Rolling At My Own Pace: July 2014

I discovered a renewed enthusiasm for vegetable growing last spring. I took out all of the succulents that were growing in the raised beds in the backyard and replaced the soil with a mix i found by searching "square foot gardening". Sure, the cost of the soil was WAY more that any savings I might realize by growing my own veggies, but something just seemed right about doing it.

Low and behold, I am finally starting to harvest some crops.

They are as good as they look

I also am getting a nice steady supply of squash, zucchini, cucumbers and Italian parsley. The tomatoes are good enough to eat on their own and need no preparation other than slicing and a little salt a pepper. Here, I sliced up some tomatoes and cucumbers and served with some plain Greek yogurt and cumin seed as nice cool complement to Chicken Tandoori:

photo is lousy because I was too focused on EATING

For the squash and zucchini, I thought I would try a recipe that used a lot of zucchini as well as one of my favorite grains, quinoa. I roughly followed this recipe from Epicurious:

ingredients

1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
2 garlic cloves, peeled
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
1 teaspoon turmeric, divided
1 teaspoon smoked paprika,* divided
2 cups water
1 cup quinoa (about 6 ounces),** rinsed well, drained
1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
1 1/2 pounds medium zucchini (about 5), trimmed, quartered lengthwise
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
4 green onions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley

preparation

Combine garbanzo beans and lemon juice in large bowl. Add 3 tablespoons oil; press in garlic and stir to combine. Let marinate at least 15 minutes and up to 2 hours.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add cumin seeds, 1/2 teaspoon turmeric, and 1/2 teaspoon paprika; stir until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add 2 cups water, quinoa, and coarse salt; bring to simmer, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to medium-low. Cover and simmer until all water is absorbed, about 16 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare barbecue (medium high heat). Place zucchini on rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon oil. Sprinkle with ground cumin, 1/2 teaspoon turmeric, and 1/2 teaspoon paprika. Toss to coat evenly.

Place zucchini on grill; sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Grill until tender and browned on all sides, 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer to work surface. Cut crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces. Add zucchini, green onions, and parsley, then garbanzo bean mixture to quinoa. Toss to blend. Season with salt and pepper. DO AHEAD: Can be made 2 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.

here's what i started with

Mmmmmm - smell that?

on the grill

finished product

yes!

There are not many camping locations in California where you can roll in a day before a big 3-day weekend and be able to get a campsite. Courtright Reservoir is one of those places. And it is beautiful high Sierra terrain that is often referred to as "Tuolumne Meadows without the crowds". The SCMA has been putting together a 4th of July trip up here for years, and this year i decided to join them. Glad I did.

Courtright Reservoir

Wednesday

I get an alpine start from Quartz Hill and take my time heading up highway 99 to the western Sierra. With the latest WTF and Freakonomics podcasts to keep me company, the miles go by quickly.

best time of the day

Before I know it, I am deep in the forest and surrounded by big trees in the McKinley Grove of giant sequoias:

McKinley Grove

A bit more driving and I am at Courtright Reservoir - and even though it is only 2 days before July 4th, the campground (Trapper Springs) is empty. Nice. Since this is a group trip, there is quite a bit of (necessary) campsite assignment shuffling going on. Luckily the campground host (Betty) is the nicest and most accommodating host who makes it all work for us. Right on Betty!

Trish did an outstanding job of organizing!

With the campsite Jenga effort well under control, I slipped out for some exploring on my trusty mountain bike. Even though this was a "climbing" outing, I was really looking forward to seeing how much ground I could cover on a mountain bike. I headed around the lake and up the Dusy-Ershim trail (well, at least the first 3 miles or so) and quickly ran into wide open slab:

no washboard here

even had some gold polish and glacial eratics

which way do I go?

when in doubt, look for one of these

Needless to say, it was surreal and uber cool to be riding on slabs - almost felt like I shouldn't be allowed to be riding here. But it's all legit, as the Dusy-Ershim trail is a designated 4x4 "road' that has essentially been carved out of the wilderness. Don't try it in your Suburau though.....

Thursday

Did a full exploration of Dusy-Ershim and was humbled. My goal was to get about 5 miles north of the inlet to Courtright, but I only made it about 4 or so. Daunting trail conditions and lots of hike-a-bike (20%) made this a lot more work than fun. Short sections of silky smooth single track would get me stoked, and then a long section of rally-killing boulders or sand, or hills to steep to ride would drain my mojo. Ultimately made about 28 miles for the day, but if you were to attempt the whole 33 miles (one way) on a bike, you better bring bike packing gear and an open agenda! Would be a great adventure.

The scenery was spectacular:

Scared up a ~250 lb bear a few minutes before here

all of the streams had good bridges

tough riding

When I got back, I gave my hammock a good workout and did a bit of reading (Ironweed).

Friday

A kayaking day it was. Living in the desert as i do, it probably comes as no surprise that I AM NO KAYAKING EXPERT. But, I knew enough to get the me and the kayak (and some snacks) out onto the water for the day without embarrassing myself. Solo kayak launching just requires a little pre-planning, and I am accomplished in that arena. Paddled and fished all morning and then i found a nice slab to take a(nother) nap on. I was getting used to all this relaxing :)

nap view

A few more pics from the day:

Saturday and Sunday

More riding! Saturday I sped down to Wishon Reservoir and explored some (uncrowded) back roads before grinding back up the hill. Also got a couple nice pics of flowers: