NEW!!!

Photo Gallery

added on PBase Click on the likenhiken Link to take you there!

New for 2010

Be sure to check out our recipes section, on the links and files page. There are downloadable links for the recipes.

YouTube Videos!!!

Just added on 2011
be sure to check out
the video links section on the home page
BuiltWithNOF
View of The Temple, with Lake Vivian in the foreground, in the Enchantments

The Enchantments

Here, you will find a variety of links that I found useful in planning hiking trips, and small, downloadable checklists, and “quicklists”, that helped in making sure we got all of our gear checked off, and did not miss specific views and water locations along the Wonderland.

Links

Mt. Rainier National Park. Home page. Nuff said.

 http://www.nps.gov/mora/trail/wonder.htm This is the site for all things related to the Wonderland Trail, Mt. Rainier Natl. Park.

Mt. Rainier PDF file. Good map of the Wonderland Trail, and Mt. Rainier.

Wonderland Trail Campsites. Another good PDF file, that shows the various wilderness camps along the Wonderland Trail.

North Cascades National Park. Home page.

Northwest Avalanche Center. Another good resource before going out into the backcountry.

Olympic National Park. Home page.

Links, Files,
and
Recipes
Section.

Gifford Pinchot National Forest. Another resource for hiking in the area around Mt. St. Helens, and North and East Towards Mt. Rainier.

offroute.com. A good resource to look at for making maps of just the region that you want to explore, they will usually have the map printed the way you want, and mailed to you within 3 days or so...Check em out!

mytopo.com Another good map source, that will also print out your specified region, with good turn around times.

Mt. Baker - Snoqualmie Natl. Forest. A site that is used often to plan many of our trips, good site for trail beta and planning your visit...

NEW! Backpacker magazine PRO maps, TOPO maps of classic hikes that you can buy, that are detailed trail map and guides all wrapped into one...Check some of these out!

Other Resources
Gear, Product Knowledge base, etc...

US Outdoor.com A good resource for fitting and buying backpacks, as well as buying!

Backpacker.com Another good resource for all your backpacking gear, info, and pretty much all things related to backpacking!

Gear Finder Produced by Backpacker Magazine, this comprehensive list covers everything you’ll need on that next foray into the backcountry!!!

Job Board

Sports management degrees A good resource if you are interested in learning how to get into the business side of the sports industry.
The Encantments, with Leprechaun Lake

The Enchantments

Files

 hiking checklist.  I have found this useful in planning a variety of hikes, and you can customize it as you see fit. It’s in the Excel format.

Quicklist1, Quicklist2, Quicklist3. This is a 3 page, condensing of notes jotted down from Bette Filley’s book, so that we would not miss our watering holes, and notable sights along the way. Of course, it was done in an 11 day format, but the data will remain the same, no matter which direction you choose to go or start from. Hopefully, it will be fully editable for you to change as necessary.

Recipes

New!!! For 2010!

Tired of the same old trail fare? No? Well, I know that after several years of being on the trail, I know that we are...So, in order to spice things up, and actually have some meals to look forward to at the end of a long day, we’ve gathered together a few sample recipes that we’ve personally tried, and give two thumbs up to!!! True, there is more prep involved in some of these, but trust us, the results make the slightly increased load sooo worth it!!!!

Helpful Links:
Here are some links to some of the different brands and foodstuffs that we used, and can give you an idea of the type of variety that is out there.
Knorr - This has become our go to staple, for all kinds of interesting recipes.
Barrilla - This specific brand has some small packs of noodles that are the perfect size for backpacking, especially in the tortellini style.
Idahoan - Great mashed taters!!! And, a variety of flavors to choose from!
10 minute Success - Bagged rice that is perfect for travel, and a variety of recipes.
Widbackpacker.com - More suggested recipes to look for here.

Smoked Salmon Pasta

Click here for PDF link to download this recipe!

First up, is one that we gleaned from the pages of Backpacker magazine, that supposedly serves 4. I’m thinking that must be a pretty small appetite, as we dished this for 3 guys, and we were all hungry for more...To help ease our ravenous appetites, we also added a side dish of mashed potatoes!

