Iced Coffee

Hate to dump a string of recipes out there, but it's too hot to go out and do anything outdoorsy so I'll do it anyway.  This is very simple to make, and though coffee has always wired me to the gills if I have more than a few cups, I'll take that risk with this delicious beverage.

Ingredients:

Coffee
Water

Simple, eh?

Any coffee will do, though I hear a darker, coarse ground roast makes a tastier beverage.   Of course, you can make coffee per usual and then chill it, but this receipt has a lower acidity and a different flavor than brewed coffee.  Simply take two cups of water and add 1/2 cup of ground coffee, cover and let it sit on the counter at room temperature for 12-18 hours. Strain it through a coffee filter or cheesecloth and mix it with half water or milk, or even cream if you desire a thicker, richer drink.  Pour it over crushed ice and you're done!   If you'd like a stronger drink you can freeze the coffee in an ice tray and skip adding  the ice.

Enjoy!

Breakfast Burritos

I've been making these for camping trips for years now, as they're easy enough  to make and can be kept in the freezer until you need them.  Throw 'em in the cooler before you leave, and 24 hours later they'll be thawed and can be thrown on the grill for a delicious and nutritious breakfast. (Or lunch. Or dinner. Or a snack!)

I use various ingredients depending on what I have available, but always include at least  beans, eggs, cheese, and spices.

Other possible ingredients include:

Sausage
Chorizo
Onions
Peppers
Rice
Avocado
Salsa
Sour Cream

Heck, you can add whatever you like, but it's best to keep it fairly simple.  I almost always use home cooked beans as the canned ones have no taste in my opinion. Refried beans are always an option, but whole beans are easier.   I never measure ingredients, it's best to throw everything together in amounts that look ok and they always turn out great.  You can cook everything separately and add to the tortilla, or simply cook everything in a skillet, (meat first!) and then add the eggs to bind it together.  I'd recommend adding the cheese, avocados and sour cream after the egg mixture.  Roll 'em up, throw 'em in a baggie, freeze 'em and you're good to go!

Another thing I might mention:  I've been buying tortillas for years, but recently they've become ridiculously expensive, the large ones costing around 4 dollars for 8 tortillas. Being a cheapskate, I've been making my own recently.  The flavor is vastly superior, and they're not difficult to make.  I'll add a post about it sometime, or if you can't wait, simply google homemade tortilla.

Retro Kansas: Solar Eclipse

  It was May 10th, 1994, and I was outside with my camera hoping to get decent pictures of the solar eclipse.  Surprised, I looked down and the sun's light had reflected through the leaves and created hundreds of miniature reflections of the eclipse on the ground.  I snapped 10 or 12 pictures in amazement!

New Shoes

I've been looking for a new pair of yakking shoes for some time, as I was sick of the crappy tennis shoes or plastic POS's I've been wearing for years. I wanted something that would drain water as well as dry fairly quickly, and definitely be tough enough to last for more than one season. I'd considered a pair of Adidas Outdoor Boat Shoes (vs indoor boat shoes?  Gahhhh...), as they had received mostly favorable reviews on Amazon. Trouble was, all of the not-butt-ugly colors were sold out in my size. I finally decided on a pair that were neon green, figuring after a few trips they'd be broken in and would lose some of that blinding new-car shine. This is what they look like after a couple of trips and a little drunken kicking logs back into the fire:


 

As can be seen in the second photo, there are holes in the bottom made to allow water to drain, and if you look closely there is a fine screen covering the holes. Surprisingly, no sand was able to make it through the screen, making them more comfortable in that respect than any of the shoes I'd been wearing. They are lightweight, comfortable, the water drains fairly quickly, and they dry fast too.  One strange aspect of these shoes:  They smell like fruit.  I thought it would go away after they got wet once, but oddly, it's still there.

It was only a few days after purchasing these when I saw that Adidas has a newer model called the Jawpaw Water Shoe. Once again, they have high ratings and look pretty darn cool. I'm not sold on the watersock look of the top, but the soles look beefier than the boat shoes I'd just purchased. No regrets buying the boat shoes, but if I were to do it over I might give the Jawpaws a try.

Retro? Nah...

These are pictures from 6 or 7 years ago.

