Coal Pits Wash

Here it is. I have finally gotten all my gear together and set a goal to go backpacking once a month. They will mostly be overnighters and the likes but getting out none the less. Now as you see in the pictures Sage and Cole are with me. Which required me outfitting them some too. I may also have to upsize my tent for the times that they join me. It was a tight squeeze. This is our March trip to Coal Pits Wash in Zions National Park. This also happened to be the first official backpacking trip for both the boys. Grandpa Kent, Clark(me), Sage, and Cole set out to achieve our first backpacking trip. We first went to get our back country permit. I had wanted to get campsite 6 because it was closer and I wasn't sure how the boys would hold out. But it was taken so we took campsite 5 which was 2 miles further (4 miles total). What a fortunate turn of events. Not only did we all make it fine the campsite was much better than the closer campsite. We would have missed out on the best part of the hike and camping. The section of hike from camp six to camp five is up a narrow canyon. You follow the wash and are climbing around and over giant boulders and such most of the way. That being said it really didn't seem too strenuous. The campsite was nice and right by the stream so we had fun playing in the water and catching lizards. We ate some dehydrated meals for dinner. Which Cole didn't like but the rest of us did. They have come a long way since the old trail foods I remember. Anyway we crammed into my cloudburst 2 man tent. (except Grandpa Kent, he slept under the stars.) And we woke to the sound of wild turkeys gobbling. After getting up and eating breakfast we made the return hike in about half the time as the up hike. As I have mentioned in earlier blogs I have converted to light weight packing and to give you an Idea of how that effected me, Sage and I ran at full speed the last 500 yards or so to the car, I nearly forgot I even had a pack on. The boys packs are also quite light so they too are not being bogged down. We had a great time and are looking forward to the next trip. Hopefully soon.

Snow Boarding

Just thought I would throw in a quick word on my snowboarding yesterday. Jeff and I decided to run up to Snowbird. (we had free tram passes) It ended up being one of the most beautiful ski days you could imagine, good snow, no wind, clear skis and lots of sun. The only problem was I was too out of shape to really take full advantage of it. I am paying the price today for my slothfulness. And I fear I will be severely hobbled tomorrow. Anyway it was an awesome day.

Bacon Explosion

Hello,

I am still alive contrary to what my blog history may support. I am rededicating myself to keep this and my family blog current this year. And what better time to start than with my Super Bowl Bacon Explosion experience.

I'm sure as some of you saw last week there was some hype going around a bout a relatively new recipe for a bacon and sausage concoction. Well I saw it, and as a carnivore, drooled excessively. Amidst my grumbling and groaning and excessive salivation the idea that I might actually make one of these began to obsess my mind. And after the gazillionth website showing how, I decided that the dream must become a reality.

I new the ingredients would be easy to come buy but I needed a smoker to do this right. Now I tend to buy impulsively on such occasions. But alas, even I new that I could not buy a smoker just for one recipe that I had never actually tried. So I pondered on this for awhile until.... I remembered that my brother-in-law had smoked some Salmon last year. So I called him up and asked if I could borrow it. Which he said yes...I am not sure if it was because he new I was coming to watch the game at his house or not, but he knew he would be there to enjoy the Bacony goodness and thus I was given free reign to smoke away.

So Saturday Nicole picked up the necessary ingredients for me and Marcus, my Brother -in-Law, reme,bered to soak the wood chips for me. Which I had forgotten.

Sunday finally rolled around and I was busy with meetings at church. So I knew to get this going was going to be a challenge. I ran home around 9:30 am between 2 meetings and started the process.
First I made the bacon weave.

Then I added the layer of sausage.

At this point I needed to go back to a couple meetings. And the next layer is cooked bacon. So I needed Nicole to cook that for me while I was gone, which she did. I returned around 11:30 and added the next layer of cooked bacon. At this time you also add some BBQ rub and your BBQ sauce.



Next is the trickiest part. You roll up the sausage and keep it packed tight. Then you roll the entire thing back to you to wrap the bacon around it. You do this to get the sausage mix nice and tight free of air bubbles and gaps. Once you have rolled it back with the bacon tuck the ends up tight. And then you add more rub to the outside. I used about 1 full tablespoon of rub throughout the process.


After this it is ready to go in the smoker. The smoker should be set at 225 and they recommend 1 hour of cooking per inch of thickness. The real key is to get so that the inside is at no less than 165 degrees. I found that here in Utah at altitude and in the heart of winter I had to add and extra hour to that cooking time.

