUB This place had me at their kid’s menu with items called: I Don’t Know, I’m Not Hungry, I Don’t Want That, I Want To Go To McDonald’s, I Want To Go Home, and I Don’t Care (these range from sliders to quesadillas and chicken strips, among others). If you’re a parent, I’m guessing you just chuckled, perhaps painfully. There are plenty of great options here for adults from a wide selection of beers on tap to generously portioned entrees in a wide range from healthy to indulgent. 11 S. PALOUSE ST. WALLA WALLA www.bighousebrewpub.com
This fun, retro spot has lots on the walls to keep kids entertained while dining. When the weather is nice, eat outside with some space for roaming and take advantage of the lawn games. The menu is bursting with classic favorites. 1518 W. UNIVERSITY WAY ELLENSBURG Red Horse Diner on Facebook
TOMATO STREET This Italian staple has long been known for butcher paper table cloths, crayons and individually wrapped play doh. Color all night on the table while eating noodles? This is about as kid friendly as it gets. Parents will enjoy the classic dishes served in portions big enough for leftovers.
FeedIt Creative
THE RED HORSE DINER
Kinglet’s changing menu reflects the season.
Dining
Kinglet written by Cara Strickland
This partially outdoor spot is a great choice with kids in tow. Let them sample the wide range of mustards (and pick your own favorite) while you enjoy traditional German food and local beer. Don’t forget to get a pretzel.
IF YOU’VE SPENT much time dining in Walla Walla, you probably went to Whitehouse-Crawford, which closed during the pandemic. But the lights are on in that historic building again—you can now visit Kinglet, a new restaurant from Seattle chef Maximillian Petty of Eden Hill. You can choose your own adventure with the a’la carte menu, or put yourself in the chef ’s hands for a grand tasting dinner (with optional wine pairings). Make a reservation at the chef ’s counter for a front row seat to the culinary preparation, or enjoy a cozy table. You’ll find a wonderful wine list (it is Walla Walla), but also a creative craft cocktail list (the talented bartenders will whip up a zero proof drink by request). The food itself is made of excellent ingredients at the peak of freshness and the combinations are interesting, but not so much that they take away from the experience of eating them. The menu is constantly changing, sometimes daily, based on the seasons and produce availability, so savor each bite while it lasts.
709 FRONT ST. LEAVENWORTH www.munchenhaus.com
55 W. CHERRY ST. WALLA WALLA www.kingletww.com
6220 N. DIVISION ST. SPOKANE www.tomatostreet.com
MÜNCHEN HAUS BAVARIAN GRILL & BEER GARDEN
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1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE 21
Photos: CLS Farms
farm to table
CLS Farms grows 25 varieties of hops.
Farm to Table
In Pursuit of Hoppiness A multi-generational hop farming family navigates a changing market written by Corinne Whiting
“CLS FARMS is an independent family-owned, fifth-generation farm,” says sales and marketing manager Claire Desmarais. “That’s something we’re really proud of.” Situated in Washington’s Yakima Valley, the venue produces high-quality hops and organically-certified apples and soft fruit—through what they deem “a progressive agronomic approach and sustainable cultivation techniques.” The family of Claire’s father, Eric Desmarais, has been farming since the early 1900s, and CLS formed in the late 1990s. The acronym honors Claire, her sister Lauren and mother Shelly (12-year-old sister Vivienne hadn’t been born yet when the name was created). At CLS they grow 25 varieties of hops, and also have a partner farm Wenas Hop Company. Between the two farms, there’s a total of 2,300 acres. They have two proprietary hop varieties called El Dorado® and Zappa®, named after Frank Zappa in conjunction with the Zappa Family. El Dorado® can be tasted in Sierra Nevada’s Hazy Little Thing, Deschutes Lil’ Squeezy and Bell’s Brewing The Official Hazy IPA. Claire reflects on how much the hop market changed around 2010, especially in Washington state, and she emphasizes the relationship-based nature of the industry. “Craft brewers have 22
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really made hop growing viable for future generations,” she said. “They’ve been transformative for family farms.” The Yakima Valley is wonderfully positioned to grow hops due to its “perfect amount of daylength”; the region’s warmer temperatures and water supply, because of a location at the base of the Cascade Range, prove helpful too. Hops are perennial, meaning that they come back every year. The work begins in late February and early March, as the team prepares the soil and land. The crew then goes out to do the twining; during this process they tie strings to the top of the vines, then inserting each string into the ground. The crew fluctuates between 50 and 200 workers throughout the year. All 2,300 acres need to be twined within a specific order and timeframe; the workers tie 36,000 pieces of string each day, completing 22 acres daily. “It’s pretty incredible how fast they go,” Claire said. Next up: “training,” during which they “teach” the plants how to grow vertically, naturally grabbing onto each string. In warmer summer months, the team spends time understanding each field and its individual water needs; they use several tactics for pest management and fertilization. Ideally, harvest begins around August 20 to 25. For the month prior, production manager Reid
farm to table
“Craft brewers have really made hop growing viable for future generations. They’ve been transformative for family farms.” — Claire Desmarais, CLS Farms sales and marketing manager Lundgren and Claire’s dad Eric visit the individual fields to perform sensory tests while pulling down the cones—the plants’ flowers. By rubbing the cones together, oils are released and they can use smells to determine which varieties are ready. (Fields mature at different rates.) Harvest takes a total of five to six weeks, and lasts until the end of September or the first week of October. CLS Farms is the world’s largest grower of Centennial hops, and this is the variety they begin with and spend a week harvesting. “We harvest our hops when they’re ready,” Claire explained, instead of merely following a suggested timetable. “We like to see what aromas can develop.” During harvest, the farm operates 24-7 and reaches its peak number of employees. The process involves several tractors, like a bottom cutter and top cutter along with trucks to transport the hop vines from the field to the machine. The crew hooks the vines onto a chain that moves them into the machine. The goal is to separate the cones from vines, and to separate out leaves and sticks. The cones then get transferred to a kiln, a “make-it or break-it” step that requires the cones get dried properly. Since the essential oils are so delicate, the workers use lower temperatures and higher fan speeds—aiming to keep cones in the kiln for seven to 12 hours at 125 to 135 degrees. (They work toward having 8.5 to 9.5 percent moisture once out of the kiln.) The cones are then put into large piles and through a compressor that creates bales. These 200-pound bricks of hops then go to the customer or distributor, or are put in storage until it’s time for the next stage: pelleting. CLS Farms works with a third-party processor to turn the bales into pellets, collaborating closely to ensure quality is maintained. “I really like the actual act of harvesting hops; each variety has a different aroma,” Claire said, describing delightful new smells that emerge each year and waft around the machines. “Hop farming is something really unique and special, and not many people know about the process,” she added. Claire always looks forward to “a really fun couple weeks” each fall when brewers and customers come through the Yakima Valley to witness the hop harvest and select which varieties they want to brew. She sees the many benefits that arise from these special face-to-face interactions. “CLS is a multi-generational farm that was built by the craft brewers that we know today,” she said, “and we are grateful to continue working with them year after year.”
FROM TOP The Desmarais family—from left to right, Claire, Eric, Vivienne, Shelley and Lauren—run CLS Farms, located in Washington’s Yakima Valley. Harvest typically lasts five to six weeks. Hop cones are separated from the vines and dried in a kiln before being put into large piles and through a compressor that creates bales.
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Burnt Hop Honey Mustard
Stoup Brewing Kenmore / KENMORE Russel Ocsan MAKES 63/4 CUPS • • • • • •
Stoup Brewing’s Burnt Hop Honey Mustard.
Washington Recipes
Hoppy Snacks HopTown Wood-Fired Pizza HopTown Pizza / DONALD Carrie Wright and Lori Roy MAKES 1 PIZZA • 10-inch HopTown pizza crust • ¼ cup cream-based white sauce (see recipe below) • ½ cup whole milk mozzarella cheese, shredded • ¼ cup Asiago cheese, shredded • 2 tablespoons cooked bacon crumbles • ½ cup cooked chicken breast, diced • 6 quartered marinated artichoke hearts • 6 pickled hop shoots (Note: They sourced from Hops Direct in Mabton.) FOR THE WHITE SAUCE • ½ pound butter • 13.6 ounces cream cheese • 2¼ cup whole milk • 2 teaspoons garlic, minced • 2 teaspoons pepper • 1 teaspoon kosher salt • 1¼ cup Parmesan, shaved FOR THE WHITE SAUCE Add butter to pot, melt butter down completely. While butter is melting, weigh and cube your cream cheese. Once the
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butter is melted, add in the cream cheese and melt completely. With metal whisk, thoroughly whisk the cream cheese and butter together. Then add your milk, garlic, pepper and salt. Whisk until smooth. Turn your heat down to 250, making sure not to let the mixture boil. With a spatula, add in your shaved parmesan. Stir until cheese is completely melted. FOR THE PIZZA Roll out the pizza dough to roughly 10 inches. Use an 8-ounce dough ball, stretched at room temperature to 9 to 10 inches. Place on slightly-dusted pizza stone with semolina on the bottom to keep it from sticking. Spread the white sauce evenly around leaving 1 inch open on the edges for the crust area. Add ingredients, spread around evenly one at a time, in the order listed. Sprinkle with Italian seasoning. Place in oven. Pizza will be cooked and fire-kissed in wood-fired oven at 750 degrees in 2 to 3 minutes to perfection (shows leopard spots). For traditional oven, place pizza on a pizza stone or upside-down baking tray. Pre-set temperature to 425 degrees until crust is golden brown and cheese is melted (typically 7 to 12 minutes). Cut into 6 slices. Let stand one minute before serving.
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4 cups honey 11/2 cup Dijon mustard 11/4 cup plain Greek yogurt 1 teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon mustard powder 1 teaspoon fresh, dry pellet hops (to be toasted, burned and ground) (Note: Stoup uses Adeena hops, as it offers the best aroma and flavor for use.)
Place your fresh hops in an 8- to 10-inche sauté pan, turning the heat to medium and slowly toasting hops until they are dark and in burnt color. (Warning: Make sure to turn your fan on high, as this will create a lot of smoke.) Pull the toasted hops away from heat, and place on a dry cooling pan. Wait until the hops are completely cool before placing them in a spice grinder to get ground. Place them aside, and store in a dry container. In a small 2-quart saucepan, place the honey on medium heat, letting it come to a slow simmer until reaching 200 degrees. Pull away from the heat, and let it cool for about five minutes. Transfer the warm honey into a medium whisking bowl, and slowly incorporate the Dijon mustard and Greek yogurt using a whisk. Then season with salt and mustard powder, and incorporate the ground, burnt hops. Stir until they’re fully incorporated, and store in a container.
Métier Coconut Curry Mussels Hatback Bar & Grille / SEATTLE Edward McDevitt • • • • •
3 pounds mussels 2 cups coconut curry broth 4 ounces Métier IPA 1 each Fresno chili, sliced ½ bunch of cilantro, picked
Heat a large pot with a lid. Add mussels, Métier IPA and coconut curry broth to the pot and steam for 3 to 4 minutes or until all of the mussels have opened. Transfer to a serving platter, and garnish with picked cilantro and sliced Fresno chilis.
YOUR MISSION AWAITS!
