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Where to Find Fall Colors in Central Oregon

As summer slips away into fall, there is a brief window of time where you can witness beautiful fall colors in Central Oregon throughout the region. Here’s your guide to not missing out.

Fall has arrived. That means it is time to dig out the scarves, find our fleece-lined jackets and footwear, don our thickly-knitted wool caps, and set aside the weekly stipend to curb our cravings and sustain our thirst for pumpkin-spiced lattes, ales and various deserts. But let us not forget; this season, which many of us look forward to, is also a time of change for the flora of Central Oregon. That’s right, it is time to watch trees.

Before we paint you a clear road map of where to go to see some of the best fall sights in Central Oregon, let’s dig into the science behind it all.

So why do leaves change color and fall?

Fall in Central Oregon
Photo by Grant Tandy

Common deliberation may tell you that high winds and cold temperatures are the culprits behind autumn leaves falling, and honestly, you wouldn’t be completely wrong to say so. At first glance, this widely shared piece of wisdom seems simply plausible as a mechanism of force. As it turns out, weather doesn’t quite provide the catalyst for falling leaves, as much as it is the trees making a choice of efficiency; choosing to make a simple budget cut.

During the early weeks of fall, many trees and other plants are faced with a choice. The problem at hand is a weighing of costs and benefits of the leaves. As less and less sunlight is available, and the temperatures continue to drop, the tree must decide whether or not the leaves are worth keeping. Leaves provide much needed photosynthesis for trees. They absorb the rays of the sun, and turn it into usable energy. As the leaves slow their levels of photosynthesis, the green chlorophyll is broken down, leaving behind the varied coloration of leaves we seen this time of year.

As the leaves become less and less efficient to the tree, where the cost of energy output for keeping the leaves from freezing outweighs the benefit of energy from photosynthesis, the tree chooses to simply eject the leaves from its system. If you want to sound smart at your next gathering, you can explain this process to your friends as family as “abscission.” During abscission, the tree experiences a lack of chlorophyll, and then releases chemical hormones that signal the cutting of the leaves. It’s a tree making a decision to “trim the fat.” (Similar to me telling myself that the dozen or so of pumpkin ales I want to have this week might not be exactly financially sound, and maybe I should stick with the far more cost-efficient water.)

That’s all well and good, but let’s get to the important stuff—where do we go to get that perfect fall photo?

Fall in Central Oregon
Photo by Grant Tandy

For our many East Coast transplants here in Central Oregon, the term “leafing” in the fall is well known. For those of our residents who hail from the southern reaches of the West Coast, the term may be completely unknown. It’s simply a term given to activity of seeking out fall colors in changing leaves. But for all of who now call Central Oregon home, regardless of our origins, finding a bit of fall color in the trees and shrubs around us may present a particular challenge. After all, we are in the high desert, where comparatively few deciduous, color-changing plants are found native to our region.

Of course, you can’t go the season without making at least one annual visit to Drake Park, where oak trees stand in plenty, releasing their pre-winter wares. For the true feeling of fall in Bend, this park is a must-see. I, for one will, be taking my children, a rake, our dog, and an iPhone for our yearly photo session of live-action shots in the romping of piles upon piles of beautifully arrayed fallen leaves. But what if you are feeling a little more adventurous?

Fear not, my fellow leafers. You need not travel far to find fall colors in the wilds of Central Oregon. Simply drive west. A few dozen miles will do. Head over on Highway 20, not far from Sisters. There, on the cusp of where the east side of the Cascades meets the west, you will find a sight unknown to even to most well-rehearsed East Coast leafers, here the colors of autumn can be found hiding in the most unlikely of places. Groves of quaking aspen can be found woven between the color-challenged ponderosas pines. Peer even farther into the unique, as low-lying Vine Maple and Douglas Maples are sprinkled throughout jet-black obsidian flows and other rocky croppings, creating sights visible for a only matter of weeks before snow comes and blankets all that surrounds.

If you can, schedule yourself a flight over the Central Oregon Cascades during the transformative weeks of October. There you will see how truly unique our fall is. Yes, it is shorter than most of us prefer. If you have lived here long enough, it almost feels as if you are tossed directly from the heat of summer into the bone chilling cold of winter, and autumn only makes a short cameo along the way. But perhaps that is what makes the high desert fall so special. The season may not last a matter of months like it does in many other regions in the United States, but its seemingly fleeting arrival, to me anyway, makes it more worthwhile. So catch it while you can.

Job Envy: High Desert Museum Wildlife Curator Alysia Wolf

How a wildlife curator at the High Desert Museum in Bend spends her day.

High Desert Museum in Bend, Oregon Associate Curator of Wildlife Alysia Wolf
Alysia Wolf

Alysia Wolf is the Associate Curator of Wildlife at the High Desert Museum in Bend. She’s worked there for more than five years, spending her days taking care of the wildlife that live at the natural and living history museum. Here’s how she spends her days.

8:30 a.m.: After a stop by the wildlife kitchen I’m on my way, privileged to start my day with the best morning greeters around: Rogue, Brook and Pitch. The three North American river otters seem to anticipate my arrival or, more likely, the arrival of their breakfast, which includes fish and quail.

Alysia Wolf with an otter at the High Desert Museum in Bend, Oregon

9:00 a.m.: While the otters indulge in their fresh, healthy meal, I clean their habitat. It’s a lot of scrubbing and even more scooping. Some of the smelliest odors come from these adorable creatures, but keeping the otters’ area sanitary is important for their health. This won’t be the only time today that I put on my custodian hat! All the animals at the Museum benefit from clean, well-maintained habitats.

10:00 a.m.: Once the Autzen Otter Exhibit is sparkling (and the otter bellies are full), I’m off to work with the raptors. Like all the animals in the Museum’s care, the birds receive routine, daily health checks. The birds are weighed daily so we can prepare the right amount of food for them, and we conduct a visual inspection of their feet, beak, feathers and the rest of their body to make sure they’re looking and feeling their best.

Raptors of the Desert Sky at the High Desert Museum in Bend, Oregon

11:30 a.m.: One of our most popular experiences at the Museum is the summer Raptors of the Desert Sky outdoor flight show. Our female peregrine falcon is a crowd favorite as she speeds over and even between visitors to get to the lure—a leather object in the shape of a smaller bird that I swing during the flight show. Even after summer programming is done, the twice-daily Bird of Prey Encounter gives visitors a chance to learn about everything from the birds’ habitat and diet to their environmental challenges and adaptations. Sometimes wildlife staff uses the talk as a training session and visitors get the chance to see the birds fly, swooping right over their heads. Teaching visitors about the colorful and agile Aplomado falcon is a highlight of my day. He is an ambassador for his species and helps thousands of our visitors understand how they can help not only raptors, but all types of wildlife.

1:00 p.m.: I return to the Autzen Otter Exhibit once again, this time to give an educational talk to help visitors learn about the role otters play in our riverine ecosystems. Our youngest otter, Pitch, has been progressing every day in his training, so I decide to turn this Otter Encounter into a public training session. He’s becoming a pro at following his target stick (known as target training), a behavior that allows me to check his nails, paws, fur and more to ensure he stays fit and healthy. Head on over to the Museum and you might catch me and Pitch during a talk.

2:00 p.m.: All the animals at the Museum get a fresh, healthy diet prepared daily based on their nutritional requirements. We have herbivores who get fresh greens, veggies, seeds and nuts. Our carnivores love a variety of meat ranging from mice to pigeons. Clyde, the American badger, particularly loves rat, which of course is the smelliest food to chop up. Wildlife at the museum is fed throughout the day, so you might catch them enjoying a meal while you’re here.

Walking with Clyde the badger at the High Desert Museum in Bend, Oregon

3:00 p.m.: Between feedings, cleanings and talks is when I fit in training sessions. I head out with Clyde for a walk, which is a lot more than just exercise for the badger. A walk through the woods builds trust, reinforces learned behaviors and can help train new behaviors. The wildlife staff strives to make every interaction with the animals the most positive they can be, giving them a chance to indulge in their species-specific behaviors. Clyde and I make regular pit stops so he can sniff for squirrels under rocks or use his long claws to dig.

4:30 p.m.: Before heading home for the day, I do one last walk-through to make sure the animals have everything they need for the night ahead.

10 Best Vegan Dishes in Bend

From shiitake mushroom ramen bowls to quinoa taco salads, these vegan dishes are innovative and delicious.

Vegan falafel at Kebaba in Bend, Oregon
Vegan falafel at Kebaba. Photo by Alex Jordan

The days of vegans lurking in the shadows of organic health stores are in the past. Veganism has made its way into the mainstream and taken on a life of its own. New vegan restaurants have popped up around Bend and older restaurants have adapted to this trend with dishes much more creative than merely substituting tofu for meat. Whether you prefer shiitake mushroom ramen, collard green wraps or curry basil noodles, Bend has a little something for you.

Ramen 123: #2 Combo Ramen Bowl

Aside from the veggie Top Ramen, vegan ramen is not an easy find. Ramen is traditionally accompanied by pork, or some kind of meat, and an egg—that’s what makes the vegan ramen bowl at 123 Ramen such a treat. Located on 2nd Street in Midtown Bend, 123 Ramen opened almost two years ago and offers a diverse menu for ramen seekers in Bend. The vegan bowl features sake-braised shiitake mushrooms from Top Hat Mushrooms in the Willamette Valley and roasted cauliflower, grown a mere twelve miles away from Bend at Radical Roots Farm. The bowl comes with a house-made side of pickled veggies. Enjoy this steaming meal in the cozy, hip space.

Fix & Repeat: Chickpea and Millennial Toast

Artisanal toast has become a delicious staple of millennial culture, with restaurants popping up around the country devoted to the trend. The Millennial Toast at Fix & Repeat, one of Bend’s new plant-based restaurants, is one restaurant that has jumped on the bandwagon and offered its own take. Unlike many restaurants, Fix & Repeat, located in the Box Factory between downtown and the Old Mill District, does not skimp on the avocado. A hefty portion is topped with a simple pinch of garlic, olive oil, chili flake and sea salt. If you’re looking for a more filling meal, add the chickpea toast to your order. Styled as an open-faced deli sandwich, this toast boasts chickpeas, red peppers, celery, scallions, fennel, parsley, tarragon, dijon and soy-free veganaise all on a bed of arugula and sliced cucumber. Take your pick of bread from Sparrow Bakery’s miche bread or the Little Northern Bakehouse’s gluten-free bread.

