Emigrant Wilderness - Grouse Lake Loop

Jim and I squeezed in a backpacking trip to Emigrant Wilderness right before Labor Day.   We left home at 6 am (left a sick Weener with G) and headed to the mountains.  We stopped in Sonora for a carbo load bagel before heading to the Ranger Station for our permit.

Ranger Station

Fresh and just starting the trail

We hit the trail at 10:20 am and walked about 5.5 miles that day, passing by Camp Lake and stopping at a meadow for a lunch of crackers, salami, asiago cheese and dry jack cheese.

We made it to Lily Pad Lake and to camp there because it was so beautiful and because we had just gone 1.5 miles straight up in the blaring down sun and my legs were like jello.

We camped on a bluff above the lake and enjoyed looking around, having tea time and watching 4 meat bees fight an ant for a piece of jerky!

Lunch time

We were not required to use bear canister so we hung our food instead.  We didn't see any bears but saw a big paw print on our hike out.

Lily Pad Lake

The wildflowers were amazing for so late in the year.  So many and so many different types.

As is tradition, we stop everything for tea time between 3 and 4 pm.  It is a great pick me up after a long hike.  And it sort of gives you "permission" to rest!

First nite's camping spot

We woke up the first morning at 6 am  after a warm night in the tent.  We really didn't need the rain fly because it kept it too warm!  We laid around in the tent until 7 am watching the sun rise.  That night was interesting because we heard a few big airplanes go over head - it's funny that you can get noise pollution that far out in the wilderness.

When I went to put my socks on, I noticed that my silk liners had been pulled out of my boots.  Hmmm....that's weird!   When I went to put them on, I noticed that some little mouse had chewed holes in them!

We hike up and over a hill from where we camped and came out to an expansive view of a granite valley!

We hiked about 4 miles to Grouse Lake.  It was cool as we were walking down to Grouse because we were walking through a narrow granite canyon.

More flowers

The canyon down to Grouse

The trail down to Grouse

Grouse Lake

The reflection!

A refreshing swim after a hike

Jim started fishing in Grouse Lake and immediately starting catching fish!  I went up to our camp to get some pliers and took a header on the slippery granite in my flip flops!  (It brought back memories of Marty's classic "cup o noodles" fall at Cherry Lake). I am so luck I wasn't hurt worse because my knee bent backwards and I landed on my wrist.

Cows across the lake - when the black ones came they looked like bears!

As we were walking towards Grouse Lake, we heard all kinds of cow bells and were thrilled when we came upon them.  Little did we know that we would have a symphony of cow bells for the next 18 hours!   There were at least 30 cows and they walked by all afternoon making cow bell music! And then they started heading back at 3 am!

Dinner - beans, cheese and tomatoes with Frito dips

Our camp spot the second nite - Grouse Lake

Another narrow injury miss was this stick that went right thru my flip flop without me even knowing it!

Caught lots of fish

Good morning!  (Our second morning)

We called this cow "Oakley"

Hiking out we stopped at a creek and caught a couple fish

At the top of the trail hiking out

In the middle of the trail on the way out

We LOVE maps.  We took this map with us and looked at it multiple times of day just for fun!

All in all, it was a great trip.  It was great to spend time with Jim on the trail.  I would definitely recommend the loop for a 3 day/2 nite trip.

Bee Update

Two things:

1.  My friend, Kim, sent this home with Jim after his haircut last week!  So sweet of her to think of me and totally treasured!

2.  I have been unable to find a NUC (basically a started beehive) so we are going to have to wait until the spring to get bees.  And at that time we will buy a box of bees and a queen and start from scratch.  I guess that's good because it gives us more time to learn.   But not to worry - it doesn't stop Jim for looking at his empty beehive everyday!

Reptile Expo

We did a quick visit this weekend to the Reptile Expo!  What a super cool thing to go to.  We saw more snakes and other reptiles that we even knew existed.

The highlight was definitely the chameleons.  They were so beautiful and fascinating with their googly eyes and brilliant colors.  Grace got to hold a rescued one which she had never done - it was a big thrill.

Sunday Hike - Sanborn

All Hail the Weiner!