THE AMAZING BRENTWOOD BURNABY, BC AvengersStationCanada.com © 2023 MARVEL
“It smells like Colorado. There’s something infectious about that place. It’s hard to put your finger on exactly what it is, but you hear this a lot. People go there once, and then they’re like, this is the place.” — Jordan Gevers, on Mazama
The Gevers cabin in the Methow Valley’s Mazama.
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home + design
The Great Escape A Seattle couple helps build their dream cabin in the Methow Valley—making friends in a new community in the process written by Melissa Dalton
Kirk Hostetter/URBANADD
WHEN KARLIE and Jordan Gevers started looking for a new project in 2017, they had no idea it would involve quite so much manual labor. But two years later, that’s exactly what the couple were happily doing every summer weekend at their cabin being built in the Methow Valley. They’d drive from Seattle to Mazama on Friday, pitch a tent in the foundation, and wake up on Saturday to work “until we couldn’t move our hands,” said Jordan. They wanted to reuse all of the trees that had to be removed for the cabin’s construction, so—they divvied logs into two piles, prepping some for firewood—about four or five cords, said Jordan—and saving the good stuff for the cabin’s interior. Prior to buying their land in Mazama, the couple were living in Seattle, working full time, and “wanted to break up our routine and do something interesting,” said Jordan. During their morning carpool together, they would brainstorm ideas. At the top of the list was a round-the-world trip, and they even purchased a book to help them plan for it. “We loved that idea, but then realized it was going to be one and done,” said Karlie. “Then we moved on to: what if we built something we could always go back to?” Their focus shifted to Mazama, where they had regularly spent long weekends and vacations over the last decade, and which reminded them of their home state of Colorado. “It smells like Colorado,” said Jordan. “There’s something infectious about that place. It’s hard to put your finger on exactly what it is, but you hear this a lot. People go there once, and then they’re like, this is the place.” After buying their third of an acre, the couple called their friend, founding architect Jim Brown at
ABOVE Owners Karlie and Jordan Gevers helped build their Methow Valley cabin.
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Photos: Kirk Hostetter/URBANADD
home + design
ABOVE, FROM LEFT The cabin’s intriguing roofline carries over a spacious porch. A highly efficient wood-burning stove helps heat the cabin in winter. AT RIGHT, FROM TOP The cabin is oriented to overlook the National Forest out back. A modern kitchen makes rustic more practical.
URBANADD Architects in Seattle. “They said, ‘Hey, we bought this property over in the Methow and we want you to design the cabin,’” said Brown, who was also enamored from the first visit. “It’s a steep site that backs up to the National Forest, so nothing can be built behind them. It’s crazy wild back there.” Because of that, Brown’s first goal was to site the cabin a little differently from its neighbors. From afar, the structure looks like it has a traditional cabin shape, but up close, the modern tweaks become apparent. First, Brown positioned the ridgeline parallel to the hill slope, then split the interior in half lengthwise with a central utility “spine” of closets and bathrooms. The private quarters, including two bedrooms, are on the downhill side, facing the road, while the combined living spaces occupy the uphill side. High clerestory windows in the bedrooms ensure privacy and cross-ventilation, while full-height windows in the living areas frame private views of the forest. “A lot of the other cabins have their front facing towards the road,” said Jordan. “Whereas Jim really took advantage of making ours face uphill, so the forest was the focal point.” Next was fine-tuning the roofline to create a continuous indoor-outdoor space via a large covered porch off the living room. “We took the very traditional pitched roof of a cabin and we slid it so the roof would extend out over the porch, so then you can see down the driveway, and up into the woods,” said Brown. Glass doors connect inside and out, which makes the 1,036-square-foot cabin feel bigger. The exterior has a mix of materials, including black standing seam metal on the roof, grey-toned reclaimed barnwood, and 28 1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE
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black Shou Sugi Ban siding, much of which helps the cabin to blend into the surrounding trees. There were also important practical considerations: complying with NFPA’s Firewise strategies to reduce wildfire risk. “The lower portions of the cabin have to be non-combustible,” said Brown, who specified Corten steel for those sections. In addition, Shou Sugi Ban is a heat-treated wood that, when made correctly, is known to be less flammable. “It’s an ancient Japanese technique for treating wood, and it makes for a very durable material,” said Brown. Surrounding brush was also cleared to improve fire resistance. During the two-year build process, the couple teamed up with their local contractor, Jerry Laverty of Laverty Construction. “From the start, we told Jerry, ‘We would love to be part of this process,’” said Karlie. “‘We would love to contribute where we can. We are not skilled craftspeople, but what can we do?’ And he was totally on board.” The couple then participated in everything they could, from hauling debris, to applying finishes, to milling, stacking, ripping, and finishing the lumber, which now adorns several interior accent walls with pride. “We’ve literally touched every single piece of wood inside,” said Jordan. And the best part, it turns out, is that getting covered in sawdust and wood stain proved a good way to make new friends. “People saw us working on the cabin, and you know, people are curious, so it was a great icebreaker to meet our neighbors,” said Karlie. “They would come by and want to see what we were working on. And now we have some of our dearest friends there.”
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DIY
Monitor Stand SURE, YOU CAN always use a stack of books, but a purpose-built monitor stand not only organizes the desktop, but looks cleaner and more intentional. Here are our tips.
CUT THE WOOD Start by having the hardware store cut the pieces to length, from an 8-foot 1x12 piece of hardwood, to include: • One 30-inch board • One 20-inch board • Three 3.25-inch boards for the legs
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SAND Use 150-grit sandpaper to smooth the pieces now, as it’s easier to do this before the project is assembled. ATTACH THE SHELF The pieces will be attached using butt joints, requiring wood glue (Tight Bond Two) and several clamps. Start by attaching the shelf to an outside leg and the central support leg. Measure from the bottom of the leg to 1.25” and draw a hash mark. Do this on all four faces of the legs. This is to help place the shelf correctly. Add a bead of glue to each end of the interior shelf, then press in place so the bottom of the shelf meets each hash mark. Next, attach wood clamps, starting with a loose fit, and double-checking that the shelf is straight and still aligned with the hash marks. When all looks good, tighten the clamps. If glue appears at the seams, take a damp rag and gently wipe it away so it doesn’t dry in visible spots.
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ATTACH THE THIRD LEG Apply a bead of glue and attach the third leg to the top board. Clamp it, wipe away any excess glue. Leave both overnight to dry. PUT IT ALL TOGETHER Once the glue has set, take off the clamps, and flip over the top board with the third leg attached, so the stand is upside down. Add a bead of glue to the top of each leg and attach these to the underside of the top board, making sure all edges are flush and there’s no overhang. Clamp these newly attached pieces down, wipe away excess glue, and wait overnight for the glue to dry. FINISH The wood needs to be treated for protection from coffee rings and soda cans. Paint or seal with a wood stain or more durable finish. Attach small rubber furniture pads to the bottom of the legs to protect the desktop. Set up the monitor, and show off your handiwork at your next Zoom call.
Illustration: Allison Bye
A NOTE ON MEASUREMENTS This design incorporates three legs and an interior shelf to slide the keyboard beneath, and a laptop above. The dimensions are suggested, but could be tweaked, depending on the available desk space, whether you need a stand wide enough to fit two monitors, and the depth of your monitor base. Ergonomics are important here: the monitor stand height is calculated in order to put the center of the screen just below eye line, when sitting in a chair. To this end, the dimensions are roughly 32.25 inches long, 4 inches high, and 11 inches deep, with an interior shelf that’s 20 inches long and 11 inches deep.
home + design
Methow Valley Made These local products add a dash of fun and charm to any home In the early ’90s, Samantha Carlin took an introductory stainedglass class, and discovered a new passion. Now, Carlin owns and operates Lucid Glassworks out of Twisp, hand-making glassware and vases that are both vibrant and functional, like the multicolorful design of the signature Dot Tumbler. Like “drinking our beverages out of an art collection,” said one happy review. www.samanthacarlin.square.site
Kit and Sam Kollmeyer are creative partners and spouses who run Serious Fun Studio, an architecture and design firm in Twisp. Although their main focus is on commercial, residential, and public projects, they also have a playful product line featuring a topographical map of the Methow Valley, printed on everything from bedspreads to wood panels.
As far as we’re concerned, a home can never have too many baskets. They come in handy for clutter of all kinds, from corralling shoes to picking up toys. Consider the BasketBox by the Twisp-based eqpd an excellent addition to the collection. Made of 100 percent recycled vinyl mesh that can collapse when not in use, it’s both durable and versatile. www.eqpdgear.com
www.seriousfun.studio/methow-map
When next in Twisp, be sure to check out a plethora of local wares at the Methow Valley Goods store, which includes the work of nearly 100 area artists. Farther away? Peruse online offerings, like the swirling-patterned ceramics in the Cobalt series from ceramicist Marcia Ives. www.methowvalleygoods.com FEBRUARY | MARCH 2023
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STARTUP 34 MY WORKSPACE 36 GAME CHANGER 38
pg. 38 Coast Salmon Partnership puts salmon habitat at the top of its mission.
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Photos: Ingrid Pape-Sheldon
startup
What began with a casual dalliance for Chelsey Owens ended in a six-year intensive education in Paris.
Scented in Seattle After pivoting from a career in marketing, perfumer Chelsey Owens is scenting Seattle at her custom fragrance boutique written by Rachel Gallaher PERFUMER CHELSEY OWENS has fond memories of all of her customers. Helping them create one-of-a-kind fragrances at her boutique, Atelier Madrona, requires getting to know people beyond surface level. After nearly six years in the business, one appointment stands out in particular for Owens because it encapsulates what drew her to working with scent in the first place. “I was doing a fragrance fitting with a woman, and I had narrowed it down to three or four options,” Owens recalled. “I handed her a bottle, and as soon as she smelled it, she started crying. She looked at me and said, ‘I don’t know why I’m crying, but this reminds me of a summer I spent in Greece. … It was a time that transformed my life.’” It would be hard to find someone who hasn’t had an intense memory-jogging experience with scent (this can happen via food, fragrance or environmental smells such as salty beach air or freshly cut flowers). For Owens, who founded Atelier Madrona in 2017, this entrée into a form of personal storytelling is what keeps her in the business. 34
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“There is such an emotional aspect of scent,” she said. “Everyone wants to be remembered forever, and one of the ways to do that is through scent.” Before mixing fragrances, Owens had a career in marketing, but she had reached a point where she wanted to pursue something “purely creative.” Over the years, she had spent time in Paris, and the relationship that French women had with perfume struck her. “There is a whole culture around fragrance there,” she noted. “It’s a rite of passage for young women to find a personal scent once they reach a certain age.” Curious, she started learning more about the industry, eventually signing up for an intense program taught by master perfumers that took six years to complete. Owens traveled back and forth between Paris and the United States, spending one to two months in France working her way through courses that ranged from extracting scents from natural materials and learning the categories of fragrances to memorizing more than 1,500 individual fragrance notes. The process was much like becoming a master sommelier. By the end of the program, she was able to identify the minutiae of fragrance, for example, whether a scent was from an Italian orange or Floridian orange. “When I started, I thought I would just learn the industry, not become a perfumer,” Owens recalled, “but the further I got into my studies, the more I wanted to pursue it.” At Atelier Madrona (which first opened in the Madrona neighborhood but moved to Chophouse Row in Capitol Hill at the beginning of 2021), Owens works by appointment-only sessions that range from a bespoke fragrance fitting to the curation of a fragrance wardrobe, which includes scents for every season, as well as a day and night option. For each session, Owens works through questions aimed at getting to know her clients better— not only what kinds of scents they like but also their lifestyles and how they want to present themselves to the world. From there, she will have them start smelling fragrances, tweaking formulas to meet the client’s needs. Creating a full fragrance wardrobe can take anywhere from six to nine months. “It’s hard for people to understand that I’m not just tossing together a few essential oils,” she said. “A fine fragrance can have up to sixty unique components.” Owens works with allnatural ingredients from around the world (rose from Turkey, orange from Italy, cedar from the mountains of Colorado), as well as select manman molecules. When it comes to giving perfume as a gift, Owens says that unless you really know that person, it can be a risk, and that’s why she offers the customization process. “Fragrance is such a personal thing,” she observed. “It’s a beautiful gift to give to someone, and allowing them to design something exactly to their taste means you know that they will wear it and love it.”
