Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Stacey's Home Grown Powerbar Recipe

We've had requests for the recipe for the home-made powerbars that our guide Stacey Scarce brings on some of the trips she leads. S0 - here it is!:

4 cups rolled oats

1 container of peanut butter

About 16 oz or more of honey

Now add whatever of the following ingredients that you would like to include: maybe ½ cup of each, except flax can 1 cup

Flax seed (healthy)

Millet (my favorite and healthy)

Sesame, Pumpkin, Sunflower seeds, I usually add one or two of these but not all three

1 cup or more of dried cranberries

1 package of semi-sweet choc. Chips

About 1 ½ tablespoons of vanilla and cinnamon

You can add other stuff to it just make sure the oats are the most abundant ingredient. If you put too much millet, it doesn’t bind together well.

Mix it all together, dump it in a pre-greased pan then press it in. I use a glass with a little water on it so it doesn’t stick and roll the glass over the top to pack it down.

Bake 350’ for no more than 30 minutes. Check it out at 20 minutes to be sure it is not too brown. It should have a soft brown hue in the middle when it is done.

Stacey

Monday, October 25, 2010

Just Resting My Eyes

Last week, I taught my favorite clinic - Ultralight Backpacking. We had a very receptive crowd and I thought that I was really in the zone teaching the class. Little did I know that one of my students in the back of the room wasn't nearly as impressed with me as I was with myself!
Things started off well enough - but Boone's body language is saying "What-EVER!!"

"No - No - Really - I'm just resting my eyes!"

"I just need a more comfortable spot to rest my back. Yes - I am STILL resting my eyes!"

"Hmlgrph... huh? ... Yeh - I'm resting my eyesss...."

"Uggg... What the heck - I can't take any more of this"

Friday, October 15, 2010

An Afternoon Well Spent


For a while now, Becky and I have been meaning to get out to Lake Martin to try out some tandem kayaks that we are thinking of putting in our rental fleet. We've had that project rolling around on our to-do list for 5 or 6 weeks. Not exactly a to-do bullet point that you keep wanting to avoid. But somehow, we just never seemed to get around to it.

Last week we finally loaded the boat and headed to Lake Martin. As soon as we slid the kayak into the water, we noticed a regal egret standing rock-still on a log watching us glide silently by. We decided to head down towards the rookery. Approaching the treeline, a large bird swooped in - moving left to right. Our first Bald Eagle sighting at Lake Martin! We had heard there was a nesting pair and also a single bird at the lake - but never saw it before.

The wind and our momentum carried us into the trees, back towards the rookery and into a cacophony of bird life. A flock of thousands of migrating Grackles were everywhere. These birds are not the regal silent type. They are more like the guys you see on the floor of the stock exchange moving around and yelling, but you're not sure what it's all about. These Grackles were great entertainment. Their oily-black plumage accented by the deep iridescent green was beautiful. We tried to see what they were doing in the trees, but never could tell. Most likely they were just enjoying the afternoon at the lake just like we were.

As we made our way through the trees, the sun began to set. We turned our bow towards the sinking golden orange orb dropping over the other edge of the lake. Now completely relaxed and absorbed in the experience, we paddled across the open water straight towards the setting sun.

I often tell groups that there is a beautiful sunset at Lake Martin every single day. Every time we go out for a late afternoon paddle, we ask ourselves why we don't do this more often. I guess we're not the only ones. During our paddle we didn't see another canoe, kayak or motorboat on the water.

We can all agree that Lake Martin is truly a wonderful asset for Lafayette. But I think considering Lake Martin to be an asset kind of makes it abstract. I want to start thinking of Lake Martin as a canvas on which we can paint beautiful scenes in our life. The 2 hours we spent on the lake will be indelibly imprinted in our memories as an afternoon well spent.

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Building Implosion at Pack & Paddle


This is our locals version of a building implosion. We're cleaning out back near our warehouse to create a brand new kayak yard! In case you don't know him, Will Daley works for us at P&P building displays, fixing problems, and now... tearing down buildings.