Quick-Cooking Oatmeal
Recently my breakfast mainstay has become oatmeal. This comes as something of a surprise to me since I long ago learned to dispise those little packets of instant oatmeal, and because I had adopted a no-cook breakfast routine built around granola and a bit of dried milk.
However, while getting ready for a long trip in 2004 I was concerned about getting all of my food into my Garcia bear canister. I realized that oatmeal packs smaller than granola. In addition it can be lighter, though extra fuel is required to cook it. However, when the main focus is how much food you can cram into a bear canister, fuel weight may be better than food weight since fuel does not need to be protected from bears.
***The basic recipe
is very simple. For me, a basic, minimal one-serving breakfast is:
- 1/2 cup of quick cooking (not instant!) oatmeal. (Available at health food stores. I get mine from the bulk bin at Whole Foods.)
- A pinch of salt.
- Some sugar – to taste. (But extra calories are probaby a good thing in the backcountry.
Mix it up at home in small individual servings in ziploc bags. On the trail, combine the mix with about one cup of water and bring to a boil, then cook on very low heat for about 2 minutes. Oatmeal afficionados probably prefer to bring the water to a boil first and then add the oatmeal, but seems to me to be a less efficient use of fuel.
***Variations on the recipe
are possible and desirable – both to add calories and nutrition, and to add some variety to the menu on longer trips. Here are some of my variations:
- Add a tablespoon or so of powdered milk for extra nutrition.
- Add some chopped nuts. I like sliced almonds or chopped walnuts.
- Add cinnamon.
- Add some dry fruit. I like raisins or date pieces. I haven’t tried it yet, but I’m sure that dried apple would be good, too.
- The best thing is to camp where you can crawl out of your tent and pick a cup of wild blueberries… :-)
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Missing Hiker: Fred Claassen
(From a message from Martha Claassen.)
Hello Mr. Mitchell,
I came upon your site surfing the Tioga Rd. situation. I was drawn into it to see your photos of the Sawtooth Ridge, an area that has a great deal of meaning to me. The photo of the irises in the Bridgeport Valley is indeed a postcard view.
I have copied into the body of this letter the text from a poster regarding my husband Fred, a serious non-professional photographer and environmental sound recordist, who’s been missing in the Hoover Wilderness since 2003. My hope is that an aware backpacker like yourself will someday find a clue that will help me, and the Mono Co. and YNP Search authorities, find him this year. I would deeply appreciate it if you could alert anyone you know that may be heading into the area to the news of a missing person out there. The deep snows are going to give us a short season to search, if the passes ever clear. I have the poster as a JPG with a good photo of Fred in full backpacking regalia, but I can’t see how to get it to you from this page. (I don’t have a website myself, I think I can only send it as an attachment.)
Fred and I were avid backpackers, though I started backpacking in 1969 in Lake Tahoe and he didn’t start until the 1990s. We were married in Yosemite Valley in 1999. We did many of the same trips I see on your site–Lamarck Col and the Darwin Bench, Evolution Valley, Onion Valley to Mt. Whitney (’01), 1000 Island lake, Ediza-Iceburg Lake and the Minarets, and the list goes on and on. In 2003 we did over 100 miles of trips in the desert and the Sierra. We had been home less than a week from a 10 day adventure in the Ansel Adams Wilderness, Fred had 2 days vacation left, so he decided to head for the Sawtooth Range (upon reading they were the northern extension of the Minarets, where we had just come from) to record the thunder storms that had been rolling through that week, and of course take photos. The rest of the story is contained in official reports, press releases and stories, and even a short TV news blurb on channel 5 News. Our home was/is in Livermore.
I’ll have this poster tacked up around Bridgeport and the eastern Sierra again this year. I’m heading that way next week. Again, I need all the help I can get letting people know tha a tripod or portable DAT recorder or walking stick lying around unattended in this area could be a valuable clue to his location, and should be reported. Thanks in advance for your help.
Happy trails,
Martha Claassen
| ***OVERDUE BACKPACKER STILL MISSING
Your help is needed! People hiking the High Sierra backcountry west Fred Claassen, 46, entered the Hoover Wilderness from Twin Lakes on Thursday, July 31, 2003. His itinerary was to hike by trail to Crown Lake, over Mule and Burro passes, returning to Twin Lakes cross-country via Matterhorn Pass and the Horse Creek drainage. He was due back Monday, August 4, ?03.. Hikers reported seeing him on the afternoon of Friday, August 1, ?03 at Crown Lake. He has not been heard from since. The search area includes the Robinson Creek drainage (Barney, Peeler, Robinson, Crown, and Snow Lakes area), the Horse Creek Drainage, and the northern part of Yosemite National Park between Mule Pass, Burro Pass, and the Matterhorn. Equipment you might find . The photo shows Claassen with typical backpacking gear.
Small clues can help–Please call Please report stray articles of clothing, unattended equipment, unusual odors, or anything you believe might be useful to: Mono Co. Sheriff’s Dept. at 760.932.7549 Any clues, however small, can help us focus the search. Thank you. |
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Summer is Here!
I know that summer actually started early last week, but today marks the beginning of my summer. I gave my last final exam yesterday and, although there is a bit of work left to do, I’m pretty much off now until mid-September.
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Dan's Outside 
Visit to White Mountains and Bristlecone Pine Forest
One of the positive results of ending my pack trip early was the opportunity to spend most of a day in the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest in the White Mountains above Lone Pine and Bishop.
White Mountains. August 6, 2005. © Copyright Dan Mitchell.
After grabbing the obligatory Schats breakfast in Bishop I headed down to Lone Pine and then up into the White Mountains, turning left at the road to White Mountain (14,000+) where the University of California operates high altitude research facilities, or so I’ve been told. The road (paved until the Schulman Visitor Center) provides unbelievable views of the Sierra Nevada range across Owens Valley to the west.
After the visitor center the road turns to dirt, gravel, and rocks. Although I saw some people driving parts of this in minivans (!) I was very glad to have a sturdy four wheel drive vehicle for the 12 mile drive out to the furthest bristlecone pine grove at something over 11,000 feet of elevation. I could have driven another 4 miles on this “road” to a locked gate that is higher and closer to White Mountain, but I’d had enough by that point.
Bristlecone Pine Grove. White Mountains. August 6, 2005. © Copyright Dan Mitchell.
A friend had described the terrain up there as a moonscape and I now see why, though it certainly has a stark beauty of its own. There is no flowing water whatsoever and many sections have only short brush growing. There were a lot of wildflowers in bloom. Oddly enough, I was reminded of areas of Alaska – perhaps due to the plants growing at the edges of existence and the vast spaces on this ridge.
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August 9, 2005 Posted by gdanmitchell | Commentary | Comments Off on Visit to White Mountains and Bristlecone Pine Forest