Lake Carmi Excursion
Just back from a pretty awesome weekend at the Lake Carmi (car-my, not car-mee, we learned) state park up near Enosburg Falls.
We got a gorgeous site right across the road from the lake, so we had the benefit of waterfront plus some treeline for privacy. It helped that the place was mostly empty -- though a lot of new campers showed up Saturday afternoon, interestingly. I wonder if they were all there for just one night.
It was an amazingly lazy trip, all things considered. Friday we lounged and drank. Saturday we meant to go on a hike up Burnt Mountain, but settled for tromping through the park's black spruce bog -- uncharacteristically large for its type, I'm told -- and exploring a bit of a "nature trail" that seemed to be more of a stripped rail bed. Walking through a bog barefoot is a singular sensation: spongy moss compresses beneath your step, causing cold water to well up over your feet.
Otherwise, we hung out at the camp site or the lakeside, admiring the scenery and local wildlife. One pair of ducks seem to pretty much own the stretch of beach we sat alongside, them and a lone mallard. We only ever saw loons in the distance, swimming through the deep water.
I started yet another novel, Stone Junction by Jim Dodge, which is one of those indescribable cult novels about a guy who does pretty far-fetched stuff in a mythic western America that I find difficult to believe ever existed in any way, shape or form. Still a good read, though.
I took the opportunity to try out my brand new Dutch oven, which was reasonably successful. Friday night, I made a beef stew that was literally just beef, carrots and potatoes in water with salt and pepper. Tasty, but I want to make something a little more adventuresome in contents next time. The beef needed more time to cook before adding the vegetables, I think. The whole process also took much longer than the recipe indicated, so that's a valuable lesson for future Dutch oven work.
Saturday night we did a peach cobbler. It was good and tasty, but I think the recipe was off in how much liquid to add. If anything, some of the juice should have been removed and less water added. Otherwise, it was very good.
I liked using the Dutch oven and making something more elaborate than hot dogs and burgers in a camping atmosphere, but the equipment involved seems to multiply exponentially. Not only do you need utensils for the prep work that has to happen on site, but tools to manipulate a hot iron pot and lid, stuff from which to eat the food, etc, all of which then needs to be cleaned after the fact.
It was much more satisfying than subsisting on bread, fruit and hummus for two days, though, so I'm going to stick at building my Dutch oven skills. And probably build myself a charcoal chimney, if it does indeed turn out to be cheaper than just buying one.
We got a gorgeous site right across the road from the lake, so we had the benefit of waterfront plus some treeline for privacy. It helped that the place was mostly empty -- though a lot of new campers showed up Saturday afternoon, interestingly. I wonder if they were all there for just one night.
It was an amazingly lazy trip, all things considered. Friday we lounged and drank. Saturday we meant to go on a hike up Burnt Mountain, but settled for tromping through the park's black spruce bog -- uncharacteristically large for its type, I'm told -- and exploring a bit of a "nature trail" that seemed to be more of a stripped rail bed. Walking through a bog barefoot is a singular sensation: spongy moss compresses beneath your step, causing cold water to well up over your feet.
Otherwise, we hung out at the camp site or the lakeside, admiring the scenery and local wildlife. One pair of ducks seem to pretty much own the stretch of beach we sat alongside, them and a lone mallard. We only ever saw loons in the distance, swimming through the deep water.
I started yet another novel, Stone Junction by Jim Dodge, which is one of those indescribable cult novels about a guy who does pretty far-fetched stuff in a mythic western America that I find difficult to believe ever existed in any way, shape or form. Still a good read, though.
I took the opportunity to try out my brand new Dutch oven, which was reasonably successful. Friday night, I made a beef stew that was literally just beef, carrots and potatoes in water with salt and pepper. Tasty, but I want to make something a little more adventuresome in contents next time. The beef needed more time to cook before adding the vegetables, I think. The whole process also took much longer than the recipe indicated, so that's a valuable lesson for future Dutch oven work.
Saturday night we did a peach cobbler. It was good and tasty, but I think the recipe was off in how much liquid to add. If anything, some of the juice should have been removed and less water added. Otherwise, it was very good.
I liked using the Dutch oven and making something more elaborate than hot dogs and burgers in a camping atmosphere, but the equipment involved seems to multiply exponentially. Not only do you need utensils for the prep work that has to happen on site, but tools to manipulate a hot iron pot and lid, stuff from which to eat the food, etc, all of which then needs to be cleaned after the fact.
It was much more satisfying than subsisting on bread, fruit and hummus for two days, though, so I'm going to stick at building my Dutch oven skills. And probably build myself a charcoal chimney, if it does indeed turn out to be cheaper than just buying one.