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EAT, DRINK & EXPLORE
East Oregonian
Saturday, December 7, 2019
DISTURBING THE PEACE?
5 hikes to avoid Yosemite
National Park crowds
3. GAYLOR LAKES
By AMANDA LEE MYERS
Associated Press
YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif.
— Dappled sunlight kisses the valley floor
of Yosemite National Park. Granite mono-
liths, gushing waterfalls and giant sequoias
abound. The wilderness is calling.
But instead of hitting the trails in a place
John Muir called “by far the grandest of all
the special temples of nature,” you’re sitting
in a traffic jam, vying for limited parking.
More than 4 million visitors poured into
Yosemite in 2018, and because its main
attractions are concentrated along a 7-mile
loop, it gets congested. Like, 5 p.m. in down-
town Los Angeles congested. Parking can
take hours.
“In general, national parks everywhere,
they become more and more popular every
year, and a place like Yosemite, you can’t
just show up unprepared,” says James Kaiser,
author of “Yosemite: The Complete Guide.”
“It feels like a huge disappointment visiting a
place to experience natural beauty and spend-
ing your time looking for a parking space.”
But there’s no reason anyone’s trip to the
majestic park should be so fraught. Going
any other time than summer, planning val-
ley activities on any day but Saturday, get-
ting an early morning start and choosing less-
er-known trails can all help ensure a peaceful
and restorative vacation.
The following hikes aren’t as famous as
Half Dome or the Mist Trail, but that’s the
point. They offer just as much beauty and a
lot more serenity.
1. NORTH DOME
Like most of the recommended hikes on
this list, this 8.8-mile round-trip trek is off
Tioga Road just north of the valley. Every-
thing outside the actual valley automatically
will be less busy, but the views are no less
stunning. The last quarter of the hike offers a
front-row view of Half Dome and the valley
floor below, and without the crowds.
“The view of Half Dome is so unlike any
other view in the park,” Kaiser says. “Half
Dome is such an iconic site in Yosemite — to
be able to enjoy it from North Dome I really
think is special.”
To get to the trailhead, take Tioga Road
to Porcupine Creek, about 28 miles east of
Crane Flat and 21 miles west of Tuolumne
Meadows. It’s easy to miss, so keep your eyes
peeled for a small building with pit toilets and
parking spaces in a row on the south side of
the road. After parking, look for a wooden
sign that says, “Porcupine Creek Trail Head.”
Below that you’ll see it’s 4.4 miles to North
Dome.
The first few miles of the trail are easy,
quiet and heavily forested. Don’t be sur-
prised if you see deer or even a black bear
(don’t worry, they’re more afraid of you than
the other way around). The views start open-
ing up after 3 miles, but the highlight of the
hike is hoofing it to the top of North Dome,
scurrying a bit farther down the other side
and drinking in views of Half Dome.
Climbing the actual dome can be chal-
lenging but isn’t dangerous unless you like to
court peril by walking too close to the edge.
Hikers who tackle the dome should be gener-
ally fit or highly motivated.
Temperatures can vary wildly from the
bottom of the dome to the top, where there’s
nothing to block the wind. Bring layers, 2
AP Photos/Amanda Lee Myers, File
Karen Tara, of San Francisco, soaks in the views of El Capitan from the top of Sentinel Dome
in Yosemite National Park.
Additional tips
• Tioga and Glacier Point roads close in
winter, from around mid-November through
late May or early June. The ideal time to
take them is fall and summer, though early
starts in summer will provide a more serene
experience.
• Don’t expect to find food or water at the
trailheads. Be grateful that most at least have
pit toilets. Stock up on food before entering
the park, as the valley has the only food
options, and those are minimal and amount
to dry sandwiches, sad salads and soulless
pizza. Stock several gallons of water in the
car.
• Check out the National Park Service’s tips
on how to handle potential encounters with
black bears.
• As with any serious hiking, have shoes built
for that purpose. Traction on the domes is a
must. A backpack with a 2- to 3-liter water
pouch is recommended.
• Don’t expect to have cell service. Do your
research before you arrive, and either bring
paper maps or a map app you can access on
your phone without internet service.
• The National Park Service runs a page for
Yosemite’s current conditions, including
road closures, water levels and trails. Check it
liters of water and snacks. Even better, bring
a lunch and restore your energy on top of the
dome. On the way back, check out Indian
Rock Arch, the only granite arch in Yosemite
and just a 0.6-mile detour.
2. DOG LAKE AND
LEMBERT DOME
Another conquerable dome in Yosemite
is quicker to get to from its trailhead than
North Dome. Lembert Dome looms over
Tioga Road, jutting so seemingly straight
up, it looks doable only with rock-climb-
ing gear. All it really takes is a smidgen of
bravery.