This week's Sunday hike was at Sanborn County Park and we had a couple new joiners, a gal I work with and her mom.   We did the San Andreas Trail to the Peterson Memorial Trail, which was straight up and then straight down, 1282 elevation gain in the first two miles and 4.2 miles total.

After the hike, Stacy posted this pic of Ahi with the text, "All hail the Weiner"!   I must have been lagging because I never saw them take the pic and cracked up when I saw it posted on our hiking site!

Pear Galette with Almond Cream

INGREDIENTS

1. Pastry:
   • 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling and dusting
   • 2 tablespoons sugar
   • 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
   • 1/4 teaspoon salt
   • 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
   • 5 tablespoons butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes and frozen
   • 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoon cultured buttermilk
   • 1/4 teaspoon pure almond extract
2. Cream:
   • 1 large egg white
   • 3 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
   • 3 tablespoons finely ground almonds
   • 2 teaspoons melted butter
   • 1/4 teaspoon pure almond extract
3. Filling:
   • 3 firm, ripe pears, such as Anjou or Bartlett
   • 2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
   • 1 1/2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
   • 3 sheets parchment paper
   • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
   • 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
   • 2 teaspoons butter, cut into small bits
   • Confectioners' sugar for dusting

PREPARATION

1. Pastry:
   1. Pulse flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in a food processor 30 seconds to combine. Add butter. Pulse until butter pieces are the size of peas. Add buttermilk and almond extract; pulse until dough just comes together. Form dough into a disk, dusting lightly with flour. Cover in plastic wrap or wax paper and refrigerate 1 hour.
2. Cream:
   1. Whisk egg white and confectioners' sugar in a bowl until frothy, about 1 minute. Add almonds, butter and almond extract. Whisk. Refrigerate.
3. Filling:
   1. Peel and core pears, then cut into slices about 1/4 inch thick; toss in a bowl with lemon juice and zest.
4. Galette:
   1. Heat oven to 400°F. Lightly dust a sheet of parchment paper with flour; place dough on top and lightly dust with flour; top with another sheet of parchment and roll out dough into a circle about 12 inches in diameter. Peel off top layer of parchment. Invert dough onto a baking sheet lined with third sheet of parchment. Trim around edges of dough. Spread cream over dough, leaving a 1-inch border. Arrange pear slices in concentric circles over cream. Sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon. Fold edges of dough over pears, crimping dough to enclose ends of pears. Evenly scatter bits of butter over top of filling. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until pears are tender and crust is golden. (Cover top with a sheet of foil if it begins to overbrown.) Remove; cover edges of tart with foil. Heat broiler. Glaze top of pears under broiler, about 6 inches from heat, 1 minute or until pears are golden brown. Cool on baking sheet 5 minutes. Transfer (on parchment) to rack to cool completely. Dust with confectioners' sugar.

Giving Back

My new employer has a very strong focus on giving back and employee fun.  We mixed the "giving and fun" together to make blankets for the local animal shelter.  Our "Giving and Doing Team" got all the supplies and we provided the manpower to make 30 blankets.

Puppy Time

It's official!  We have been approved to raise a CCI service dog puppy!  This is NOT the puppy we will be raising.  We have to wait about 6 months for ours.  Our hope is that our dog friend, Whitney, has a litter around that time and we can get one of her pups.  That would be great as G helps with Whitney's litters.

This little nugget is 8 weeks old and is from Aggie's first litter.  Aggie lives with Whitney.  This pic was taken two days before they got turned in to be given to their puppy raisers and G went over to help make paw prints.

Sunday Hiking Club

Sunday Hiking Club is different every week.  People pop in and out as they have time and sometimes people bring friends.  It's so awesome to catch up with folks and meet new people.

Last week it was a bunch of CCI friends and CCI dogs! Whitney, who had pups about 4 months ago, (G helped out it the litter) and Nicole, a retired breeder, came with us.  Barnaby, a little rescue dog who gives grumpy Ahi a run for her money, came too.

The hike was the Mockingbird entrance to Quicksilver.  It was a beautiful day with good friends and good dogs (except for Ahi and Barnaby)!

Watching....

Just three friends sitting on the back porch watching the world go by!

Remodel complete

Here are some pics of the house with new carpet, flooring and paint from right before the boys moved in.  The boys and Oakley should be very happy there.