8 ounces angel hair pasta
1 packet instant chicken broth
8 ounces smoked salmon
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tablespoon onion powder
3 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons dried tomato flakes (we substituted real tomatoes, providing a fresher taste...Besides, who could find dried tomato flakes???)
1/4 cup capers ( not big caper fans, we left these out)
4 tablespoons Parmesan Cheese( Hey, go crazy!! Bring more! Trust me, it won’t go wasted...)
1 4 ounce bag of Idahoan Roasted garlic mashed potatoes (flakes)

    AT HOME
    We wrap the butter (usually sliced from a stick) in the designated portions in tinfoil, then, place them in the freezer until its time to pack, in a ziplock baggie. If you can, make sure your food bag is in the middle of your pack to avoid a melted out mess. We’ve had good success with this all year, without a meltdown!

    IN CAMP
    Saute’ garlic in butter. Add tomatoes, onion, broth mix, and 1/2 cup water. ( 8 ozs is a cup, so use the gradient lines on your Nalgene bottle, for accurate measurements...You do have a Nalgene bottle, don’t you?)
    Let sit off of heat for 15 to 20 minutes while pasta cooks. While this is cooling, boil 2 cups of water in a Jetboil, and add the potato flakes to a double lined 1 gal. Ziplock freezer baggie, and add boiling water. Mix by kneading it with your hands until reaching desired consistency, nad set aside for a minute or so...(trust me, they’re gonna be hot!). Once dinner is ready to be served, pull out the inside baggie with the now mashed potatoes, mush the taters back from a bottom corner, and cut off a 1 inch hole diagonally across the corner. Now, you can squeeze your mashed potatoes out of the baggie in cake icing form, squeezing the last dollop out of the baggie, no muss, no fuss. Flake salmon into sauce, and add capers. (Or not!) Drain Pasta, toss pasta and sauce. (Just not as vigorously as we did, see illustration). Serve with liberal sprinkles of parmesan, sit back and marvel at how great this all tasted in the backcountry!
Curses! Some of our haught cuisine ends up on the forest floor...The no second rule applies, as it's impossible to sort the noodles from the needles...Unless, of course, you subscirbe to the Ule Gibbons mantra, "Some parts of a pine tree are edible!" Thanks, but we passed...

Pasta tossed a bit too vigorously...
Prepping in camp made easy by bringing a small plastic chopping board, and the bear cannister makes a worthy tabletop!

It slices, it dices! Chopping garlic in camp.

Creamy Garlic Shells with chicken
The “Template” recipe

Click here for PDF link to download this recipe!

REMEMBER!

These are only some suggestions, and we are still trying more and more different types of combos. What was enlightening to us, was to walk down the aisles of our local grocery stores, and see the multitudes of options and choices for backcountry cuisine. Don’t forget traditional favorites, like Top Ramen noodles, or using dry powder soup mixes as bases for any number of dishes. Your imagination will guide you if you just spend some time wandering up and down the rows as we did...Next year, I’m sure we’ll find some new ones. Happy hunting!

I call this the template recipe, as it’s a perfect menu for lots of great choices. Just swap out the noodle side dish, with any other flavor of pasta or rice sides, and add chicken or beef, and you’ve got a multitude of flavors to choose from! This serves 2 easily, and adding the weight of all ingredients puts you right at the 2lbs for 2 people weight for dinner, a nice “lightweight” and tasty option for the backcountry!

1 - 4.9 ounce Italian Sides, by Knorr, “Creamy Garlic Shells”
1 - 7 ounce Chunk Chicken Breast, in a foil pack.
1 – small can of sliced button mushrooms
1 tablespoon sweet basil
1 tablespoon butter, or margarine
1 tablespoon garlic salt (or more to your taste)
1/6 cup powdered milk
2 ounces olive oil

AT HOME

Pack the basil, garlic salt, and olive oil in small plastic screw top containers that can be found at just about any outdoor retailer, like REI. Take the 1/6 cup powdered milk, and put this in a ziplock sandwich baggie, and write on the outside of the baggie, “add 4oz water” so you will remember in the field how much will make a ˝ cup of milk. (At least, for me, mister forgetful, this works well…) Cut off a 1 tablespoon chunk of butter from a stick, and wrap it in tinfoil, and place in the freezer until it’s time to head out. Oh, and…Don’t forget the can opener!!! Using your prized knife to pry open a tin can is not beneficial to the blade. And, rocks don’t work so well, either…

