stehli

[stehli]

Hiking - Grey Rock - Fort Collins, CO

I may have said that the "A" is the most famous hike in Fort Collins, but I may have been mistaken.  While the "A" is certainly the most visible hikable landmark in the area (you can see Longs on a clear day but that doesn't count), Grey Rock might be the most popular and celebrated "real" hike.

Corey somehow survived her Thursday night of death, despair, and extreme vomiting (it's like regular vomiting but with more blood), and as of Sunday morning she still wasn't feeling her best.  I threw the idea of hiking Grey Rock on the table, but honestly didn't think she'd go for it.  I was surprised when she crawled out of the basement with her boots and water bottle.  We were both skeptical in our own way, but it would be nice to take a break from baby and Grandpa for a few hours.

Up the Poudre Canyon about 9 miles, the trailhead parking lot is on the left.  It's odd, because the hike is most definitely on the right.  Deal with it, there's a bridge.  (That was my internal monologue as we drove up the canyon.)

The trail begins pleasantly - a nicely maintained path leading up the Poudre, and then up a feeder valley at a shallow rate.  After about 5 minutes you'll reach the split in the trail.  Meadows to the left, Grey Rock to the right.  The trail is a big, vertical oval.  Feeding into the bottom right corner is the trailhead path, and extending out of the top right is the Grey Rock summit.  We decided to go the short way up, essentially a direct route to the summit.

The trail wanders up a valley for some time, then has you clamber over a few large boulders in the stream bed, and then head up out of the valley.  (It is here we ate our first Clif Bar.)  You snake along a ridge or two before getting to the turn off to loop back down to the trailhead or ascend.  Corey wasn't feeling great, but was determined to go up.

You hike and scramble along a rocky ridge as you climb.  This get less distinct as you near the plateau at the summit.  At one point you'll turn left into the mountain and head straight up to the peak, but a well worn false trail will take you on a shallower grade around the east side of the mountain.  (2nd Clif Bar down)  When in doubt, go up.  If you can scramble it, it will take you up to shelf where you can find the trail again.  Look for rock stacks, brown posts, and brown hiking signs to guide you if you get misled.

The summit is a very inviting place.  There is a nice little meadow (very damp), a lovely campsite, and even a little pond where I would put friendly otters if I was in charge.  Corey thinks the otters should have a Fresca tap, but that sounds unrealistic to me.  I can only dream so big.

Just past the pond is official peak, offering great views of all points west, north, and south.  There is another slightly lower peak on the east side of things that can give you an eastward view.  Really, the views are great, and well worth the trip considering we were sitting at home about two hours earlier.

The way down is a good descending grade.  Once you get off of Grey Rock proper, you'll make great time.  Even though Corey was ailing, she decided to take us down the backside of the loop and through the "Meadow" portion of the trail.  True to its name, we discovered a pretty meadow just after the split.

"That's nice," I thought to myself.  "A meadow, just like it said in the trail name.  Now that we've seen our meadow, we'll head down this mountain and back to the car."

Sensing victory, we finished our water and resumed our descent.

Right up a mountain.

That's right, the back side of the loop isn't longer because it takes you on a shallower grade down the mountain, it's longer because you have to summit more things.  Corey was very displeased, but it would have been stupid to turn around.  Who does that?  Especially on a loop trail.

Deliriously dreaming of Fresca and Diet Cherry Limeade respectively, Corey and I finally, after about 15 more minutes of climbing, began our final descent.  We swung pretty far north to a gap in a ridge, where we could look north east and see the Hewlett Gulch trail far below us.  "Soon?" I whispered mysteriously to it as we turned down toward the Poudre.

Down down down the mountain across switchbacks in the rocky tundra, and then eventually into the bottom of a feeder valley.  The poison ivy here was INTENSE.  The thickest, lushest, most beautiful poison ivy I have ever seen.  It was present on the way up, but absolutely prodigious on this side of the loop.  Luckily, I believe I am not allergic to it, and was generally unfazed.

Staggering, stumbling, and full of complaint we finally got back to the bottom of the trail.  We soaked our tired feet in the Cache la Poudre for a few minutes then walked out to the car (which still needs a name - "White Enema" is not very catchy and I refuse to use it).  We drive to Sonic, where Corey bought me a 44oz Diet Cherry Limeade <3<3<3<3<3

[stehli]

There are only so many hours in a day and there are always so many awesome things to do.  I'm not sure how I could survive if I didn't feel this way every single day.

[stehli]

This is my latest video from Farmhaus Prod.  It's how to make batter bread, a simple, everyday loaf that requires no kneading.  That's right, none.  Because kneading is pure tedium.

-rs

[stehli]

Soon I will either be an office worker at a real estate company or an associate at a gourmet bakery.  I need to decide.  For profession or for passion...

[stehli]

My Cat On Stuff is finally up and running!  Hundreds of delicious photos await!

[stehli]

Ah, another lovely day at Golden Slumbers, and another video in the books.  Fun.

[stehli]

Fun day at Bob's River Place Hooray!!!!!

I often feel lucky to have escaped with my life, but it's fun as hell.

[stehli]

Food Corps: Round 2

I've been accepted into Round 2 of the Food Corps application process.  Ok, University of Maine Cooperative Extension - let's dance.

[stehli]

My Reflections on Joel Salatin

I saw mega-star farmer Joel Salatin the other day.  He gets an interesting treatment in the world of agriculture and is probably the most famous farmer in the country.   Granted, his name isn't so well known, but if you say "that kooky farmer with glasses from Food, Inc.," people usually know what you're talking about.

