Pt Reyes Backpacking 2012, pt 2

At Sky Camp, we had debated the wisdom of setting up our tents underneath the tree canopy. What I had thought of is that if it drizzled, all the dirt and bugs from the twigs and leaves would rain down and dirty up our tents. But as it turned out, , the best and level spot was directly under a huge open tree-shaded area. We went to bed so early that it was actually nice to have the early gloom of the shadows, and it looked like the morning sun might peek through the edge of the eastern side. 

I was a little chilly that night and didn’t sleep all that well. Just warm enough to not want to give up my meager heat to crawl out and pull on my polartec jacket, but not warm enough to be comfy. Nola, who has plenty of body heat was happily commenting on how she didn’t get too warm!

As we strolled down to take the morning air, we realized what a tent pitched out in the open would have meant. The little dome tent down by the hitching rail was drenched in the morning dew! We were able to pack our dry tents and take off right after a nice breakfast of scrambled eggs or oats/granola.

About the freeze-dried scrambled eggs with bacon… all I can say is… YUM! They were delicious and moist and had a nice firm texture. Next time I’m leaving the oatmeal packets at home and just taking the eggs!

We hung the map in a little pouch from Nola’s pack so the Trailmaster would have access to it whenever she needed to check directions. 

   

(You may think Melinda is preparing to look at the map, but she is really checking on The Chair.)

 We took the Woodward Valley trail to cut down to Coast Trail so we would have as much seaside walking as possible, even though it meant a few more miles and probably more total uphill walking by the end of the day.

 Along the trail we saw the weirdest thing, a great green mass up about 40 feet or more high up on a dead tree. The binoculars proved it was living vegetation instead of a giant green beanbag chair, but we could not see just what it was or how the leafy thing was living, perched up there on the dead spike of a conifer.

 We came out on Coast Trail near the beach access to Sculpture Beach, the site of a dramatic rescue we had taken part in last year when a guy had fallen off the cliff and had lain there all night.

Talk about a jinxed area! There I am, strolling along ahead of my two companions, happily snapping photos when I see them pause, and then step to one side of the trail. They looked deep in thought, staring pensively down as they murmured. I’m missing this little moment! I thought, and went back to get in on the conversation. 

That’s when I saw they weren’t chatting, but staring at a big red blob halfway covered with a big pile of weeds and thistles. The bare bloody rib cage was my first clue that it had been a deer. In fact, it was a really fresh, large deer that hadn’t even started to smell or draw flies yet.

Melinda, the Trailmaster, also proved herself as the Beastmaster.

“Mountain Lion, probably last night. You can see it ate the heart and liver.”

That was when I remembered the last time I’d gone hiking and had some time to ponder my status as mountain lion prey. I had been going to make a small cape with big scary eyes painted on it to wear across the back of my pack.

“One good thing,” the Beastmaster said, “is that our packs protect the back of our necks.” My neck started to crawl, and we realized that the mountain lion might actually still be in the vicinity and feel protective about his dinner, so we scurried on down the trail. 

One big landmark along the trail is the huge eucalyptus tree marking the access for Kelham Beach. That was where we were going to eat our lunch. Down the stairs we went to the sand. A lovely waterfall fell to the mossy rocks directly to one side. We took our shoes off to walk along the beach looking for a bit of a shady overhang. 

Only a half dozen steps and I was running. Hot Hot Hot! I couldn’t stop to take off my pack or get my camp shoes. The only thing I could do to keep the soles of my feet from frying was to keep them off the sand, one at a time, by running. Soon I heard close at my heels, “Hot Hot Hot!” Melinda and I were running a race to nowhere. In my pain, I spied a log of driftwood that curved a few inches above the surface. A thin shadow lay under it. I aimed for it and then shoved my feet under it into the shaded sand. Melinda followed, doing the same. And then here came Nola, “Hot Hot Hot!” as she ran circles around us. “Here! Under this log!” we cried.

 Finally the three of us had breathing room to get our packs off and our camp shoes on.

 Lucky Tess is small enough to tuck herself into a bit of shade.

 Tess gets booties to keep her from burning her paws.

 Rattlesnake Grass

 After lunch, Bear Valley Trail took us inland again and headed towards Glen Camp. We had some nice cool easy sections.

 The quail were so cute!

 The nicest area of today's trail.

 Soon enough, the trail turned steeply uphill. At this point, we settled into our jobs. My job was to say that I was sure the trail leveled out right after this bend. The Trailmaster’s job was to say that we should be there any minute because there was only a half mile to go an hour ago. Nola’s job was to watch the rear for mountain lions and take care of the chair.

