Fish on Fish Action in the Wilderness

In discussions with M. and A. of my joining the G. clan's family reunion and being the sole interloper (I use that word in this context: that I was the only person who was not a G. by birth or by relationship or marriage), I certainly brought up the fact that I had a tent and if it was pretty we could camp. M. also thought that camping sounded like a good idea. It wasn't until I got up there that I learned that M. had never actually camped before. We decided that Friday, assuming the weather was nice, we would go out and sleep in a tent but we didn't know where that ultimate sleeping spot would be. W. recommended a lean-to on Streeter Lake (I'm not sure if I'm remembering the name correctly). She said that Streeter Lake was beautiful to look at and had a flock of loons, but that it also had leeches. So, no swimming there. The upside was that just a little further bit of a hike would bring you to Crystal Lake, whose waters were so very clear. We liked the sound of this quite a bit and got the driving instructions and map that would help us get there. This was no touristy camp area. This was wilderness-y. There was a single unpaved road that twisted its way into the Forest Preserve, some sections of which were so bumpy I feared for Duckie, Ambassador Iron Face's undercarriage. Eventually we arrived at relatively primitive campsites (a fire pit and outhouse, but no running water or electricity) and found three possible paths that would lead us to the lean-to and lake. While W. gave us a lot of landmarks to go by, the terrain and choices were not easily discerned. No trail colors on trees, no signs saying 'Crystal Lake: x miles--------------->', so it was a bit of process of elimination and 'if you don't succeed try, try and try again'. This was Streeter Lake, we parked the car by it.
It took us maybe an hour, maybe three miles, of being wrong before we finally found the lean-to. Once we found it, we returned to the car to get more provisions for spending an afternoon swimming and sitting by Crystal Lake. Then we proceeded to get even more confused by the path choices put in front of us that there were moments where it seemed like the lake and its pristine waters couldn't possibly exist.
All the while these frackin bugs were trying to attack our heads. I extreme bugsprayed myself, which did a pretty good job of repelling the suckers.
One of our wrong turns led to a very unexpected sight. In the midst of the woods there was a clearing, with a few rectangular plots of planted flowers, as well as a rock with a plaque and a large stone structure. So out of place.
The Shuler Family.
The day before, during our walk back from our swimming/sitting spot my foot got caught in a dip in the ground, which led me to fall over and into a fallen tree's stump. It hurt. This is the bruise that appeared the next day. It was taken right after M. and I, on the brink of turning back, finally found and swam in Crystal Lake.
The water was, I'm actually shaking my head with the pleasure of this memory, really, really, really clear. Swimming pool clear, no. It was more like a less vibrant version of Caribbean waters...you know what I mean, when you can see the bottom long after you can touch it. And the bottom was sandy not mucky mucky. The water was bracingly cold but you could adapt; I enjoyed it after the walk.
After swimming we sat down for a snack that included left over smoked salmon, rosemary Triscuts, tuna fish and mayonnaise, and artichoke hearts. I believe there was chocolate for dessert...though that may not be true when I think about it for a second.

One part of the walk to the lean-to and lakes was very different than the others. This was another, far more natural, clearing with lots and lots of moss. It was really beautiful.
I think this is the same kind of moss that grows on the rock in Sewanee.
I also saw these deep red wildflowers. I have no good excuse for why I didn't take a picture, especially since I kept asking M. what they were...and she kept on not knowing:)
The turn into the one-lane road had a really dilapidated house and car on the corner. I wonder what would happen if you called that number.

Salmon and Salads on the First Evening at Silver Lake

The morning after LW's birthday festivities found me a bit worse for wear, but still capable of generally pulling myself together and getting on the road so that I would make it to Cranberry Lake to meet up with M. and A. and A.'s extended family. This will be the third year I have been lucky enough to meet up with this family for their annual reunion. The first year I stayed in the main activity house, owned by A.'s uncle and aunt, B. and W.  Last year M. and A. rented a cabin also on Silver Lake, and that is where I stayed as well. This time around I thought I would revisit the campground at which M. and I spent one night after our epic Crystal Lake adventure. So, when I first got to the booming town of Cranberry Lake, I drove on by the main G. family hub and drove another three or five miles to the Cranberry Lake State Campground. I had looked at the campground website a few times in the weeks leading up to the trip, thinking about reserving a spot. But I never actually got around to it, so I first drove a good number of the loops with a list of campsites that were free. All the sites directly facing the lake were taken, but there were a few very close by that I found appealing. Once I found and paid for my specific site, I set up my tent while there was still light to do it by. Then, and only then, did I get back into the car and go on over to G. family central. Preparations for that night's dinner were already under way. Soon enough there were all sorts of salads on a table while salmon was getting cooked. Below, behold.