I was getting a spot ready for planting garlic in September when I dug these little critters straight up out of the ground.

Great Plains Narrow Mouthed Frog (Gastrophryne olivacea)

This is a young narrow mouthed frog, and I say "young" because it was maybe 1/2 an inch in length. I've seen a few that were bigger, but these guys are usually on the small side. It amazed me that it came out of the dry, dusty soil looking like it had swam out of the water! They're not uncommon in Kansas, yet few people see them, mainly because of their nocturnal habits. Oddly, most of the sites on the internets call this animal a toad, but I'll stick by my trusty Audubon Society Field Guide to Reptiles and Amphibians.

Ringneck Snake (Diadophis punctatus)

This little guy was a hatchling, being only 4-5 inches in length. This one is a result of implantation of a few adults into my back yard many years ago.

Lovely plumage!

Holy Drought

So I thought we were going to catch sum biggun's this summer while camping along Kansas' many scenic rivers and lakes?!?! Nope. Well to be fair, I have gone out some but not half as much as last summer. This drought/ heat wave totally sucks. I've only caught about 20 fish this year (thankfully I went to a secret spot last week and caught 6 of those then)! Also, for once, I can honestly say I don't want to camp because it's too hot! I normally never "wimp out".

I thought I would look up just how bad the drought is around here. Right now Sedgwick County's western half is rated "Severe" and the eastern half is rated "Extreme". The only rating higher than that is "Exceptional". This is followed by DEATH haha!

Kansas Drought Monitor

US Drought Monitor

Hopefully it will cool down soon. The only thing that seems to be loving this heat is my sunflowers. The tallest one is about 13'6"!!!

Elk City Lake

I've always heard about the awesome trails at Elk City Lake in SE Kansas. The Kansas Wildlife and Parks website lists 8 trails plus the Corps of Engineers manages land featuring camping and trails so we had to decide where to go. We settled on the Elk River Trail in the Corps area. In addition to being very scenic you can backpack on this trail. We wanted to camp along the shore of the lake in a secluded area. We set out around 3 pm and began hiking. Right away this trail becomes very strenuous. It was around 100 degrees so I was glad we brought a lot of water but feared we didn't bring enough. There are cave like rock formations, crevasses and steep bluffs overlooking the lake. After about 3 miles we stopped and found an awesome spot to camp under a willow tree next to the lake. It was very cool! Growing next to the willow was the largest Button Bush I've ever seen COVERED with various species of butterflies. I can't wait to go back there but would like it to cool down a little first. Taking the kayaks would also be a great way to reach these remote spots where privacy is at it's best!!

Here is a map showing some of the various trail heads.

Here are some photos I took along the way:


The sunrise was amazing


A Kansas jungle


The trail is rugged and interesting

MORELS!

Morchella Esculenta

Well, this is the year I finally get around to looking for morels. I've planned on doing it forever and simply never got around to it, or started way too late. It's still a week or so until they start coming up, and after reading multitudes of mushroom sites and viewing a plethora of youtube videos, I think I'm finally ready!

My mother grew up near Coffeyville, and has often talked about finding them near a creek on her Aunt's land. I remember going there and looking for them with my family as a child, and then being distracted by an old bottle dump and chasing after skinks scampering through the leaves. I don't recall ever seeing one there, though I've seen them a few times since. Unfortunately, I had no idea exactly what they were so I didn't bother to pick them!

Unlike many other edible mushrooms, no one has yet figured out a way to raise them, so all the morels available are wild picked. I've always heard it's difficult to find them for sale, as well as knowing that even if you do find them, they can be ridiculously expensive. Out of curiosity, I looked on Craigslist a few days ago and there were three people taking orders for them, at a mere $30-$40 per pound! (I'll find my own, thank you!)

For all the information on hunting or cooking morels you might possibly need, check out this excellent site:

Morel Mushroom info

I'll post pictures of our finds when they're available. To anyone else out there looking for morels, good luck!