Tired Tess

Arriving at Glen Camp was a nice reward. It is a beautiful campground, and we had it virtually to ourselves. We enjoyed time at each campsite as it spent its moment in the warm sun. 

 Melinda even took a shower. Thank goodness I had brought the shower curtain with the big finger design. 

We pitched tents under the large tree canopy. We went to bed on the early side, me enjoying my ipod, Nola enjoying her book, and both of us enjoying the entertainment of listening to Tess rollicking around inside the other tent.

Just as I was about to drop off to sleep, I heard a deadly, ominous sound. Crrrraaaackkk! A tree limb had dropped off somewhere close-by. Nola thought it might be overhead. I didn't think so, but in my mind, I was already diving underneath her cushion. (I like to think I would have thought again and thrown my body over hers to protect her.)

But we didn’t die, and I hope I remember the adventure and look for big limbs the next time I sleep under a tree.

Backpacking at Pt. Reyes 2012, Pt. 1

When my daughter Melinda and I went backpacking at Pt. Reyeslast year, we had such a good time and it was such a beautiful place that we knew we would have to share it with someone who was like-minded. When my sister, Nola, said she would be interested in planning a backpacking trip in California in May, we said we knew just the place!

We had spent 3 days and 2 nights last year, but the plan for 2012 was to make as full a trip as we could squeeze out the time for. And that meant 4 days and 3 nights. I knew that the basic gear would be the same for a 3 night trip; we would only need an extra day’s worth of food.

For some reason, every time I’ve gone backpacking, I’ll think that my pack will only weigh about 25 to 27 pounds. I don’t quite understand why that number is tattooed in my mind. It is slightly possible that my pack weighed that on my very first training trip when we walked over to the Live Oak Recreation Park and spent a night. And maybe that number has never been supplanted by the following realistic numbers from subsequent trips.

So there I am, shoving pieces of my pile of gear and food and stuff into my Gregory Diva 60 pack thinking, I sure hope I can hold this down to 25 or so pounds! Finally the last ritual of the pack-out arrived—the weighing. I lugged it over to the scale and slid the weights over to reveal…. THIRTY-EIGHT POUNDS! WHAT?

(Here you can view a 37 pound pack getting ready to face the truth of the scale)

As I went over the contents in my mind, I realized that the basic essentials, such as sleeping bag, tent, Thermarest, pack, fuel came to almost 25 pounds by themselves. Thankfully, my pack is designed to carry a lot of weight quite comfortably, so I knew I could manage. And I was also counting 2 liters of water and my food, which I was told is not part of the official weight of the pack. So I felt a little better and more resigned to the load.

We were very happy to have a driver to drop us off and pick us up this year so we would not have to stage vehicles at the start and end points. Cork drove us to Limantour Beach, where we ate our lunch and enjoyed a few minutes at the beach and the estuary.

Now I am fond of a few food-like items that are for sale at grocery stores and Walmarts. I am usually able, nay, always able to restrain myself from buying and eating them. Items such as fresh cinnamon sugar Hostess Donettes. But I have a harder time resisting when my sister is the little devil figure on my shoulder saying, “Go ahead! Get them! Splurge! It’s for vacation!” And the little angel figure on my other shoulder already has her mouth full of a couple of Donettes. These were APPLE cinnamon sugar flavor, which sounded nice, so I bought them. And yes, I shared a few and then ate the rest of the bag the first day.

Our reservation for the first night was at Sky Camp. It was to be a fairly short hike, though the word “sky” was suggestive of rising in altitude via a steep hike. Instead of the cheater trailhead to the camp which would have made our hike over almost before it started, we had our driver drop us off at the more reasonable trailhead at the hostel. Nola and I appointed Melinda as the “Trailmaster,” since she was the only one with the proper qualifications, i.e. she did not have to turn the map around like a steering wheel to see which direction to go.

We unloaded our gear, snapped on clips and hung cups, poles, shoes, laundry (oops, that was later) and water bottles to our backpacks and staggered off. 

Our Trailmaster pointed her stick. “That way!” she said. We circled around in a bit of confusion, since it looked like we needed to go the other way. But as we were reminded: “Who is the Trailmaster here?” Our driver bid us Godspeed and began inching out of his spot as we disappeared around the corner. Soon he had the rearview in position to see us for one more “goodbye” as we passed back by on our way to the trail we were supposed to take.