O P E N S J A N U A RY 2 8
NEW EXHIBITION
highdesertmuseum.org MADE POSSIBLE BY
WITH SUPPORT FROM
Oregon Heritage Commission
March 3 & 4, 2023 Celebrate the Sun!
Join us for a weekend of family fun at the Sequim Sunshine Festival where we will shake off the winter blues and celebrate the coming of the spring and summer seasons in Sunny Sequim.
sequimsunshinefestival.com 1-800-737-8462 visitsunnysequim.com
my workspace
He Is Who He Is The boy from New York City who wanted to become a reporter written by Joni Kabana photography by Jason Hill
As a young boy, Buzz Bissinger would stand in front of his hometown New York City’s newsstands and marvel at the seven newspapers that were published daily. He knew at an early age that he wanted to become a reporter and set his hopes in action by working on newspapers in high school and also while attending the University of Pennsylvania. After graduating, he made his way around the nation’s most prestigious newspapers and wrote for The New York Times Magazine, Sports illustrated and Vanity Fair (where he wrote the notable 2015 cover story on Caitlyn Jenner’s transition) while also publishing several books.
A Pulitzer Prize winner for his work at The Philadelphia Inquirer, Bissinger is no stranger to what it takes to be a successful writer. Landing on a great topic is of primary importance but the discipline required to research (Bissinger lived a year in Odessa, Texas, while writing his book Friday Night Lights), develop plot and characters and pay painstaking attention to “connective tissue” sentence structures is where finesse results in acclaimed writing.
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my workspace
Buzz Bissinger works from the kitchen counter of his home in Long Beach.
Bissinger stands with his wife, Lisa Smith.
With a background in reporting, Bissinger prefers to write in noisy environments or at the kitchen counter while his wife, Lisa Smith, putters around making something delicious to eat. Bissinger feels fortunate to be able to split his time between their isolated Long Beach oasis and a home in bustling Philadelphia. He writes every morning then sets aside his work in favor of reading, watching movies, napping with the dog, collecting model trains with a Northwestern theme or spending time with family.
Bissinger loves a good epic novel where chapters are not merely “separate islands,” noting Jonathan Franzen as one of his favorite authors. Bissinger’s latest book, The Mosquito Bowl, takes us from the playing fields of America’s campuses during WWII to the unlikeliest of football games, the Mosquito Bowl, played by Marines on the island of Guadalcanal on Christmas Eve 1944, to the darkest and deadliest days of the war in the Pacific, the bloody battle of Okinawa.
Bissinger’s writing today, after a seasoned career, are less effusive and more toned down, portraying a confidence that was found after experiencing the various ups and downs of publishing original material. He readily declares this simple insight to questions asked of him: “I am who I am!” and he offers this advice to any writer seeking advice: Look for topics that make your heart beat faster, take formal education classes with tough professors, adhere to the principles of critical writing, don’t plead “writer’s block” and, above all, read books that have a structured plot and write every single day.
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game changer
Braiding Streams
Coast Salmon Partnership brings together local authorities for the benefit of wild salmon
A group of young professionals stands in front of a large pile of scotch broom, an invasive plant, that they removed from the river floodplain.
10,000 Years Institute
written by Daniel O’Neil
SEEMINGLY PRISTINE and wild, the Washington Coast looks like paradise for salmon and steelhead. River mouths from Cape Flattery to Cape Disappointment once led to ideal spawning and rearing grounds for these fish. But today’s upstream habitat poses a gamut of obstacles for wild salmon. “We see green, but under that green are a whole lot of problems that we’re trying to fix,” said Mara Zimmerman, executive director of the Coast Salmon Partnership. For example, more than 4,000 man-made barriers in Washington’s coastal watersheds cut off thousands of miles of prime habitat and cool, clean waters that salmon need for spawning, rearing and migration. Despite impacts like these, Washington’s Pacific coastline remains the state’s last holdout where salmon and steelhead are not listed under the Endangered Species Act. CSP has worked since 2009 to keep things that way. As a salmon-centric hub for tribal, state and local government agencies, CSP also brings watershed councils, conservation groups and the fishing and timber industries together in search of sciencebased solutions. Much of CSP’s work focuses on habitat protection and restoration. “If we can have high-quality habitat, ensure that we have 38
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wetlands and streams and side channels and deep pools, that gives the fish the best chance of surviving,” Zimmerman said. “So, in a year when some parts of their habitat aren’t doing so well, they have other parts that are doing well, and it balances out.” Outreach and education also keep CSP busy. Aside from commercial forestland, most of the Washington Coast is rural residential. “Some folks don’t even know there are salmon running up the rivers in their backyard,” Zimmerman said. “We talk to folks who live in these watersheds about what makes a watershed healthy, things like leaving trees on river banks and wood in streams, or not manipulating streams with rock dams.” CSP represents a progressive, holistic way of managing salmon habitat. Representatives from the counties, cities and tribes along the Washington Coast form the partnership and serve on its board of directors. “We need to put all the pieces together for salmon, and in order to do that we need to bring together all the authorities that influence the quality of salmon habitat,” Zimmerman said. “The folks that know the local watersheds the best are the people that are best able to make decisions about where to do habitat
“If we can have high-quality habitat, ensure that we have wetlands and streams and side channels and deep pools, that gives the fish the best chance of surviving. So, in a year when some parts of their habitat aren’t doing so well, they have other parts that are doing well, and it balances out.”
Luke Kelly
game changer
MORE ONLINE
Want to donate? Head to www.coastsalmonpartnership.org/donate
Mara Zimmerman
work, what kind of habitat work to do and which landowners will work with them.” Four CSP watershed groups cover the Washington Coast: North Pacific Coast, Quinault Indian Nation, Chehalis Basin and Willapa Bay. Tom Kollasch serves as watershed restoration program manager for the Pacific and Grays Harbor conservation districts, in the Willapa area. He is also chair of the CSP. Kollasch’s projects benefit from the CSP in various ways, including outreach. “Coast Salmon Partnership supports my work by communicating the importance of this work with legislators and the public,” he said. Even small efforts led by CSP help Kollasch, including the Strong Salmon Futures campaign. “Recognizable signage at salmon restoration sites will increase the public’s knowledge of our work and how it improves conditions for salmon and people.” Besides official partners, everyday citizens can help restore salmon habitat. CSP supports the work of volunteer “Stream Teams” that plant native trees, remove invasive plants and clean up trash. Grants and donations help the CSP provide additional equipment and materials to help these projects. Climate change already threatens Washington’s salmon, so CSP looks for solutions that anticipate future challenges for salmon. “Our whole focus is to fix things before they get bad, before we get federal listings and before the populations are completely depleted,” Zimmerman said. “Wouldn’t that be a new way to do business in Washington State, if we could turn the corner sooner than later?”
Dwayne Pecosky
— Mara Zimmerman, Coast Salmon Partnership executive director
FROM TOP A habitat biologist takes culvert measurements, which are used to determine whether the culvert is fish-passable or whether a repair is needed. The Quillayute River drains from the Olympic Mountains to the Pacific Ocean and is home to 23 stocks of Pacific salmon. Restoration professionals prepare for a restoration project on Rue Creek in Pacific County.
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6 Washington Cheesemakers to Watch written by Ryn Pfeuffer | illustrations by Danielle Davis Washington State is a highly coveted region of the country for cheesemaking. Rich soils, diverse climates and access to clean water and rainfall make it one of the most productive agricultural regions in the world, producing more than 300 different crops. Among those crops are grass and alfalfa, which make for happy cows, goats and sheep. Washington even has a soil that’s been legislatively established—the Tokul series. The name “Tokul” comes from a small community and creek in King County. There are more than one million acres of the Tokul series soil throughout the state. In 2005, Washington had just ten cheesemakers. Now it has more than fifty such artisans and small family farmers who make more than 200 cheeses. Many of these cheeses are only available at farmers’ markets (yet another reason to shop local).
MORE ONLINE
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To learn more about Washington cheese, check out the Washington State Cheesemakers Association at www.washingtoncheese.org
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Cheesemakers of Washington are having a savory moment.
Neighbor Lady Cheese Cheesemaking has come full circle for Jan Addison. In 1856, Ansel Sachli landed in Ohio from his home country of Switzerland and opened a butcher and cheese shop. Eventually, he passed the business along to his son Charles. More than 150 years later, Addison, the great-greatgranddaughter of Charles Sachli, stumbled into the legacy, thanks to her neighbor—hence the name “Neighbor Lady.” Addison and her neighbor were fond of taking different classes across many subjects together. Finally, the neighbor asked if she wanted to take a cheesemaking class. So, they did and came home and tried to make cheese. “It didn’t go well, so we went back for a second class and a third class—quite a few, actually,” said Addison. “There’s a reason we all don’t make cheese; let’s put it that way.” In one of the classes, the instructor asked if anyone was taking the class to start their own business. Addison’s neighbor raised her hand, and being the competitive sort she is, she raised her hand too. As Addison practiced making cheese at her Maple Valley home, she remembered having a recipe from her childhood. “I thought, well, it’s supposed to be for cottage cheese, but I’m going to put it in an aged cheese and see if it works, and if it does, I’m going to start my business,” she recalled. She made a wheel of jack cheese and let it age. “When I cut into it and smelled all the beautiful aromas, and then tasted it, I said, ‘Yes, I’m going to do this.’” Addison sold her first cheeses at the Wine and Chocolate Festival in Enumclaw in 2013 and has returned for nearly a decade every February. A Nevada transplant, Addison sings the praises of Washington, saying the state has everything needed to produce quality cheese. From the abundance of grass for the goats, sheep and cattle to beautiful
dairy (Addison buys milk from Jersey cows from Twinbrook Creamery in Lynden), Washington has many things that make cheesemaking more cost-effective than in other places. And then there’s the rain and water. “We’ve got the mountains, we’ve got the lakes, we’ve got the Sound and the trees and the grass,” she said. “When I first moved here, I used to call home and say, ‘Oh my gosh, if you don’t drive on the street enough, it’ll grow grass on it.’” Addison observed that the pandemic spurred an uptick in interest in shopping more locally—for everything from meat and eggs to produce and cheese. “I think people want to know where their food comes from, and they want it local,” she said. “I know the attendance at farmers’ markets has gone way up since the pandemic.” In winter, look for Neighbor Lady Cheese at Seattle’s Capitol Hill Farmers Market. In spring, Addison starts selling at the Maple Valley Farmers Market. By summer, she sells wherever she can based on how much help she can hire for the season. If you’re lucky, you might even meet Addison’s pet cow, Gwendolyn, who’s attended thirty-three farmers’ markets. Look for a variety of different flavors and the occasional specialty wheel. When nudged, Addison admits if she had to play favorites, the gouda has her heart. “I have a sweet tooth, and it’s a milder, sweeter, buttery cheese. Every time I open a wheel, those flavors bring me right back to my childhood,” said the artisan cheesemaker. www.neighborladycheese.com
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Photos: Kings Mozzarella
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Kings Mozzarella When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, farmers’ market patrons mourned the halt of their weekly lactose fix, Kings Mozzarella. Think stretchy balls of mozzarella, burrata, queso Oaxaca and those tasty orbs bathed in caprese, chipotle or habanero marinades. In Columbia City, the community was so sad that they banned together for large orders that would be delivered, masked and gloved, out of the back of their van in a nearby parking lot, then distributed
by one dedicated neighbor to buyers’ doorsteps. Neighbors dubbed the makeshift distribution network the “Underground Cheese Mafia.” You can find Kings Mozzarella at several area farmers’ markets, including Ballard, Capitol Hill, Columbia City, Maple Valley and Burien. www.kingsmozzarella.com
ABOVE, FROM TOP Kings Mozzarella’s caprese marinade mozzarella. The making of the “Underground Cheese Mafia.”