As I watched Joel speak last weekend, I was immediately struck by the realization that he is just a farmer.  For all the hype and excitement and goodness know how much he gets paid for an engagement - he's just a farmer.  He is innovative, hardworking, and intelligent.  He runs one hell of a farm.  But his methods and ideas are not really unique to him.  The University of Florida's IFAS Extension (farm research and whatnot) advocates the same practices that he uses.

Joel does a real service to agriculture, however, because IFAS backs up their methods with research.  Joel backs up his methods by making a hell of a lot of money.  "Practical Field Research," if you will.

So on one hand we have meticulous research showing that these farming methods work.  On the other hand, we have Joel Salatin making a bunch of money.  The result, however, is only progress at a snail's pace.  For the most part, farmers just don't care.

Why?  Because what Joel and IFAS advocate is a massive increase in management. "Management" is a fancy word for "work."  God forbid we have to work more.  You will have a better product, reduce your fixed costs (as these methods increase pasture and animal health thus decreasing reliance on monetary inputs), and increase your land's carrying capacity.  But you have to do some work.  And nobody wants that.

We'd rather lazily dig our own graves than struggle mightily to survive.

[stehli]

How to Make a Giant Cake Ball!

At this point, everyone knows about cake balls - it's old news.  But what do you do if you want to make a GIANT cake ball?  Perhaps you want to put it in a bundt cake?

Observe:

First, make your cake ball mixture.  It's basically just a mashed up cake mixed with frosting.  A good 'Sandra Lee' can be had here.  Or do it from scratch.  My cake is a sweet potato ginger cake with a cream cheese frosting.  I like to leave slightly larger cake chunks in the mix for some texture/flavor variety.

Once you have your mash, line 2 semisphere bowls with plastic wrap.  IKEA's Blanda Blank is ideal, and comes in various sizes for very cheap.  

Pack your cake mixture into each bowl until they are slightly more than completely full.  Smoosh them together with a little twisting to ensure a complete and perfect cohesion.  A little bit of cake should leak out the sides.  Wipe the excess cake from the seam where it might leak out.

Tape the bowls together to keep them closed.  Duct tape for the win!

Toss the mega ball in the freezer for 30-60 minutes.  Pull it out and carefully unwrap it.

Voila!  A massive cake ball!  

You can dip it, drizzle it, or frost it.  I'm not a chocolate person for the most part, so it was frosted with the remains of the cream cheese frosting.  I then stuck it in a bundt cake, as you can see:

This is a pretty bizarre-looking cake, I'll admit, but it was a huge hit.  That's a maple pumpkin bundt underneath.

How awesome would it be to frost this as the Death Star?!?!?!?!?

Enjoy!

[stehli]

3/20

Jillian has a tendency to go a little broody.  In layman's terms: baby-crazy.  Thankfully she wasn't hiding out under the house this time.  She was next to my neighbor's mailbox, along with thirteen hoarded eggs.

[stehli]

Rugged Maniac Results - my first race

I competed in my very first foot race the other day.  As far as my Gainesville Bucket List is considered, I'll call it a day.  Sure it's no triathlon, but there was a bit of swimming involved, and plenty of crawling under barbed wire and jumping over things, which I believe more than makes up for a lack of biking.  And I didn't even have to buy expensive new performance clothes.

With a total time of 32:26.4, I finished 31st in my division (out of 864), and 41st overall (out of 1752).  That's top 5%.  Not too shabby.

Training continues - it will never end.

[stehli]

A few baked sweet potatoes.  It's a no brainer.  When you boil a potato, it cooks too quickly to allow all the starches to be converted into sugar, which only occurs in a window of moderate temperature.  When you bake, the taters spend a longer time at the conversion temperature, thus being sweeter and more colorful.  It's basically malting for potatoes.  

They all taste different.  They all taste so good.  Thank goodness I still have about 80 pounds left!  Just another great way to eat a sweet potato.

[stehli]

Jasper's work is interesting.  Now that I have seen enough of it, I like seeing how her pieces fit within the umbrella of her work.  I'm just now getting familiar enough to say, "Yes, that is clearly a Jasper."

underpainting for the second project in series

[stehli]

Chocolate Flavored Bark Coating: Another abomination.  

What is this?  Why is this?  What is "bark?"  Why is this not "Chocolate?"

Barf.

[stehli]

The turnip harvest is rolling in here in north central Florida.

[stehli]

This might be the strangest way to eat potatos yet.  Green (purple) sweet potato pancakes.

I used a really basic pancake recipe for this:

1 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking soda (or 1 tsp baking powder)

Tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup milk

1 egg

1/2 cup baked, mashed purple sweet potato

Sift and mix your dry ingredients.  Beat and mix your wets.  Combine.  Make as pancakes.  Add more flour or milk depending on how thick you like things.  I like my batter pretty thin.

This is when things got a little weird.  Naturally, my batter started out quite purple.  As the pancake cooked, it almost instantly turned green.  And not a dull green, but a serious, Leprechaun green.

Even with purple chunks of sweet potato present, any potato that was properly mixed into the batter turned bright green.  

This has not happened when baking sweet potato muffins, and the ingredients are more of less the same.  Perhaps a higher temperature on the skillet is what allows some chemical reaction to take place.  More research (read: eating pancakes) is clearly necessary.