Sun, Vino & a Hill
It was a beautiful October morning. As we moved through the light morning mist and lingering ground fog, the sun began to peak over the Cascade Mountains into a crisp blue, cloudless sky. Our rendezvous was Charlie’s Café in Enumclaw, where we were to meet with several Aston and Jaguar owners for a parade through the Cascade wilderness across Chinook Pass and an ultimate destination of Benton City. Wine country. Visit’s to Chandler’s Reach and Hedges wineries. Then, a run down SR 22 and the Bickleton Highway, and a stop to watch the Maryhill Loops Road Hill Climb. And finally, lunch at Maryhill Winery with its spectacular overlook of peach orchards, the Columbia River and the canyon walls ascending to Oregon farmlands.
Lots of scenery, color and curves. Great, sparsely traveled roads. Beautiful, classic winery Estates and tastings. Wonderful organizers and lovely, generous people. The perfect setup for a fantastic weekend. And no, believe it or not, this time nothing went wrong!
Since we’re early on the road, traffic up 2-lane SR 410 to the 5,430 foot summit is light. With a lovely dark red Jaguar E-Type coupe in the lead, we leisurely make our way along through dense forest of Douglas fir. At Greenwater we pass the nearly 100-year old Naches Tavern, that icon of rustic, authentic, logger-themed watering holes. At the Crystal Mtn ski area cut-off, the road crosses into the Mt Rainier National Forest, marked by a log gateway built by the CCC in 1936. Well past Greenwater, the forest gives way to a cliff hanging roadway lined with a 2-foot high stone guardrail probably first built in the 1930s. Occasionally the trees part, giving spectacular close ups of Mount Rainier with the morning sun hard on its glaciers. A superb view of the mountain can be had at Tipsoo Lake and its surrounding trails, which can all be seen from the road.
We take a break at the summit to stretch our legs and take in the fall colors. Escaping the car brings on the sharp, crisp cool air of fall at elevation, along with a shiver or two and a rush for our jackets. Small talk is mixed with potty runs and photo ops. Then it’s back in the cars for the ride down the eastern side to Naches. A gas stop near there leads to a full stop on the highway shortly after. Eight horses have escaped their pasture and locals are attempting to herd the skittish group off the road and back through the gate. It makes for a few minutes of entertainment and the leaving of a couple souvenirs on the highway before they are finally corralled. On our way again, we take Winecountry Road and the Old Inland Empire Highway to avoid I-82 and make it to Chandler’s Reach Vineyards outside Benton City, just short of the Tri-Cities.
After lunch, a tasting and enjoying the scenic and Tuscan-style estate, we head to nearby Hedges Vineyard, where the owners have recreated the look and feel of an old Italian villa. We are treated there to a selection of their library wines that vary in vintage from 2000 to 2013. Good stuff! It seems the owner is an avid Porsche racer and could not be with us because he was racing in California. Still, his love of cars has gotten us special treatment, for which we are naturally grateful.
From this wonderful spot we proceed to a Jag owner’s personal vineyard on the Yakima River for dinner. After a lovely, peaceful evening sunset soiree, we head to Richland for a well-deserved night’s rest.
Another brisk and sunny Eastern Washington morning brings a roughly 2-hour drive down scenic, very rural Bickelton Highway past Goldendale to the overlook that borders MaryHill Loops Road. Bickelton Highway offers a wide variety of straight and curving roadway. Not in the greatest shape, it can bounce you around a bit in a tightly-sprung sports car. Still, its changes from pasture and farmland to forested and constantly undulating countryside is both fascinating and entertaining. After a turn onto US 97 and a descent towards MaryHill, the overlook is where some of the excitement begins.
Maryhill Loops Road was originally built as a self-funded demonstration project in 1911, by engineer Samuel Hill and landscape architect Samuel Lancaster, as the first asphalt road in Washington. Since by-passed, it’s now owned by the Maryhill Museum of Art and annually hosts a historic hillclimb. It is a SOVREN-sanctioned event intended to re-create the excitement of the original hillclimb event held from 1955 to 1963. It was discontinued when torrential rains washed out large sections of the 10-mile road. The event re-started in 1998 when a 3.6 mile section was rebuilt. The road is also now the yearly site of the International Downhill Federation World Cup Series for longboarding and street luge. Just seeing the hairpins, winding curves and immediate dropoffs makes the thought of skateboarding down that hill nuts to imagine.
Top international drivers and cars as diverse as Ferraris, vintage Bentleys and Bugattis, Model-T racers, Minis, motorcycles and formula B cars have raced here. It was a hoot to watch these drivers navigate this challenging ribbon of two lane road.
After observing some of the racing we head to Maryhill Winery, perched atop the gorge overlooking the expansive Columbia River. Janice and I stumble upon some good fortune here when we are invited by a very generous couple to join them for a Wine Club event in the members only lounge. Totally random, they assured us. They had friends who were caught still traveling, and so unable to make the event. Rather than waste the invites, they asked us if we would consider joining them. With a surprised look, we both said, “Yes, of course! And “Wow! Thank you very much!” It was a very nice tasting with appetizer pairings. We had a very nice conversation with them for a little more than an hour before rejoining our group, feeling just a bit sheepish. Before leaving Maryhill to make our way home, we made one last stop at the bottom of the hill to buy some locally grown peaches. Boy, were they delicious. Janice bought a whole box!
A special thanks to our Jaguar Club friends who put so much effort into making this a very fun weekend. I’m also curious about that Hill Climb – I’ll be contacting the Maryhill Museum for details. There may be more to come on this part of the story. Stay tuned…