Tieton Farm & Creamery The small town of Tieton has seen a lot of change over the past decade. Former tech workers Ruth and Lori Babcock have been integral to its agricultural growth since coming to town in 2018. The couple cares for a few dozen goats on their 21-acre farm in Upper Yakima Valley, plus cows, ducks, geese, sheep, chickens and turkeys. In addition, the couple shares duties: Lori makes the cheese, while Ruth tends to the herds. In 2017 and 2019, Tieton Farm and Creamery won first place at the Washington Artisan Cheesemakers Festival for their Rheba, the Babcocks’ cave-aged take on Reblochon cheese, using goat and sheep milk. Find their goat and sheep milk cheeses at PCC Community Markets, Whole Foods (Seattle area) and Downtown Yakima Farmers Market. www.tietonfarmandcreamery.com
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Photos: Glendale Shepherd
Samish Bay Cheese
Glendale Shepherd specializes in aged sheep’s milk cheese.
Glendale Shepherd Each spring, dozens of lambs are born at Lynn and Stan Swanson’s grade-A dairy farm on Whidbey Island. Eventually, they will produce milk for Glendale Shepherd’s yogurt, brebis frais, and award-winning cheeses, including Good Food Foundation winner Island Brebis. The farmhouse-style, long-aged raw sheep’s milk cheese is beloved for its versatility, especially when grated over pasta or salad. You can find the Clinton couple’s artisan sheep milk cheeses at Ballard, Bayview, Capitol Hill and University District farmers markets. Or visit the farm store on Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. (year-round); no appointment is necessary. www.glendaleshepherd.com
ABOVE, FROM LEFT Glendale Shepherd owners Lynn and Stan Swanson. Glendale Shepherd’s White Cap cheese is a soft-ripened, bloomy rind cheese.
For more than 25 years, Suzanne and Roger Wechsler have farmed roughly 200 acres in Skagit County. Their mixed herd of mostly Milking Shorthorns produces some of the finest milk, cheese, yogurt and kefir in the state. On weekends, the tiny storefront is packed with people buying cheese, meat and specialty foodstuffs from regional purveyors. Then there’s the display case of desirable fresh and aged cheeses. Samish Bay Cheese posts its farmers market schedule online. Or, swing by the farm store in Bow. Shipping is also available via UPS. www.samishbay.com
Kurtwood Farms When chef Kurt Timmermeister bought a small plot on Vashon Island in 1991, becoming a farmer wasn’t part of the plan. It took roughly a decade until he sold his Seattle restaurant, Café Septieme, to try his hand at growing and raising livestock. Eventually, he got his first cow, Dinah, which sparked an interest in cheesemaking. A French Camembert-like cheese named for the Jersey cow was born. (Sadly, it was announced in January that the last wheels of Dinah’s Cheese were made as Timmermeister shifted his attention to other projects.) The farm hosts weekly workshops from May to September on everything from ice cream-making to a southern seafood boil. Go to www.kurtwoodfarms.com for class schedules. www.kurtwoodfarms.com
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FORCED RETREAT
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Washington’s glaciers are disappearing and taking pieces of the state’s identity with them written by Daniel O’Neil
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Washington’s Glacier Peak is one of many that is losing mass in the climate crisis.
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IN LATE SUMMER of 2021, mountaineer and geoscientist John All led a group of college students to Mount Baker’s 10,780-foot peak. He had first climbed the mountain in the late 1990s, when the glaciers lay entire and unyielding underfoot. Now, pre-dawn and just below the summit, All and his group found meltwater running through the ice and covering their boots. We were almost wading through the melting glacier at 4 a.m.,” All said. On the descent, he pointed out the Swiss cheese-like surface of the surrounding glacier, caused by meltwater devouring the ice. Mount Baker no longer resembled the glaciated peak All had climbed a few decades before. “The changes were mind-boggling.” In the lower forty-eight, Washington is the glacier state. From Mount Saint Helens to Mount Baker and the North Cascades, and throughout the Olympic Range, Washington hosts more than 800 flowing glaciers. But these—and every other glacier on the planet—now face extinction as the century, and climate warming, steam forward. The consequences will reshape not just Washington’s mountains but, more crucially, its rivers, salmon and cultures.
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VER SINCE the Quaternary Ice Age, which began more than two million years ago, glaciers have capped Washington’s peaks. Four decades should amount to little for a glacier, but Washington’s glaciers have been in decline since the early 1980s. Glaciologist Jon Riedel, former park geologist for North Cascades National Park, has visited and revisited perennial ice and snowfields in Washington since then. His rucksack brims with examples of glacial retreat. Take, for instance, Noisy Glacier in the North Cascades. “It’s the headwaters of Noisy Creek, but it’s become kind of a silent glacier because it’s stagnating,” Riedel said. “A few years ago, I noticed rocks on the glacier and thought it was a little landslide rockfall, so I went over to it and realized the glacier was getting so thin the bedrock was starting to poke up from underneath. It’s a staggering amount of ice that’s been lost there.” Across the state, at different paces, glaciers are receding as the climate warms. Summer temperatures melt off more ice and snow than the glaciers can store in winter, even at high elevation. On top of this, in the lower-elevation ranges nearest the Pacific Ocean, like the Olympics and North Cascades, rain is replacing snow as freezing levels rise. Glaciers on the arid east side of the Cascade crest now receive less snowfall in winter and more intense heat in summer, a twofold blow.
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According to Andrew Fountain, a professor emeritus of geology and geography at Portland State University, who has studied Washington’s glaciers extensively, Washingtonians ought to worry about the threat to water supplies. But not for the reason they might expect. “Glaciers in the Northwest are kind of small, and they don’t really affect many people,” Fountain said. “We get plenty of rainfall and our snowpacks persist late into July. The issue is that glaciers provide waterflow during the hottest, driest parts of our summer, in August and September. They feed high alpine ecosystems and, to some degree, the lower elevation landscapes during this period. So if glaciers were to shrink dramatically, as they are shrinking, or if they disappear, a lot of these areas become more vulnerable to drought and the subsequent stresses put on the system because of that drought.” Glacial retreat can complicate projects like irrigation, hydropower and even recreation. It can lead to dangers like debris flows and flooding. But the real victims, besides the glaciers themselves, are the salmon, steelhead and other fish like bull trout that depend on the steady, cool, late-summer streamflows that only glaciers can provide. Scientists admit that glaciers won’t offer this lifeline for long. Since around 1900, the North Cascades and Olympics have lost slightly more than half of their glacial area. Mount Rainier has lost almost a quarter. The timing of impending glacial retreat, determined by complex computational modeling, depends on factors like topography and greenhouse gas emissions. Erkan Istanbulluoglu, a professor of hydrology at the University of Washington, does not sugarcoat the models’ conclusions. “We’re in a rapid decline phase no matter which emissions scenario you’re using,” he said. “Between 2020 and 2040, we might see 60 to 80 percent of the glacial area we had in the 1960s in most glaciers in Washington.” After that, glacial retreat and disappearance accelerate rapidly as there becomes less ice to melt. By the end of the century, only the highest, most sun-sheltered areas of the Cascade volcanoes will retain perennial ice. All of this equates to severe reductions in latesummer streamflow.
Nisqually Glacier on Mount Rainier. Since around 1900, Mount Rainier has lost almost a quarter of its glacial area.
“By 2020 to 2040, the peak flow of glacial melt contribution will have passed in all rivers except for high-elevation watersheds,” Istanbulluoglu said. Toward the century’s end, models forecast latesummer meltwater volumes to shrink by up to 80 percent in low-elevation basins also plagued by decreasing snowfall. “In some high-elevation catchments we might get some support of glacial flow, until the glaciers melt in the 2060s. It will hit hard everywhere by then, regardless of elevation.”
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IN THE LOWER FORTY-EIGHT, WASHINGTON IS THE GLACIER STATE. FROM MOUNT SAINT HELENS TO MOUNT BAKER AND THE NORTH CASCADES, AND THROUGHOUT THE OLYMPIC RANGE, WASHINGTON HOSTS MORE THAN 800 FLOWING GLACIERS.
HE NEW YEAR for the Hoh Tribe, on the western edge of the Olympic Peninsula, begins in spring when the salmon return from the Pacific Ocean to spawn in the Hoh River and its tributaries. The Hoh, like many other Pacific Northwest tribes, honor the first-caught salmon with a ceremony rich in salmon-rejoicing song and dance. “We call them the Salmon People, you know, because we’re related,” said Hoh tribal council member Bryan Cole. “If you’ve ever looked at their scales up close, they resemble a human fingerprint. We rely on them to survive, and the eagles do as well.”
Salmon in Washington are as iconic and indispensable as the mountain peaks that give rise to the state’s many salmonbearing rivers and streams. Cultures, industries and communities, both human and wild, rely on the fat, silvery fish. Other than the glaciers themselves, nothing stands to lose more from glacial retreat than salmon. Glaciers affect salmon in several subtle ways. As most of Washington’s rivers receive the bulk of their water from rainfall and snowmelt, they will not go dry after the glaciers have gone. But during August and September, glaciers feed a steady, critical supply of cold water to salmon and other riverine life, especially in the driest summers. Hydrologist Chris Frans, who works for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, likens this glacial summer flow to water towers. “They give us water at the time of year when there’s very little,” Frans said. “And these water towers will start to run dry as the climate warms.” According to Frans, the Hoh River streamflow gauging station, in operation since the 1960s, has already recorded strong declines in annual minimum flow. “The strongest decline in monthly flow volume is in August, the month with the FEBRUARY | MARCH 2023
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strongest glacier melt signature,” he said. “Declining glaciers are likely a contributor, in addition to earlier snowmelt timing.” Glacial runoff matters most in a river’s upstream reaches, where it can provide up to half of the water or more, depending on location. In years with limited snowmelt, relative glacier contributions can rise to 90 percent. Certain runs of Chinook salmon and steelhead trout have evolved in line with these chilled summer flows, which prove critical for all phases of their freshwater lifecycle. Bull trout, in particular, only live where glacial melt keeps the river cold. Kathryn Sutton, a Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife fish biologist, keeps a trained eye on the Hoh River. The summer runs of salmon and steelhead are vulnerable, she said. “They come into the river earlier, hold for longer, go higher in the watershed and will be more sensitive to warmer water and lower flows.” Without “water towers” in late summer, streams run shallow. This reduces habitat for spawning and rearing salmonids, or forces females to lay eggs where eventual high water washes them away. Shallow water flows warmer, under already hotter summer air, which stresses the salmon and depresses their survival rate. Even insects, food for juveniles and adults waiting to spawn, have temperature thresholds. Diminished glacial meltwater only exacerbates all of this. An absence of glacial ice also reveals new sediment and soil that can slide into upstream waters. Wild salmon and steelhead bury their eggs under riverbed gravel in what biologists call redds. Sediment can smother these redds, depriving the embryo of oxygen-rich water. The insects that provide food for salmon also suffer under high sediment loads. This becomes significant in hot, arid regions, like east of Mount Adams. “We’ve noticed just anecdotally in the last few years an increase in the number of days when we see high sediment levels coming down some of the tributary streams off Mount
A knock-on effect of glacial melt is a suffocation of salmon eggs.