IN CAMP

 Pour the olive oil into small fryingpan, add mushrooms, garlic salt, basil, and chunk chicken breast, and let simmer until golden brown, then set aside. Add 4oz water to your baggie with the powdered milk, and mix. Now, in a 1.5 or 2 liter cookpot, bring to boil 1 ˝ cups of water, add the now ˝ cup milk, the butter, and add noodles. Directions say this should take only 7 minutes, but I’ve found that 10 to 12 minutes on a Jetboil stove is ideal. Once the noodles are just about done, add the meat and mushrooms, stir in, and let set for about a minute. Serves two.
Still hungry, or need a bigger meal? How about this.
1 pckg of Idahoan Instant mashed potatoes and roasted garlic, 4 oz package. (Here, too, you can pick the flavor that best suits your tastes, as there are many options). Boil 2 cups water; then pour in a double lined 1 gal. Zip lock freezer bag, knead with your hands, (might need gloves, it gets hot!) then, let set for a couple minutes. Next, pull out the inside liner with the spuds, cut off a corner, and squeeze out your portion like a frosting bag, works well, no mess, no fuss!!!

Even better! If it’s in season, and you know your wild mushrooms, you can replace the canned button mushrooms with fresh, wild, savory mushrooms, like Chantrelle, King Boletus, Hedgehogs, etc…

Suggestions: Do you have a fan favorite that isn’t mentioned here, and wouldn’t mind sharing with us? Please feel free to send us your recipes, we are always open to new flavors!
Greg prepares our first meal for 2010, as we begin to try out all of our new found recipes

Greg in the kitchen.

Greek Chicken and Rice

Click here for PDF link to download this recipe!

Serves 2

1 bag 10 minute Success Brown Rice
˝ cup Greek or Ceasar salad dressing
Dash of sweet Basil
1 foil pack, 7oz, chunk chicken breast, Kroger or similar brand
2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved (in camp)
1 small cucumber, sliced (in camp)
˝ large red onion
1 small can, black olives, sliced
1/3 cup Feta cheese, crumbled


AT HOME

Either use small Tupperware containers, or something similar, that will be easy to pack the cherry tomatoes, half onion, and Feta Cheese. The salad dressing, can be loaded into a small screw top plastic container, that can be picked up at REI, or any other outdoor retailer. Take the Feta Cheese, freeze it in the freezer, and put it in foil, and bury it in the pack. This will be a recipe that you will probably need to eat the first day, for the Feta Cheese probably won’t last more than a day in the field…

IN CAMP

In your Jetboil, or similar stove, boil two cups of water, and drop in the bag of 10 Minute Success rice, and watch closely! You might have to adjust water, but it’s easy enough, since the rice comes in its own bag. While that’s cooking, halve the cherry tomatoes, dice the red onion, slice the cucumber, and depending on the type of olives you brought, either slice them, (we chose the already diced black olives that come in a can, for convenience), and pour your ingredients into a 1.5 or 2 liter pot. Add the salad dressing, and sweet basil and stir together. When the rice is ready, (after about a 10 minute boil time), remove the bag, pour out the rice, and stir everything together, and let set for about 5 minutes, and add the feta cheese on top. It should be thawed by now, and really adds zing to this dish! Optional: if you need to make this last for a second, or third day replace the feta cheese, with grated Parmesan, since this won’t spoil.
Tasty dish at Summerland.

Actual backcountry photo of Greek Chicken and Rice, prior to consumption!

Parmesan noodles and Summer Sausage

Click here for PDF link to download this recipe!