Rock City

Man, Rock City rocks! Haha. Anneke and I were returning home from a weekend trip in Nebraska when we stopped by Rock City for a break. It is located just southwest of Minneapolis, KS. The park features rolling prairie and about 200 massive Dakota sandstone boulders! It is a National Natural Landmark where you can see more of these boulders than anywhere else in the world! I have always wanted to go there but had never made it until now. We were the only ones there which made it very peaceful. It was really cold out so we only hiked around for about 20 minutes. Then I snapped a couple of photos and we took off...

The Faris Caves

In the mid 1880's, a Coloradan miner by the name of Charles Griffee purchased land adjacent to the Smoky Hill river and just west of the old Fort Harker in Ellsworth county. With trees being scarce along the open prairie during this time, pioneers had to be resourceful. A practice not uncommon was to use dugouts along rivers and bluffs for shelter and housing. Griffee, using his pickaxe and mining skills hollowed out 3 rooms(roughly 12' square with 10' arched ceilings) in his Dakota Sandstone bluffs as a living quarter. Offering cool air and fresh spring water, I'd guess this was pretty good living to a person settling on the prairie.

For reasons yet unknown, Charles Griffee sold his land to the Faris Brothers(Winfield and William) in 1893. Their brothers Henry and Irwin were already established along the Smoky Hill Trail with a hunting ranch on the Clear Creek crossing.

The caves have served as a home, smithy, refrigerator and schoolhouse...

Members of the Faris family in front of the caves

Need directions? Click Here


Hidden in dense vegetation and covered with inscriptions

Visiting the Faris Caves really opened my mind to a very fascinating history of Ellsworth county. Stories of gunslingers, murderers, gambling, prostitution, lawlessness and indian attacks are all things that made Ellsworth "The Wickedest Cattletown in Kansas"! If it strikes you fancy, check it out!

My Yak

At Curt's request...

Here's some photos of my first and only time out on my new kayak. These were taken on the Ark out front of my house in late Autumn. Now the river is completely frozen over so I can't go till Spring! I think I'm going to cry wa wa!

My yak is a Liquid Logic model Saluda. It's 12' long which I think will be a great length for Kansas' lakes and rivers. There is plenty of storage space and I've already fixed up a plastic fishing kit that will fit under the front deck rigging real nice...

Darters!

A few pictures of Etheostoma spectabile... or more commonly known to the rest of us average dorks out here in Stickland, The vonderous Orangethroat Darter.








Most people aren't aware these beautiful creatures even exist, though in the creeks and rivers of the flint hills they are incredibly common. They will "dart" under rocks when disturbed and then will cautiously come out to survey the situation. It's hard to believe these comical little characters are in the same family as Walleye and Perch, they're so tiny. The male in the pictures may be the largest I've ever seen, very close to 3 inches long. I'd liked to have gotten a few pictures of Slenderheads or a Freckled Madtom but we didn't see any. Maybe next time!

Kanopolis State Park

This is one of my favorite parks in the state for camping and hiking. I started coming to this park as a kid and still love it! It really hasn't changed much, would someday like to ride horses out there...

Some of the sights visitors can expect to see while hiking the trails at
Kanopolis State Park.

Mushroom Rock State Park

At only 5 acres, Mushroom Rock is the smallest State Park in Kansas

This is a great picnicking spot if you're around Lindsborg

A field of sumac just off the trail

Kansas' own Old Faithful

Big Basin Prairie Preserve & St. Jacob's Well

Our last stop on this trip was Big Basin Prairie Preserve and Saint Jacob's Well... This is a really wonderful and worthwhile trip in itself, but adding Clark and going through the hills is an excellent addition. If you go in spring or early summer you can catch miles of green prairie along with colorful wildflowers. It's a beautiful wildlife area! We didn't spot any bison roaming around out here this time, so I was happy we got to see some earlier in the trip. I actually had to drive past a young bull on the road the day before, which was a bit nerve racking for about a minute!

I'd like to bring my telescope out here on a clear night

Looking out on the Big Basin

Small flora growing on the rocky bluffs

St. Jacob's Well lies nestled in the Little Basin

Grasses, shrubs and flowers warm the path to the well

Barbed post rock fencing keep the bison out of the water

A partial view from the Living Water Monument

(left) Still missing the plaque! (right) Windmills water the bison herd

For more information on Big Basin and St. Jacob's Well Visit:
Natural Kansas
The Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks
Kansas Photo Tour