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Adams,” Joe Zendt, a Yakama Nation fisheries biologist, said of the Klickitat River. “It really seems to be occurring during the prime spring Chinook spawning time more in recent years.”
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S GLACIAL RUNOFF dwindles, salmon and humans will have to share what’s left. While salmon face greater challenges from the loss of glaciers, some of Washington’s infrastructure and recreation will also feel the impact. Municipal water supplies depend more on snowmelt, so drinking water is safe. But in certain parts of the state, hydropower dams like the Baker Dam below Mount Baker and the Alder Dam on the Nisqually River will receive less water in summer. Streamflows that feed some irrigation in Washington have already begun to shrivel. The Skagit Valley lies in the North Cascades, the most glaciated area in the contiguous United States. It is also Puget Sound’s largest watershed. But low elevations and small glaciers here prove susceptible to a warming climate. Since the late 1950s, the watershed has lost an amount of ice equal to a century of current Skagit County fresh water demand. Jon Riedel lives in the Skagit Valley, and he chairs the Skagit Climate Science Consortium, a research group. “We’re one of the wettest, most glaciated valleys, and we’re already stressed for summer flows,” he said. “The lower Skagit Valley is a huge agricultural valley, but it’s really dry because it’s in the rain shadow of the Olympics, so there’s a ton of irrigation going on. Even though only 6 to 12 percent of the summer water in rivers is glacial, that’s a lot to lose.” Thunder Creek rushes right out of the North Cascades and into the Diablo Reservoir, just above the Skagit Valley. Diablo and Ross Lake, just upstream, form part of Seattle City Light’s Skagit River Hydroelectric Project. Power, irrigation and power boats all make use of the water. “Streamflow patterns in highly glacierized river basins are going to change greatly as the glaciers disappear,” Frans said. “If you had less inflow during summer, you’d have less flexibility in meeting the reservoir’s multiple objectives.” Sediment from glacial retreat threatens more than just salmon. As glaciers recede rapidly they leave behind huge fields of rubble: sand, gravel, boulders. Rains and slides carry this rocky material into rivers and streams. When that sediment deposits in the lowland valleys, it chokes the river channels, leading to flooding. The Cascade Range volcanoes pose a larger-scale threat. Massive rock piles at the lower end of glaciers, called moraines, lose support as the ice fades away, and heavy rains force them downslope. These debris flows occur in remote landscapes, so only occasional roads or unlucky campers would be affected. Another landscape change will follow the glaciers as they move up the mountain. Forests will occupy lands formerly under ice, extending the subalpine zone. Flora and fauna will happily occupy these new woods, as will hikers. But recreation in Washington has more to lose from glacial retreat than it has to gain.
For example, boat docks and ramps become inaccessible like watching people dying—it’s things I love dying,” All said. when reservoirs drop too much in summer. More importantly, “This one is poignant because glaciers are beautiful, beautiif glacial sediment or reduced streamflows impact wild salmon ful things and they just aren’t going to exist anymore. There and steelhead runs, deepening their current decline, WDFW might be chunks of ice scattered here and there that haven’t might restrict or close sport fisheries of hatchery fish. quite melted, but that’s not a glacier.” In arid regions like the Klickitat River basin, receding glaThe latest computer modeling shows an inexorable decline ciers leave the water so murky after heat waves that poor vis- of glaciers in Washington over the course of this century. Unibility prevents the fish from seeing a lure or bait. “Sediment certainty remains over precise dates and rates of decline, but can directly impact good fishing days,” Zendt said. “And it by 2100 most of the smaller glaciers on the lower non-volcaseems to be happening more.” nic mountains will have disappeared. Some ice will cling to Glaciers matter little to skiers and snowboarders, but moun- the colder zones on the highest peaks, yet by 2070 the Olymtaineers wouldn’t exist without them. John All is the executive pic Range glaciers will be gone. director of the American Climber Science Program. He has Climate change requires adaptation from all life on Earth. summited many of Washington’s peaks since the 1990s and A warming planet brings to light the interconnections behas guided groups to the top of Mount Everest and through- tween humans and the natural world. “The salmon are viout the Andes. Recently, under a searing tal to our people, but not only to our sun, All climbed Denali in shorts and a people—they’re valuable to our ecosys“FOR ME PERSONALLY IT’S AN T-shirt. Even Mount Rainier, 14,410 feet tem,” Cole said. “When these runs start high, has changed in the last two deto dwindle, all the other animals that INCREDIBLE TRAGEDY, LIKE cades. All’s new main concern there is depended on them, their numbers are WATCHING PEOPLE DYING—IT’S going to start to drop as well.” dehydration. THINGS I LOVE DYING. THIS ONE “It’s so much hotter now than it used Pacific salmon are a keystone species to be,” he said. “I went back to Rainier IS POIGNANT BECAUSE GLACIERS to at least 137 other animals, including last summer, hadn’t done it in ten years, caddisflies, orcas and coyotes, and the ARE BEAUTIFUL, BEAUTIFUL and I was utterly astonished. It was unnutrients they bring from the ocean THINGS AND THEY JUST AREN’T nourish the forest. Their commercial recognizable from when I’d climbed it before. Now, on big chunks of the sumvalue matters much to Washington’s GOING TO EXIST ANYMORE. mit, there’s no snow.” economy: over $130 million each year. In summer, Rainier’s thinning glaciers THERE MIGHT BE CHUNKS OF ICE Fortunately, salmon and steelhead have have begun to undulate, following the seen melted glaciers before, having SCATTERED HERE AND THERE landscape features below. The short, evolved over millions of years during THAT HAVEN’T QUITE MELTED, steep sections that have appeared can the Miocene, an era of warmer temperBUT THAT’S NOT A GLACIER.” seriously complicate climbing. In winatures and relatively little glacier cover. ter, more freeze-thaw cycles have in“I hesitate to say extinction, just be— John All, mountaineer and geoscientist creased avalanche risk. In the alpine, the cause salmon have so many challenges unknown holds the greatest dangers. even beyond climate change and re“When you see experts having accidents, it’s usually just ceding glaciers—harvest rates, habitat loss, land-use pracsomething they’d never experienced in the 300 times they’d tices—but they still persist,” Sutton said. “I have optimism if been in that spot before,” All said. “And now, all of a sudden, we can preserve what habitat we still have.” that place was full of ice water and they plunged into the creHumanity, responsible for the changes to climate that cause vasse or whatever.” glacial decline, now holds the fate of other species in hand. Disappearing glaciers have made mountaineering easier in At this point, no one can rebuild the glaciers. But nonprofits, other ways. “It’s better to camp on dirt than on snow or ice,” volunteers, tribes and public agencies can, and do, protect All said. “And the glaciers have moved higher up so you can go and restore habitat for salmon and steelhead in Washington. higher before you have to put on crampons.” The survival of these fish will depend on access to a wide As the glaciers melt, mountaineers must adapt by redefining variety of hospitable rivers and streams throughout the state. themselves. “The ice isn’t going to be climbable, isn’t going to Solutions for hydropower, irrigation and recreation concerns exist in the future,” All said. “So yeah, we’re all going to become rely on engineering and responsible water use. crumbly rock climbers one day.” Farmers, climbers, anglers, earth scientists and anyone who loves Washington’s rivers and sublime peaks will lose HE CONSEQUENCES of glacial retreat will touch all something along with the glaciers. For Washington, and the of society, but particularly those who find a deeper Pacific Northwest as a whole, glaciers might be the canary connection with the mountains, like glaciologists and in the coal mine, an indicator species for society, culture climbers. “For me personally it’s an incredible tragedy, and identity.
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Margie Livingston, Wacked Grid, 2017, acrylic paint and string, 59 x 42 x 17 in. | Tacoma Art Museum. Gift of Greg Kucera.
Painting Deconstructed: Selections from the Northwest Collection
A MEDIUM UP CLOSE AT THE TACOMA ART MUSEUM (TAM), you’ll find more than 5,300 thought-provoking pieces representing artists of the Northwest and broader western region. Highlights of the collection include the largest retrospective museum collection of glass art by Tacoma native Dale Chihuly; the Haub Family Collection of Western American Art—one of the nation’s premier western American art collections; and the largest collection of studio art jewelry by Northwest artists. Painting Deconstructed, a popular and permanent exhibition, takes a deep dive into the art of painting by focusing on the core components that come together to create a finished image. You can explore the entire exhibit online at www.tacomaartmuseum. org/tam-at-home/experience-our-galleries/painting-deconstructed.
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Alan Lau, What We Left Behind I, 2009, sumi and mixed media on paper | Tacoma Art Museum. Gift of Alan Lau in honor of Francine Seders, 2015.13.
Donnabelle Casis, Untitled, 1999, oil on canvas, 24 x 24 in. | Tacoma Art Museum. Gift of Ben and Aileen Krohn.
James Lavadour, Release the Sun, 1990-1991, oil on linen, 83 x 83 in. | Tacoma Art Museum. Gift of Rebecca and Alexander C. Stewart.
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CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT Alfredo Arreguín, Rio Balsas, 1977, oil on canvas, 70 x 46 in. | Tacoma Art Museum. Gift of the Bellevue Art Museum. Frank Okada, Milltown, 1958, oil on canvas mounted to board, 467/8 x 40 in. | Tacoma Art Museum. Gift of Barbara and John Erling. Blance Morgan Losey, Hand Shadows on a Drawing Board, circa 1944, watercolor, gouache and pencil on paper | Tacoma Art Museum. Gift of David F. Martin and Dominic A. Zambito in memory of David Storie.
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Victoria Adams, Morning Shimmer, 2003, oil and wax on linen, 57¼ x 70 in. | Tacoma Art Museum. Gift of the artist in honor of Janeanne A. Upp, courtesy of Winston Wächter Fine Art, Seattle and New York.
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TRAVEL SPOTLIGHT 56 ADVENTURE 58 LODGING 60 TRIP PLANNER 62
pg. 68 Spring is for Snoqualmie and North Bend.
