Summer’s on, it’s perfect weather for spending an evening outside with drinks and dancing at The Ruins at Springhouse Cellar. Three bands, one outdoor venue, one cover charge — where 100% of proceeds benefit 5 Gorge nonprofits! Live Music featuring “Hi-Fi Reset” who are bringing danceable, high -energy fun, afro-beat and soul from Seattle. Local beer & wine, local food snacks, dancin’ & good times to folk, bluegrass, and funk! July 31, 2010,  7 PM, DOORS at 6:30 PM.

The Ruins at Springhouse Cellar, Hood River. Tickets are available for advance purchase at Springhouse Cellar or Waucoma Books. More event details are available at http://www.cgec.org  – $15, kids under 6 are free. 100% of proceeds benefit the Gorge e4 Collaborative: the convergence of 5 organizations working to cultivate the long term sustainability of the Gorge through ecology, equity, economy, and education: Columbia Gorge Ecology Institute,  Columbia Gorge Earth Center, Gorge Grown Food Network,  Hood River Valley Residents’ Committee, Klahre House, a program of The Next Door

Nathaniel Talbot's thoughtful chamber folk

Garett Brennan & the Great Salt Licks' smart, skillful bluegrass

PARENTS TRANSFORM PERSONAL TRAGEDY INTO HOPE FOR OTHERS: When 12-year-old Jackson Hill passed away from sarcoma, a cancer of the connective tissue, his parents transformed the tragedy into life projects to help others.  David and Melissa Hill are building a new Children’s Hospital at Legacy Emanuel, they organize an annual fundraising bicycle ride called Jackson’s Ride the Gorge, and Melissa leads the Northwest Sarcoma Foundation.

This ambitious couple has devoted their lives to sarcoma research and patient/family support by spreading awareness of the devastating disease and the need to improve research and funding for patients.  “My husband and I vowed, as Jackson grew weaker, we would do everything in our power to help other children and families avoid our fate,” says Melissa Hill. Spurred to action, Melissa Hill joined the Northwest Sarcoma Foundation in October 2005, just one short month after her son passed away. She took on the role of Executive Director a few months later. The Hills continue to support families of sarcoma patients in their times of need – something they have first-hand experience with after losing their own child to the cancer.

They are helping to build the new Children’s Hospital at Legacy Emanuel in Portland, where their son was treated. The hospital is slated for completion in fall 2011. Melissa and David have spent countless hours motivating friends, their family and work colleagues to support their efforts with financial contributions and event participation.

ABOUT JACKSON’S RIDE THE GORGE

On August 7, 2010, hundreds of cyclists will participate in the Fifth Annual Jackson’s Ride the Gorge to honor the vibrant legacy of Jackson Hill, a young boy who loved sports, cycling and spending time in the Columbia River Gorge. The ride offers an opportunity to explore the Columbia River Gorge the best way possible – with incredible support and two wheels quietly whirring along scenic rural roads. Three route options – 25, 50 or 100 miles – make this event perfect for cyclists of all skill levels. The ride benefits the Northwest Sarcoma Foundation, the leading non-profit organization committed to providing support to patients and families living with this specific cancer. It features frequent catered rest stops and a gourmet BBQ with free Full Sail beer at the finish line. The event starts and ends in Hood River, Oregon.  For more information about this well-organized and supported bicycle ride, visit JacksonsRideTheGorge.org.

Leave it to the French to bring culture to the “out of doors.” And leave it to the rest of us to take cue from the French. En Plein Air writing takes place in the open air and captures a mood or a moment; fortunately for those of us in the Columbia Gorge, there is no shortage of inspiration.

For this year’s 6th Annual Plein Air Write Out, writers from all genres are invited to meet at five different locations over the course of five days: The Gorge White House, Timberline Lodge, Springhouse Cellar Vineyard in Mosier, The Dalles Mountain Ranch at Columbia Hills, and Downtown Hood River.

The only requirement is that you get creative and stay in the moment! The resulting submissions will be compiled into an anthology and there will be a public reading of selected works at the Columbia Center for the Arts on September 19. For more information, email literary@columbiaarts.org or visit the CCA website: http://www.columbiaarts.org. REGISTRATION DEADLINE IS AUGUST 10!

So Josh, while I have you here, remember this photo I created and sent you last summer? I was pissed at Franisco Goya because I thought he signed my shirt as ‘The Jonas Brothers’? And what made this seem like a huge issue to me is that it was the same shirt that I got Robby Naish to sign. So to have Robby Naish on the left shoulder of the shirt, and The Jonas Brothers on the right shoulder was the biggest precieved dig ever!
But as it turns out- He didn’t sign it any other way than, as ‘Fransico Goya.’  My bad.

So Josh, thank you for not taking me too seriously and you did insist that Goya would never do that after all. You’re right.

And Whit Poor, looks like our deal of me photographing you for your potential modeling career in sport modeling in exchange for getting Naish to sign another shirt. Looks like I don’t need it.

And Matt at Naish Sails, nevermind on getting Robby Naish to sign another shirt.. the one I have is totally fine with Naish and  Goya on each shoulder, just like I wanted in the first place.