Pure Joy Kitchen: Mexican Nacho Plate

Spice up your palate with the Mexican nacho plate at Pure Joy Kitchen. Opened last year, Pure Joy Kitchen has a menu of organic, plant-based foods serving vegan and gluten-free options. Unlike most nacho plates, drenched in pools of cheese, this plate features all vegan ingredients, but is delicious all the same. Sunflower refried “beans,” a meat substitute made from carrots, sun dried tomatoes and coconut sour “cream” sit on a bed of romaine lettuce and organic blue corn chips, topped with Mexican seasoning, guacamole and salsa. After this plate of nachos, you won’t be missing the cheese.

Salud Raw Foods: Island Wrap

Salud Raw Foods has some of the freshest and healthiest options in Bend. You may have a hard time choosing what to order at this raw, plant-based cafe and juice bar. The good news is, no matter what you order, you really can’t go wrong. Try out the island wrap, one of several collard greens wraps, consisting of bell peppers, carrots, red cabbage, mango, mint and cilantro, drizzled over with house-made ginger-cashew pesto and almond-pina drizzle. This surprising flavor combination makes for a fresh, crisp taste and is amazingly hearty. Served with a side of sweet potato chips, this dish is absolutely delectable.

Wild Rose Northern Thai Eats: Curry Basil Noodles

Wild Rose is one of the most popular restaurants in town, and for good reason. Don’t expect to find any pad thai or peanut sauce here; these are strictly Northern Thai meals, all derived from the owner’s family recipes. A popular menu item, the curry basil noodles are easily made vegan upon request. The dish is comprised of delicious wide rice noodles stir fried in a yellow curry seasoning with basil, tomato, onion, carrots, mushrooms and a choice of tofu or extra vegetables. Either choose to keep it mild or amp up the spice level and let this dish’s authentic flavor and the restaurant’s eclectic decorations transport you to the streets of Chiang Mai.

Kebaba: Falafel Sandwich

It is always a gamble ordering falafel. In the hands of a skilled cook, falafel is a revolutionary take on the garbanzo bean, deliciously breaded and crisp packed with flavor. Falafel done wrong, however, is near inedible; it can taste like a crunchy ball of sand that falls apart at the mere touch that no amount of tahini can resurrect. Needless to say, Kebaba, one of the few restaurants that brings traditional Middle Eastern cuisine to Central Oregon, offers a falafel sandwich cooked just right, not too dry or salty, two characteristics that falafel often falls victim to. It is rolled in homemade pita accompanied by a lathering of tahini sauce, lettuce, tomato, cucumber and pickled onion. The sandwich comes with your choice of zataar fries, soup, taboule or Israeli couscous salad.

Bethlyn’s Global Fusion: Thai Coconut Curry Noodle Bowl

A true melting pot for dishes from all different cultures, Bethlyn’s Global Fusion caters to both carnivores and omnivores alike. It is the kind of place a vegan can take their meat-eating family and not hear any complaints. A popular item on the menu, the Thai coconut curry noodle bowl is just one pick out of a handful of vegan options. The dish consists of rice noodles and seasonal vegetables, oftentimes broccoli, carrots and potatoes, doused in creamy coconut curry sauce. An assortment of bean sprouts, crushed peanuts and cilantro come sprinkled on top. With these fresh farm-to-table ingredients, Global Fusion is bound to please the entire family.

Plantd: Buddha Bowl

Plantd is the newest gluten-free, vegan and vegetarian cafe and marketplace in Bend, rooted in the former location of Fearless Bakery on Division Street. Opened by two nutritionists, Plantd offers clean and organic order in and grab-n-go meals. All ingredients are sourced from small and sustainable farms. The Buddha bowl incorporates a wealth of vibrantly-colored vegetables and is high in fiber, nutrient-dense and rich with a variety of minerals and vitamins. The dish has an abundance of seasonal veggies, such as roasted yams, beets and summer squash, housemade chickpeas, tricolor quinoa and Oregon blueberries, topped with sunflower seeds, micro sprouts, lemon parsley and tahini sauce.

Ma’ama Jama’s: Quinoa Taco Salad

Rooted in one of Bend’s new food truck pods the Podski, Ma’ama Jama’s is a plant-based smoothie and snack bar. The truck, now at its first permanent location, offers gluten, corn and soy-free options, as well as paleo-friendly dishes. The quinoa taco salad is a filling option for vegan and gluten-free diners. It includes seasoned quinoa, carrots, celery, onions, mushrooms, fresh greens, radish, scallions, raw carrot noodles and avocado topped with cilantro, siete grain-free chips and sunflower poblano sauce. Also try one of Ma’ama Jama’s hand-pressed coconut mylk smoothies.

CHOW: Warm Multigrain Salad

Breakfast is perhaps the most difficult meal of the day to eat vegan, with overpriced oatmeal and granola oftentimes being the only options. Nevertheless, CHOW, a popular breakfast destination, caters to vegan and vegetarians and has carefully crafted a menu that appeals to a wide variety of dietary needs. The warm multigrain salad, listed on the lunch menu, makes for a hearty vegan breakfast. It comes with organic farro, quinoa, spinach, black beans, tamari, lemon and garlic, but adding on roasted sweet potatoes and avocado will be well worth your while. Not all of the vegan options are listed on the menu, so make sure to check in with your server to hear all of the options.

Job Envy: Wanderlust Tour Guide Erika Nuetzel

Erika Nuetzel is a naturalist guide for Wanderlust Tours in Bend. Here’s how she spends her days at work.

Daytime Canoeing with Wanderlust Tours in Bend, Oregon

Erika Nuetzel gets paid to be outside. She’s lived in Bend for the last year and a half and works as a naturalist guide for Wanderlust Tours. “Somehow I’ve convinced my boss to pay me to do the things I’d like to be doing in my own time,” said Nuetzel. Here’s how she spends a normal working day in Bend.

6:00 a.m.: I wake up, and take my dog, Zephyr, for a walk. After heating up some veggie hash for breakfast, I consider my options for a morning activity. Bend has so many amazing things to do, it’s always easy to squeeze something in before work!

Erika Nuetzel climbing at Smith Rock
Erika and her dog climbing at Smith Rock.

Noon: After spending the morning running Big Eddy laps, hiking, or climbing out at Smith Rock, I head into work around noon to prep for my upcoming afternoon and night trips. As naturalist guides, our schedules vary from day to day. My afternoon at work could involve some hiking around Newberry National Volcanic Monument, or spelunking through an 80,000 year old lava tube cave. Today, I’ll be running an afternoon kayak trip and a moonlight canoe tour. Now that I know my schedule, I load up the van and the kayak trailer with the gear I need, and head over to pick the guests up at the Wanderlust Tours office.

Kayaks at Wanderlust Tours in Bend, Oregon
Erika cleaning kayaks at Wanderlust Tours.

1:30 p.m. I meet my group of ten adventurous guests and we embark on the journey to Paulina Lake. A forty-minute drive through the Deschutes National Forest provides the perfect opportunity to discuss the natural and cultural history of this part of the world. We pass through the second-growth Ponderosa pine forest in the high desert and climb higher into the old-growth subalpine ecosystem, all the while talking about the 100-plus species of animals, plants, and trees that live here, and how people have moved throughout the land over the last 15,000 years.

Daytime Canoeing with Wanderlust Tours in Bend, Oregon

2:20 p.m. Once we arrive to the boat ramp, we set up the kayaks and paddles before launching off. Afternoons at Paulina are the best time for kayak trips. We cross the lake to take a dip into the hot springs that line the north shore, then we jump in the clear waters of the lake. After our swim, we pause a while on a beach overlooking the Big Obsidian Flow and Paulina Peak. From this vantage point, you can really tell we’re kayaking in a collapsed volcanic caldera! Osprey fly high overhead and take turns plunging into the lake as they dive for an afternoon snack in front of our boats.

5:30 p.m. The afternoon passes much too quickly. Before long the tour is over and we’re heading back to the Wanderlust Tours office. After parting ways with my afternoon guests, it’s time for me to go to the Wanderlust Tours warehouse to get ready for the night trip. Since the gloomy smoke from far-off wildfires has finally cleared, I’ve decided I’ll take my group up Cascade Lakes Highway to Hosmer Lake to paddle beneath the stars. I prepare the canoes for the night trip at our shop by loading them onto the trailer, and loading the van with life jackets and headlamps.

Evening canoe trip with Wanderlust Tours in Bend, Oregon

7:45 p.m. We arrive at the boat ramp as the sun sets behind us, illuminating South Sister, Broken Top and Mount Bachelor with the glorious alpenglow of the late summer evenings. Once I’ve explained the mechanics of canoeing to the guests, we set off on the lake. We’re just about the only boats on the water. At this time of day, most people have gone home, and the nocturnal animals come out in their place. A bald eagle is perched on the third story of a subalpine fir, so we pause our paddling to observe him. Soon enough he makes a move, diving into the lake to pluck an Atlantic salmon out for dinner. We leave him to enjoy his bounty in peace and continue paddling as the sky darkens.

9:00 p.m. Bats and nighthawks swirl around our boats as we continue down the main channel towards the north end of the lake. We pass a beaver swimming stealthily across the lake towards her lodge in the tule reeds. As the sky darkens, Venus, Jupiter and Mars appear on the horizon, and the Summer Triangle is the first asterism to emerge. Pretty soon, the entire night sky is speckled with stars that make up various constellations, satellites flying in outer space, and the Milky Way shines brightly through the Summer Triangle.

Night sky in the Deschutes National Forest in Bend, Oregon on a canoe trip with Wanderlust Tours

9:45 p.m. At this point, we group all the canoes together, and I pass out delicious Sparrow Bakery desserts and homemade hot cocoa to all guests, and a Deschutes Brewery beer to those over 21. I share the Greek myths behind the constellations above us as guests enjoy their goodies, and we discuss nighttime ecology of the area. Again, nature provides an incredible backdrop to these stories and although I wish we could sit among the stars for hours, we eventually make it back to Bend.