Carina Skrobecki Swain/State of Washington Tourism
NORTHWEST DESTINATION 68
Remember the last time your family visited the forest? It’s a place of wonder and imagination for the whole family—where stories come to life. And it’s closer than you think. Sounds like it’s time to plan your next visit. Make the forest part of your story today at a local park near you or find one at DiscoverTheForest.org.
travel spotlight
Where Art Meets Wine Ilana Freddye
The oddfellows of forges and flights of wine in Walla Walla written by Joni Kabana
WALLA WALLA is well known for its bevy of wineries, but very few are as dedicated to the uniquely creative pairing of art and wine processes as can be found at Foundry Vineyards. In 1980, long before vines were planted and the winery was operating, Mark and Patty Anderson opened the Walla Walla Foundry with one client, sculptor Manuel Neri. Soon after, word traveled around many artists’ circles about the level of professionalism and dedication to the craft of casting and fabrication. Usage grew quickly and significantly. The Foundry buildings were once used to mold such useful accouterments as manhole covers, iron fire hydrants and tractor parts. Today, after its initial start as a bronze casting operation, the Foundry’s range handles copper, brass, bronze, stainless steel, silver and zinc in addition to silicone and wax, super sized 3-D printers and an enormous paint room. Engineers, designers, craftspeople and administrators are available to assist artists with their visions. Jim Hodges, Maya Lin, Paul McCarthy, Yoshitomo Nara, and Robert Rauschenberg are a few notable artists who have used these facilities. Foundry Vineyards, started in 1998 with the planting of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot grapes, produced their first vintage and commissioned artist Jim Dine to design the label. The yearly flagship release of their “Artisan Blend” celebrates individual artists and includes a label made by the selected artist. In addition, their single varietal series feature labels with photographs of abstract surfaces found throughout the Foundry. Mark and Patty’s children, Jay and Lisa Anderson, are continuing their parents’ passion for art and wine pairing as they manage today’s operations. The Foundry Vineyards online calendar, in both Walla Walla and Seattle locations, is bursting with a host of activities focusing on exquisite and thoughtfully curated art shows and other activities such as tours, tastings, musical performances, yoga and small shop pop-ups. Perusing their past shows online beautifully documents the work of artists and serves as an ongoing introduction to many surprising art forms. For more information, see www.wallawallafoundry.com and www.foundryvineyards.com.
A new tasteful experience in Walla Walla’s Foundry Vineyards.
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adventure
HOT SPRING ETIQUETTE The benefits of soaking in hot springs include trace mineral absorption, stress reduction, pain relief, amazing sleep and more. There are some general rules to follow before stepping into a pool: • Shower beforehand, if possible • Don’t use soap, as hot springs are very sensitive to bacteria • Don’t enter if you’re not feeling well • Stay well hydrated • Many hot springs are clothing optional
Baker Hot Springs is a long drive, a short hike and a world away. (photo: Eva Seelye)
Four Hot Springs to Usher in Spring From Mount Baker to the Olympic Peninsula, hot springs for a spring adventure written by Jen Sotolongo
HOW DOES a spa treatment after a long hike sound? Pretty nice, right? Washington has a handful of hot springs scattered throughout the state. Some are part of a spa retreat center, while others require a bit of work to reach. Spring is a great time to visit hot springs. It’s right at the cusp of those long gray days slowly making way for warmer temperatures and a little more sunshine. Soaking in hot water surrounded by beautiful alpine wilderness is an ideal way to say goodbye to winter and hello to a new season. If you’re looking to earn that relaxation with a trek, the hot springs listed below fit the bill. Although they are all within several hours driving from Seattle and could be visited in a long day trip, consider camping or booking a sweet cabin in the woods to enjoy a weekend adventure. 58
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Baker Hot Springs Location: Mount Baker Wilderness Area / Season: Year round / Hiking distance: 0.3 miles one way / Fee: Free / Reservation required: No
Despite the 22-mile rough forest road to the short trail leading to Baker Hot Springs, these primitive pools attract plenty of hot springs enthusiasts. In good weather, the trail to the springs is just 0.3 miles one way, and can extend to four or more miles in the winter, depending on the snowpack, so go prepared with skis or snowshoes. Along the trail, look for a painted rock indicating the way to the hot springs. Once you arrive, you’ll find two rustic pools surrounded by towering cedars and Douglas Fir. The temperature varies in the larger pool, so be sure to test the waters before hopping in. Because of ease of access, Baker Hot Springs are more popular and can be crowded, depending on when you visit.
adventure
Goldmyer Hot Springs Location: 25 miles east of North Bend / Season: Year round / Hiking distance: 4.5 miles one way, can also bike / Fee: $30 for adults, $25 for seniors 65+ / Reservation required: Yes Jessi Loerch
This remote privately-owned hot spring can be reached via a 16-mile drive that requires all-wheel drive or 4x4 (the website notes that Subarus and Honda CRVs cannot make this trip) followed by a 4.5-mile hike along the Snoqualmie River. The reward is a pristine spa retreat in a 20-acre wilderness preserve nestled against the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. The hot springs stem from a 125°F source located inside of a mine shaft and are redirected into two smaller and cooler pools. Limited amenities include an open-air cabana, campsites with food hanging lines and containers, outhouses, picnic tables, and a bike rack. There is no cellular service or wifi and guests should bring their own necessities. Camping is permitted on the property for an additional $10. Goldmyer Hot Springs is managed by Northwest Wilderness Programs, a nonprofit organization established to protect the land. In the winter, snow chains are advised, as well as an ax or chainsaw to clear fallen trees from the road and recommend spikes for navigating the property and snowshoes for the trek during the winter. Reservations are made via monthly online lottery drawing. Lottery submissions open three months in advance.
Getting to Olympic Hot Springs is only for the motivated.
Olympic Hot Springs
First discovered in 1892, the Olympic Hot Springs were once part of a little-known resort. When the National Park Service lease expired in 1966, the buildings were removed and the springs have since been left unmaintained. Still accessible year round, reaching the springs requires an 11-mile hike or bike ride along a partially paved road, which can increase depending on road closures. The road to the trailhead has been washed out thanks to several winter storms, hence the long journey to these pools. There are seven natural pools located along Boulder Creek ranging from 98°F to 105°F. The first several springs are relatively easy to locate, while others require some research and sleuthing to discover. Because the springs are not maintained, there have been known water quality issues during high use periods and in the summer, so use at your own risk.
Gemina Garland-Lewis
Location: Olympic National Park / Season: Year round / Hiking distance: 10.9 miles one way, mileage depends on road conditions, bikeable with a mountain bike / Fee: No fee to use the hot springs, however Olympic National Park charges a $55 fee / Reservation required: No
Scenic Hot Springs Location: Near Steven Pass / Season: Year round / Hiking distance: 2 miles with 1,100 feet of vertical gain / Fee: $10 / Reservations required: Yes
The short, but steep hike to Scenic Hot Springs requires snowshoes in the winter and visitors will need to bring basic necessities, like a towel, change of clothes, bags to store wet clothes for the return hike, water and food. Scenic Hot Springs sits on 40 acres on private property surrounded by pristine National Forest land and requires a reservation in advance. Only ten people are allowed to visit Scenic Hot Springs per day and weekdays can book out three months in advance, weekends even further out. The trailhead has no signage, but the owners send out detailed directions once your reservation is booked. Book your reservation at the Scenic Hot Springs website.
Goldmyer Hot Springs is a pristine retreat in the Alpine Lakes Wilderness.
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Photos: The Lodge at St. Edward State Park
lodging
Lodging
The Lodge at St. Edward State Park
ABOVE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP Aerial view of the stately Lodge at St. Edward State Park. The guest rooms are as comfortable as they are handsome. The Tonsorium Bar at the lodge used to be a barber shop in the seminary.
written by Cara Strickland WHEN YOU first drive to this secluded hideaway, it will be hard to believe that something surrounded by such lush forest is still so close to civilization. But the beautiful scenery and quiet location is only part of the allure of this historic building—formerly a seminary, which opened in the 1930s. Once you step inside, you’ll find plenty to enjoy and explore (plus more outdoors), but you’re also close to many excellent local restaurants and attractions if you want to rejoin the world for a while. 14477 JUANITA DRIVE NE KENMORE www.thelodgeatstedward.com
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Check out the lodge’s gallery of fine art during your stay.
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ACCOMMODATIONS To create guest rooms, former dormitory rooms were combined, offering a traditional hotel experience with little touches that hint at the lodge’s history. Choose from room sizes in queen, double queen, king, lodge king or queen (which are larger), and the St. Edward’s king, which is a small well-appointed suite. Many of these rooms have accessible options, and dogs are welcome in certain rooms, with a refundable deposit. If you’re really wanting to stay in luxury, check out the Daniels Suite, which has a soaking tub along with the luxurious shower option present in the other guest rooms, a suite experience, and art on the walls from the owners’ personal collection.
DINING With three dining options on site, there is no need to leave the property to eat well. Enjoy light and casual fare at Father Mulligan’s Heritage Bar, enjoy a whimsical bar experience and light bites downstairs at The Tonsorium Bar (the site of the former barber shop, complete with the original chair), or dine for breakfast, weekend brunch, lunch, dinner, or afternoon tea (Thursday and Friday) at Cedar + Elm, the flagship restaurant, featuring cuisine that is almost entirely cooked using the visible wood fire. If you’re feeling like staying in bed, room service is only a phone call away.
AMENITIES Enjoy the on-site spa with a variety of massage and skincare treatments, and a sauna, available by appointment. Keep your workout on track with a fitness center. Borrow a complimentary mountain bike or lawn game or stretch your legs on one of the many trails. Cozy up in the library with games, snacks, and soft drinks available at all hours. Wander the gallery of fine art in the hallway with frequently rotating exhibits. Pick up whatever you’ve forgotten, or a gift for those at home, at Provisions retail shop. Take part in complimentary weekly yoga classes. Learn about the lodge’s history with a walking tour and well-placed plaques. If you’re interested in hosting an event, they can do that, too.
A New Wine Country
Destination A World Away in Walla Walla Beautifully nestled on 300 acres in the rolling wheat fields and vineyards of Washington wine country, Eritage Resort is a tribute to the history, beauty and warmth of Washington’s farms and vineyards. Only minutes from downtown Walla Walla and its regional airport, Eritage features luxury suites opening to patios with expansive views of the Blue Mountains, rolling
Book Your Stay Today 1319 Bergevin Springs Rd. Walla Walla eritageresort.com 509.394.9200 | 1.833.ERITAGE
farmland and a pristine, man-made lake. Dine at Eritage Restaurant, with a menu inspired by the region’s seasonal bounty and strong connections with local family farmers and suppliers. Sip Washington wine, beer and spirits, as well as special selections from around the world. Or head outside and explore the vineyards via cruiser bike, or paddle out onto Lake Sienna.
Eritage Resort is an unparalleled wine country experience.
Jason Hummel Photography/State of Washington Tourism
trip planner
The cool mornings and evenings in Walla Walla make for the best cycling.
Walla Walla
Your itinerary for winning wine and don’t-miss dining written by Ryn Pfeuffer
FOR THE third year, Walla Walla was named the “Best Wine Region” in America by USA Today (2022). Situated in southeastern Washington, this charming town of roughly 34,000 residents is a quick fortyminute flight from Seattle or a scenic four-hour drive from Portland or Seattle. Its location at the base of the Blue Mountains acts as a rain shadow, so its dry, fertile soil lends itself especially well to growing grapes, as well as a variety of other crops. Beyond being home to more than 120 wineries, the town supports three colleges—Whitman College, Walla Walla University, and Walla Walla Community College. The result is a vibrant, culturally diverse scene filled with bookstores, art galleries, farm-to-table food and outdoor concerts. (If you happen to visit in the summer, sit under the stars and soak up a musical at the amphitheater.) 62 1889 WASHINGTON’S MAGAZINE
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Visit Walla Walla Abeja
FeedIt Creative
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP Burwood Brewing is a nice stop after a day out biking or as an alternative to wine. Inn at Abeja is a highly sought property during wine tasting weekends. The restaurant Kinglet is the muse for area bounty.
