Why I Love the Mountains

Just a little more about our recent camping trip as I finally got around to uploading my pictures.

Our first night camping, a heavy cloud settled in on the mountain across the meadow. Then the moon started to rise. It was really cool so I took a series of pictures.

   

1. Moon rising on meadow.



2. Almost up.



 

3. Sitting on the trees.

 

4. Into the clouds.



5. Gone.

  The next morning the clouds / fog eventually cleared and we took a road we had never travelled before. David thought it only went in a mile. But it went on and on and on. We kept climbing higher and higher. We checked the tripometer on the way out. Turned out we went in 4 miles. It seemed further to me. We saw a few big does, but this view was the best part.

Looking Northwest toward Sierreta Peak.

Looking North toward the Kern Canyon.

Close up of previous - you can see the Needles.









Deer Season and Elderberries

I haven't posted a blog in so long, I forgot my password. So here's an update on what I've been doing lately - work. No, that's not all.

It's fall so the garden is slowing down. I've planted lettuce, carrots, onions and beets. Also some cole crops and they are growing slowly but surely. My green beans are nearly done producing. I froze about 30 cups this year.

It has also been deer hunting season. You can ask my kids, but my husband has been a hunter all his life. His parents raised him with it and they still go hunting to this day. When I first met David, I would go along and we would camp out. I love camping. It's challenging and I love getting up in the mountains and enjoying nature. It was a grand adventure, especially when the kids were young and went along.

One year we took my daughter and niece who are the same age. They were in junior high and best buddies. Our oldest daughter was there with her husband and our sons. After climbing some crazy rocks and scaring us to death, the girls turned in that night to a light snowfall. Well the next morning we woke to the girls yelling, "Our tent is caving in on us and we're stuck!" It had snowed so much that their domed tent for three had collapsed in around them allowing them just enough room to huddle together. Well we were in a similar situation. My husband finally dug out and was able to clear enough snow for them to escape. Everyone was cold, but it sure was beautiful. The world had changed overnight! Everything was white. Pretty soon everyone was packing up to go home. Our son-in-law ended up using his Bronco to pull a motorhome out of the snow when they got stuck. It was fun watching the snow and mud fly! So we definitely had our share of adventures.

But after several years, I realized my husband didn't enjoy camping for camping's sake. He camped out so he could hunt. And for him, hunting was WORK!!! He enjoys it, but I sure didn't. I felt like he took all the fun out of it. So eventually I quit going. He would be gone every weekend in October and I would play. I would do things with my friends like craft shows, weaving shows, trips to the coast, etc.

Well the last few years, he took to going during the week while I was at work. So there went my free weekends. Then last year, once he was over the worst of the buck fever, I went up with him for the last weekend. He didn't hussle me out of bed at the crack of dawn. We took a leisurely drive in the morning and then played War in the afternoon. We cooked good old camp food and enjoyed talking around the campfire. We really enjoyed ourselves.

This year I went up one day and we took my inlaws. Their truck was in the shop and they were so glad to get out of the house. Then I decided to go up for the final weekend again since we had enjoyed ourselves so much last year. Only this year it was much colder and cloudy most of the time. Even so, it was still enjoyable for the most part.

So my husband goes to hunt and if he gets a deer, we have extra meat in the freezer. However, I go with a different goal in mind. I go to pick elderberries!

Elderberries - flower, unripe and ripe berries.

 I love making elderberry jelly and it's good for you. Did you know that elderberries are 80 % higher in vitamin C than grapes? I picked one large bag when my inlaws came with us and then another bag the last weekend of season.



Yarrow



I also dug up some native yarrow to plant in my "herb garden". Yarrow is a natural steptic (stops bleeding). And if you add it to your compost pile it composts faster.



Sagebrush likes the dessert
of the mountains.





Sage bundles



I was going to cut some wild sage, but it was cold and looked like rain so I didn't. I just wanted to get home to a hot shower and my own bed. Wild sage smells really good and it is a natural moth repellent. You can hang it in your closet or put it in little sachet bags in your dresser drawers.

Now I'm trying something new with the elderberries I picked. I'm making wine. I've started 2 batches. The first was a simple matter of juicing the berries, adding sugar and water with some bread yeast and putting it in a jug to ferment. I put a balloon over the opening with a pin hole in it to allow the CO2 gases to escape without letting in any wild yeast that could ruin the wine.

My second batch which is in progress is a conglomeration of recipes and instructions. I'm keeping notes so I can reproduce it if I like it.

So no matter what, I don't come home empty handed. So what do I do with my jellies and wines? Well we can't eat it all, but my family loves receiving these home made goodies and they make great Christmas gifts.

I'll add the wine recipe at a later post.