Southbound on Highway 97

Yakima Canyon Bridge

Dinner in Yakima, we didn’t try the bacon special.

Our Tieton (Tie-eh-ton) home, El Nido Cabin no. 6, lovely and comfortable, with everything it’s right place, to quote a favorite song. Tieton lies fifteen winding miles from Yakima, and worlds away, really. On the surface, it is agricultural, surrounded by miles of orchards, a smattering of vineyards, and idyllic rolling hills, baked and golden by summer heat.

What you might not know is that the town is also an incubator for small, artisan businesses, an enterprise called Mighty Tieton. There are artists, book binders, printers, and cheesemakers, to name a few, all working to infuse new life into this tiny town. You probably won’t be surprised to learn that I discovered their endeavors and planned our journey after enjoying a bottle Tieton Cider Works hard cider, either, some of the best I’ve ever tasted.

The cabins are situated on seven acres of land, beautiful in its near wildness. Birds and other creatures chirp and rustle, while underfoot, the ground crunches with twigs, dead grass and eager Russian thistles. Here is a patch of choke cherries, long chains of dangling jewel fruit; there, a hedgerow of wild roses, electric colored hips glowing in soft afternoon light. And farm equipment, ancient and battered, but looking as if their caretaker has just stepped into the shade for a spell and will return any moment.

Making friends

We love this cider!

Picture takers at The Tasting Room, Wilridge Winery. It’s biodynamic and delicious!

A horse named Nell

Pears

For my nephew

Towering fruit crates

Ed Marquand, a kindly fellow with fabulous spectacles, is responsible for getting Mighty Tieton started, after getting two flat tires on a bike ride through the town. He runs Paper Hammer Studios and gave us a tour of their operations. With one fancy printer and an old-timey book binding machine alongside a hundred year old paper cutter nearly as large as my bathroom, it is a small operation. Fine books are made by hand and cheeky prints, too. We came home with a few treasures.

On the home stretch, with Mount Rainier from the east.