Day
COZY STAYS • BEERS ON THE PATIO • POLENTA CROQUETTES If comfort and convenience are key, check into the Finch. This After you’ve settled into your vacation digs, meander to Bureighty-room hotel on the sunrise side of Main Street is the perfect wood Brewing. On Wednesdays through Sundays, rotating food launching point for downtown shops, restaurants, Whitman Col- trucks serve tasty bites for hungry beer enthusiasts. In addition, lege, and wine-tasting rooms. Expect clean, spacious, and, most “The Backyard,” a large outdoor patio and grassy area dotted importantly, quiet rooms that accommodate your four-legged with Adirondack chairs is dog-friendly, so you can sip a pint, and friend. Two cruiser bikes are free for guests to use. Don’t miss the soak up a sunset over the Palouse Hills with your pup. If you like outdoor firepit, wine tastings, and s’mores in the evening. American lagers, try The Antidote. Launched early in the panIf you don’t mind a quick drive, the Inn at Abeja is a demic, it’s a light and easy sipper. MORE INSIDE beautifully restored 100-year-old farmstead in a pastoral Kick off your getaway with the tasting menu at the setting just eight minutes outside downtown. The 38- Read more about chef’s counter at Kinglet. Chef Maximillian Petty’s dishes Kinglet in Dining acre estate is home to Abeja winery and many eclectic highlight the best of region and season. Think polenta on pg. 21 overnight lodging options. Whether you seek a room, croquettes, octopus on a bed of cassoulet, and a delicate suite, or private cottage, staying here is the quintessential wine rockfish crudo. If you don’t want to commit to a multicourse country experience. Seasonally, the Kitchen at Abeja offers five- meal, the menu is divided into bites, small plates, entrées, and and seven-course tasting menus Thursday through Saturday. desserts for a la carte ordering. 64
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Day COFFEE • FARMERS MARKET • WINE TASTING
Patterson Cellars Valdemar Estates Visit Walla Walla
Dsuted Valley
Ease into the day with a lavender mocha or cup of Walla Walla Roastery Coffee available on drip at Carte Coffee. Partners and coffee lovers, Joshua Huh and Ryan Vigil’s new brick-and-mortar digs also serve as an excellent spot for a quick caffeine fix, a coffee date or to camp out with your laptop. Bonus: There’s superfast wifi and an outlet at every seat. In its twenty-seventh year, the Downtown Farmers Market takes place on Saturdays, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. It runs indoors at the Showroom on Colville during winter and picks back up at Fourth Avenue and Main Street in the spring. Expect roughly forty vendors selling everything from locally grown produce to lavender products. If you came to Walla Walla, you probably have wine on your mind. Spend an afternoon checking out tasting rooms on the southside. Here are a few of our favorites: With five generations of experience, the wines at Valdemar Estates are only equaled by its stunning Insta-worthy aesthetic. So, book a reservation in the sleek, industrial tasting room and sip a flight of Spanish or Washington wines. (The Spanish varietals are grown in La Rioja, Spain.) Small plates are a knockout, too. Don’t miss the croquetas, stuffed piquillo peppers, or Galician octopus. If you’re looking for a casual, laid-back, dog-friendly place with solid wines, enjoy a curated flight at Balboa Winery. Their rich and silky grenache is a favorite. Reservations are recommended for all guests, including club members. Next, head to Patterson Cellars’ new vineyard and tasting room. They offer a few different tasting experiences, including a mimosa flight featuring Patterson Cellar’s Forbidden Bubbles (orange, guava, pineapple) and a croissant from Walla Walla Bread Company. Beyond brunch, the grounds are exquisite for soaking up the sunshine or playing lawn games. Food and wine pairing experiences are available on Saturday and Sunday by reservation only. Finish up the day at Dusted Valley. Whether you opt for a signature tasting at the Old Milton Highway
ABOVE, FROM TOP The new tasting room at Patterson Cellars. The modern Valdemar Estates pours lovely Spanish varietals. The Walla Walla Downtown Farmers Market is where local produce comes to shine. AT LEFT Enjoy sustainably crafted wines at Dusted Valley.
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WALLA WALLA, WASHINGTON
trip planner
EAT AK’s Mercado www.andraeskitchen.com Balboa Winery www.balboawinery.com Big House Brew Pub www.bighousebrewpub.com Burwood Brewing www.burwoodbrewing.com Carte Coffee www.cartecoffee.com Dusted Valley www.dustedvalley.com Hattaway’s on Alder www.hattawaysonalder.com Kinglet www.kingletww.com Maple Counter Café www.maplecountercafe.com Patterson Cellars www.pattersoncellars.com/ walla-walla
Walla Walla Bread Company www.w2breadco.com
STAY The FINCH www.finchwallawalla.com The Inn at Abeja www.abeja.net
PLAY Downtown Farmers Market www.downtownww.com/ farmers-market Wine tasting www.wallawallawine.com
Photos: Visit Walla Walla
Valdemar Estates Winery www.valdemarestates.com
ABOVE, FROM TOP Before you leave town, browse The Cotton Wool for rare finds. AK’s Mercado in downtown Walla Walla is known for its tasty tacos. Blueberry pancakes delight at Maple Counter Cafe.
tasting room or a winemaker select tasting at the winery, you’ll enjoy sustainably crafted wines. Head back to the hotel for a quick disco nap before making your reservation at Hattaway’s on Alder. Southern hospitality reigns supreme at this exceptional find housed in an old sawmill. Try the crispy fried chicken bathed in “Backyard Sauce” or the more refined aged ribeye and pork ragu with sage spaetzle and expect thoughtfully constructed flavors. If you need a break from wine, grab a nightcap at Big House Brew Pub.
Day PASTRIES • MODERN CRAFTS • TACOS Walla Walla Bread Co. is the favorite for gluten revelers. (photo: Visit Walla Walla)
There’s no better way to start the morning than with the blueberry cobbler French toast
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from Maple Counter Café. The breakfast menu is vast (ditto for the portions) and makes fun references to the people and places that form the café culture. Expect a wait to get seated—it’s 100 percent worth it. If you want to grab a bite to go, hit up Walla Walla Bread Company. The salted caramel pecan roll is divine. For something savory, try the salmon tartine. Go early if you want the full pastry selection. Afterward, meander to Kim Nemeth’s modern arts and craft studio (The Cotton Wool) in the downtown Walla Walla plaza to see her stunning woven pieces. Before you leave town, grab a quick bite on the outdoor patio at AK’s Mercado. Centrally located on Main Street, chef Andrae Bopp features tacos, smoked meats, and a variety of street foods. The short rib tacos and goat birria (Thursdays only) should not be missed.
A Quick Escape . . . Endless Possibilities. Elevate your game at the Eastside’s only casino. Snoqualmie Casino offers fast-paced gaming, top-tier entertainment,
award winning restaurants, one of the Northwest’s only cigar lounges and Seattle’s closest Sportsbook. The breathtaking view of the Snoqualmie Valley along with countless entertainment options make Snoqualmie Casino a must-visit destination.
37500 SE North Bend Way, Snoqualmie WA 98065 425-888-1234 | snocasino.com | /snocasino
Carina Skrobecki Swain/State of Washington Tourism
northwest destination
Snoqualmie and North Bend A short drive from Seattle, but a world away written by Ryn Pfeuffer
LOCATED AN easy 30 miles east of Seattle, in the scenic foothills of the Cascade Mountain Range, Snoqualmie and neighboring North Bend boast abundant charm and natural beauty. For winter outdoors lovers, these small towns offer everything from adrenaline-fueled activities and fine dining to relaxing spa services and live entertainment. For a romantic getaway, head to Salish Lodge & Spa, the setting for The Great Northern Hotel in Twin Peaks. The lodge’s proximity to the magnificent Snoqualmie Falls is a big draw for luxe travelers. After a brisk day outdoors, nothing comforts quite like the onsite sauna, steam room, and soaking pool. The award-winning onsite spa also incorporates seasonal organic ingredients into its treatments. Sleep well with heavenly bedding, a special pillow menu and the warmth of a fireplace. For winter biking, hit up the Olallie Trail outside North Bend. The new 8.6-mile each-way trail starts near Rattlesnake Lake and features new singletrack and road-trail conversion. It’s a popular spot for bikers because of the trail’s excellent condition and abundance of viewpoints along the way.
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There’s also the Raging River Trail System in Raging River State Forest. The trails overlay a previous hiking trail up Rattlesnake Ridge and several access fire roads. The first 1,200 feet of elevation takes bikers up a trail aptly named “Upward Mobility” to Stan’s Overlook. Again, the views are some of the best in the Cascade foothills. Note: Mountain bikes are not allowed on the Rattlesnake Mountain hiking trail. Itching to get in a few more runs before you stow your gear for the season? Ski, snowshoeing, and snow tubing enthusiasts head to The Summit at Snoqualmie for its 600 acres of hills, runs, and slopes. There’s usually plenty of powder well into March and April. Hello, spring break skiing! At night, the mountain twinkles with sparkly lights— Summit West, Alpental and Summit Central all offer night skiing—and killer views of the Cascades—throughout the
Snoqualmie should be on every early spring getaway.
Laura Halcón
Volition Brewing Co.
SNOQUALMIE + NORTH BEND, WASHINGTON
Wildflower Bistro
Salish Lodge & Spa
northwest destination
EAT Gianfranco Ristorante Italiano www.gianfranco snoqualmie.com Twede’s Café www.twedescafe.com Volition Brewing www.volitionbrewing.com Wildflower Bistro www.bistrowildflower.com
STAY Salish Lodge & Spa www.salishlodge.com
PLAY Olallie Trail www.evergreenmtb.org/ trails/olallie Raging River State Forest www.trailforks.com/region/ raging-river-state-forest Snoqualmie Casino www.snocasino.com Spa at Salish Lodge www.salishlodge.com/spa The Summit at Snoqualmie www.summitat snoqualmie.com
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP Salish Lodge is why Instagram was created. A highly sought seafood pot at Wildflower Bistro. The local favorite, Volition Brewing. Twede’s Cafe and its famed cherry pie.
season. Fun fact: The Summit at Snoqualmie offers the most night skiing in the country. For an après-ski beverage, grab a beer at Volition Brewing. The Myrddraal, a dark rye ale, is malty and refreshing. There are lots of low-ABV options, too. For an upscale night out, Wildflower Bistro (21+ only) satiates with a creative menu. Start with the truffle cheese fondue dip before moving onto seared scallops with wild boar lardons. The steaks are also a reliably tasty pick. For something more casual and kid-friendly, Gianfranco Ristorante Italiano is well worth a visit. This small-scale family-run business features a constantly changing selection of choices by the glass or bottle, plus a menu of antipasti, pasta, fish, meats, and a handful of pizzas. For a hearty comfort dish, don’t skip the beef tortellini tossed with cream, parsley and prosciutto. Pro tip: From Monday through Wednesday, order two pasta entrees, two glasses of wine and a shared dessert for $50. Looking for live entertainment? Snoqualmie Casino has got you covered. Its two venues host talents like Great White, Slaughter,
and TOTO. If you’re feeling lucky, there are also 1,700 slot machines and fifty-four classic gaming tables. Before heading out of town, swing by Twede’s Café for a slice of cherry pie. It’s been an iconic staple since director David Lynch discovered the then-Mar-T Café on a 1990 scouting trip for Twin Peaks.