Ooops guys. Fransico, were cool right?

Amanda Goeke and Abe Stevens opened Volcanic Bottle Shoppe, a store specializing in import and craft beers for carryout or on-premises consumption, last weekend. VBS carries more than 120 labels from around the world in 12- and 22-ounce bottle sizes and mix-and-match six packs. It also sells a large collection of wine and features at least four revolving taps.

“We offer interesting beers that you can’t get anywhere else,” Goeke says. “We have international and American craft beers that are a little different from what everybody else in town sells.”

They chose the store’s Heights location so carryout customers won’t have to fight for parking or feed the meters. There are couches for indoor seating and a beer garden out back. Patrons can bring food from elsewhere to enjoy with their drinks or purchase pre-packaged snacks like chips, olives, and crackers and cheese on site, but VBS doesn’t serve prepared food.

“I don’t plan on doing any dishes, only glasses,” Stevens says.

–Jamie Hartford

Volcanic Bottle Shoppe, 1410 12th St., Hood River, www.volcanicbottleshoppe.com, 541.436.1226, open 7 days a week from noon to 9 p.m. or 10 p.m.

While it’s a fascinating time to work in media at any level, the print medium is a harsh master. The deadlines, last-minute ad requests, indelible typos (“pubic” meeting, anyone?), and magazine distribution crack like individual whips each month. The much heralded decline of the print format is not necessarily met with angst on the publishing end; from our perspective, it’s an exciting evolution.

The publishing powerhouses of Conde Nast, Bonnier and even the famous “Gray Lady,” The New York Times, are climbing into bed with Steve Jobs and his amazing iPad. By swapping valuable subscription lists in exchange for their own iPad applications, the big glossies hope to stave off financial ruin by going digital. And so, as paper magazines steadily go the way of the compact disc, rediviva, too, will adapt.

It would have been nearly impossible to launch the rediviva concept without a tangible product. Moving forward, we plan to redirect our focus toward enhancing rediviva’s virtual presence, expanding online services such as [rediviva] WEEKLY, redivivamag.com and the community-powered [r] calendar. And with the increased flexibility allowed by digital production, we’re thrilled to have time to go out and do a few more of these things that we write about!            …………………………………….

There have been hundreds of individuals involved in the ongoing success of this publication. Many, many thanks to contributing writers, artists, graphic designers, models, our patient copy editor, our helpful intern, our printer (Columbia Gorge Press), all who supported rediviva through advertising, and—of course—dear readers. We’re looking forward to growing with you for years to come.
See you online!

Bound around on Mount St. Helens’ dangly parts.

The Worm Flows that roll down Mount St. Helens’ southeast flank are long rippling surges of once-fiery lava that create a remarkably gnarly environment that makes for fun exploration.

The Trail Doggs chilled with kibbles in the sun for a bit, watching climbers inch to the summit like ants on a giant pile of sugar. There are lots of animal noises to be heard in this wilderness, including the whooping and hollering of peeps super-sliding down the mountain. Fun times all around.

Explore a geological oddity >>

This hike is rough & tumble, so no small kiddos or baby-style dogs.

The hike begins at the June Lake Trailhead with a gradual climb through a young fir forest along June Creek for 1.3 miles. After a wooden bridge crosses the rushing creek, you’ll arrive at sweet little June Lake. A waterfall cascades down on the far side of the crystal clear lake, so it even sounds pretty. Nice place to chill and the destination for most hikers. We forge on.

Continue on the west side of the lake and follow the trail into the woods as it switchbacks up and over the spring that feeds June Lake’s waterfall. After another .5 mile, turn left at the trial junction onto the Loowit Trail, also marked Ptarmigan Trail No. 216A.

For about a mile, carefully hop, skip and jump your way across the Worm Flows like a mountain goat, following cairns and white plastic poles. The lava trail is rugged and will keep you on your toes (or toss you on your nose).

The trail winds down into the forest and you arrive at Chocolate Falls at mile 3.3. Before Chocolate Falls dries up at night, it spills into this rocky canyon scoured by floods when Mount St. Helens erupted in 1980.

Continue down along the canyon for .5 mile before turning left on the Pika Trail. An irked squirrel chewed me out here, and squeaked to get this little bunny rabbit cat dog away from her tree. (Really!) The Pika Trail peters out, and you’re back to mountain-goating again for about .5 mile before you loop back up with June lake at mile 4. Enjoy a beer or cup of vino by the lake, then amble the last 1.3 mile back to the car. Enjoy some tunes and the return drive!