Too shortly, another trail decision had to be made. We had planned on taking a shorter trail to Sky trail and avoid “Fire Road,” which sounded ominous or utilitarian, either of which didn’t sound scenic. Yes, there were trail signs at the intersection, but we hadn’t been on the trail long enough to know how to interpret what they meant when they said “Fire Road, x miles, [arrow]” and besides, the other one looked hidden and unused, and besides, the Trailmaster didn’t press hard enough for her choice. And besides, anyone who knows me on the trail shouldn’t trust my choice, so it’s NOT MY FAULT!

After a couple hours of hiking, we realized why it was called Fire Road. Sometime in the past, this area had burned. Some of the views were quite striking; it turned out to be very scenic and enjoyable. And the other advantage to taking this route was to reinforce the authority of the Trailmaster. (“Hey! I said to take the other trail!”)

We did finally arrive at the lovely Sky Camp and after meandering aimlessly about we finally found our site. Nola had picked all our sites ahead of time, using intuition, Google Earth type visuals and descriptions. And each site, we decided, was the best of the whole camp! Here, we had a nice, private area with either sun or shade, as we desired.

Back when we were packing our backpacks, trying not to throw random stuff in as the time drew close to be gone, Melinda and I viewed Nola’s chair with a skeptical eye. Is she really going to drag a CHAIR along? She did. And I am not ashamed to say that I used it more than she did. In the future I am going to see what unimportant things I can leave out, like say, deodorant, extra underwear, first aid kit… so I can bring my own Crazy Creek chair.

(yes, that is poison oak behind the food locker)

We had a nice dinner (guess I need to expand, since this IS “Food Adventures”) which consisted of various freeze-dried packets. Mel had a chili mac thing, which ended up a little soupy, I fixed up half of a beef stew packet that I had bought off the expired rack a couple years ago, and I think Nola had fruit, granola and tea or something. But the highlight was the Platypus pouch of lovely grape juice, from Napa Valley.

Next to come, Day 2!

More Fennel Bulb

Thought I’d give fennel bulb another try. I ended up with sort of mixed results, which was too bad, since it was a little expensive. I did substitute the black olives I had in the pantry for the Mediterranean style olives it called for. But I don’t think it would have made that big a difference in how I liked it.

I was looking forward to the mild anise-like flavor that I could smell as I was slicing it. The recipe called for it to be sliced lengthwise, thinly. It was sort of hard to figure out just what they meant the finished product to look like, so I made matchsticks. It called for 1 whole cup of mint leaves, chopped up. But that seemed a little overpowering to me, so I reduced it down to about a third of a cup. But it still overwhelmed any delicate flavors that I’d been hoping for.

The dressing was basically equal parts lemon juice and olive oil, salt and pepper. I love lemon juice, but I think I am more partial to vinegars in salads like this. So the lemon didn’t suit me as well as it might have someone else. A quarter cup of chopped onion was also called for.

For my serving pictured here, I topped it with some pieces of fresh mozzarella and some white (skinless) toasted walnuts. The fennel was very crunchy, maybe a little too much so, sliced like this. But the mixture of textures was nice.

Got this out of a Good Housekeeping compilation cookbook.

Parsnips, or How Can Something that is called "Parsnips" Taste Good?

We never had parsnips when we were kids. Nor rutabagas. And those two words are probably the funnest veggie words to say. So I'd say that I was deprived.

Not so much for rutabagas. When I did try them a few years ago, I decided I could take them or leave them. But parsnips were a real surprise. Roasted, they were surprisingly sweet. But it has been awhile, so I thought I'd try them again along with this vegetable variety I'm working through.

I got some ideas from a roasting recipe in my Cook's Illustrated, but since I didn't have all the ingredients, I just made something up with what I had. I tossed peeled and cut-up parsnips in some canola oil along with cut-up onions and celery. I seasoned it with salt and just a little something green; it might have been Italian seasoning or herbs de Provence. My idea was that I would toss in some hot chicken chunks after it was roasted to make a main dish out of it.

I've discovered the key to roasting vegetables in the oven is high, high heat, and a pre-heated cookie sheet. I love that sizzling sound when I strew the oily vegetables onto the 500 degree cookie sheet! Then I pop it back in the oven and cook it for about 20-25 minutes, without stirring.

Well, lo and behold, when I looked for those chicken pieces in the 'fridge, they weren't there any more! Thinking fast, I shredded up a wad of dill Havarti cheese, and when the vegetables came out of the oven, I put them in the serving bowl and piled the cheese on top. It melted down into the veggies ever so nicely, and I think the result was even better than it would have been with chicken!

