Spring Break 2017: 9-Day Menu (Car & Backpacking)

A post from last spring that I just finished up...
It’s been seven years since I’ve graduated college and I’m still not ready to give up my spring break. This time of year, when it’s been raining for about five months straight in the PNW, the dry and dust of the desert really call me. Also, Max and I conveniently still have some friends living in Salt Lake who love to adventure. We decided to meet up and do some backpacking, but they weren’t available until later in the week, so Max and I took the Nevada route from Eugene down to Utah and made a stop at Great Basin National Park. There we toured the Lehman Caves. I hadn’t been in a cave since I was little so it was a pretty cool experience. Seeing all of the elaborate stalactites, stalagmites, columns, shields, “cave bacon,” and “cave popcorn,” it was so hard to comprehend just how slowly they all grow. It was also a trip when the guide turned out the lights and the darkness was so heavy it felt like it was pushing on my eyes, and I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face. I was pretty shocked to learn that visitors in the 1800’s would throw parties deep in the caves, with music and food and dancing.

After the cave tour, we tried our hardest to get up to the Bristlecone Pine trail, but since the road to that trailhead is closed until a little later in the season, we had to start at the Upper Lehman campground, which added 3.6 miles to the trip, most of it post-holing in soft snow. We hadn’t brought snowshoes or even micro-spikes, so it was a laborious 3.6 miles. We made it to the campground but decided to turn around, since the snow had been getting unpassably deep for us without snowshoes.

My favorite part of the trail was the rose hips we found. We collected some for tea later and nibbled on the bright, sun-warmed red flesh as a little trail treat. They tasted like a fruit roll-up.
   
Then we headed to Ibex, Utah for some rock climbing. The first day of climbing outside after a winter of only gym climbing is always humbling. But that’s part of why I climb because the rock can really cut through your ego and teach you some real lessons. Essentially I climbed nothing beyond a V1 the first day, and even failed on some V0’s. The familiar discouragement set in, threatening to ruin the trip for me.

But the next morning we grabbed our rope and headed up to the Scorpion Slab for some 5.8/5.9 sport climbs. We started to figure out the rock a little more on these climbs, a little more comfortable experimenting with the safety of a rope. The rock in Ibex is quartzite, which I really liked. It took a while to trust my feet, but I finally realized that my shoes were gripping even the tiniest of ledges, and I didn’t have a foot fail the entire time. The sun baked us by noon, so we headed down to siesta in the shade of the boulders for a couple hours and then broke out the crash pads for another afternoon session once the sun had gone behind the cliffs. We chose a boulder that had about eight solid V0’s and V1’s all around and just really enjoyed the routes. It’s true when they say that you have to ignore the grades and just climb.

The first half of our trip was car camping, so we had the luxury of a cooler. Breakfasts were Soft-Boiled Eggs with Butter & Mustard, a hot dog, and a Morning Glory Muffin. Lunches were various takes on sandwich-style “Bowls” (which are really more like salads without the lettuce). On this trip we alternated between sardines or pepperoni, and added bell pepper, apple, carrot, avocado, and of course mustard. We didn’t bring enough olive oil to use some for lunch, but usually we douse it in some good extra virgin for a little extra fat. We always buy sardines packed in olive oil, so that helped a little, but the pepperoni definitely needed a little something to bring it together. Just to highlight how much we love mustard: we used an entire bottle in the first three days and ran out by Thursday breakfast. That was rough.

Sunday - Drive from Eugene, OR to Spring Valley, NV
(meals were mostly a bunch of leftovers or pre-cooked foods we brought in our cooler)
Breakfast - hard boiled eggs, avocado, yogurt & carrot radiccio salad
Lunch - grass-fed burgers, steamed carrots with olive oil, green salad
Dinner - grass-fed meat, onions, and mushrooms cooked in tallow, delicata squash, green salad

Chicken Pesto Broccoli

Monday - Great Basin National Park: Lehman Caves, Lehman Creek Trail
Breakfast - Soft-Boiled Eggs with Butter & Mustard, hot dog, Morning Glory Muffin
Lunch - Sandwich “Bowls”
Dinner - Chicken Pesto Broccoli, delicata squash (leftover from home), Theo chocolate

Tuesday - Bouldering in Ibex, UT
Breakfast & Lunch - same as above
Dinner - Salmon-Apple Bake (same as the Onion Apple Tuna Bake, but with salmon), delicata squash, carrot radicchio salad, Theo chocolate

Wednesday - A few sport climbs and some more bouldering in Ibex
Breakfast & Lunch - same as above
Dinner - Salmon Coconut Curry, Theo chocolate

Thursday - Headed to SLC to meet up with some friends and prep for the second half of our trip
Breakfast - same as above
Lunch & Dinner - city food

The second half of our trip we planned to do a little backpacking in Southern Utah. We had picked out Lower Muley Twist Canyon, but when we showed up at the ranger station to get our permit, the ranger on duty told us that they limit the number of parties in the canyons for each night, and that Lower Muley had already hit the limit of three. But she was really kind and pointed out a few other options for us, and we decided to hike Lower Spring Canyon. Because they limit the number of groups in the canyon per night, we didn’t see or hear a single person once we arrived at our campsite and we felt like we had the canyon to ourselves. We took some time to just lie and soak in the beauty of the sandstone walls, played some cards, ate some delicious food, and watched the bats swoop over our heads in our sleeping bags while we stargazed. The next day, we day-hiked Upper Spring Canyon, then returned to our campsite and moved down canyon for the night. On Sunday, we hiked Lower Spring Canyon. The ranger had told us that we would notice a difference between the upper and lower part of the canyon and she was right. The sharp, straight lines of the deep red Navajo sandstone gave way to the softer, rounder, lighter walls of the lower canyon. Since we started early enough, most of the canyon was in the shade the whole morning. At the very end we had to ford the Fremont River to get back to the road. I love any trip that ends in cold water, so I was thrilled.

Friday - Backpacking in Capitol Reef National Park: Spring Creek Canyon
Breakfast - eggs & bacon at our friends’ house before leaving
Lunch - Sandwich “Bowls”
Dinner - Cream of Mushroom Chicken Soup, chocolate

Saturday - Backpacking in Capitol Reef National Park: Spring Creek Canyon
Breakfast - Living Intentions Superfood Cereal w/ collagen & coconut milk
Lunch - Sandwich “Bowls”
Dinner - Beefy Spaghetti Squash 'n' Sauce, chocolate

Sunday - Backpacking in Capitol Reef National Park: Spring Creek Canyon
Breakfast & Lunch - same as Saturday
Dinner - Sausages, salad, sweet potatoes, wine, and chocolate back at our friends’ house in SLC

Monday - Drive from SLC to EUG
Breakfast - eggs & bacon at the house
Lunch/Snacks - sardines & oysters, carrots, apple, avocado, trail mix, plantain chips, sweet potato chips, kombucha