11:00 p.m. I say farewell to my guests and drive the Wanderlust Tours van back to the warehouse. While enjoying my shift beer, I listen to music and clean out the van and canoes. Then, I head home to play with Zephy, eat some food, and pass out… ready to do it all again tomorrow!

Take A Day Trip to These Hot Springs Near Bend

Revitalize your soul in these mineral-rich pools. With the weather cooling off but winter sports not yet in full swing, there is no better way to embrace the changing of the seasons than soaking in hot springs. Opt to hike to rock-lined pools along rivers and lakes or spoil yourself with resort-style bathhouses that are scattered through Oregon. Treat your sore muscles and revitalize your soul in these mineral-rich pools all within a day-trip from Bend.

Paulina Hot Springs

Located off a spur on the Paulina Lake Loop Trail, the springs are primitive at best. If the lake shore waters are high, the pools may be washed out. However, when the waters are just right, hot springs may be dug out of coarse beach sand and reinforced with found wood and stones. Because these pools are not commercial, visitors often bring a shovel, such as a collapsible avalanche shovel, to re-dig one of the several pools. Although the pools might be crude, the view is magnificent. Paulina Peak towers at nearly 8,000 feet tall. Its center crater is infilled with Paulina Lake’s waters that sweep across the horizon line and counterpoint sunsets that light up the sky like pink cotton candy. 

For lodging, or to rent a canoe for paddling across the lake to the edge of the hot springs, stop in at Paulina Lodge. Open in the high season, May through September, the lodge offers everything from stays in its cabins and intimate A-frames to lunch and dinner dining. Look forward to sampling the chef’s famous prime rib, homemade cobblers and handcrafted cocktails. Reservations are required. See paulinalakelodge.com.

Newberry National Volcanic Monument, operated by Deschutes National Forest, gained its monument status in 1990 as a result of the area’s outstanding volcanic features. Obsidian flows, alpine lakes, fissures, cavernous lava tubes, a lava cast forest, and a massive caldera (or collapsed volcano) are all natural wonders to experience en route to Paulina Lake Hot Springs.

Driving time from Bend: 1 hour
Open: May to September

East Lake

If you think Paulina Lake’s hot springs are primitive, you have not seen the springs at East Lake, Paulina’s neighbor in the Newberry Crater. These springs are great for those tired of the Paulina Lake crowds. There are trade-offs—unlike those at Paulina, these springs smell heavily of sulfur and can reach temperatures up to 120 degrees. They can be accessed by a short quarter-mile trail from the hot springs boat ramp, walking until reaching bubbling water. On a typical snow year, these springs usually are submerged in the lake until late July, so are best-visited in the late summer or fall.

Driving time from Bend: 1 hour
Open: May to September, but best starting in late summer when water level is low

Bigelow/Deer Creek

The quiet neighbor of Belknap Hot Springs, Deer Creek, also known as Bigelow Hot Springs, is one small pool tucked on the banks of the McKenzie River in the Willamette National Forest. This peaceful pool is sectioned off from the river by rocks, with hot spring water flowing from the pool’s bottom. Its close proximity to the river cools it off too much in the winter, but makes it the perfect soaking temperature in the summer and fall. It can only handle a few guests at a time, so consider going on a weekday or prepare for a possible wait. Even with its close proximity to the highway, clothing is optional in typical Oregon hot springs fashion.

Driving time from Bend: 1 hour 20 minutes
Parking and fees: Free to soak, Turn onto Deer Creek Road, cross a bridge over the McKenzie River to park
Open: Year-round, but can be too cold in winter months

Crystal Crane

Hidden in a high-desert oasis twenty-five miles east of Burns lies this magical hot springs resort. A longtime hub for dirty travelers, Crystal Crane hot springs consists of a 101-degree mineral hot springs pond and several private soaking tubs, rentable by the hour. Plan a visit on a clear night and stargaze while you soak. With its close proximity to Steens Mountain, the Ochocos and the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, pitch a tent nearby or choose one of the resort’s unique overnight options, including a teepee with a private hot tub.

Driving time from Bend: 2 hours and 30 minutes
Open: Year-round, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Summer Lake

Southeast of Bend in the Oregon Outback amidst a vast high desert landscape awaits this 145-acre hot spring resort, Summer Lake. On your drive out, watch for birds of prey, antelope, deer and other wildlife. Stop at quirky and charming homegrown Oregon outposts to re-supply beverages, firewood and gasoline. If you have time, take a small detour to Fort Rock to see the remnants of a tuff ring, a volcano that erupted under a shallow sea. Fort Rock is also home to an ancient reed sandal mass storage cache, which has helped anthropologists pinpoint a date indicating the earliest known people in the region. On the outskirts of the municipality, look for a smattering of walk-through historic ghost town buildings.

When you arrive at Summer Lake, enjoy the four developed outdoor hot pools with 360-degree views of the desert, forest, sky and mountain peaks, as well as the largest pool, located inside a bathhouse. These springs have been flowing for thousands of years, traveling to the surface through a natural fault to almost a mile underground, and were unknown until hundreds of feet of lake water receded. Established in 1988, the resort features a bathhouse and outdoor hot springs-fed rock pools, all between 106 and 118 degrees. Either travel down for the day or choose from a variety of accommodations, ranging with low-price tent campsites to geothermally-heated cabins or guesthouses. Summer Lake is also known for hosting pop-up music festivals and retreats of all kinds. 

To find RV or van-specific parking, hookups and amenities, Ana Reservoir Park and Lonepine RV Park are choice picks. After a detoxifying dip in the hot springs for registered guests of the lodge, travel 20 minutes north to the town of Summer Lake and visit The Flyway at The Lodge at Summer Lake for casual American food. See summerlakehotsprings.com.

Driving time from Bend: 2 hours
Open: Year-round, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. for day use, open 24 hours for overnight guests

McCredie Hot Springs

McCredie Hot Springs, once a historic resort, consists of several undeveloped pools on either side of Salt Creek off of Highway 58 near Oakridge. These springs are great for large and small groups alike, with the largest “party” pool being 30 feet wide and the smallest being only a yard in diameter. The large pool is a short walk from the main parking area between milepost 45 and 46 on Highway 58. If looking to reach the smaller, more secluded pools and avoid crossing the two-foot-deep creek, turn down Shady Gap Road, turn right at both splits and park at the first wide spot. From here, a mile-long hike through ferns, moss and wildflowers leads down to the pools. Since these pools are relatively isolated, prepare to be in the midst of naked hippies or become one yourself.

Driving time from Bend: 1 hour 30 minutes
Distance: If accessing the main pool, just a short walk down to the river from the main parking area. If visiting southside pools, prepare to hike a 0.9 mile out and back trail down to the springs.
Parking and fees: Free to soak, park between milepost 45 and 46 on Highway 58 next to McCredie Station Road near Blue Pool Campground for main pool. For southside pools, turn down Shady Gap Road, turn right at both splits and park at the first wide spot.
Open: Year-round

Bagby Hot Springs

Bagby Hot Springs is nestled deep within the Mount Hood National Forest on the Collawash River. An easy 1.7-mile hike through lush forest leads to the bathhouse, consisting of cedar wood tubs in both private and community settings. The spring water is 138 degrees Fahrenheit but can be cooled off with water from the river below. Unlike most Oregon hot springs, nudity is not allowed (but that has never stopped Oregonians before). Because of its close proximity to both Portland and Salem, these hot springs are highly frequented and often mistreated, so make sure to pack out your litter and be respectful of your surroundings.

Driving time from Bend: 3 hours
Distance: 3.4 miles roundtrip from Bagby Trailhead
Open: Year-round, but road not maintained in winter months


Read more about Hot Spring in our area here.

 

‘The House Is Built Like a Swiss Army Knife’

Modern and antique, private and public, inside and outside, sleek and organic. A Bend couple got it all in a home design that relied on a little bit of clever artistry.

Modern home design and style in Bend, Oregon

Nancy Burfiend and Joey Reiter had been visiting friends in Central Oregon for twenty years before they decided to buy a lot in western Bend that boasted an unobstructed view of the Cascades and ready access to mountain biking trails.

Based in Seattle, the couple interviewed several architects before selecting DeForest Architects, also of Seattle, to design their two bedroom, two-and-a-half bath home. Burfiend, owner of NB Design Group, had worked with principal John DeForest on other projects, and Reiter, whose professional experience was that of a financial consultant rather than as a designer, readily responded to the firm’s clear presentation and communicative approach to working with clients and contractors.

Modern home design and style in Bend, Oregon

Before deciding the practical specifics of the layout, DeForest assigned the couple “homework” so he could better understand the spaces in which they felt most comfortable, and then used block models to show them how rooms could flow into each other and integrate the criteria that had been set forth.

The team then brought on Young Construction in Bend as the general contractor to build the 2,600-square-foot home. The company had already built two nearby homes and was well acquainted with the requirements of the neighborhood and the demands of Bend’s climate.

Modern home design and style in Bend, Oregon

“While there are more and more tools that break down the distance between us and a site, to have Doug [Young], who already had established relationships with city agencies and subcontractors, and who could also give us experienced information on Bend’s climate, the neighborhood and appropriate construction materials, was invaluable,” DeForest said.

The finished modern home is stained in two charcoal tones reminiscent of aged wood so that it sits “lightly on the land,” explained Burfiend, who handled the interior design elements of the project. The integration of inside and out starts at the approach to the home, where guests walk a route to the front door that abuts an exposed interior courtyard. Inside the house, the use of the exterior colors continues where the palette is based on gray, white and natural tones with the occasional burst of chartreuse green.

Modern home design and style in Bend, Oregon

To accommodate the need for public and private areas and to ensure adequate storage and space for such necessities of living as books, records and cherished found objects, DeForest used hiding panels and doors to configure rooms and camouflage shelving. Views that stretch across public rooms and down hallways to reinforce the expansiveness of the space can also be shortened by a series of sliding doors used singly or in multiples to provide privacy for the homeowners and guests. The wall between the living area and master bedroom, for example, can show or hide a fireplace, television, storage and bedroom spaces behind its gliding panels. “The house,” explained DeForest, “is built like a Swiss Army Knife.”

