Thoughts on Campfires

Trips

Despite the drought we are currently facing here in California, miraculously, the Forest Service is still allowing campfires in some wilderness areas, the Emigrant among them. With that said, we thought it apt to talk a little of campfires, wild fires, and your responsibility involving the two.

-Drown & Stir-

If you are going to have a fire, make sure it is fully extinguished; lots of water, lots of stirring.

We came across a runaway campfire not long ago where, whomever had enjoyed it’s warmth the night prior did not fully extinguish for whatever reason. Not only was their campsite and fire pit not by any source of water so as to extinguish, but it was in an extremely dry area with loads of debris and dry loose organic matter mixed in with the loose soil. This was a recipe for disaster where truly just an inkling of common sense could have told these folks not to make the decision to have a fire; they ignored said common sense.

-Do Your Part & Make Smart Decisions-

If you have a worry in your gut about having a campfire, it probably isn’t a good idea despite there not being a burn ban in the wilderness area you are in. The Californian natural lands are a tinder box at the moment and it is our responsibility as custodians of our wild landscape to protect what we have and prevent unnecessary wildfire.

Listen to Smokey

Below are a few pictures of a helicopter picking up water out of Jewelry Lake in The Emigrant Wilderness to dump on a runaway campfire that got out of control. Big ups to CALFIRE and their continued commitment to protecting our most valuable asset.

Lakeside Downtime

A Little Longer, Trips

Emigrant Wilderness – Lakes Loop

Entire Loop – 26 miles

Day 1 – Crabtree Trailhead to Y Meadow Lake – 7 miles

Day 2 – Meadow Lake to Piute Lake – 11 miles

Day 3 – Piute Lake to Crabtree Trailhead – 8 miles

Lakes Encountered: Chewing Gum Lake, Y Meadow Lake, Deer Lake, Jewelry Lake, Gem Lake, Piute Lake & Camp Lake

While hiking long distances and finding beautiful views is rewarding in itself, it’s important to take time to just lay back and give yourself the gift of enjoying your destination. Boots off, pack on the ground and snacks abound, swim in the lake, read the book you carried all that way and doze off…

To Last Through the Ages

Trips

Climbing up the 10,856′ Mt. Hoffman, it’s hard not to reflect on those who made it possible for us to enjoy it now. John Muir first ascended Hoffman on July 26, 1869 nearly 150 years before us; it’s incredible to think that after the century and then some that has gone by, that what we experience can still be so similar when everything else in the world is so drastically different.

In May of 1903, John Muir and then President, Theodore Roosevelt met in the Yosemite; they rode, hiked, ate, slept, appreciated, and pontificated under the magnificent blanket of the unimpeded starry Sierra night sky. It’s common to say that Muir gave Roosevelt a mission on this visit, a mission with which our President was familiar, but a mission at that; one of conservation.

On his journey back to Washington, President Roosevelt made a speech in Sacramento, he ended with this, “We are not building this country for a day. It is to last through the ages.”

Dutch Oven Dinner: Enchilada Casserole

Campfire Eats

One of the easiest Dutch Oven recipes we have come across and despite it’s ingredients being on the ‘not so healthy’ side of things, is absolutely delicious. Also, who in their right mind would turn down the opportunity to use Doritos for your car camping dinner in Yosemite. Embrace your gut and get down with this incredible campfire dinner treat from your own Dutch Oven. We served our Casserole with roasted sweet mini peppers in our Lodge cast iron skillet.

– Enchilada Casserole –

Tools:

10″ Dutch Oven

Stir Stick (Spatula, Spoon, Piece of Wood, etc)

Ingredients:

1 Can Chilli

1 Can Tomato Sauce

1 Can Enchilada Sauce

1 Bag Red Doritos

2 Cups Shredded Cheddar Cheese

1 Cup Sour Cream

1 Onion

Click below for some photos!

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Above Treeline

Trips, Weekends

Canyon Creek Trail – Trinity Alps

Out and Back – 16 miles

Saturday Morning – 6 miles

Sunday – 2 miles to Lower Canyon Lake for a dip and 8 miles out

There is just something about waking up a bit earlier to catch the stillness of the early morning light creeping through peaks and trees to illuminate the vibrant green and powder white of alpine terrain. Sitting on a rock, a stump, a blanket; stretching your arms and yawning, taking in your first cup of coffee. It’s as if the world isn’t spinning, eternity has stopped, and its just you and everything else; stone in a brisk mountain breeze, waiting for the sun’s tendrils to brush your skin.