Serves 2

1 Knorr Pasta Sides Parmesan flavor, 4.3oz
˝ roll, of Hickory Farms Summer Sausage, or like brand, small roll.
1/6 cup powdered milk
˝ tablespoon butter
1 Small can mushrooms
2 tablespoons Garlic Salt, (prefer the Californian style)
Dash of Sweet Basil
3 or 4oz olive oil

AT HOME:

Add the 1/6 cup of powdered milk to a zip-lock sandwich baggie, and with felt marker, put “4oz water” on the outside, so in the field, you’ll know how much water to add for ˝ cup milk.
Slice off a ˝ tablespoon chunk of butter, freeze it, and then wrap in a square of tinfoil. This should keep if buried in the middle of your bag at least a day on hot trips, longer if the days are cooler.
Use a small screw top container for the oil, there are good plastic ones for sale at REI or other outdoor retailers.
Don’t forget a can opener for the mushrooms!

IN CAMP:

Pour the olive oil into small fryingpan, add mushrooms, garlic salt, basil, and cubed summer sausage and let simmer until golden brown, then set aside. Add 4oz water to your baggie with the powdered milk, and mix. Now, in a 1.5 or 2 liter cookpot, bring to boil 1 ˝ cups of water, add the now ˝ cup milk, the butter, and add noodles. Directions say this should take only 7 minutes, but I’ve found that 10 to 12 minutes on a Jetboil stove is ideal. Once the noodles are just about done, add the meat and mushrooms, stir in, and let set for about a minute. Serves two.

Still hungry, or need a bigger meal? How about this.

1 pckg of Idahoan Instant mashed potatoes and roasted garlic, 4 oz package. Boil 2 cups water, pour in a double lined 1 gal. Zip lock freezer bag, knead with your hands, (might need gloves, it gets hot!) then, let set for a couple minutes. Next, pull out the inside liner with the spuds, cut off a corner, and squeeze out your portion like a frosting bag, works well, no mess, no fuss!!!

Even better! If it’s in season, and you know your wild mushrooms, you can replace the canned button mushrooms with fresh, wild, savory mushrooms, like Chantrelle, King Boletus, Hedgehogs, etc…
A rare treat, to sit by a campfire in the backcountry...

Greg fans the flames at camp in lower Lyman Lakes basin.

Please Note:

These two recipes, although we’ve
used ones quite similarly in the
past, are gleaned from the fine
folks at Wildbacker.com.

Check them out for other
interesting recipes, as well!

Alpine Pasta

Click here for PDF link to download this recipe!

(This meal, as described, is for 4 servings. Will need to cut the recipe in half for 2, natch...)

2 4.4 oz. Knorr Butter & Herb pasta packets
4 oz. pepper-coated salami, diced (or our fav, 1/4 stick Summer Sausage!)
2 oz. sun dried tomatoes
6 green onions, chopped
5 oz. Gruyere cheese, grated (whatever the heck that is...Mozzarella works well, too!)

AT HOME: Put tomatoes into a zip lock plastic bag. Store pasta and other ingredients in seperate bag.

IN CAMP: Boil 1 cup of water and pour it over tomatoes. In separate pot, cook pasta according to package instructions. While pasta simmers, chop softened tomatoes, or not. IF you chop them up first, while they’re dry, it’s easier, methinks...)
After pasta cooks for 8 minutes, add all ingredients and stir until noodles are done, or soft...Time will vary, per different packs of noodles, as we’ve found out, so cook to your preference...Makes 4 servings. Remember to cut in half for 2!

Additional Note: Freezing the perishable items at home first, then wrapping in foil to help insulate will help avoid spoilage, and when you arrive at camp, find a snow bank to use as a reefer till it’s time to cook!

 

Cheesy Bacospuds

Click here for PDF link to download this recipe!

Serves 4

2 pckg instant potatoes (we like Idahoan Instant Mashed buttery flavor!)
1/2 cup instant dry milk
1 package Butter Buds
1 1/2 Tbsp dried parsley flakes
1 1/2 Tbsp dried onions
Salt and Pepper to taste
3/4 cup crumbled bacon
1 pckg powdered cheese spread (or in our case, the real deal!)

AT HOME: Add all the ingredients into quart size freezer zip lock bag.

