Yosemite, or "That's one Big Rock"

When I asked K if she wanted to write the post about Yosemite, she declined, noting that all she could think of to say about it was "Man, that's one big rock". With this I am inclined to agree.

Mark and Katy overlooking Half Dome and the Yosemite Valley

The Yosemite Valley in California is one of those rare places in America so massive and beautiful that any attempt to describe it fails, and any pictures taken invariably look like some postcard-shot clicked in front of a blue screen at a $1 Photomat machine. Despite the theme-park atmosphere, hundreds of ill-disciplined children climbing around precariously on the scattered rocks, non-stop hybrid shuttlebusses, squirrels so fat on tourist handouts they have jowls, and neighboring campers that ignore everything listed about quiet hours and the dangers of frequent bear incidents (Yosemite has the highest frequecy of dangerous incidents, including tent-shreddings and car break-ins), there is something so incredible about the sheer size and beauty of the area that makes it worthwile. So rather than gush on about the massive granite faces, one ancient block pushed up from the Earth over a very long time and no doubt with considerable force, punctuated with numerous and violent waterfalls, I'll post a few pictures and suggest strongly that you make the effort to go there sometime. We'll be back, too, as seeing Half Dome gave me the urge to hike to the top of the cable-lined trail. As Promised:

Mark, Katy, Trisha, and Jamie at El Capitan

Sac-town and other updates...

I feel like I've been living in my car. Which is basically what we have been doing, but it is ceasing to feel like a vacation, and now feels like we have been doing this forever, and this is just how we will live.

We are currently in West Sacramento, CA visiting Jamie and Trisha. We just put up a bunch of posts about what we have been doing the past week, so scroll down. Also, please leave comments. We like hearing from you.

In response to comments, and also general questions that we get along the way about our veganism, this is what we eat...

For Breakfast...
coffee, and
a hot cereal made of hard red winter wheat, oats, whole barley and millet (tastes kind of like oatmeal but has more nutrition), sometimes with pieces of dried fruit, or
whole wheat bagel with peanut butter and jelly, or
pancakes with maple syrup and wild berries if there are any by where we are camping

Throughout the Day...
trail mix, chips and salsa, this crazy pufffed snack called Veggie Booty - which looks like cheeze puffs except it tastes like veggies, peanut butter and jelly, chickpea salad sandwiches, fruit and vegetables (usually carrots), and leftovers of whatever we cooked the night before

For Dinner...This is where the magic happens, always different, always delicious (except this one time in Grand Tetons)...Here are some things we have done...
Roasted potatoes, squash, peppers and onions in little foil packets over the fire,
Whole wheat pasta tossed with homemade pesto and cannellini beans, served with a spinach salad with homemade rosemary balsamic dressing and garlic bread,
Mish Mosh (see the post below),
Ethiopian Red Lentil Curry (Misirwot), and
Southwestern Pasta toss with black beans, fire-roasted red and green bell pepper and jalapeno peppers, chipotles, onions and tomatoes.

The key for effective vegan camp cooking is to be prepared with a pantry of organic, whole-grain ingredients, such as pasta, grains and beans, and a collection of spices and dried herbs. We shopped at Frankferd Farms in Saxonburg, PA - down the street from M's parents' house, and brought the essentials from our spice cupboard. Then, as you are traveling, shop for locally grown produce and cook what's available. The best plan is a loose plan.

We keep our meals to one pot, or possibly to one pot and a frying pan, and plan ahead to roast vegetables or garlic whenever we have a fire. The rule in our camp is that you must lick your plate clean after you eat (yes, we use soap and wash them after that, but it's a lot easier without any little food morsels on them).

More recipes will be posted later, or possibly in a book that we will publish.

Redwood-Sized Fun

K is working on a post about our actual ventures in the California Redwoods state parks, as her writing is more suited to the majesty of the trees and the excellent hiking experiences we had there. But no trip to this part of California is complete without at least some mention of the ridiculous array of roadside attractions found along or near the US-101 in Northern California. That's where I come in...

There are endless numbers of little motels and shops selling burl wood and redwood sculptures, and no shortage of 'Amazing One-Tree Houses' and drive-thru trees. Perhaps the greatest of these attractions is Trees of Mystery, host to a giant-sized sculpture of Paul Bunyan and Babe, the Blue Ox. Its really really big, and you can't miss it driving out of the forest, you just come around a bend and there it is. We didn't go into the actual for-charge attraction, but we'd be remiss to not at least take a photo.




Also a necessity is a drive-thru tree. You really need to drive through a tree. To be honest it was a main goal of mine on this trip, and now I can sleep easy at night, having finally driven through a tree.