Burfiend acknowledged that the toughest part of the project might have been acting as both designer and client. So she relied upon her staff to remind her of the calm simplicity that the couple was striving for. As for Reiter who found the design and building process fascinating, “It amazes me that I get to wake up on this property every morning,” she said. “It’s just a fabulous home.”

Teafly Talks to Sisters Folk Festival’s Brad Tisdel

Brad Tisdel talked with Teafly about the importance of discovering music at a young age and how Sisters has cultivated its arts community.

Local voice Brad Tisdel CEO of Sister's Folk Festival

Brad Tisdel grew up outside of Portland, lived around the West, and moved to Sisters in the mid-90s after entering the Sisters Folk Festival songwriting competition. In 2000 he started the Americana Project, a music program in Sisters’ school district. He’s currently the creative director of the Sisters Folk Festival and books the talent that brings people from all over the country to the small town for the annual event.

On Discovering Music

I was a choir kid. I always sang and had a real passion for singing. In college, it seemed like everybody could play a little bit of guitar, and so I thought, “How hard can that be?” When I got to write songs and play guitar, I realized that was what I wanted to do. After doing it for about ten years, though, I realized that not only is it a hard road, but also I wasn’t sure how committed I was for my whole life. I wanted to be involved in the folk music community, but not necessarily just as a musician. In 1995, I was living in Seattle and I entered the Sisters Folk Festival songwriting competition. I was a finalist two years in a row for that. Back then, the festival was still small. I lost that year to Dave Carter, who is a fantastic songwriter.

On Bringing Music to Schools

In 2000, the Folk Festival asked me to start the Americana Project, a collaboration between the Sisters Folk Festival and the Sisters School District. A lot of big picture stuff is taught through the lens of art and music education. I’m really proud of the Americana Luthier program as well. When we talk about carrying on age old tradition, I think the fact that young people have the opportunity to build ukuleles and guitars in their high school is a shining example of the uniqueness of the opportunity to grow up here. Other school districts have cut their music and arts because they could not figure out how to fund them. Here, we made it a focal point.

On The Next Generation

From the beginning, for me as a songwriter, it was always important that kids learn how to write and perform original music. As a compliment to that, they also need to know who they are, what their sense of place is, who they are becoming and how that connects with their community. Having the language, as an artist and a poet, of composition, line, space, form, harmony, and melody in visual art and music is immensely valuable, even if students do not become artists themselves. We want young people to understand it is important to have that value in their life.

On the Arts in Sisters

The town has embraced Sisters as an arts community for a long time now, but it wasn’t always valued. I think Kathy Deggendorfer and others have done amazing things in changing that. I’ve seen the strength of the galleries grow, and the recognition of Sisters as an arts town is growing. Between the Americana Project, Sisters Arts Association, Hood River Arts, the Quilt Show and even the Rodeo, there is a cultural identity around these events that has always been a part of Sisters.

On Experiencing the Moments

The Sisters Folk Festival is overlooked as an event for world class music. Don’t come for a day. You can’t capture all of what is going on in just one night. It is interesting to find something you didn’t expect that you love. It’s really a place where you come for one artist but you discover three others. For me, watching the festival unfold and connecting with community is always super special. One of my favorite things is when there are musical moments that could only happen at that venue on that night because of a number of different things, intentional or not. You can see the artists eating dinner together in the restaurants through the weekend. There is always a late night jam on Saturday night at Angeline’s and those have incredible moments. I look around and what I see on people’s faces is joy, beauty, excitement and connection. That’s what it’s really about.

Daniel Laudenslager’s Carpentry Elevates Plywood

Beginning with skills passed on from his grandfather, Bend furniture maker Daniel Laudenslager of dl_dzine keeps mid-century style alive.

dl-dzine carpentry in Bend, Oregon

When one thinks of plywood, beauty isn’t usually the first thing that comes to mind. But the work of Bend-based furniture designer Daniel Laudenslager can turn that concept upside down.

Laudenslager’s tables and cabinetry often include a layered edge grain plywood, cut at an angle and varnished to a high shine. The result reveals the plywood’s contrasting layers of brown, dark brown and white wood, eliciting texture, color and style on the edges of the finished piece. The occasional imperfection that might emerge from the plywood’s layers only makes the furniture even more interesting.

Plywood isn’t Laudenslager’s only medium, nor are tables and cabinets his only product. His design interests could be defined partly by their diversity. Most of his work is custom furniture, mainly privately commissioned, under the umbrella of his company dl_dzine. Dining tables, credenzas, armoires and cabinetry are his specialties, but he also created a garden planter, a tool to treat plantar fasciitis, fireplace facades and more. Throughout, his work emanates a classic, sleek, high-style aesthetic.

“I consider my style to be somewhat contemporary and very organic,” he said.

dl-dzine carpentry in Bend, Oregon
A signature Daniel Laudenslager piece sits in Legum Design in Bend.

Laudenslager calls his works “functional art,” and loves the process of dreaming up a design, figuring out how to make it work and creating an object that will be appreciated for its beauty and used for its function.

“I love gathering people’s ideas and forming them into a piece they will love for years after.”

Originally from Pennsylvania, Laudenslager, 43, earned a degree in architecture from Kent State University in Ohio and moved with his family to Bend sixteen years ago. His interest in functional design germinated much earlier, when he was a young child.

“My grandfather built furniture and did upholstery. He made work benches for me when I was small, first offering me plastic tools to work with alongside him. Eventually, he made me three generations of work benches, some I still use today. He also passed down tooling that I also still use today.”

That legacy contributes to the traditional style in his work.

“I use a lot of wood, glass and steel,” he explained. “I incorporate a lot of traditional methods, such as joinery as opposed to fasteners.”

A signature Laudenslager piece resides at Legum Design in Bend. The large boardroom table sits on a blade steel base, fabricated through his partnership with Bend company Modern Fab.

dl-dzine carpentry in Bend, Oregon

“It’s very heavy steel designed to feel light,” he said.

The top is layered edge grain plywood, inset with a specific design element.

“I’m a big ocean person,” Laudenslager said. “Surfing is my passion. Down the center of this table runs a spine, to replicate surfboard style.”

A recent table is designed with the local brewpub scene in mind. The project’s inspiration came by way of Laudenslager’s 12-year-old daughter, who studied traditional Japanese origami folding. Laudenslager watched her at work and decided to “fold” a table base.

“The rectangular steel base is a replication of the angles and structures you can get with paper folding,” he said. The top is solid white oak inlaid with a functional steel channel. “The channel is designed to accept inserts, like a lazy Susan or a beer tasting tray.”

Laudenslager’s cabinetry was on display at the Tour of Homes in July. Scandinavian high-gloss laminate in white oak was paired with a quartz countertop in a clean modern style, all Laudenslager’s design and produced by Bladt Woodworking of Bend.

“I love to collaborate with other artists,” he said. “Seeing the puzzle pieces come together and bringing a project to fruition is very satisfying.”

Meet the Country’s Toughest Endurance Mountain Biker

Bend’s Alice Drobna has rewritten the ultra-endurance record book—and she’s not done yet.

Endurance mountain biker Alice Drobna athlete in Bend, Oregon
Photo by Linda Guerrette Photography

Alice Drobna, an understated 43-year-old graphic designer for Hydro Flask, is arguably the nation’s toughest long-distance mountain biker. She is certainly the most dedicated. After completing five 100-mile mountain bike races in 2013, she still wanted more. As in, more miles, more solitude and more challenge. Drobna is the first—and still only—woman to complete the trifecta of ultra-endurance mountain biking, known as the Triple Crown Challenge of bikepacking. She’s also the only mountain biker, man or woman, to do so on a singlespeed.

To claim this rare distinction, riders must finish all three of the sport’s classic dirt events, the Arizona Trail, Tour Divide and Colorado Trail, in the same season. This is a Herculean challenge in terms of total time in the saddle as well as the short recovery time between races.

The 750-mile Arizona Trail takes place in April; the Tour Divide, which spans 2,745 miles from Alberta to New Mexico, begins in June. Approximately three weeks after finishing the Tour Divide, would-be Challenge finishers must complete an arduous 500-mile journey gaining 70,000 feet through the Rockies from Durango to Denver.

Drobna’s record-setting time set in 2015 still stands at thirty-six days, six hours and fifty-six minutes, in which she rode 4,080 miles and logged 380,000 feet of climbing. (That’s about 10,500 feet of elevation gain per day, or riding from Bend to Mount Bachelor three-and-a-half times). She joined nine men on the list of cyclists who have accomplished this brutal feat.

Born in what was then Czechoslovakia, Drobna came to the United States in the early 1990s to attend college. She stayed, gained citizenship and bounced around the country before landing in Park City, Utah. There she met Ross Windsor, her longtime boyfriend (and three-time U.S. trials bike champion) who in 2008 introduced her to mountain biking on a single-geared bike.

“Riding singlespeed just made perfect sense to me,” she said. “It was quiet and light, and I got strong really quick.”

Her mountain bike racing career began with cross-country and then marathon distances, and she won a national title in 2011. She followed that up by completing five 100-mile mountain bike races in 2013. Still, Drobna wanted a steeper challenge.

Endurance mountain biker Alice Drobna athlete in Bend, Oregon
Drobna a few hundred feet below the South Rim in Grand Canyon on the Arizona Trail Race in 2018.

“I found that I felt more at peace going slower and farther,” she reflected. “What I really like is being all by myself. For some reason, I was still searching for something longer. That’s when I started researching the Tour Divide. I thought, ‘If I can ride 100 miles, why not try to ride 100 miles every day?’”

Competitive bikepackers race alone and unsupported. They carry a GPS device to navigate the route, and to keep all competitors honest, along with their own food, water, tools and gear for camping. It’s this self-reliance and solitude that attracts Drobna to these extreme events. That, and the simplicity of it.

“You can go days without seeing any people,” she explained. “It’s like you almost live a different life. You leave everything you do at home behind—responsibilities, relationships, work. It’s just you and the trail and the bike. You’re in the moment all the time.”

In bikepacking events, Drobna’s custom-built titanium singlespeed—carrying food, water and gear—weighs in at forty pounds. She typically pedals sixteen to seventeen hours each day, including a few hours in the dark. Depending on the trail, she might cover 170 miles during that time. If the route is particularly steep or technical, or requires more hiking, she might log only eighty—all the while burning 10,000 to 12,000 calories.

