Winter 2015
I spent my first winter in the Gorge some twenty years ago. Before that, I’d been here only in the summer, basking in the endless sun and wind, wondering how anyone could possibly not want to live in this incredible place. I think I got my answer that year somewhere in the depths of December or January, about the time I was learning a whole new language of winter from the one I’d grown up with in Colorado. Inversion. Ice storm. East wind. Freezing rain. Cascade concrete. That winter I saw someone skiing with a garbage bag over his body—head and arms poking out—to keep the rain off. (Thankfully, we now have Gore-Tex for that pesky little Northwest problem.)
But despite all that, I loved it. Something about living through all that crazy weather bonded us together, those of us who stuck it out year-round. And then there were the other parts of winter: waterfalls turned to stories-high icicles; white snow clinging to vertical dark basalt cliffs; steam hovering over the river like a giant cauldron of dry ice; a cloudless bluebird day after a snowstorm. It was a whole new kind of beautiful from the one I’d known the Gorge for in summer, and I came to love this season here as much as all the others.
In this issue, we celebrate winter in the Gorge. Aaron Sales and Richard Hallman take us into the world of snowkiting, beginning on page 36. Adam Lapierre explores some of the other wintry recreation opportunities that abound (page 62) and Trent Hightower shares his photo essay on the Mt. Hood Meadows Avalanche Dogs (page 56). For something warmer, see Don Campbell’s story on the Good Medicine Lounge, a new tea room in Hood River (page 14). We also take a tour through four outstanding Gorge museums, all of which make a great place to while away a cold winter day (page 44). Join us for a look at winter in the Gorge, then get out there and experience it for yourself. Just don’t forget your Gore-Tex.
Janet Cook, editor