The well-marked trail to Lembert Dome
is next to Tuolumne Meadows, just 10 min-
utes from the eastern exit of the park. It’s
a haul if you’re staying in the valley or the
towns south of the park, so consider combin-
ing the hike with other smaller jaunts to May
Unless you’re a regular hiker accustomed
to elevation, this 3-miler will make you huff
and puff. The trailhead, just a stone’s throw
from Yosemite’s eastern entrance, starts at
an elevation of nearly 10,000 feet. Plus the
beginning of the hike is up, up and more up, a
steeper climb than say, Lembert Dome.
But the pain is relatively short-lived and
the payoff big: two beautiful alpine lakes.
After climbing 600 feet for just over half a
mile, the trail evens out before dropping
down to Middle Gaylor Lake. Explore the
area before heading northeast a short hop to
Upper Gaylor Lake. Follow the trail to the
north side of the lake, turn around, and drink
in the views of both sparkling bodies of water
before continuing up to the Great Sierra Mine
historic site and trail’s end.
Given its eastern location, this could be a
great last hike before exiting the park, and is
easily combined with a visit to Mono Lake
and its otherworldly tufa formations. In the
fall, nearby June Lake in the Eastern Sierra
has deciduous trees awash in golds, oranges
and reds.
4. TUOLUMNE GROVE
Sure, Mariposa Grove gets all the love. It’s
a quick and easy stop just inside the park’s
south entrance. But that means more crowds.
For a little more peace with your giant sequoia
gazing, head to Tuolumne Grove. This west-
ernmost destination off Tioga Road is simple
to get to from the valley, and there’s a decent-
size parking lot.
The 2.5-mile round-trip hike is a riot of
color in the fall. The trip down is a breeze
and includes a couple dozen giant sequoias,
including one you can walk through. The
way back up can be a workout, 400 feet of
elevation gain.
5. TAFT POINT AND
SENTINEL DOME
A trail marker made by a helpful hiker
points the way to Yosemite National Park’s
North Dome, which provides jaw-drop-
ping views of the more famous Half Dome.
before you travel.
Lake (2.8 miles round trip off Tioga Road)
and Tuolumne Grove (see below).
Start the loop trail by going clockwise and
head first to Dog Lake. You’ll pass the junc-
tion for Lembert Dome at the 0.8-mile mark.
Stay straight and go another 0.3 miles to the
lake. Take a few photos before moving on, or
walk around the entire lake and explore more.
To get to the base of Lembert Dome,
retrace your steps back 0.3 miles from the
lake to the Lembert Dome junction and take
a left. The trail will lead you gradually up for
about a mile and a half. From there, go as far
as you feel comfortable.
Some parts of the dome are too steep for
some people’s comfort levels and may have
you scooching back down on your bottom.
The reward for continuing on up:
360-degree views of Tuolumne Meadows
and mountains, and, of course, a sense of
accomplishment.
These hikes are off Glacier Point Road,
and again are only doable from roughly June
to October because of snow. But because Gla-
cier Point is so popular (the views are spec-
tacular and require no hiking), Taft Point and
Sentinel Dome get more traffic than the hikes
along Tioga Road. Still, except at peak times,
they offer plenty of serenity, particularly Taft.
To get to the trailhead, drive up Glacier
Point Road for about 13 miles until you see
a parking lot and pit toilets on the left. At the
trailhead, take a right and head toward Sen-
tinel Dome, where a relatively easy climb
will reward you with 360-degree views of
the valley, including El Capitan and Half
Dome.
Then head back down to the trailhead and
continue straight for roughly a mile of easy
trail to reach Taft Point. It offers jaw-drop-
ping views of El Capitan and may prove chal-
lenging for anyone afraid of heights. Unlike
the other hikes on this list, Taft Point ends at
a sheer drop-off, a 3,500-foot straight shot to
the bottom. People have fallen to their deaths
here, but as long as you maintain a comfort-
able distance between yourself and the edge,
there’s nothing to fear.
Look out for couples getting married;
adventurous sorts jumping off the side and
swinging from what has to be the longest tire
swing in the world; or “highlining,’’ which is
basically extreme tight-rope walking.
For similar views with even fewer people,
Kaiser recommends hiking to nearby Dewey
Point, a 7.5-mile loop trail also off Glacier
Point Road. With a permit, you can stay over-
night and take in the stars and sunrise.
From modest beginnings, Washington now a force in wine world
More than 1,000
wineries call
Pacific Northwest
state home
By NICHOLAS K.
GERANIOS
Associated Press
SPOKANE, Wash. —
When Craig and Vicki
Leuthold opened the Mary-
hill Winery in 2001, there
were about 100 wineries in
the state of Washington.
That number has since
exploded to more than
1,000 wineries this year,
and the remarkable growth
is likely to continue.
Maryhill Winery, just
south of the remote town
of Goldendale, is part of
that growth. It has recently
opened tasting rooms in
Spokane and Vancouver,
Washington, and is in the
process of opening a tast-
ing room in the Seattle sub-
urb of Woodinville.