Also worth mention is the 'Famous Confusion Hill', site of some sort of mysterious vortex or something. Again, it was costly, and it looked basically like a carnival-house that was built on an incline, so that when you go in you get all disoriented. They also host the amazing Chipalope, a sort of Jackalope spin-off that's a king-sized chipmunk with antlers, as well as the Twin-Towers Memorial Trees, which (you guessed it) are two large redwoods growing next to one another. The sculpture at the entrance is pretty cool, a 40' totem carved upright from a single log. Most are carved while down and then put back up, or made in pieces and reassembled. So that was pretty cool.

K, fire-master

From the first night we've been allowed to due to wildfire dangers, K has wanted to make the campfire. Not just start it, but make it high-quality, hot, and organized (so that all of the available wood is consumed). Her first efforts were met with much frustration and sadness, as in many parks and campgrounds the wood that was available was not completely cured, kindling was wet or altogether unavailable, and her understanding of fire-construction was limited. Many times the fire would become extraordinarily smoky, or put itself out after a few minutes.


However, with dedication, perseverence, and a little bit of study from our trusty Outdoors Handbook (which we pikced up at the Lolo Pass vistitors center), K has learned the ways of a true fire-master. Her past few attempts have been bright, hot, and not-overly-smoky. Here she is enjoying a successful fire at Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park. Congrats on your new skill!

Prairie Creek State Park, Northern California

We went on a splendid hike, probably the best of the entire trip, at the Prairie Creek State Park, which is part of the Redwoods national/state system. I have decided that 11-12 miles is the perfect length of a day hike for my present physical condition, so I was relieved to see that the itinerary matched this for once. (M tends to like to walk a bit further and faster than me.)

The hike started off on the James Irvine Trail, which can be reached by taking the interpretive loop out of the visitor's center. By the way, if you make it to this visitor's center, you MUST go inside and see the elk skull lodged in the tree trunk. I guess they like to jam their antlers into other elk, but if not available, will do it to a tree and this one got stuck and died, leaving the tree to grow around its skull. As the exhibit label puts it, "A rare find indeed!"

The James Irvine Trail passes through grove after grove of old-growth Redwoods, and now we really believe the books that called these trees the tallest in the world. As we walked, we commented that it seemed the trees were getting larger as we went...possible, I thought, but in this place it seemed just as likely that we were getting smaller. The trail meanders up to the upper ridge along a canyon through which shallow, cold waterfalls and streams flowed, the sides of the canyon lined with ferns and moss. After about four miles, the trail intersects the Fern Canyon loop trail, which descends into the canyon, so you can get a look at the ferns lining the canyon walls from below. As we left the canyon, we were back on the sandy shores of the Pacific Ocean, and walked about a mile south along the beach to meet up with the Miner's Ridge Trail.

There were a ton of birds on the beach - many gulls, some kind of pelican-like bird that we haven't been able to identify, and little sandpipers. As the tide receded, pieces of crabs and shells and seaweed were revealed in the sand. It was surprisingly warm and sunny on the beach, so we stopped to eat some leftover Mish Mosh and delicious Washington apples from our Olympia relatives. As we were walking out on the beach we saw water spouting up into the air several hundred yards offshore, which we assume came from a whale of some type, as there are many known to inhabit and migrate through this area.

The Miner's Ridge Trail was much more overgrown at the beach end and we found some suspiciously bear-like scat as we started back into the woods, which of course, made me nervous. However, we ran into nothing more than a couple of banana slugs and some vibrantly blue berries which we did NOT taste. There was evidence of fire damage on this trail, although it may have occured long ago. The regenerative property of the Redwood is phenomenal, and we saw trees that had the entire inside burned out, but were still growing strong and tall. These burned out areas created dark and spooky 'caves' within the trunk of the tree and I only went in one, but the silence there was so complete that I nearly forgot that I was inside a thousand year old life.

Redwoods have tanine in their bark, and unlike many conifers do not have pitch, which makes them less susceptable to destruction by fire. Their bark can be up to a foot thick. There were once over 2 million acres of redwood forest in Northern California, but now less than 100,000 acres remains and only 40,000 of that is protected by state and national parks. As much as we have enjoyed the natural existence of these remarkable trees, we have noted that many must enjoy what can be made out of these trees...we passed endless truckloads of redwood logs and drove by countless sawmills and lumber yards.

If you hike this trail, be prepared for a variety of hiking surfaces, some elevation change, and to hear a lot of "that's a big tree" coming from your hiking companions along the way. Don't miss this state park if you are in the area.