“I know that our bodies were made to thrive only in pure air, and the scenes in which pure air is found.”
– John of the Mountains: The Unpublished Journals of John Muir, (1938)

Holiday Home

Trips

Provincetown, MA

For hundreds of years boat fragments, rope, and lumber have been washing up on the shores of Cape Cod. There were times when entire ships ran aground on these barriers of sand; life earnings spilling over and out into the shallows for others to plunder. Treasures are hard to come by these days, so we foraged and found drift wood and a fragment from the side of a ship. With it we made a shack. It was our home on the edge of the world.

Steep Ravine

Trips, Weekends

The wood is dark and damp, the sky grey, with fog and rain continually passing by; our small cabin is warm and filled with the wafting smells of my family’s Portuguese Kale Soup recipe simmering on the time worn and crackling wood stove. Lantern and tea lights burn low providing us just enough glow to fill our wine glasses and play card games for hours. A singular midweek night that, for all intents and purposes, should never end. Welcome to Northern California, we hope you love it here.

All photos taken with 35mm film.

Dutch Oven Dinner: Barbeque Ribs

Campfire Eats

When you have the time, the space and a lot of hunger, get your Dutch Oven out and cook up a feast. It truly does take time, but it’s the best kind of time – time deserved – spent sitting around the fire and enjoying the evening light while you await the best camping dinner you may have ever eaten. While kicking back at Stumpy Meadows Lake, CA we whipped this up, served with some grilled corn and lots of banquet beer.

– Barbeque Ribs Recipe –

Tools:
Hot Fire
Dutch Oven
Bowl
Tongs of some kind, or a couple sticks

Ingredients:
Rack of Ribs
Chopped Onions
Bottle of Ketchup
Salt + Pepper
Spice Blend (Chile Powder, Cumin, Nutmeg)
Water
Brown Sugar
Apple Cider Vinegar

Click below for full recipe + photos

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Lost Coast Patriotism

A Little Longer, Trips

Happy 4th of July everyone, this year leave the BBQ to your neighbors and do the most patriotic thing you can – explore and treasure your protected lands. (Or just combine it all and break out the Dutch Oven BBQ ribs over the campfire).

Lost Coast 4th of July – Black Sands Beach to Mattole River

South to North – 24.4 miles

Day 1 – 8 miles – Black Sands Beach to Big Flat

Day 2 – 6 miles – Big Flat to Oat Creek

Day 3 – 7.2 miles – Oat Creek to Punta Gorda

Day 4 – 3.2 miles – Punta Gorda to Mattole River

More photos after the jump of last years 4th of July backpacking adventure along the northern half of California’s Lost Coast.

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Alpine Lake Weekend

Trips, Weekends

Tahoe Rim Trail – Weekend in the Tahoe Basin from Big Meadow to Showers Lake

16 miles Total

Friday Night – 3 miles in to Round Lake

Saturday – 10 miles to Showers Lake and Back to base at Round Lake

Sunday – 3 miles out and a dip in Lake Tahoe just 20 minutes down 89

About halfway to Showers Lake we came across a rustic cabin and barn; this is the original home and barn of the Meiss family, pioneers that came to the area in 1878 and in time used the property only during the summer for grazing cattle. Eventually, through a land exchange in 1965, the Meiss family property was turned over to the Forest Service.

Evelyn Meiss Richards said of the family property,

“My father…drove his herd of cattle by horseback, taking five days, through Plymouth, Silver Lake, and Caples Lake…to our range for the summer… My three sisters and I had many a lovely summer fishing and riding horseback. Once a week some of us would ride our horses to Meyers to pick up our mail. It took us most of the day for the trip. My mother, in the meantime, would either make ice cream to be frozen in the snow bank, or bread and biscuits in the wood stove.”

The cabin and barn are still there to see in the midst of a vibrant green meadow full of wildlife just before climbing to the refreshing waters of Showers Lake. It’s quite an experience while hiking through Meiss Meadow to reflect on a “simpler” life of subsistence vs. our hectic daily grind; are we better off with our iphones and desk jobs or are we just longing for a return to a life based on need. To imagine what it would be like to make life in the meadow for the summer, only leaving for supplies and waking daily to the sounds of chipmunks, birds, and the strong Sierra wind blowing through the tall grasses of your very own meadow.