I hadn't seen M. since our weekend in March with the Modo Mio and Sampan meals. And I probably hadn't seen A. or his parents or brother since ringing in the new year together. It was nice to see them all. 

Camp Out Kinda

So, the truth is that we did not end up pitching our tent in the lean-to and staying out in the wilderness. There are quite a few reasons for this turn of events. First, the extremely long time it took us to find the lean-to dampened our spirits a little. Second, as we swam in Crystal Lake and sat eating our snacks, it began to rain. Third, M. had never gone camping before and this level of roughing it may not have been the best first experience for her. And fourth, we were not, in any way, shape or form, efficient packers. While we had all the necessities for camping out, they were in dribs and drabs. Our bedding was not efficiently minimized -I had the comforter from my bed as padding, two pillows and a sleeping bag and M. had three blankets and a pillow similarly uncontained. For us to get all the necessary gear out to the lean-to would have taken at least two trips in the rain and we just weren't feeling it. What we were feeling was a little bit of shame. Many of the G. party seemed a bit skeptical about our ability to camp, well mainly A. seemed to not like the idea, and for us to return defeated did not sit well with us. So we went with a plan B that we hadn't even known we had: go to the Cranberry Lake Campground and don't tell the G.'s about it (which is a little troublesome since they very well might read this post and think less of us for not telling them that we did this...sorry, we were ashamed). After taking a drive around the camp sites with a map that let us know which sites were available, we decided that camp site 149 was the place for us, so we went back to the entrance, paid for the site and then bought a bundle of firewood from the side of the road.
We set up the tent first. I can't remember the last time it was used if it wasn't in Florida. Two years without a proper airing out and use is pretty sad. I think the tent missed me. I did, at one point, spend six consecutive weeks with it as my only home only to pack it up and bring it out oh so very sparingly ever after.
While I took the main responsibility for getting the tent up (M. helping of course), M. took the lead for getting the fire started. Unfortunately, just like our search for the lean-to and Crystal Lake, getting the fire started proved far more challenging than expected. Now look, M. and I have both started fires in our time. I grew up with a woodstove in my house for god's sake. But after the rain it became quite difficult to find kindling that wasn't damp. It took three, maybe four, attempts to get even a bit of fire going and then another hour or two of keen poking and prodding to keep that flame alight. M. named the fire Ferdinand.
And once Ferdinand starting behaving like more of a proper fire (you'd think the picture below would be the photographc evidence of this...but you'd be wrong, it took another half hour) M. commented that it sort of felt like she had given birth to the thing. I think.
M. and I played a game of scrabble while eating Feta cheese with a knife and our fingers. I won by almost 100 points, which is a marked difference from our games in high school, or during our trip to Europe, when, I'm pretty sure, M. won almost all the time.
Final thoughts: M. and I both commented that even though we had many troubles throughout the day, our spirits remained, on the whole, upbeat. This is saying something. I have been put in similar situations, in the woods or on streets, when neither I nor the people I am with really have a clue as to where they're going...and more often than not I get super grumpy, recalcitrant even. I don't like stomping around places without having a destination, unless it's a very pretty place, and sometimes even that won't improve my attitude. So, the fact that we hiked and hiked and backtracked and backtracked and, while I certainly wasn't singing a little song about how awesome it was, I didn't end up being a grumpy mcgrumperson, well, that I attribute to M.'s attitude and friendship. Similarly, there were a few moments there where we both felt in our bones that the fire was not ever going to light up, but instead of getting pissy about it, we perservered. I like this part of my friendship with M.

For dinner we stuck sausages in aluminum foil and placed them in the glowing, successful coals of Ferdinand. We also tried this approach with corn, but something went awry and we gave up. Oh and there were s'mores and extremely strong gin and tonics without ice or lime. The tent-sleeping went pretty well. It started to rain a bit at daybreak, but we were prepared with the tent's rainflap. The only downside was the fact that this sleeping on the ground without a lot of padding led to severe back pain on my part, which only really let up two days ago.