One piece of 'nip that I ate seemed a little bitter, but the rest was fine. So maybe some parsnips turn out more bitter, just like some jalapenos are more fiery than their bin-mates. So if you ever do get a bitter piece of parsnip, don't let that turn you off this sweet and creamy root vegetable!

Celery Root, Mr. Ugly

Celery root is the big gnarly thing you see in the produce case, if your grocery carries a few of the more unusual fruits and vegetables. In my latest quest for some variety in my vegetables, I decided to get to know this guy.

It has the look of something that must be tamed by heat, but in looking through my Cook's Illustrated, I see that it is also salad material. Since I was low in the ingredient list for most of the other recipes in my book, I decided to try Celery Root and Apple Salad with(out) Parsley. I don't usually have parsley unless I have bought it on purpose for a recipe, so I had to go without. But I did put a pinch of Herbs de Provence in the dressing to try to make up for it.

First you cut off the tops of the root and then peel it. Peeling it isn't all that easy, because you have some grooves and crevices of ugly stuff that need to come off, but you don't want to take away too much of the good part, since you have paid a little bit more for this than you would have for a bundle of regular celery. You are left with a white ball that is about the size and shape and color of a baseball.

It called for one Granny Smith apple, but I don't buy those. In my opinion, they are all picked too soon and are too bitter. When I had a GS tree, I let them stay on for awhile and they developed a wonderful tangy sweetness, not getting soft or pithy for a long time after that. So I use Pink Ladies when they call for GS, unless it is for baking. I cut and quartered the apple and then cut the celery root up into chunks. Then I fed them into the food processor with the shredding blade. The mixture looked sort of like shredded potatoes with pink flecks.

The dressing was made with lemon juice, Dijon mustard, salt, oil, pinch of sugar, and a little sour cream. I didn't have any sour cream, so I used half yogurt and half mayonnaise. I stirred it in and let it rest for about 15 minutes.

It was actually very nice. It would have been prettier with the parsley; it did look a little insipid. But the texture was tender/chewy, and it had a very light celery flavor. I would say it is a very good alternative to cole slaw.

White Walnuts, the Holy Grail

Well, actually skinless walnuts.

I really like nuts. Almonds, cashews, pistachios, macadamias, Brazil nuts, and even peanuts. I also really like walnuts, which have turned out to be one of the latest miracle foods for health. But I don't like what most other people don't like about them - the bitterness of the skins.

I also tend to like my nuts roasted. So I was quite excited about the article on new uses for microwaving that I saw in the latest Readers Digest.

All you have to do is lay out a single layer of nuts on a plate and nuke them for 3 minutes.

I pulled out a handful of walnuts from my jar, spread them out, and did just that. I sort of rearranged them after each minute, but it really didn't turn out to be necessary. My only disclaimer is that we have a rather low wattage oven, so if you have a more powerful one, you might try it for 2 minutes instead.

When I took them out and handled them, an unexpected benefit appeared. The brown skins just flaked off! Wonderful!

Fennel Bulb - New Vegetables

I like vegetables. I like meat. I LOVE bread! But I'm trying to eat less bread carbohydrates. (none, practically speaking) I do love variety, and so I'm trying to see what is out there besides broccoli, salad greens, tomatoes, zucchini and butternut squash.

Meet Fennel. One of those strange things I've seen in the produce section, but never ran across either growing up, in a restaurant, on a plate or even from a personal reference. So I decided to make my acquaintance.

I found several recipes in my Cook's Illustrated, and picked a likely prospect. Apparently you can eat this stuff raw or cooked. Since I have an abundance of young tender radishes in my garden, I decided to try this one: Roasted Fennel and Mushroom Salad with Radishes.

This is the gist of the recipe: Toss the cut and cored fennel and halved mushrooms with a little olive oil and salt and pepper. Throw them on a pre-heated cookie sheet at 500 degrees (yes!) for about 20 minutes. Don't turn them or stir them around. Mix up a bit more oil, a splash of lemon juice, a dab of Dijon mustard, more salt and pepper in the bowl you tossed the veggies in. Slice the radishes thin, chop up some of the feathery fennel fronds and set aside. Pull out the roasted veggies and toss them with the dressing. Let cool to warmish, then toss in the radishes and fronds. Enjoy lukewarm.

If you want the detailed recipe, let me know. I found this to be quite nice. Not a dramatic dish in terms of taste, but nice. I think that good radishes make the recipe. The fennel is very mild, and the anise flavor mostly comes from the bits of frond.

Fennel isn't cheap, but it is a nice addition to make to my veggie list. I'm going to look into maybe growing it myself.