Tuesday Trails: Gray's Peak

Gray's Peak, Fawnskin, CA

~7 mile out & back
~1200' gain
Approximately 3h 20 minutes (at fairly slow pace)
Moderate difficulty (gain, altitude, length)
Warm season

One of many interesting rock formations.

I did this hike exactly two years ago, on July 1, 2012. That was my first year back to hiking after many years off, so my trip report reflects my relatively beginner state of fitness and hiking savvy:

Steepish climb becomes gentle, then more intense again toward the top. The trail is beautiful, with frequent views of Big Bear Lake. It passes through forest, boulder fields, and burn area for a wide variety of view and terrain. Observing how the forest flora is regenerating after fire is fascinating; our pine forests are becoming chaparral burn by burn.

The slowish pace made this a pretty easy hike. There are beautiful panoramic views from the top of the peak, which is easy to get to from the end of the trail. This is allegedly the easiest of the Seven Summits of Big Bear (an assessment with which I agree).  We couldn't find the register, nor did we find any survey markers.

The view from the top.

I would happily do this trail again. It's easy, a good workout distance, with money shot views all over the place. Plus, I like big rocks, and this hike has plenty! There is little cover in the burn area, however, so it can get hot. Make sure to wear sunblock and take plenty of water.

Beautiful blue skies and wildflowers juxtaposed with a forest burn area.

Foto Friday: High Lake, Sierra Nevada, CA

High Lake, California, USA - taken September 1, 2013

The Art of Photoshop

I'm making myself a 2013 hike yearbook in Photoshop and InDesign. When I'm done, I'll publish a hard copy via Blurb.
When I hike, I don't take my best camera because it's heavy, and I worry I will kill it. So, most of my hike pix are taken with a Canon Elph or my iPhone.
While I can still get (usually) the composition I want from the lesser cameras (more so with the Canon, because it's hard to see the screen of the iPhone in daylight), it's impossible to get the same quality out of the box.
Using Photoshop to enhance the information that's already in the image is the art of telling the story I wanted to capture with my camera.

Before:

Sunrise View from High Lake

After:

Post-processing

PinTest: Eggs Baked in Avocado

This pin and variations of it have been viral on Pinterest for ages. I pinned it to my Recipes to Try board 40 weeks ago, and finally gave it a whirl this morning.

Reading the comment sections of recipes can be super helpful, and I'm glad I did in this case: adding water to the baking pan kept the overspilled egg whites from burning, which would have set off the fire alarm, which in turn would have sent the dog cowering into the corner to glare at me. Since he spite-pees, I try to avoid annoying him. 

It took 15 minutes for the egg whites to set up instead of 10-12, and even then, one was still a little translucent and wiggly with a runny-ish yolk, while the yolk of the other was no longer runny, and the white was fully set. 

The toppings are a nice start, but to add some flavor dimension, I added sliced radish to the other toppings, which I mixed with the scooped-out avo, and a generous tablespoon of cottage cheese to each avocado half.

Here's the finished result:

I still found it boring, flavor-wise, so I added Cholula. Even this didn't give it the depth of flavor I hoped for.

Since I have, as of today, 398 other recipes to try from Pinterest alone, I probably won't make this again. If I did, though, I would swap the cottage cheese for sharp cheddar or Manchego, and add crispy bacon or crisped lardons. 

Oh well, can't win 'em all!

NeoRen: Anklet Commission

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