How do you like it? Post your comments below or write to Trail Doggs at traildoggsinthewoods@yahoo.com

Photo Courtesy of John Laptad

By Ashton Z. Thurneyssen   Mountain bikers, rejoice! Thanks to a partnership between the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the International Mountain Biking Association (IMBA), you’ll soon have a few more miles of trail to rip up. Construction is already underway on Communication Breakdown, an eight-mile addition to the new Sandy Ridge Trail System, located off Highway 26 just west of Mt. Hood. [visit: nw-trail.org]

Photo Courtesy of John Laptad

The new section will have something for everyone, says Zack Jarrett, lead outdoor recreation planner for the BLM in Salem. Located below 2,100 feet, it will be rideable most of the year. They’re adding bumps, berms and jumps, and four-legged friends are welcome, too.     Communication Breakdown isn’t slated for completion until October, but you can still enjoy the five miles of single track that opened in the area this past winter. The three-quarter-mile Laura’s Loop is a good warm-up trail that’s also suitable for beginners, while the longer Hide and Seek is a preview of what’s to come with CommunicationBreakdown.             One thing to look out for is the crowd. Jarrett says 160 riders showed up the day after The Oregonian ran a story on the Sandy Ridge Trail System back in March. He says its proximity to Portland helps fill the void in mountain-bike accessible trails in the city, so keep an eye out for urbanites.          If you’re interested in helping the project along, check out the Northwest Trail Alliance, a chapter of the IMBA, at nw-trail.org to see when the next trail work party is going down.

rediviva: What exactly is the Hauler, and for what is it used?

AB: We designed the Hauler from the ground up to represent a new class of transportation option to bridge the gap between bicycle and automobile; we call these types of vehicles “Human Utility Vehicles” (HUVs). As an HUV, the Hauler is designed to meet most of your in-town transportation needs, so you can leave your car parked unless you need to go more than 20 miles away from your house or carry a lot of people at once. Our beta customers use Haulers for getting groceries, taking their children to school or daycare, commuting to work, going to the gym, taking their dog to the vet and pretty much anything else you can think of.

rediviva: What inspired you to create this thing?

AB: We got the idea to develop the Hauler after doing a lot of research into demographic and ecological trends in China and India and coming to the realization that the billions of new consumers who will be purchasing transportation options in the next 50 years could result in an ecological catastrophe of massive proportions. Even if these consumers all buy 100-percent plug-in electric vehicles, a staggering amount of coal will be burned to fuel them. Based on this observation, we set ourselves the task of designing a true zero-emissions vehicle that could thrive in the harsh conditions of the developing world, and the Hauler was the result.

rediviva: Are we all going to have a Hauler in the garage someday, or is this meant for a specific demographic?

AB: I envision a future where a family can use Hauler-like vehicles to do most of their around-town errands and just own one car that they use infrequently for longer trips. Given that the total cost of ownership and operation for a sedan in America is slightly over $0.50 per mile and the total cost of ownership and operation for a Hauler is slightly less than $0.005 per mile, families could save a lot of money by using a Human Utility Vehicle to offset their auto use. These numbers work out to a savings of $49.50 per 100 miles driven on a Hauler instead of a car. That said, the Hauler represents the first option in what we hope will grow into a diverse Human Utility Vehicle market, so I think there is a long way to go before we see massive market acceptance of this new approach to personal mobility.

rediviva: How much do they cost, and how many have you sold so far?

AB: Retail price for a Hauler will be about $2,600 without the optional solar panel and about $3,100 when packaged with a solar option. Additionally, The Hauler has been designed to be a “trans-portation platform;” we will offer a diverse accessory space to allow users to customize their vehicles, and because you can add or subtract battery packs, you can customize your Hauler to make it more of a bicycle or more of a light-electric vehicle. We have sold a small number of Haulers to early adopters scattered around the country: Some are at Cornell University, in Ithaca, New York; one crossed the country last fall and is in New Hampshire; and some are being used in and around Hood River. At this time we are focusing all of our efforts on assimilating user feedback into the final production design and raising sufficient start-up capital to begin large-scale production.

rediviva: How fast does it go?

AB: Most states limit electric bicycles to a top speed of 20 mph, so we have geared the Hauler accordingly. However, owners can use off-the-shelf bicycle parts to change their gearing up or down. We have run prototypes that allow a rider to maintain 30 mph, and that seemed like a good place to stop.

rediviva: What’s the craziest thing you’ve done with a Hauler?

AB: Early in the Hauler development process we decided to fly two proof-of-concept prototypes to Japan for a one-month evaluation trip, which we intended to spend riding between volcanoes that we would climb and ski. It was a committing exercise, as the prototypes contained significant design elements we had never tested, so we would be relying on our engineering skills for a month in a country were we didn’t speak the language or have any facilities. Not surprisingly, the airfreight deadline for the trip snuck up on us, and we wound up doing final fabrication, assembly and painting in a vacant lot behind the Narita Airport after the partially assembled prototypes arrived in Japan! The trip was a huge success, and we spent a month riding around the snowy north island of Hokkaido skiing and climbing, fueling our bodies with cake and our Haulers with sunshine between snow showers. The Hauler’s two-wheel drive system was amazing in the snow, and the solar and electrical system exceeded our expectations in the winter conditions. You can read stories from our trip at senkaimotors.com.

rediviva: Are you working on anything else?

AB: Always! We view Senkai Motor Works as a sustainable solutions company that has chosen to launch with a transportation product. We are developing new products in the transportation space, as well as products for creating off-grid and grid-tie power systems, and home sustainability products as well. At this point, we are definitely a company that is limited by capital, not by creativity.