Here it is 1/2 way through the cooking process. It looks good already. Once we got it to the right temperature it was all I could do to remain calm and get the last picture. I had forgotten my camera at home and took the last picture with my phone. I definitely couldn't wait to go get my camera. I took the B.E. out of the smoker and lightly glazed it with BBQ sauce and then it was ready. I snapped this last picture and then dove into my 1/2 slice.

WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was every bit a good as I could possibly have imagined. I have never used the terminology of rich with meat before, but it was rich. I ate 2 slices and then could eat no more. The taste was incredible. I actually wished I wouldn't have eaten so much before but it was probably for the better anyway. I am not quite ready to have a heart attack. But in a few years from now I can't think of a better way to go. Heart attack eating heaven and watching the Super Bowl. If you need specifics on sauces, rub, sausage and bacon used feel free to message me. This is too good to not share. Till next time.....Peace.

I just thought that for those who were needing more than the slide show on the family blog I would give you a color version of it here. Enjoy

Backpacking

Well I uploaded a bunch of pictures from the camera so I could post on the family blog and came across the pictures of my new tent. I am on a quest to lighten my load for backpacking. I started this quest about two years ago or so after I went winter camping with Marcus and Drew. I had a very heavy pack and decided that there needed to be a way to escape the pains of the heavy pack and create more enjoyment out of the trek. Thus I began to research a more lightweight alternative. WOW!!!!! There is plethora of information out there revolving around lightweight, ultralight weight, minimalist....yada yada yada. There is a style for everyone and everyone is willing to share. So I might as well join in. I have spent many hours researching and developing my own comfort level of lightweight. And I am far from there yet. I don't have a surplus of cash laying around to try and buy everything I would like so this conversion is a very gradual process. Last year I got a Backpack, the Granite Gear Vapor Trail, to be exact.( I will take some pictures and upload them later.) I also learned how to make a soda can stove, made a couple, and used them. It is fun making things sometimes. (again I will take some pics and post them later.) I also adopted a 3/4 length sleeping pad. This year I acquired my shelter. It is a Henry Shires Cloudburst 2 Tarptent. I have spent numerous hours researching tents, hammocks, tarps, bivys, and every sort of shelter out there. In the end I decided to go with the Tarptent. It provided the protection I wanted with a great weight.

You can see that it is very similar to a tent. I am anxious for the weather to improve so that I may head on out backpacking. I have a number of trips I want to take around the state. I will probably be looking for individuals who want to go with. If you are interested msg me. I will post a list of the trips I want to take and maybe I can drag people along with me. Well I will get some pictures of some of my other gear and put together my desired trips. I don't plan on taking them all this year. Maybe I will throw together a poll of where everyone thinks is the best place to go out of my desired trips. I should have some time later so maybe I can scramble something together. Later

Wii

Well I have only had the opportunity to play the wii once before and it was for about 10 min. Last night I had my second opportunity which lasted for more than an hour. I must say that I had a good time. I played the wii sports games and a couple different modes for each one. I even created my own mii. I didn't do too good of a job on the resemblance but maybe next time I can modify him. Thanks to Brad and Jackie for the good food and fun time playing the wii. Once i got used to the wrist flick required by the games I started to do much better, but in honor of my good friend Drew I am felling it in my wrist today. I can empathize with his pains and aches:) I am not sure that I want a wii yet but I have been thinking about it, and with the announcement of Rock Bands June release date for the wii maybe I will get on board. My sister Brittney just bought a wii also so I will have to go play hers also and ad some more gaming experience under my belt. Wii fans chime in on your feelings or non Wii fans can give their 2 cents worth on why to stay away.

Before I get ahead of myself I am going to need a new video card for my home pc. The old card gave up for the second time. Ahhh I have had a few frustrations with this computer build. Lots of bad luck. I have replace d the motherboard, and processor (twice each) and now the video card for a second time. Although some of those issues dealt with power surges and a bad outlet so I am not complaining too much. I hope to do the entire system by the end of the year so I may wait. I am not sure yet what I am going to do. I know I can pick up a far better card for not too much money so I may do that and put it in the new computer at the end of the year. Only time will tell. Well nuff said I'll be back.

Why not

Well I decided to create my own personal blog. This will separate all my personal crap from the family stuff. Since I will be maintaining the family one as well I decided that I should limit my personal deliriums to a separate blog. I may be prone to run off on any variety of subject here as opposed to my family dealings. So away we go. I will try to keep both up and running and fairly up to date. :P