Wandering the Warner's.

Here I am doing yoga on a picnic table at Lily Lake in the Warner Mountain of NE California.
We spent two weeks exploring and camping there in September.

I want to share with you the food we ate, the places we camped and people we met.

Camping food doesn't need to be freeze dried or tasteless. You don't need to live on trail mix or canned pork and beans. I spent some time before we left making the food we enjoy and freezing it. This has a double advantage, your food will last longer and it provides "ice" for  your cooler.

Here is a pan of Gina's beans that I made and froze. They were great in tacos one night and for lunch another day. I don't skimp on my cooking utensils either, no flimsy aluminum cookware for me, I bring my cast iron skillet and my stainless steel pot. I love my Coleman stove :-)

We always bring our own water in these easy to use container. Some of the best camping spots are the ones that don't provide water.

Blue Lake at the southern end of the Warner's was such a treat. There was a great hike all the way around it and the swimming was refreshing.

So was the quart of fresh tomato juice I froze. When it was completely defrosted it made a welcome addition to lunch. My quinoa salad also traveled well and made great lunches or a dinner side dish.

I found my Asian slaw made great  camping food too, you can make it in advance. Cabbage, the main ingredient is fairly durable and this salad actually improves with age. It was a nice addition to lunch and I used it with my curried chicken in wraps for dinner on those warm evenings.

Massage kale salad was another great way to get fresh greens later in our trip, when the fresh tomatoes and other veggies were gone. I washed and tore the kale into bite size pieces ahead of time. When it was time to make the salad into the second week of our trip, I just added some lemon juice, olive oil  and salt. It was a great lunch and dinner addition.

On the subject of lunches, Bob favors a can of sardines with crackers and fresh fruit or a salad. It's best to eat sardines straight from a can and in a location with a trash can near by. Not a good choice in bear country.

I love the classic cheese and cracker fare, with fresh tomatoes or apples and my homemade nut butter.

One day while driving to check out another place camp we ran across Stringer's Orchard on highway 395 almost to the Oregon boarder. It was open and the sign said free tasting.

 They use the local wild plum to make wine, brandy and gin !! The owner was so accommodating, knowledgeable and fun to talk to. I usually don't drink but I really enjoyed tasting the dry plum wine and plum gin. They both has great plum favor without being sweet.

Bob enjoyed seeing how it all was made. Here is the owner with the copper still from Germany, it looks so Steam Punk !! Do check out their website and of course, they ship !!

I tried to have both very simple and slightly more complex meals to make. On the days we were arriving at a campsite dinner was simple. Here we are having a carrot ginger soup ( made ahead and frozen) and sausages. I also made green soup to freeze and bring along.

On a day when I had more time, I would make something a little more complex like red sauce on pasta. I brought my own roasted tomatoes, which I added to sauteed onions, garlic and red bell peppers. It made a tasty sauce for the pasta.

I used it another night over polenta. You can buy it in a tube at Trader Joes, it doesn't need to be refrigerated until you open it. This was a big plus and made it the perfect food for later in the trip as my fresh stuff got used up. 

You can see the crusty French bread in the skillet with the polenta rounds. It was a creative way to warm it up, at that point in the trip that bread needed some heat ;-)

We did some rock hunting, too. The Warner's are a very volcanic range and we found lots of beautiful obsidian in several different colors.

I have yet to touch on breakfast, I guess because it is one of the easiest meals to do while out camping.
I use the same premise as I use with dinner, if we have to be off early in the morning, we stick with granola and cold cereal with yogurt or milk and fresh fruit. If we have more time I make hot cereal or to really indulge, bacon and eggs. The smell of bacon cooking drives anyone nearby crazy !!

One evening at Lily Lake we happen to meet Nita and Jim, who lived nearby on the state line at New Pine Creek. They were so friendly and invited us to come see their garden and cabins on our way out  the next day. We had the time and were so glad we stopped by. Nita is an amazing gardener and Jim is an amazing woodworker. These photos don't do their place justice and Bob was too shy to take any photos inside their cabins. Do go to their website to see their place and all the cool things they are up to.

They were at Lily Lake that evening to host a picnic supper for a field study group from Oregon State University. A anthropology professor and her two grad students had spent the summer in their rental cabins while they did their research into the economy and food sources for this very rural community.

Birds were a big part of this trip as well. We saw this great horned owl snoozing in an aspen tree near Cedarville.

 And most of the lakes we stayed at were frequented by bald eagles and lots of fishing osprey.

We fished as well and were quite successful at Lily Lake.

Our last lakeside camp was Juanita Lake, not in the Warner's but rather in the Cascades above Mount Shasta. It was another gem with a lovely paved trail around the lake and spectacular reflections.

As a treat to ourselves after a dozen days without a real shower, we checked into what we call The Caboose Motel in Dunsmuir, CA. We used to stop here on our way home from family vacations in Eastern Washington.

Yes, you really do stay inside the cabooses !!

That's me hanging upside down from the handy bar on the ceiling.

And we treated ourselves to breakfast the next day at Yak's. We loved the name and were even more enthralled when we realized that the road worker was wearing a yak costume to help the new cafe promote it's opening.

They roast their own coffee, use local produce and meats and make most of their own sauces. We were very impressed with their food.

This was my Mount Shasta veggie hash with a side of bacon, yum !!

All in all it was a fabulous trip made even better by the great food and greta company :-)

The desert not dessert...

