Red Peak Pass

Towards the end of season I tried to squeeze in one last trip, here are some photos.




I'm not a weatherman, but I think the forcast just changed from sun to something else.


Campsite near merced pass


Deer


Things look better in the morning, but still pretty grey.


Oh wait, it is clearing up !










Almost to the pass


At the pass


Oh boy, I'm about to get soaked


Here comes the rain !


Looking back at the lakes



Sunrise


Good morning half dome !

Chicken Tikka with Coconut Masala

Hello internets !

I took advantage of a recent trip's lack of distance, and short duration to make real food instead of dehydrated.

First, the chicken tikka.


I'm starting with a skin-on, bone-in, chicken leg.


Which I skin, and then cover with spices. I'm using black pepper, cumin, coriander, salt, and cayenne pepper.


I marinate the chicken in a puree of yogurt and ginger, with garlic.


After an hour or so, I put it into the over set for broil.


After broiling, it should look like this.


My sauce starts out with a simple mixture of chile, onion, and garlic.


I add in a can of diced tomatoes, and some crushed ginger, before cooking. I like smooth sauce, so I used the hand blender to smooth it out.


I condense the sauce down to the consistency of tomato paste over low heat.


I carry it all in a styrofoam cooler. 50mL of Coconut milk, the chicken(shredded), and sauce all fit nicely.


I cook it up on the trail with fresh cauliflower and broccoli, and finish with coconut milk.


All the effort pays off !

Cheers !

Coming Soon

I know, I know.

I've moved, and once I get settled in, I'll write up the trip report on my latest yosemite adventure, a killer curry, and the BPL gathering at Pt Reyes.


Here is a teaser from the yosemite trip


And this is the curry

Avoid Salomon gear

Salomon is a company that makes gear I find comfortable on my body.

Unfortunately I had two backpacks fail this season, and one pair of shoes that only covered 75 miles.

Failures in gear is unavoidable. I don't use bomb proof gear, I know stuff fails. This isn't a rant about the failure of the gear. This is a rant about the failure of the company to be accessible to its customers.

Salomon goes out of their way to hide contact information.. There is no easy path to let them know about your experiences with their products. They seem to have no interest in receiving feedback on design failures from customers. I find the complete lack of customer service and support to be reason enough to avoid using Salomon products in my future travels.


75 miles and the super expensive and hard to replace lace system failed.


The attachment of the hipbelt is a design failure.
I've had two packs fail like this.

As a counter example, MSR, thermarest, and platypus are easilly reachable via the prominently placed "Contact Us" link on their web page. Click it, and they break support down into questions and feedback, repairs and replacement, and other categories. This shows an interest in receiving feedback, and helping people out with faulty gear.



Time yourself, see how long it takes you to find the contact information in Salomon's customer service hell.

And when you do find the contact email, be prepared to hear this from their customer service department :
This Message was undeliverable due to the following reason:

One or more of the recipients of your message did not receive it
because they would have exceeded their mailbox size limit. It
may be possible for you to successfully send your message again
at a later time; however, if it is large, it is recommended that
you first contact the recipients to confirm that the space will be
available for your message when you send it.

User quota exceeded: SMTP contact@salomon-sports.com

Please reply to postmaster@salomon-sports.com
if you feel this message to be in error.


Happy New Year, Another Yosemite trip report and photos coming soon !

Equal

I believe people are equal, that religion and government should be separate, and that Rights are never subject to being revoked by the opinion of the majority.

The foundation of my American dream is equality. Equal rights, equal protection, and equal opportunity. Without equality there is no pursuit of happiness in America. We just had a change election. We just put a new generation in power at the highest office in the Land. Now is the time to stand up and demonstrate in favor of the change we want out of our country.

Only Californians had a say on prop 8, now you get yours !

Saturday, November 15, is a national day of demonstration against California proposition 8. Participation is as easy as writing 'bad california' on a chunk of cardboard and hanging out at your local city hall for an hour.



FIND YOUR LOCAL EVENT

Yosemite :: Ostrander Lake

Hello Internets,

Another trip report, this time investigating cross country options for a snowshoe trip this winter. Thanks for reading my blog, enjoy the photos.

Cheers,
Cayenne


I start off with some seaweed, sesame, and bean paste wraps


I do start my trips fairly clean.


The first view I come across


further along the route


ostrander lake


the ostrander lake cabin


view of the skyline heading towards heart lake


heart lake


on the shore of heart lake


glow of light at sunset


Killer sunscreen in my eye


sunset near campsite


View from campsite at sunset, cooking some lentils, looking northish


View from campsite at sunset, looking eastish


A third view from the campsite


You get the idea, 360 degrees of awesomeness.


finished cooking up the lentils


Taste is great, and eating in the dark hides the appearance :-)


The actual campsite is a small plot of sand in a field of granite


El-Cap and Half Dome on my way out.