Yvonne Pepin-Wakefield’s studio sits on the edge of the Columbia River, where wind, tide, and shifting light change the view hour by hour across the rocks below. From her windows, the landscape doesn’t sit still. It is both her view and her living canvas. The river is a part of her daily lif…

The waiting room had barely emptied before Vicky Valle was already thinking about the next mother. Would this mother remember her appointment next week? Would she have transportation? Did someone explain the ultrasound? Was she drinking enough water? Who did she plan to have beside her when …

By 12:30 every afternoon, the same woman stands up and announces she needs to go home.

Like most children born and raised in the Gorge, Rowan McKenna grew up skiing, biking, mountain biking, kiteboarding, and playing varsity lacrosse. “My parents put me on skis before I could run. I ski raced from a really young age, and I did club racing up until my sophomore year. I also pla…

Community is the belief that no one should disappear simply because a system was designed not to see them. It is a philosophy rooted in what Morella Mora calls mutual aid; the quiet, deeply human understanding that survival has always depended on people caring for one another when institutio…

A long time ago, before roadside farm stands and pumpkin festivals became a trendy family tradition, Mary Sandoz's great-grandfather and two great-uncles arrived in the Columbia Gorge with little more than a dream. They settled here in 1878, and two years later, they purchased the land that …

Linda is 79 years old, although she prefers to tell people she is “going on 80.” She is not retired.

She was about seven years old when she fell in love with the universe. She was browsing the tables with her classmates at a school book fair, "I remember just walking around, and finding an astronomy book telling me about the different stars and planets, how they worked together, and the lif…

Kim Yasui laughs as she shares her story about being the principal of Mid Valley Elementary. "My children joke that when I die, they'll have to put my ashes here."

The balance was zero. Grace Henning still remembers opening her junior class bank account and seeing exactly how much money they had to plan prom.

There is something wonderfully refreshing about spending time with Erin Black. Ask her about her career, and she'll tell you about the scientists she loves working alongside. Ask about leadership, and she'll start talking about the next generation of employees who have brought fresh ideas an…

At 83 years old, Claudia Leash still unlocks the door to her floral shop before most of downtown The Dalles has finished its first cup of coffee. She arrives early each morning with her dog Wasabi, who walks around the shop like a tiny shopkeeper on duty. Next door, her son starts a pot of c…

Caroline Grew’s life feels deeply lived. She has spent a lifetime rooted in connecting people to nature, culture, and each other. Because long before she became the executive director of the United Way of the Columbia Gorge, before the wildfire fundraisers, the disaster relief efforts, and t…

Morning settles quietly over the Columbia Gorge. The scent of pine lingers in the cool air as ribbons of singletrack disappear beneath the evergreen branches. Snow-capped volcanoes rise in the distance while sunlight filters through the trees. If you look closely, you will catch the dust ben…

Alejandra Retamales has been in motion her whole life. She was raised in Chile, became a mother at just 17 years old, finished high school with a baby, earned a degree in agricultural engineering, moved to France with her young family, and eventually helped launch the California branch of a …