“Our timing was great,”
said Craig Leuthold, whose
winery produces 60 vari-
eties. “Washington wine
has really increased in
popularity.”
Washington has become
a force in the wine industry.
The state has the nation’s
second-highest
number
of wineries, after Califor-
nia. But California, which
AP Photo/Elaine Thompson
Barrels of wine are moved into storage at Chateau Ste. Mi-
chelle winery in Woodinville, Wash. From less than 20 winer-
ies in 1981, the Washington wine industry has grown to more
than 1,000 this year. And the growth is likely to continue.
has around 3,700 wineries,
remains much bigger than
anyone else in the United
States, selling more than
$40 billion worth of wine
in this country.
Within the U.S., wines
from California are the top
sellers, followed by wines
from Australia and Italy.
Washington ranks fourth in
the sources of wine sold in
the U.S., said Steve Warner,
president of Washington
State Wine, the industry’s
trade group.
“More Washington wine
is sold in the United States
than French wine,” he said.
The state’s wine indus-
try generates about $2.4 bil-
lion a year in revenues and
contributes more than $7
billion a year to the state’s
economy, Warner said.
Washington’s wines are
consistently top-ranked, he
said.
“Washington
has
a
higher
percentage
of
90-rated wines than other
top wine-producing regions
in the world,” Warner said,
referring to the 100-point
scale for rating wines. “We
are competing against wine
regions with 28 generations
of winemakers, who were
doing it before America was
a country.”
Most of the industry’s
success stems from the
state’s climate and soils,
Warner said. Wine grapes
like long sunny days and
cool nights, which the vine-
yards in the central and east-
ern part of the state enjoy.
The area also gets little
rainfall compared to other
grape-growing
regions,
which is a plus, he said.
Washington still has
plenty of available land at
reasonable prices in wine
country,
said
Thomas
Henick-Kling, director of
the enology and viticul-
ture program at Washington
State University in Pullman.
The acreage dedicated to
grapes for wine is rapidly
expanding. Twenty years
ago, there were 24,000
acres of grapes. Today,
there are 59,000 acres of
vineyards.
Washington also has
skilled farmers and wine-
makers,
graduates
of
winemaking programs at
numerous local colleges,
Henick-Kling said.
There were about 20
wineries in 1981. That grew
to 100 wineries by 2001,
just over 500 by 2012 and
just over 1,000 now, War-
ner said. Growth has been
averaging more than 70
new wineries per year for
the past seven years.
Washington’s growth is
no surprise, as the number
of wineries and wine con-
sumption continue to grow
in the United States.
“The growth in winer-
ies around the country is
very exciting as wine sales
continue to grow, particu-
larly at the premium end,”
said Gladys Horiuchi of the
Wine Institute, which rep-
resents California wineries.
Wine shipments to the
United States from all for-
eign and domestic sources
grew 1% in 2018. The Wine
Institute said people are
drinking more premium
wine, which starts at $8 per
bottle.
The 1,000th active
license was issued to Jens
Hansen, owner of Uva
Furem winery in Maple
Valley. Hansen retired from
the Air Force, moved to the
Seattle area and decided to
become a winemaker.
“I feel like the Washing-
ton wine community is a lot
like the Air Force in that
everyone looks out for each
other,” Hansen said.
About 70 grape variet-
ies are grown in Washing-
ton, with the most popular
reds being Cabernet Sauvi-
gnon and Merlot. Chardon-
nay and White Riesling are
the most common whites.
Most of Washington’s
wineries are fairly small.
The owners “are passion-
ate about wine and work
full time and crush grapes
on weekends,” Warner said.
There are a smaller num-
ber of midsize wineries that
enjoy national distribution,
plus a handful of indus-
try giants like Chateau Ste.
Michelle, he said.
More investors from out-
side the state are joining
the industry, Warner said.
It also helps that Washing-
ton has long had a lot of
wealthy people who work
for companies like Boeing,
Microsoft and Amazon and
have money to invest in the
industry, he said.
Many of the state’s best
wineries are clustered
around the old town of
Walla Walla, which used
to be known primarily for
sweet onions and as home
of the state penitentiary.
Now, it is home to world-
class winemakers.
Warner expected the
strong growth rate to
continue.
“The line is not flatten-
ing,” he said. “I wouldn’t
be surprised if we get to
2,000.”
One factor that could
limit growth is climate
change, but Washington
also seems fortunate there.
The mighty Columbia
River, which irrigates much
of wine country, is pre-
dicted to be a stable water
supply for many years to
come, Henick-Smith said.
Heat spikes in the sum-
mer might damage grapes,
he said. But farmers are
moving vineyards to higher
elevations looking for
cooler ripening weather.
“Here in Washing-
ton we’re pretty stable,”
Henick-Smith said.