This past week we have been on a Camping Adventure to the desert, those capital letters are there for a reason...you will find out more soon and yes I will talk some about food, specifically camping food.

Did you know that the presence of joshua trees like the one in the photo above, define the Mojave desert as a land mass ??

Anyway, we started our trip at Carrizo Plains National Monument, it is known for it's great wildflower displays and great wildlife. Due to the lack of rain this year, there were no flowers. We did see pronghorn antelope on our drive in and we camped under a tree of great horned owls, who serenaded us all night.

Joshua Tree National Park was our first night of real desert camping.

Since it was the last weekend of spring break, all the campsites in the park itself were full. We did check them out the next day and while they were in a more picturesque setting they very so close to each other it would have not suited us as well.
We ended up it this rather barren RV park, it did have flush toilets, a cute little pond and a gorgeous sunset.

We spent a lovely day exploring Joshua Tree. There were some very big rocks.

And some very beautiful blooming cactus.

That afternoon we headed to Anza Borrego desert. We had not made plans to camp there until the next day so decided to treat ourselves to a night at the Borrego Springs Resort. It was quite a treat !! The swimming pool felt great after all that hot desert hiking. We enjoyed dinner on the patio of their restaurant and hot showers are always welcome on an extended camping trip ;-)

We met Genna the next day in the park. Hanging out with her always means lots of cool reptiles.

Don't try this at home ( or anywhere else), Genna is a trained professional with a permit to touch these critters !!

Just as the joshua tree defines the Mojave, the tall flowering ocotillo define the Colorado desert land mass.

As we settled into our camp in the heat of the day, a park ranger came by to warn us of an impending sandstorm, and a high wind advisory. She told us there would be hurricane force winds gusting to 80 to 90 mph. We have NEVER had a ranger warn us about weather, EVER, in all our years of camping. She did say we should be fine, as our campground was in a protected valley and we were planning to sleep in our camper ( Genna sleeps in her car).
We decided on an early dinner, then some night exploring. The wind was beginning to pick up as we went to bed. We could hear it blowing that night in the trees and camper shook some, but not like the rock and roll we got at Joshua Tree.

The next morning it was worse...

Trying to heat water for tea and coffee was a challenge. Wind blows the propane flame around, slowing down the whole process, even with windbreaks around the cook stove.

We did finally make warm drinks for everyone, but it was so windy and gritty we ended up squeezing into the camper to drink them.

How would we ever cook breakfast under these conditions ?? As the chief chef, I came up with the perfect plan...going out to a restaurant !!

Luckily the town of Borrego Springs is inside the park and was not too far to drive...when we could see the road.

We found a mall with a classic coffee shop.

With classic coffee shop fare: Bob delighted in his biscuits and gravy, so did Genna.

After breakfast we drove to the other campground and possible hiking. Haha...the wind WAS gusting up to 80 to 90 mph and it hurt to get out of the car. We saw a whole group campground that had been recently abandon, with tents, cooler, clothing and other equipment blown about.

We were supposed to stay at Anza Borrego another night, time for plan B. Drive east and north was our thought, head to the Upper Kern River, east of Bakersfield.

We were surprised that even highway 10 was tricky and slow to drive. Due to the sandstorm, our drive was taking longer that we expected. I was looking for someplace to stay along the way in our camping guide when I came across Red Rock Canyon State Park. I had never heard of this place but our guide gave it an 8 out of 10 for scenic rating. It is on highway 14 just north of the town of Mojave. 

What a gem !!

The campsites are right next to amazing rock formations. It was still windy as you can see from my clothing, the campfire and wind break around my stove. Yes, I was trying to cook dinner. Luckily I had some soup I had made and froze before the trip. 

This leads me to some camping food tips:

• Plan simple meal. For breakfast: hot cereals, cold cereals, yogurt & fruit. For lunch, simple picnic fare: crackers, cheese, hummus, nut butters, sardines, fresh veggies, dried fruit, nuts. For dinner: soups, stews, pasta dishes. While I love to cook, even when I am camping, the weather can change that. Making complex meals and keeping all the components hot can be a challenge. Sometime just getting water to boil can take a looong time !!
• Cook and bake before you leave on your trip, freeze the food so it will last longer in your cooler. Just having to reheat food is a lot easier than actually cooking it. You never know when the wind will pick up. I make soups, muffins, coffee cake, baked chicken, pasta sauces...
• Do any vegetable prep you can ahead of time. It was quite a challenge to wash and clean lettuce in a windy makeshift kitchen.  I loved having already cooked beets and asparagus to add to lunch or dinner.
• Don't forget condiments, they can add a dimension to simple ingredients and meals.  I always bring fresh garlic, onions, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, dried oregano and basil, powdered cinnamon and little packets of soy sauce, hot sauce, mustard, catsup and relish.
• Food always tastes better with a great view !!

We loved Red Rock Canyon. We did some hiking at Red Cliff across the road from the campground. We saw a raven in her cliffside nest, as well as lots of lizards, and great rock formations.

A flip of a coin ( I kid you not) made the decision for us to head on to Kern River for two nights in one place.

 Fairview campground is run by the US Forest Service, it sits right along the Upper Kern River. In summer it must be mobbed with people trying to beat the Bakersfield heat. In the spring it is quiet, peaceful and mostly deserted. It was the perfect place to spend my birthday.

On the way home, the long way as we decided to avoid highway 5, we finally saw the fields of wildflowers we were hoping for.