Best of 2009, Meal Edition

Well, another year has gone by; another 365 days of eating and drinking and living all wrapped up. With 2009 on the verge of being over, never to be seen again, it's time for my second annual 'best of' round up. Last year I included 17 memorable meals, but this time around I tried to be a little more discerning with my choices. Taking a tougher approach wasn't too difficult. I ate a great number of meals and had my share of fun times, but the truth is, I feel like I didn't quite eat as well as I did last year or in the years before it. That is not the right attitude, however, for a best of meals list, so let's pretend I didn't say that. Instead, let's take a look at all the great stuff I did eat.

While technically a 2008 meal, the Christmas lobster from last year deserves a mention.
While I have had my fair share of oysters this year, the crispy salmon skin salad and oysters from Aqua Grill were truly marvelous.
K.'s visit to Philly, and our trek to South Philly, led to the surprising find of the best donut of the century.
When I lived in Chicago, anyone who knew about the blog would ask me if I had eaten at Lula Cafe. Their main suggestion was that I try the banana cream pie, which just made me not want to try the place due to my unfortunate lack of interest in bananas. But when I went back for L. and B.'s wedding, M. Lady and I went for brunchy breakfast, and I really loved the earl grey tea and eggs Benedict from that I consumed in their entirety.
My first, and only thus far, visit at Zahav, was great from the opening pickled treats to this perfect bite of lamb.
Sometimes the circumstances of a meal can accentuate its overall awesome-ness. This was certainly the case when M. and I shared a smoked salmon, tuna fish and triscuit snack by Crystal Lake.
Just having L. visit Philadelphia for the first time this summer was great, but the lamb I cooked in her honor made it that much better.
When A.S. invited me up to her family's house on Cayuga Lake, I expected a lovely few days of reading and swimming, but I didn't expect some of the best pizza of the year (sorry Luigi's).
The seven course tasting meal at Le Bec Fin was a lovely eating experience, from the first course that really woke my tongue up to the marvelous cheese cart.
Thanksgiving at XIX included everything from butternut squash to pork crackling, but the seafood aspect really made it special.

Last Dinner at Silver Lake

This rock/tree pairing was on the path to the cabin's dock. That rock was really neat and pink. I'm no geologist, so I can't tell you what kind of rock it is or how old it might be, but I'm guessing an important but average kind of rock, and really old...but not as old as other things.
Eventually I gave up on finishing my book and joined the larger group. Most of the ladies had taken a hike to Crystal Lake earlier in the afternoon, and it seems they had their fair share of champagne at some point in that journey. They kept telling me I missed out. They got lost, though not as lost as M. and I managed to get when we went ... and they saw bear scat, but no one took photographs. I felt a little sad about my choice of staying behind. But what was done was done, and I did have a nice day nonetheless. In any case, spirits were good when I arrived on the scene. In this photo you can see A.'s sister V. swimming out to the floaty thing with an empty pretzel container full of beer.
I was beckoned.

Another lovely meal and starter snacks were created by the Texan contingent....I think they ended up making more meals than the rest, maybe because there were more of them? Maybe because many of them are actually in the food industry and know how to cook for a million people? I don't know. Everything on every night was so good.
This particular night was fajita night. Here the tortillas are grilled.
Here three of the four bros sit.
Here is just one of the copious numbers of plates brimming with grilled chicken and steak.
Along with the meat were corn, guacamole, cheese, oh man and so many other ways to dress up the fajitas.
Love.
And for dessert, tres leches with caramel sauce. Can we just bask in this glory? Ugh.
And this concludes the meals I shared with M. and the G. clan. It was such a great time and I'm so grateful that they welcomed me into their fold and forgave me my drunken night. Or at least I think they forgave me. I didn't do anything too terrible. I don't think. Oh god. Now I'm overthinking it...or I'm thinking just the right amount. One can never be sure.

Cranberry Lake in the Morning/Goodbye to the Pretty

Saturday morning we re-packed the tent and threw all our stuff back into the car. On the way out we dropped our recycling off at the recycling station and that's where I saw what looked like two crows doing the nasty. In the end I think it was an optical illusion. But they sure were making a racket.
The park had a mini drive-thru, though it was actually better to come on your own feet (according to one o the dudes at the entrance). We considered going down to see Peter Pan but, in the end, we did not.
Cranberry Lake is considerably larger than Silver, Streeter or Crystal Lakes.
I thought it was kind of lame that one could only swim in a small roped off area when there was so much more lake.
I'm sure they have their reasons. This ends my Adirondacks posts. I thank A. and his family, and M., for being so generous with their space and family reunion time. It really was a great break from my day-to-day life. In fact the camping and the hiking has made me strongly consider going to every state park in the state of Pennsylvania (closer than NY). We'll see how that goes.