Since her record-setting season in 2015, Drobna continues to enter long-distance bikepacking events but with less frequency. Despite vowing not to, she’s been back to the Arizona Trail twice, with the aim of besting her 2015 record time. This past April, she won the female division again, but failed to beat her record-setting time.

Of all the racing she’s done, Drobna describes the Arizona Trail ride, which stretches from the Arizona-Mexico border to the Utah state line, as the “most brutal.” Part of the difficulty is the twenty-four-mile portage across the Grand Canyon, which requires riders to disassemble their bike, affix it to a pack, and trek down and then back up the canyon wall.

That, and the weather. “There’s no shade, and there’s constant sun beating down on you,” she recounted of the 2018 race. “I was having a hard time staying hydrated. I was drinking seven liters a day [more than three-and-a-half gallons], and it wasn’t enough. When I climbed out of the heat into Flagstaff, the coldest night was fifteen degrees with fifty mile per hour winds. I was worried about being hypothermic. It was incredibly brutal conditions, from one extreme to the next.”

Despite this, Drobna now holds the two fastest finish times among women.

“One of the things that draws me to [ultra-endurance cycling] is it’s never the same,” she explained. “One time I ran into three bears in two days, I almost hit a moose during a night ride, almost kicked a rattlesnake with my pedal. You just never know what’s going to happen, and that’s exciting to me.”

For the remainder of this year, Drobna is taking a break from racing, but hasn’t written off resuming her ultra-endurance career. “It’s crazy hard,” she said, which seems like a gross understatement. And then added: “But you can’t get mad when you’re out there, because you’re in the most beautiful place.”

Where the Cows Eat Craft Beer

Central Oregon’s Rastovich Farm helped to pioneer a profitable relationship with local breweries.

Cattle racnch Rastovich Family Farm in Bend, Oregon

Rob Rastovich looked proudly over his east Bend farm, soaking it in before another busy day with his cattle. His morning often starts before sun up and ends well after the sun has set. It’s a hardworking lifestyle that he has known well for much of his fifty-plus years.

The Rastovich Family Farm traces its roots back to 1919 with his grandparents, who homesteaded this hardscrabble land. This makes the property one of the oldest farms in Central Oregon still being farmed by its original homesteading family.

For his part, Rastovich has helped transform this nearly century-old farm, bringing it into the 21st century by implementing new technologies and using a sustainable food source for the cattle that is plentiful in beer-loving Bend. “Let the cows eat craft beer,” joked Rastovich, who collects the spent grains, known as mash, from local breweries. “That’s why we call it barley beef, or beer beef.”

The cows eat mash two times a day, five days a week, plus some hay and grass grazing. Rastovich and his ranch hands won’t divulge their feeding ratio “recipe” of mash to hay to grass, though Rastovich said, economically speaking, the farm spends 30 to 40 percent less on hay because of the mash.

It’s a win-win situation for both the ranchers and the breweries. An added synergy, Rastovich collects the spent water from the local breweries (as it can’t legally be put back into the water system without extensive and costly treatment) and uses it to irrigate his fields.

“Because the spent brewery water has a high content of nitrogen in it, we don’t have to use much fertilizer, either,” explained Rastovich. “We get these byproducts from seven local breweries free of charge, but I had to hire a full-time employee to pick up the mash.”

Rob Rastovich of Rastovich Family Farm in Bend, Oregon
Rob Rastovich

Rastovich isn’t the only ranch in Oregon working with breweries on a mash-to-meat program, local Borlen Beef and Pioneer Farms are also working with brewers. But it is one of the largest, with 200 acres—and as many head of Angus-Hereford cattle spread among his farm, his cousins’ and his uncle’s farms. All the cows are well fed, and since they’re eating beer mash, Rastovich jokes they’re also happy cows, very happy. Rastovich walked over to the corral where some cows were eating mash and pointed to the big steers that were heading to the butcher the following week.

“Once the cows are fattened up, they’re butchered and brought back and sold as hamburger, steaks, pot roast and prime rib to Sunriver, Deschutes Brewery, Silver Moon and many of the other brewery restaurants that gave us the mash in the first place,” said Rastovich, who also sells his beef direct to consumer. “It’s the ultimate recycling program. Support your local farmers and drink beer.”

He said that his beef “has a different and special taste” when compared to corn or grass-fed beef. The churn is also much faster than with grass-fed beef. Rastovich butchers at least three cows every week. Each harvest produces 1,200 to 1,400 pounds of ground beef, along with another 800-900 pounds of other cuts, known as locker beef. The efficiency isn’t an accident.

As his father was aging, Rastovich, who holds a master’s degree in computer programming, came back from Silicon Valley to farm full time in 2006. He likes to say that he’s a better programmer than he is a farmer, but he’s brought some of his high-tech knowhow to the family business, inserting RFID microchips in all his cows’ ears so he can track them via computer.

Cattle ranch Rastovich Family Farm in Bend, Oregon

“My goal is to make the animals as stress-free as possible and make the cowboys as safe as possible,” explained Rastovich, who has designed special corrals with a series of automated gates that respond to the RFID chips to help cull the herd. “This eliminates herding and puts less stress on the cow, which makes my beef taste better because you don’t get those stress hormones in the meat.”

Long gone are the days when his grandfather would curse the land. “I remember my grandfather used to say, ‘There’s just a bunch of lava rocks and dust that the wind blew in, and we call it farming,’” recalled Rastovich.

Despite the many lean decades of the past, Rastovich’s creative thinking has turned this nearly century-old farm smoothly into the 21st century. In the end though, it’s still ranching—a volatile vocation that is dependent on good weather, futures markets, hard work and luck.

“I love this land. You’d have to sell this farm over my dead body,” said Rastovich. “Trust me, it wasn’t always easy growing up here. I was the son of a hay farmer, who had hay fever, and yet here I am.”

Everything Old Is New Again at Casad Family Farms

Casad Family Farms is changing the idea of a sustainable cut of meat.

Casad Family farm in Madras, Oregon

When he managed Juniper Jungle Farm in Tumalo, Chris Casad would lift a single potato up to ten times before the spud made it into a consumer’s hands. At that small farm, working on a manual scale, he said his team felt like ants working overtime shifts.

It’s one of the reasons that Casad had dreams of farming on a larger, more efficient scale.

“Now we’re starting to become sophisticated ants,” he said from the hay barn of his new property, Casad Family Farm. He gestured toward the tractors, conveyor belt and trucks that are employed in his current operation, which has helped him boost output without sacrificing a commitment to sustainable harvests. The equipment helped the farm produce ninety tons of potatoes this year, with the majority going to supply French fries for salt-craving beer drinkers at Deschutes Brewery, his primary wholesale client.

Ag of the Middle

Casad Family Farm in Madras, Oregon

Casad Family Farm sits in what locals call “the plains” between Madras and Warm Springs, a location that is 1,200 feet lower than the Tumalo farm. The elevation drop was strategic, lengthening the growing season. Down there in the plains, most farms sprawl more than 1,000 acres. Casad Family Farm, at eighty-five acres, falls into a disappearing sector of midscale farms that are neither agricultural commodity scale nor the direct to consumer model. Part of the reason for this vanishing middle is lack of affordability. Casad’s parents made his purchase possible by selling their Bend home to invest in the business, prompting the Casad Family Farm name to reflect the multigenerational venture.

Casad used his seven years of farming experience to make this shift from boutique to midsize farming. It was a calculated risk based on the belief that a blend between wholesale and direct to consumer sales will be profitable if done with care. The security of having a major Deschutes Brewery contract allows Casad to continue farming in line with his principles: Grow organically. Respect the soil. Give farm animals a free range and stress-free life.

Casad’s fiancé, Cate Havstad, took the leap with him. She now puts her successful custom hat making business, Havstad Hat Company, on hold during the agricultural high season to focus on working the land. There among the high desert landscape, Havstad said she enjoys the grounding physicality of the work. The setting even inspired a line of Havstad hats dyed with natural flora found in the plains, such as sage.

Waste Not, Want Not

Casad Family Farm in Madras, Oregon

Each time Casad establishes a ten-to-twenty-acre plot for an annual crop (such as garlic or potatoes) on the property, the plot joins the larger rotation cycle, which avoids the stress created by the standard monoculture approach where one or two crops are rotated annually. “In an organic system, we need five to seven years after harvest to rotate each plot until we plant that crop again,” said Cascad.

Between crop cycles, the farm’s hogs and cattle roam the plots, promoting soil fertility. Growing cover crops, such as mustard, further improves soil health. When tilled into the soil, the cover crops act as an organic sterilizer, neutralizing fungal diseases that are naturally produced in soil. Perennials, such as hay, feed the livestock and provide another revenue stream. Casad Family Farm is one of the only farms in Central Oregon selling USDA-certified organic hay.

“There’s no waste ever here and that is important,” Casad said. “Not having to import, and feeding animals only with grass and hay from the farm, are fundamentals of biodynamic practices.”

All pigs and cows are slaughtered onsite, something that prevents Casad from obtaining a USDA label for the meat since there is no USDA-certified mobile butcher in Central Oregon. That’s a trade-off that they are willing to make to honor the principle of keeping their livestock on the farm for the animal’s entire life cycle.

“Our hogs and cattle live in a pasture their whole lives, roaming free and eating organic, pesticide-free food,” Havstad said. “They shouldn’t then be shoved in a trailer and sent down a highway for slaughter. Instead, they are just living another peaceful day in their life and it happens to end. It’s just the right way to farm.”

Building the Market

Casad Family Farm in Madras, Oregon

After all the planting and tending and harvesting, what’s left is just a matter of bringing the food to the people. Local distributor Agricultural Connections has helped connect mid-size farmers with restaurants and consumers. Parker Vaughn at Jackson’s Corner, Anna Witham at 1-2-3 Ramen and Brian Kerr from Deschutes Brewery are members of a growing contingent of local chefs who Havstad said are committed to bringing local foods to a larger audience. What is still lacking are larger-scale cold storage and distribution methods to supply bigger institutions, such as hospitals and schools, with local food.