IN CAMP: Bring 4 1/2 cups (less if using fresh cheese) to boil. Ad water to zip lock bag that has all the ingredients, and use gloved hands to mush (ok, knead) together, mixing together to get the lumps out. Let stand until it no longer burns you bare hand, whack a corner off of the bag, and squeeze your portion into your bowl...If you dish this stuff out too early, and try to eat them scorching hot, you’ll swear you just spooned molten lava into your mouth. Trust me!
Serves 4, so remember to cut in half for 2!

Cascade Fajitas
with
Chips and Salsa!

Click here for a PDF link to download this recipe!

Ingredients: serves 2

2- Avocadoes
2- small tomatoes (we used tomatoes a little bigger than a golf ball)
3 or 4 miniature bell peppers (you choose the colors, we like the red, yellow and orange!)
1- small onion (about the size of a baseball. If you’re lucky, find a Walla Walla Sweet this size)         
1 - 7 ounce Chunk Chicken Breast, in a foil pack
3 or 4ozs Olive oil
1 pack of 8 Fajita flours
2 slabs of cheddar cheese – We cut off two 1 inch slabs of cheddar from a Tillamook baby loaf.
1 pack Guacamole mix (I like the Lowry’s brand for flavor)
16 packs of Taco Bell sauces, or salsa, you pick your fave flavor. (Got these from the local Taco Bell, 2 for each fajita, I liked the Fire Sauce with a Salsa, mmm, mmm, gooooood!)
˝ jar of Salsa, (again, Tostitos brand tastes great, and you choose the level of hot!)
Large zip lock freezer bag with your favorite Dip chips (this works best if you use a bear canister, for it helps keep the chips from getting crushed. Zip bag closed with a little air in it, and the aired up bag helps act as a shock absorber! We did this, and got Tortilla chips into the backcountry without them being all, well…Chips!)
2 Tablespoons Garlic salt, coarse ground with parsley flakes (California style, to some…)
Dash of Johnnies seasoning salt (Really, you’ve got to take a small amount of this with you everywhere!)
Dash of Sweet Basil flakes

At Home: Put the Olive oil into a small plastic container with a screw top lid, we purchased ours at REI, which has a nice selection for your kitchen needs. Then, put it in a Ziploc baggie, in case the cap comes unscrewed during the hike, and liberally oils everything you own…
We used an appropriately sized Rubbermaid container to put the avocadoes into, along with the small peppers, to keep them from being crushed, and you can then use the container to mix up the Guacamole later. The onion can ride by itself in a Ziploc baggie; it doesn’t seem to bruise as easily.
Pour the salsa into a quart sized Freezer Ziploc, and then stick into the freezer. Take it out right before you go, this will help to keep the salsa fresh. Also, we wrapped the cheddar in foil, and froze it as well… We brought a cheap-O Deluxe cheese grater for the cheese…Don’t forget your stuff in the freezer!!!

At Camp: Dice the onion, peppers, and tomato and set them aside. Now, cut up the Avocado and mash it up with a fork in the container you brought for the veggies, and mix in the guacamole packet…If you didn’t bring a container, use a large freezer Ziploc baggie…If you’re lucky, and are near snow, we put this in a large Ziploc baggie that had snow in it, to keep it cool and fresh while the rest of the dinner was prepped and cooked. Grate the cheese, and set it in a Ziploc in the snow, as well.
Cook the diced chicken, onions, and peppers in the pan with the olive oil, season for taste with the garlic salt, Johnnies, and a dash of sweet basil, until the chicken is browned, or you simply cannot wait any longer.

Now, dish it all together onto a fajita flour, sprinkle on some fresh tomatoes, a dollop of guacamole, a couple sauce packets, (you did remember to open these first, didn’t you?) And Presto! Awesome backcountry fajitas, served with chips and salsa! And the mess isn’t too bad to clean up later…

 

Whiskey Sours

Click here for a PDF link to download this recipe!

As relayed to me by Doran and Mary, at Tuck/Robin Lakes…The last names have been omitted to protect them from having to admit they know me…

Mix Lemonade flavored Crystal Light packets with water in separate bottle adding half the water called for. Add whiskey to cup full of snow and pour Crystal Light mix over the top to taste. If it’s cold, you can also heat Crystal Light minus the snow for a hot beverage.

                    Enjoy!
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