1. Around 10:30 this morning, equipped with knowledge passed on to me by Doug, Darrell, and Harley, I returned to Coal Creek. Now I realize that there's an open area right when you turn into the Coal Creek area off of FS 9 and there's a short road that leads out of this open area to the Coal Creek Trailhead. There are no signs -- none telling you this is Coal Creek and no signs indicating that the trailhead is up the short road I just mentioned. I parked the Sube in the open area near FS 9 and walked up the short road to where I could see the start of the trail.
The trail runs alongside and above Coal Creek and it's stunning. The mile or so that I walked today was almost entirely canopied and with the creek nearby it was shady, cool, and gorgeous. The creek features several miniature waterfalls, a number of trees that have fallen across the waterway, both in and above the creek, and the area is thick with ferns and other greenery. The trail, as far as I went, was never steep, but I stopped often to admire the beauty of this riparian zone and to enjoy the cool air.
About a mile up the trail, I crossed a footbridge and the trail headed uphill. I came to a T. I assumed if I went right, I would continue to hike parallel to Coal Creek, going upstream. I didn't know where I'd end up if I went right. I decided that I'd had a good introduction to Coal Creek, would return home and look at my CdA National Forest map and see if I could learn more about this junction (this T), and return again, earlier in the day, and hike farther on this trail.
I consulted the map at home and, sure enough, I'm convinced that had I gone right at the T, I would have eventually come to another intersection with the Graham Creek and Graham Ridge trails. The map didn't indicate where the trail went if I turned left, so I'll ask around and see if anyone knows and I'll drop in at the ranger station near Smelterville and see if I can learn more.
2. I've had a small ham sitting in the freezer in the basement ever since purchasing an order of pork early last summer. I decided to cook it up for the Saturday potluck up the river as a bunch of us from the KHS Class of 72 are celebrating all turning 65 years old either in late 2018 or in 2019. I didn't really want to turn on the oven and heat up the kitchen this morning. With a little looking around, I found the simplest possible recipe for cooking a ham in the crock pot. So, when I returned home from Friday breakfast with Ed and Jerry and before I left to hike Coal Creek, I put about a cup and a half of brown sugar in the bottom of the crock pot, put the ham in the crock pot, covered it with a half a cup of brown sugar, and turned the slow cooker on low. It was supposed to take eight hours, but around 1:00 or so, I took the ham's temperature and it was done. After removing it from the crock pot, I let it rest for about a half an hour and then I carved slices and wrapped the stack in foil. It's ready for Saturday's party.
I also saved out some stringy and fat pieces of ham, the ham's fat, and the ham bone and soon I'll make ham stock and, when the time is right, I'll make a pot of ham and white or navy bean soup.
3. Our "Still Alive at 65" party got underway late this afternoon. I drove out to Ed's and we piled into his pickup and arrived at Danny and Sharon's river property a little early and jumped right into conversation with Rocky and Mike Masters. Rocky brought me some superb craft beers from the Boise area and I cracked open a tasty and refreshing lemon and ginger Hefeweizen. Later I enjoyed a superb Hazy IPA. Before long several more people arrived, we dove into the hot dog buffet, and, as it grew darker and cooler, all took our chairs down and sat around the fire ring where Danny kept a roaring blaze going. Stories and laughter dominated the evening. It was an evening full of good cheer and happy reunions. We'll have even more friends arrive for Saturday's potluck and the enjoyment will continue to grow.
No comments:
Post a Comment