Eat what you've Got (Mish-Mosh)

Not wanting to make another stop at the grocery, and quite dedicated to finishing the many foods that we brought along, but with a rather limited pantry, our first 14-mile hike through the redwood forests of California got my brain going. We had used up most of the fresh food we had available, but long walks make you hungry. the last 6 miles or so were filled with questions like 'hey, did we eat all of that onion the other night'. The result was this haphazard recipe, which K semi-affectionaltey dubbed 'Mish-mosh'. Looks like vomit, but tastes oh so good...

1 carton leftover white rice (from Thai Talay restaurant in Bandon, OR)
1/2c whole-wheat couscous
most of 1 packet dried shiitake mushrooms
1/2 leftover onion
1/2c or so of sliced-up baby-cut carrots, preferably with Sponge-Bob on the bag. These are better if you let them sit in the ice chest for a few days and periodically drain the water they've been soaking in (mmm...)
1 tbsp dried garlic pieces
1/4c crunchy peanut butter
1/4c toasted sesame oil
1/2 tbsp hot red pepper flakes
2 tbsp tamari
3/4 - 1c water
1/4c miso

mix the rice and dry couscous in a cookpot with a lid. Put the dry mushrooms in the water and boil to reconstitute (and make a nice broth). Dice up the leftover onion, add the carrot slices, garlic and chili flakes, and sautee in sesame oil until translucent. Add the peanut butter and tamari and stir to make a sauce. Take out the mushrooms and dice them up, adding them to the sauce. Pour the boiling mushroom water on the couscous/rice mixture and cover to let the couscous fluff. Add the sauce to this mixture, then add the miso, stir it up, and enjoy.

Not sure how useful this is to those looking to make something out of leftovers, as I think it unlikely that most travellers in the state parks of CA are hauling about toasted sesame oil and miso, but perhaps this says something about us. All I know is that it was mighty tasty, and provided a much-needed energy boost during the following day's hike as well.

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Farewell, Pacific Northwest

Today was a long and rewarding day. After yesterday's trip southward from Olympia, we ended up staying in Salem, OR. Nerd that I am, I insisted on beginning the day with a visit to the state capitol, which appropriately enough has a golden statue of a lumberjack on top. From Salem, we headed out to the coast, and enjoyed an amazing drive through sandy beaches, rocky cliffs, dunes, and the like, stopping frequently to look around and take in the scenery. The coastal areas of Southern Oregon are some of the most beautiful areas I've ever seen - there's just something magnetic and powerful about the combination of ocean, rocks, and evergreens the way they occur here.

As if that alone wasn't enough to make it back out here sometime, there's an awful lot of things we wanted to see but missed: The Columbia River Gorge, Mount Rainier (though we did go in the park briefly, and see it from a distance - it's hard to miss - we'd like to spend more time in the area, perhaps hiking the wonderland trail), Mount Saint Helens, and Crater Lake. Plus we managed to spend all that time in Northwestern Washington without setting foot in Seattle or taking any of the many ferries.

Oddly enough, Portland reminded me a lot of Pittsburgh. Lots of rivers and bridges and trees. Clouds most of the time. Olympia and Salem were both smallish cities with good land for small faming nearby and affordable - and close to bigger cities that have amenities like pro sports franchises and decent concert venues. There's certainly a draw to the region. As we sit in Brookings, Oregon - on the ocean just a few miles from the California border (and the Big Trees I've been looking forward to seeing for so long), I can't help but think I'll be here again.

Pacific Northwest, you haven't seen the last of us... goodbye for now.

Olympia Family

We had lunch with some relatives in Olympia, WA yesterday. K's Great Aunt Doris is in the middle surrounded by M and K, Doris's daughter, Anna, and 3 of Anna's 5 kids, who are some of the most polite and enthusiastic children we have met in a long time. They picked us apples from the tree in their yard and shared all kinds of interesting information with us. We wish we had more time in the Northwest, but it's time to head south.

Thanks for the stories about your crazy rooster and the abundance of apples! We enjoyed hearing them.

This Is How You Do the Beach in the NW

My experience with east coast beaches has been rather minimalist. You wear a bathing suit, take a towel, some sunscreen and maybe a small cooler. This is not how they roll out here in Oregon.

Perhaps because you can drive your car right out onto the beach, perhaps because the temperatures of the air and water are not quite comfortable for bikini wearing, going to the beach is entirely different.

Extravagent lunch, snacks, drinks, perhaps a full bar, umbrella, windscreens, chaise lounges, and tables are all part of the necessary equipment. We had a great day at Gearhart Beach with Anthony and his family and friends. The weather was warm, at least for coastal northern Oregon, but I left my jacket on for most of the day. I made it into the water up to my knees, but my feet started going numb, so I stuck to building castles in the sand.