Organizations like the Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council are working on solutions that will address some of these infrastructure deficiencies. In the meantime, farmers like Casad are continuing to develop their niche at a sustainable scale based on an increasing demand for locally grown food.

“Mills and processing facilities are gone here,” said Casad. “We can practice good regenerative farming and create a good product, but the system in which you sell your product needs to help get it into the hands of local people.” Whether that happens this year, next year or sometime farther down the road, isn’t yet clear. What is clear is that the seeds of sustainable harvest have been planted at Casad and across Central Oregon.

4 Fusion Dishes That Break The Sushi Mold

Four sushi-inspired dishes offer very different interpretations of the Japanese classic.

Kobayashi Hot Dog from Ronin Sushi at The Bite in Tumalo, Oregon

The high desert may not seem like the best place to go searching for sushi rolls and Asian seafood dishes. But there is a surprisingly robust range of fresh seafood offered around the area, particularly in Bend, where local chefs have embraced the artform and given it their own twist. From fine dining to food carts, restaurants take advantage of the area’s relative proximity to the Pacific and the easy access to fresh seafood. Add in a public willing and ready to indulge in bold and experimental dishes and you have perfect stage for raw innovation.

Bibimbap | 5 Fusion Sushi & Bar

Bibimbap sushi dish from 5 Fusion in Bend, Oregon

The super-heated black stone pot is set before you at 5 Fusion Sushi & Bar, cradling sizzling rice, spicy, crunchy kimchi, dark, rich, pork short-rib and a quivering, perfectly cooked 62-degree egg. Taste with your eyes first, admiring the pleasing arrangement of elements in the rustic crater. Then plunge your chopsticks into the center and stir, unleashing the velvety, buttery yolk, letting it run over its fragile, gelatinous white, bathing the tart, fermented napa cabbage and Korean radishes enveloped in chili, scallions, garlic and ginger. This is bibimbap. It may sound like jazz (BEE-bim-bap), but the flavors are symphonic. This South Korean specialty has been hailed by gastronomes as one of the world’s most delicious foods.

Broiled Tomato | Kanpai

Broiled Tomato sushi roll from Kanpai in Bend, Oregon

When is a tomato not a tomato? When it’s the broiled tomato created by Justin Cook, owner of Kanpai. It’s one of his riffs on nigiri, which is typically a pinky-finger long slice of raw fish atop a hand-formed pillow of sticky rice. In his iteration, delicate, translucent pink slices of tuna hug a miniature globe of rice crowned with chopped, broiled scallop, minced scallions and anointed with ponzu, the tart, citrusy, mahogany sauce and a Japanese cuisine mainstay. This irreverence is in good company with more than a dozen other ingenious creations, from the Steak N Eggs, with seared filet mignon around rice, topped with a quail egg yolk, wasabi pepper aioli and pickled red onions, to the Godzilla Roll, with tempura zucchini, cucumber and shiitake mushrooms beneath avocado and shoestring potatoes.

U of O Roll | CHI Chinese & Sushi Bar

U of O Roll from Chi Chinese and Sushi Bar in Bend, Oregon

When the U of O roll arrives at CHI, the golden yuzu tobiko (tiny flying fish roe) atop the creation presented on a bright, deep green banana leaf certainly evokes team spirit. Fortunately, there’s much more to this than just a rah-rah gimmick. The tempura shrimp, cucumber, avocado, spicy poke tuna, razor-thin avocado slices, hamachi (Japanese amberjack or yellowtail), thick, sweet unagi sauce and sesame seeds harmonize to create lovely umami savoriness. The tempura offers a flaky crunch as the tobiko lends a mild briny finish. To be politic, the hyper-local restaurant, which has named many of its dishes after local businesses, also offers the OSU roll of spicy poke, avocado, cucumber, unagi, salmon and sesame seeds. Order them both and host your gastro civil war.

Kobayashi Dog | Ronin Sushi

Kobayashi Hot Dog from Ronin Sushi at The Bite in Tumalo, Oregon

JapAm or AmeriZen? However you choose to think about it, Ronin food truck’s take on the Kobayashi Dog is the best East-West cultural mashup since Uma Thurman picked up a Samurai sword and zipped into yellow jumpsuit in “Kill Bill.” The bacon wrapped all-beef hot dog is cloaked with crunchy, tangy kimchi (a fermented spicy cabbage, and in this case, a kind of Japanese stand-in for sauerkraut). The subtly sweet flavors of wakame seaweed mingle with the tart-sweet pickles as if doing a Kabuki dance. Tonkatsu dragon mayo leverages Sriracha for a smoky, tangy Judo-kick with heat not found in a typical American barbecue sauce. With fresh mixed greens on a toasted pub bun this dish wins on multiple levels—complex and inventive enough to please the sushi aficionado, and a gateway to a raw-fish-flavored cuisine for those who wouldn’t dream of eating raw fish. At a price of $6, you don’t have to be an emperor to partake.

BendX Bootcamp Is A Launchpad for Female Entrepreneurs

BendX Bootcamp wants to see more female-led startups in Bend.

Startup Bootcamp for female entrepreneurs in Bend, Oregon
Christine Callahan (left) and Talena Barker (right)

Bend is an outdoors mecca, but it’s also a playground of sorts for entrepreneurs with fresh ideas. Recently launched, BendX Bootcamp is an inclusive women’s entrepreneurship program that helps women harness opportunity and put ideas into action. Talena Barker, CEO and founder of Mission Limelight, and Christine Callahan, CEO and founder of Ella & Oak, joined forces to launch this program and share their valuable expertise as early-stage entrepreneurs.

Until recently, there was a serious gap in education for female entrepreneurs in Bend. “When I was first getting Mission Limelight off the ground last year, I realized that the closest such program was in Portland and that I needed that type of education, mentorship and network urgently,” said Barker. “I ended up driving over the mountain for several days each week.”

Female-run companies are less likely to fail, use less capital to reach success and have 12 percent higher annual revenues than those of their male counterparts, but are still receiving less than three percent of venture capital funding. “If we can invest in helping women-founded companies get off the ground in the early stage, the dividends are great for the Central Oregon economy,” said Barker.

The first four-week session convenes in early September and, due to the long waitlist, Barker and Callahan anticipate running another session next winter or spring. The program kicks off helping participants vet their ideas. Successful entrepreneurs like Julie Harrelson of Cascade Angels will be at BendX to work with the participants.

Participants also learn key aspects of launching their company and running a business, from building a team to developing a sales and marketing strategy. BendX gives participants the chance to have like-minded female entrepreneurs as classmates and connects them with female mentors in their fields.

A Kitchen That Balances Trends With Timeless Style

How to design a modern, trendy kitchen that’s timeless.

Rustic But Modern Kitchen The Harris family built their dream home and kitchen in Tetherow, after decades in an older remodeled home in Eugene.

“My other kitchen literally had this much counter space,” said Ruth Harris, spreading her arms about three feet apart. “When we built this kitchen I wanted a lot of counter space and a lot of room where we weren’t bumping into each other.”

The family knows all about entertaining guests. Their first year in Bend, they hosted 180 overnight guests, and that doesn’t include the eight lavish parties they throw each year, plus regular Sunday family dinners. A splurge on four task-specific dishwashers interspersed through this kitchen was not out of the question. Each dishwasher is hidden behind wood paneling that matches either the knotty alder wood cupboards or the distressed, crackle-painted fronts in the island. Rustic Kitchen Cupboards

Another trend in today’s kitchen is the unobstructed single-level island, according to Yozamp, who helped Harris select a massive five-foot by ten-foot granite slab for the island.

“The island is the focal point and hub of the kitchen. It’s an impact statement, but it’s also a workhorse,” explained Yozamp. “There should be plenty of storage all the way around, plus additional seating at the end of the island for casual in-kitchen dining.”

Yozamp said hardwood floors are still the most popular choice for kitchens in Central Oregon today, because they exude warmth, and fit in with the natural environment. The Harris kitchen took their wood floor to another level, by using reclaimed wood from an old home in Independence, Oregon. Each naturally patinaed slat was cut with tongue and groove for seamless installation.

Another popular trend that Harris used in her kitchen was accents of copper, from her backsplash to her hanging lamps over the island.

“It’s extremely expensive, but we’re seeing a lot of fixtures and accent pieces that are in copper and even rose gold,” said Yozamp. “It can be subtle, but a little adds a lot of shine.”

Rustic Kitchen with Copper Lighting Though not located in the Harris kitchen, but still just steps away, is a show stopping, walk-in, climate-controlled wine cellar, also built with reclaimed wood. It’s fondly known as Chateau Harris and can safely store 900 bottles of wine.

This All-White Kitchen Masters Clean and Sleek Style

A modern kitchen in Bend fit for entertaining.

Modern Kitchen Minimalist Featured Photo

The kitchen is the centerpiece for entertaining at home, which was the case for Bend Hagg-Watter family’s ultra-modern home.

The all-white kitchen was ideal, as homeowner Dr. Jennifer Watter said it keeps it simple, timeless and always looking sleek and clean, something she and her husband Dr. Dan Hagg appreciate with their three busy children.

The sleek and modern minimalistic cupboards allow the Hagg-Watter family to add pops of color that boldly stand out, without it looking cluttered. The white quartz island and counter tops in this kitchen are trending in newer kitchens.

“More and more people are choosing quartz and quartzite countertops over granite,” said Cascade Design Center owner Ronda Fitton. “Quartz is an engineered product that comes in various colors, while the quartzite is a natural rock that is actually harder than granite. Quartz is extremely durable, it’s anti-microbial, and slightly easier to maintain than granite.”

Modern Kitchen Minimalist Vertical Photo

This family also likes to entertain and uses a dining room table just off the kitchen that can seat twenty-one people, and Watter added they’ve had Thanksgiving with fifty-six guests. With that many guests, Watter said her butler pantry directly behind her kitchen wall is her favorite feature.

“What I love about this pantry is the second sink in here. It’s a place where we can have appliances like our espresso machine, plus there’s so much storage in here,” explained Watter, as she put away bottles of wine in the special built-in wine refrigerator. “It’s also great that we can close off this area with doors on either side of this butler pantry.”

Fitton said in many higher end homes, people are requesting butler pantries.