For winter outdoors lovers, these small towns offer everything from adrenalinefueled activities and fine dining to relaxing spa services and live entertainment. FEBRUARY | MARCH 2023
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1889 MAPPED
The points of interest below are culled from stories and events in this edition of 1889.
Friday Harbor
Aberdeen
Newport
Marysville Everett Chelan
Seattle Bellevue
Port Orchard
Tacoma
Colville Okanogan
Whidbey Island
Olympic National Park
Republic
Winthrop
Coupeville
Port Townsend
Shelton
North Cascades National Park
Mount Vernon
Port Angeles Forks
Oroville
Bellingham
San Juan Islands
Leavenworth
Renton Kent Federal Way
Wilbur
Waterville
Spokane Davenport
Wenatchee Ephrata Ritzville
Montesano Olympia
Mount Rainier N.P.
Ellensburg Colfax
Chehalis
South Bend
Pullman Yakima Pomeroy
Long Beach Cathlamet
Kelso Longview
Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument
Richland
Mount Adams
Prosser
Pasco
Dayton
Asotin
Walla Kennewick Walla
Goldendale Vancouver
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Stevenson
Live
Think
Explore
18 Pike Taproom Ballard
34 Atelier Madrona Parfumeur
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Foundry Vineyards
20 Atticus Coffee & Gifts
38 Coast Salmon Partnership
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Baker Hot Springs
21 Kinglet
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The Lodge at St. Edward State Park
22 CLS Farms
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Walla Walla Bread Company
31 eqpd
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The Summit at Snoqualmie
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Until Next Time Snugly encrusted with evergreens and ripened blueberry shrubs, Doubtful Lake is set in the North Cascade range. photo by Kim Rose Adams
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2 BEST PLACES TO RETIRE 2023
Welcome to our Best Places to Retire 2023. There are many ways to parse data to divine the “best” places—too often prioritizing taxes so highly that results look like bland tax havens, in which retirees are tax advantaged but lifestyle poor. We know that culture, recreation and lifestyle are important to our audience, so we equally weighted factors such as golf, trails, restaurants and arts alongside property tax and nearby medical facilities. We narrowed the vast field initially by property taxes and beginning in communities that fall in the bottom half of property taxes in the state. We took into account the Medicare ratings of area medical facilities , then ranked the cities and towns within those areas for the other factors. Our audience engages with local arts, travel and trails, golf and goulash, a good library and limoncello mojitos, dipping into the city for live theater and new exhibits at SAM or PAM, but also enjoys the ease of access to trails, fishing and fairways right outside their doors. AT LEFT White Salmon and Hood River, on opposite sides of the Columbia River, offer endless hiking trails. (photo: Jason Hummel Photography/State of Washington Tourism)
A publication of Statehood Media www.1859oregonmagazine.com www.1889mag.com Cover: Grants Pass (photo: Visit Grants Pass)
2023 BEST PLACES TO RETIRE 3
OREGON
Grants Pass’s climate still makes an attractive pitch to retirees. (photos: Visit Grants Pass)
Grants Pass Hood River’s Fruit Loop is an asset for healthy living. (photo: Visit Hood River)
Hood River Along the banks of the famed Columbia River and in view of the Cascades, Hood River has the backdrop for a picturesque E TAKTE retirement. Also NO known as the Medical: playground for Providence windsurfers and Hood River kiteboarders, Average Hood River is effective home to some of property Oregon’s finest tax rate: dining, including 0.61% Celilo and Broder Øst, Scandinavian fine dining. Trails go along the river, into the Columbia Gorge Scenic Area and into the foothills of the Cascades as you meander into the agrarian Fruit Loop of apple and pear orchards along with wine grapes. The wines of the region have also taken off and are showing well and drinking better. Hood River’s small but ambitious Columbia Center for the Arts is the stage 4 BEST PLACES TO RETIRE 2023
for art exhibits as well as small stage productions. The surrounding agriculture and proximity to Nordic and downhill skiing is a bonus.
ABOVE, FROM TOP Recreation along the bustling riverfront of the Columbia. Broder Øst serves outstanding Scandinavian fare. (photos, from top: Katie Falkenberg/TravelOregon.com, Broder Øst)
Gold was an early attraction to Grants Pass, before the local chamber of commerce decided the climate in Grants Pass was the selling point. A banner claiming “It’s the Climate!” was hung over Sixth Street downtown, where it E TAKTE remains to this day. NO True this Southern Oregon town Medical: does indeed have a pleasant climate, Asante with mild winters and warm summers Three Rivers that make for a good growing season. Average The small town vibe is evident in its effective farm to table restaurants such as Ma property Mosa’s and The Haul and its cultural tax rate: institutions such as Rogue Theatre. 0.58% Golf plays out at Dutcher Creek Golf Course, a stunning par 70 links course. Recreation abounds from the banks of the Rogue River to the nearby Rogue-Siskiyou National Forest. Let’s not forget the wineries of the Rogue River Valley begin just west and south of Grants Pass.
ABOVE, FROM LEFT Grants Pass is along the famed Rogue River, where whitewater rafting is the attraction. The Rogue Theatre offers a cultural spin on the town. (photos, from left: Chad Case, Cate Battles)
Joseph & Enterprise charm in dining through Neighboring towns in the E TAKTE its beer. Terminal Gravity shadow of the Wallowa O N Brewery in Enterprise range in Eastern Oregon, this area caters to Medical: and Embers Brew House Wallowa in Joseph lead the pack. people who love trails, Memorial The cultural scene is led the arts and good craft beer. Named after the Average by Chief Joseph Rodeo effective Days and the renowned famed Nez Perce Chief property Fishtrap creative writing Joseph, one of this land’s tax rate: program. The beautiful most cunning warriors, 0.69% Alpine Meadows nineJoseph pays homage to its hole course has lovely mounearly heritage through bronze tain views all around. Let’s not sculptures cast from its own forget Wallowa Lake at the bronze foundry. These small, southern end of Joseph. Sailing, rural mountain valley towns boating, waterskiing, fishing, draw artists and craftspeople swimming and paddleboarding who crave solitude, nature and all coincide on this 3.5 mile creativity. Despite its small long ribbon lake. population, the area finds its
These small, rural mountain valley towns draw artists and craftspeople who crave solitude, nature and creativity.
Wallowa Lake is as beautiful as it is useful for residents. Boating, swimming and paddling are de rigueur here. (photo: Wallowa County Chamber of Commerce)
ABOVE, FROM TOP The little town of Joseph sits at the base of the Wallowas. Chief Joseph Days Rodeo is an annual event and cultural icon. (photos: Wallowa County Chamber of Commerce)
2023 BEST PLACES TO RETIRE 5
WASHINGTON
Winthrop its thorns, though, being Tiny little Winthrop way E TAKTE more than three hours up in the North Cascades NO from an airport of any size may seem like a stretch for many retirees, but Medical: (Spokane) and the medithat is also the point. The Confluence cal facilities—Three Rivers Health and Mid Valley—are each small town is surrounded by mountains while the Average an hour away. With places effective that are as beautiful and gurgling pristine Methow property interesting as Winthrop, River runs through town. tax rate: however, the extended Designed for retirees who 0.78% family and friends will thrive on hiking and Norfind their way to you. Also the dic ski trails, Winthrop also has Confluence Health facility in a coterie of good restaurants town is small but ambitious and with thriving happy hours. with affiliations with Seattle Copper Glance for cocktails Cancer Care and the University and Old Schoolhouse Brewery of Washington-Harborview for local craft beer and a riverside outdoor deck. This rose has Medical Center.
Tiny little Winthrop way up in the North Cascades may seem like a stretch for many retirees, but that is also the point. 6 BEST PLACES TO RETIRE 2023
FROM TOP Recreation abounds in tiny Winthrop, including a lifetime’s worth of Nordic trails. The Methow River quietly runs through town. (photos, from top: Jason Hummel Photography/State of Washington Tourism, Greg Balkin/State of Washington Tourism, Jason Hummel Photography/State of Washington Tourism)
Long Beach Along a gorgeous sweep of the Pacific Coast, Long Beach is a sleepy town in some respects but buzzing in others. Those who love the mild temperatures of coastal towns and seafood will be right at home in E TAKTE Long Beach. The maritime weather NO is neither scorching nor freezing but Medical: ideal for snuggling next to a fire with Ocean maritime bounty. A healthy menu of Beach fresh Dungeness crab and Willapa Hospital Bay oysters, as well as DIY clams and Medical canned for you at Sportsmen’s CanClinics nery. The Long Beach Tavern and The Average Depot Restaurant are great examples effective property of locals showcasing locally grown or tax rate: caught foods. Walks and bike rides along the wooded boardwalk are de 0.88% rigueur here, as are extended hikes along the Discovery Trail, an 8.5-mile path from Cape Disappointment south of Long Beach to Long Beach’s northern boundary. Peninsula Golf is a nine-hole, par 33 course on the edge of town, or drive a little farther north to Ocean Park and Surfside Golf Course, a parkland nine-hole course.
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP The boardwalk along the coast at Long Beach. Cape Disappointment for storm watching. Oysters and clams are on the menu in Long Beach. (photos: Mark Downey— Lucid Images Gallery/State of Washington Tourism)
Water play on the Columbia near White Salmon. (photo: Jason Hummel Photography/State of Washington Tourism)
White Salmon One hour east of Portland, Oregon, White Salmon is a diamond in the rough perched on a bluff above the Columbia River. E TAKTE White Salmon O N serves as the baMedical: secamp for many Providence outdoor pursuits Hood River on the edge of the Average Gifford Pinchot effective National Forest property and the water tax rate: play of the mighty 0.72% Columbia, not to mention the mountain and road biking opportunities. Though it still has a lot of growing up to do, it is headed in the right direction with iconic Everybody’s Brewing and the quaint Henni’s Kitchen & Bar. We note that
White Salmon is only four miles from Hood River on the Oregon side of the Columbia and another one of our Best Places to Retire. For medical facilities, head across the river to Providence. For golf, too, stay on the Oregon side for Indian Creek and Hood River golf courses.
Everybody’s Brewing is everybody’s favorite in White Salmon. (photo: Jason Hummel Photography/State of Washington Tourism)
On the edge of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, White Salmon has recreation nailed. (photo: Jason Hummel Photography/State of Washington Tourism)
2023 BEST PLACES TO RETIRE 7
H O M E T O E X T R AO R D I N A RY O P P O R T U N I T Y
Redefining the standards for senior living 62+ INDEPENDENT LIVING
10 stories | 127 apartment homes 1,095-2,310 SF floorplans
OPENING FA L L 2 0 2 3
• Highly desirable SW Portland location • Sophisticated design, iconic city views • Designed with modern Passive House® principles Live at the doorstep of Portland’s Arts & Culture District and minutes away from the best urban trail system in the nation with an active, progressive, and engaged community of foodies, hikers, musicians, art collectors and more.
Opening Fall 2023, Discover Parkview at Terwilliger Plaza T E RW IL L IGE RPL AZ A.CO M | 503 - 974- 087 9
2545 SW Terwilliger Blvd. Portland, Oregon, 97201