“Because we’re seeing open floor plans, people want their kitchens to always look clean,” said Fitton. “If you’re having a party, you can easily hide dirty dishes in the sink in the butler pantry, and you can keep your kitchen counters clear of appliances by having them in the butler pantry and close the door behind you.”

Are Maximal Shoes the Future of Running?

Christine Pollard at OSU-Cascades FORCE Lab is at the fore of new running shoe research.

OSU Cascades FORCE Lab Director Christine Pollard discusses a study analyzing different running shoe technologies and connections to running injuries.
OSU Cascades FORCE Lab Director Christine Pollard discusses a study analyzing different running shoe technologies and connections to running injuries.
Photo by Rob Kerr

The world’s oldest pair of shoes were made in Oregon. Crafted of oh-so-comfy sagebrush bark, perhaps it’s no wonder someone left them in a cave in Fort Rock 10,000 years ago. We’ve been improving on footwear ever since, and so it fits that Bend is at the forefront of studying the latest technology in running shoes.

Maximal running shoes, with their marshmallow-like cushioning from heel to toe, are gaining traction with runners (particularly those over age 40), walkers, and others such as healthcare workers who are on their feet for hours and want to be comfortable and injury-free. Little is known, though, about how maximal shoes influence running biomechanics.

Bend’s Christine Pollard stepped in to find out. She is associate professor of kinesiology at OSU-Cascades and director of the Functional Orthopedic Research Center of Excellence (FORCE) Lab, which does cutting-edge injury research and intervention strategies.

She brought women runners into the lab and used 3D motion capture and treadmills equipped with force plates to measure the impacts on their feet and legs after running 5,000 meters. First, each woman wore New Balance 880s, a “neutral” running shoe with more cushioning in the heel than the forefoot. Then Teague Hatfield, owner of FootZone, fitted them for a maximal shoe, the Hoka One One Bondi 4. They returned to the lab in about a week and repeated the test wearing those. None of them had worn a maximal shoe before.

“What we hypothesized is that the maximal shoe with more cushioning would be more of a shock absorber, but what we found was the opposite,” said Pollard. She thinks that’s the case because the new, super-cushioned feeling of the shoes unconsciously prevented the runners from controlling how hard they were hitting the ground.

So she sent the runners home with the latest Hoka One One Bondi 5 for six weeks to get accustomed to them, wearing them the first week for 20 percent of their runs and increasing gradually toward wearing them exclusively. Then Pollard will repeat the study and have the results by fall.

“I suspect the loading rate and impact peak will go down, but I don’t know,” she said. “No one has looked at it. We’re excited to be the first.”

The Wallowas Are Calling And You Must Go

Find a dog-friendly respite at Barking Mad Farm in Enterprise.

Barking Mad Farm retreat in Enterprise, Oregon

Chief Joseph, Sacajawea, Matterhorn, Glacier, Eagle Cap, Twin, Sawtooth, Ruby, East Hurricane. Each snowcapped peak unfurls a glimpse into the natural history of the Wallowas and a unique vantage on the verdant patchwork of farmland 5,000 feet below. Up at summit elevation, where the air is thinner than the loose shards of granite underfoot, a person gains a little perspective. Down among the cow-dotted fields, just outside of Enterprise in the Wallowa Valley, it’s just as easy to lose yourself in the oversized scenery. The towering Wallowa Mountains to the west are an ever-present alpine marvel visible even at night when they cut a jagged line across the star mottled sky.

The Wallowa Mountains and Wallowa Lake

Cattle dog Roo lounges on the covered porch at Barking Mad Farm, cocking his ears to the crackle of the campfire, the hoot of an owl and the rhythmic churn of sprinkler lines soaking nearby fields. Luckily, you don’t have to be a cattle rancher, or a cattle dog, to bask in the majesty of northeast Oregon. This porch is open to all of Barking Mad Farm’s guests, who are invited to grab a seat on the porch swing and soak in the solitude.

Country Charm

Barking Mad Farm retreat in Enterprise, Oregon

When guests awake in the morning, the natural world beckons through the window. From the Seven Devils Suite, early risers can watch the eponymous Idaho mountain range glow a fiery orange on the eastern horizon. The 600-square-foot suite maximizes natural light from its perch on the upper level of a building adjacent the property’s classic white and robin’s egg blue farmhouse.

Next door, in the renovated early-1900s abode, the luxury Treetops Suite spans the entire second floor. Emily Klavins owns the bed and breakfast with her husband, Rob, but the pair originally came to the farm as guests. They recommend the Treetops Suite for romantic getaways.

If the mountain air is crisp, light a fire in Treetops’ brick fireplace.Downstairs, the more straightforward Buffalo Suite has an extra bed and views of the neighboring field populated with American bison. This suite is also closest to the sizzle of frying bacon in the morning.

To Market, To Market

Barking Mad Farm retreat in Enterprise, Oregon

The Klavins have been procuring a whole pig for meat each year since they bought the farm from the former owners in 2013, when Rob was able to relocate to Enterprise while keeping his job with the conservation group Oregon Wild. This year, the novice farmers purchased two sows and a hog and brought three litters of kunekune heritage piglets into the world.

“They are little ambassadors,” said Emily. “So socialized—running up to guests to present their bellies for rubs.”

The investment is the latest step in the couple’s plan to be sustainable stewards of Barking Mad Farm’s forty-two acres, an ethic rooted in how they met teaching outdoor school. Currently, much of the acreage is leased to a third party, but the Klavins are hoping to ramp up their use of land year-by-year, demonstrating rural life to guests.

Something To Bark About

On the morning of our interview, Emily had taken some forty-odd hens to a local natural processor to be butchered and was delivering the meat to neighbors. During the warmer months, trips into town revolve around the farmers’ market and farm stand, respectively. The rest of the shopping list items are crossed off at Ruby Peak Naturals and the organic section at the grocery store.

“We value the actual experience people can have with food before it becomes little packages in your fridge,” said Emily.

Emily cooks guests a scratch-made breakfast each morning. Seasonal fruits inspire dishes such as raspberry crepes with crème fraiche, huckleberry drizzle and toasted almonds. Her homemade granola is always fresh, and she need only step out to the henhouse to gather eggs for the Barking Mad Benedict.

Venturing Out

When Roo wants to take a break from all the pigs and free-range chickens running about, he retreats to a two-acre fenced field. There in the “dog park” he’ll gladly show off his stomping grounds to guest dogs. Dogs (and cats) are welcome at Barking Mad Farm if they are friendly and respectful of other people and animals.

Off the farm, a favorite nearby activity for pups and people alike is the hike to Slick Rock from Hurricane Creek Trailhead, where gurgling snowmelt cascades down one pool after another, creating a natural slip-n-slide (6.5 miles, out and back). Joseph and Wallowa Lake beyond offer arts, culture and recreation in spades.

Hurricane Creek Trail in the Wallowa Mountains

Back in Enterprise, Sinclair Coffee Co. is a great spot for a lunch burrito and a caffeinated pick-me-up. Another tasty daytime option is Sugar Time Bakery, which has stellar sweets and paninis. Grab a midday or evening meal and a pint at Terminal Gravity Brewing.

Shop for skin products at Wild Carrot Herbals, then head to The Bookloft. Hours will pass by as you peruse local art in the bookstore’s Skylight Gallery, chat with locals at creaky wooden tables and pick up reading fodder to take back to Barking Mad Farm’s Adirondack lawnchairs. There in the sunken seats, alternating page turns with glances at the mountains, you will likely stay planted for the remainder of your trip

How to Bring More Diversity to Bend’s Startup Scene

Former Microsoft exec Rane Johnson-Stempson on the key role of diversity and inclusion in Bend’s growing tech and startup community.

Rane Johnson Diversity in Startups

Rane Johnson-Stempson has spent most of her career finding ways to infuse more diversity into the tech industry. She previously approached the issue from a global scale as the research director for Microsoft Research. Now she’s launched a local initiative to help Central Oregon tech and startup companies discover easy ways to make their workplaces more diverse, inclusive and, ultimately, successful. We recently caught up with Johnson-Stempson to learn more about her consulting startup the Ranemaker Institute and her vision for a welcoming, inclusive and diverse city.

Why did you start Ranemaker Institute?

Our belief is that if you feel valued at your workplace and you enjoy your workplace, you’ll be more of a contributor in the community, happier and more prosperous overall. We want to help train tech and startups about what they can do to be more inclusive and help their employees feel better heard. This helps employees and employers, but it also helps us to attract more diverse individuals to the region.

How did your background with Microsoft prepare you to start Ranemaker?

I was previously the principal research director at MS Research, and I was responsible for growing a more diverse global pool of computer scientists and PhD program graduates. I worked with international organizations, governments, and top research and computer science institutions to solve the diversity problem. We also partnered with organizations to take on different social issues affecting underrepresented communities where we thought tech can make a difference.

Why are diversity and inclusion an important issue, especially for smaller startups?

When you’re creating products and services for a diverse population and you don’t have diverse people informing the process, then you’re going to miss the mark. This is important for startups because they’re often trying to build the next big thing and they don’t want to fall behind their competitors. In fact, McKinsey reported that companies in the top quartile for gender, racial and ethnic diversity are likely to have up to 35 percent greater financial returns compared with their national industry medians. But I understand that startup founders have a lot on their plates, so I try to help them recognize the small things they can do to promote diversity and inclusion. A lot is around how you approach performance reviews, how you advance employees and how you recruit new hires.

When you talk about diversity in the workforce, what do you mean?

I like to ask employers, ‘How do you have the greatest diversity of thought?’ You need people with different skill sets, backgrounds, experiences, cultures, genders and sexual orientations. You have to think about what you’re selling and the people you’re targeting. Do you have the right minds in the room? If not, then you need to recruit more people or skill up your staff. You may not be able to hire dozens of people, but you can task individuals with understanding different populations and taking on initiatives that address them.

What do you hope your work with the Ranemaker Institute accomplishes?

My hope is that Bend becomes a role model for small towns across the country as a welcoming and inclusive place. That people and companies can see that they don’t have to go to large cities to have a good life or find great talent for their workforce.

All the World’s a Stage for Local Violin Prodigy

John Fawcett is a local violin prodigy who is in the top one percent of violin students nationally and recently performed for NPR’s “From The Top.”

Violin Prodigy John Fawcett from Bend, Oregon
Photo Courtesy of “From the Top”

Like any kid born and raised in Bend, 18-year-old John Fawcett can navigate a ski slope or mountain trail. He loves to watch soccer and play with the family dogs. But unlike most of his peers, he has a particular affinity for 19th-century classical music and performing on stage in some of the country’s top concert halls. And when he picks up the violin, the shy teen recites a universal language in harmonics and vibrato.

“Music is my first language,” said Fawcett. “I understand it so much better than spoken English. That’s the way I communicate.”

Fawcett started playing violin at 5 years old and was encouraged to continue with the instrument by his parents. He attended St. Francis of Assisi in Bend and then Redmond Proficiency Academy, graduating as a valedictorian a year early. The academy offered Fawcett a flexible schedule for the four to five hours a day he needed to practice.

“The majority of people don’t realize the time it takes to perfect a craft,” he said.

As his violin mastery progressed, he sought instruction outside the area. His weekly lessons were by Skype with teacher Jan Mark Sloman, an internationally renowned violinist, retired associate concertmaster of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and now faculty member at the Cleveland Institute of Music.

“John is in the top one-percent of students nationally and shows all the earmarks of a career violinist,” said Sloman. “He has a terrific work ethic and is mindful in his approach to music.”

Sloman encouraged him to apply to this year’s Heifetz International Music Festival in Staunton, Virginia, a six-week summer internship that gave Fawcett a chance to perform and compete with other accomplished young musicians from the United States and abroad.

“Recently I’ve been traveling a ton,” said Fawcett. He has performed twice at Carnegie Hall in New York, most recently during last year’s holiday season with the New York String Orchestra Seminar. “The Christmas Eve performance was one of the best experiences of my life,” he recalled. He also recorded a solo at Berkley’s Zellerbach Auditorium for “From the Top,” a National Public Radio program featuring America’s best young classical musicians. The episode aired April 30, 2018 to a national audience.

Violin Prodigy John Fawcett from Bend, Oregon
“From the Top” performers share music at a local school. Photo Courtesy of “From the Top”

One of his favorite performances happened at Bend’s Tower Theatre with Portland-based Pink Martini, who invited him to play with the band in 2015.

“It was an incredible experience, and they played some of my favorite songs,” he said.

In the fall of 2018, Fawcett will head to Los Angeles where he will attend the prestigious Colburn Conservatory of Music on a full scholarship. The school year kicks off with a two-week tour of Great Britain with the school’s orchestra.

“I dream of becoming a soloist or being in an orchestra, performing all the time, and inspiring people with music,” he said, adding that he loves the adrenaline of being on stage. But when he needs an outdoor fix or romp with the dogs, the Bend native is just one flight from home.

Paul Evers Knows Your Drink—And Your Next One, Too

Paul Evers, the man behind Crux and tbd, wants to change the way you think about coffee. His backers are betting big that he will succeed.

Paul Evers and Son Bobby
Paul Evers (right) and son, Bobby

Every Tuesday morning at 7 a.m., Paul Evers meets with his son Bobby at a local coffee shop for a hot Americano or latte (the temperature is important here).

The two talk for an hour or so about life, family, adventures, challenges—just about anything. “Except for cold-brewed coffee,” the elder said with a chuckle. No, for one hour a week, Riff Cold Brewed Coffee talk is off limits.

That’s because most every other hour of every day is devoted to Riff, the upstart cold-brewed coffee business that the two—along with three other co-founders—launched last year after Evers left his previous job as a managing partner in the wildly successful Crux Fermentation Project, a move that surprised many who watched Evers build the business from the ground up.

For those who know him best, however, it wasn’t a shock to see him walk away from Crux. They knew that experimentation was nothing new for Evers, a marketing and branding guru for whom change has been the one constant over the course of his career.

Where is Bend, Oregon?

A fifth-generation Southern Californian, Evers’ grew up the youngest of nine brothers and sisters. He relished the annual spring break father-son trips his dad would take him on into the mountains. “I was always more of a mountain guy,” said Evers, 57, whose salt and pepper beard, plaid shirt and trail running shoes fit the bill.

He started his career in Orange County as an art director in the tech world working on projects for Microsoft and Aldus, but was eager to get his wife and two small children out of the concrete jungle. So he began looking for art director jobs anywhere in Oregon and Washington and eventually got a call from an ad agency in Bend.

After the third phone interview with Mandala Communications, they offered him the job in May of 1990. “But I told them I didn’t know what or where Bend, Oregon was so I was able to talk them into flying me out,” he said. “I immediately fell in love with it.”

Over the next few years Evers was courted by tech giant Intel and several agencies in Boise, but he wasn’t ready to leave Bend. When he did move, it was from the offices of Mandala to the back of his own home where he started a craft brand agency called “tbd.”

For Evers, the goal wasn’t just another agency. The idea was to build a business with a full-service approach to its clients—an agency that went beyond package designs and ad campaigns. Evers wanted an agency that could help clients build ideas that resonated with customers.

“Paul was truly the leader of this movement to start an agency that was a little different,” said René Mitchell, who moved from Mandala to tbd with Evers. “Agencies are criticized for only caring about the creative work,” said Mitchell. “[Paul] had a vision about how to create strong creative work and help a partner’s bottom line.”

Said Bobby: “He did a great job of not just taking what the client thinks they need but helping them develop what they actually need. That was a huge differentiator as to why tbd was so successful. They weren’t just executing branding, they helped solve problems.”

For eighteen years tbd had a hand in the growth and identity of some of Bend’s most iconic brands. Evers and his team came up with Woody, Deschutes Brewery’s gigantic rolling keg/tap room, and paved the way for the brewery’s groundbreaking experiential marketing efforts that continue to this day, like a traveling street pub. And Evers was the guy who in 2012 helped rebrand Kombucha Mama, a fledgling kombucha company, into Humm Kombucha (for whom Mitchell now serves as Director of Marketing).

A New Challenge

Working on branding with Deschutes Brewery and San Francisco’s 21st Amendment Brewery was enough to spark Evers’ interest in starting his own brewing business—if the right people were involved.

As it turned out, the right people were interested.

The result was Crux Fermentation Project. The business brought together the branding power of Evers and tbd, the industry insights of 21st Amendment’s Dave Wilson and the craft brewing mastery of Larry Sidor, a brewing legend whom Evers and Wilson wooed away from Deschutes Brewery.

“We wanted to deliver an experience beyond what beer could be,” Evers said. One look at the families sprawled across the lawn outside Crux during the summer and it’s safe to say that mission was more than accomplished.

Bend Assistant City Manager Jon Skidmore was the Bend Business Advocate at the time, helping small businesses wade through the complex permitting process. To Skidmore, Evers will always be the guy who saw potential in an old auto repair shop, the former Aamco transmission building that Evers and team chose as their unlikely home for the fledgling brewery.

“I had a really hard time envisioning what they were shooting to get to,” Skidmore said. “That’s a fantastic example of Paul’s creativity—someone who can walk into a transmission shop and envision a world-class brewing facility. I sure didn’t see it.”

Over the next few years, Crux’s growth outpaced what anyone had imagined. In 2013, Crux produced just over 1,700 barrels of beer, making it the thirty-fifth largest brewery in Oregon. Last year, production jumped to nearly 10,000 barrels, ranking it seventeenth. Earlier this year, work began on a 2,800-square-foot expansion to the roughly 6,000 square-foot pub in the heart of Bend.

The Next Chapter

Paul Evers next to Riffs pilot brewing system, a centerpiece of the new tasting room.
Paul Evers next to Riffs pilot brewing system, a centerpiece of the new tasting room.

Four years after opening in 2012, and just as the Crux brand had established itself as a leader in the Northwest craft beer scene, Evers decided to move on while maintaining his stake in the business and seat on the board.

“The brand was in a really great place and had such positive momentum that it was a good idea to hand the brand off to someone with a new perspective,” he said. It was a perfect time for Evers to return to doing what he loves most. “What I’ve learned about myself, what really gets me excited, is building brands,” he said.

For his next collaboration, Evers didn’t have to search long or far. He found a willing partner in his son Bobby to embark on the next adventure. By late 2017, the enterprise had a name and a strategy, Riff Cold Brewed Coffee, a bold experiment that combines Evers brand development with the retail and customer service model that helped establish Crux as a go-to pub.

Riff, to many though, is an unknown. Currently under construction in the burgeoning Box Factory—just down the road from Crux incidentally—the Riff taphouse is already an eagerly anticipated new addition to the Bend craft beverage scene. While cold brew coffee is nothing new or novel—it’s been one of the hottest beverage trends over the past two years—Evers’s venture is likely to push the boundaries of the formula with ideas like flavored and sweetened varieties and even wild-yeast fermented versions.

But unlike Crux, there is no blueprint for a cold brewed coffee taphouse. Together with Bobby, Nate Ambrust, a former executive for Stumptown Coffee Roasters (and widely considered a pioneer in the cold brewed coffee space), Steve Barham, a former top executive at LinkedIn, and Kevin Smyth, who worked with Evers for fourteen years at tbd and in planning Crux, the Riff team has borrowed a little from the craft brew model, a little from the coffee shop playbook and improvised the rest.

“We don’t want to look like a brewery and we don’t want to look like a coffee house,” he said. “We want to be a craft beverage destination and empower people to create their own experience.”

These days, Evers is looking at coffee the same way he looked at that old transmission shop. He sees the potential so he’s immersing himself in learning about beans, the cold-brewing process and the industry itself. The education is necessary to feel confident while embarking on a new mission. Bobby said he believes his dad wants Riff to truly reflect its founders’ values. He said craft beverages, be it coffee or beer, resonate with customers because the products are an extension of the team behind the drink.

“We’re having fun and exploring,” Bobby said. “We’re not saying we have it figured out. We’re constantly learning and hopefully that shows in the brand itself.”

Riff’s four current flavors of bottled coffee are already available at stores throughout the region. Evers has been busy with his team pushing the brand through social media, word of mouth and offering samples to anyone and everyone who can be evangelists for the product.

The taproom will open sometime in September, a perfect time of year, he said, to introduce Bend to a new craft beverage.

“We want to provide an extraordinary experience for folks that reintroduces coffee to them in a way they don’t expect,” Evers said.

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