A Day Spent on the Water
My friend, Joe Castaldi, built a beautiful, sixteen foot gaff-rigged Melonseed Skiff from the original plans. He sent word he was planning to launch her for a maiden voyage down at the Hood River Marina, so I showed up yesterday, bright and early to...
Well, That Was Dumb.
My last week before I retired, I decided to ride the moto to work. People expected it of me and I enjoy the ride. It was December, with temperatures down around 15f (-9.4c). I suited up and went out to the garage. The bike had been plugged into a tender, so the...
Good Afternoon
5/27/25 3:30 80f (26.6c) Clear sky, warm breeze. Mike and I went up the mountain to have a look around. Found coral mushrooms, shaggy manes, and a handful of morels at between 3000 and 4000' under mixed conifers. ...
Mardingtop 25L Backpack M6347A
For years my EDC was a Wolfman tankbag. When I was still working, I kept it filled with maps and tools and fuses for my moto, emergency kit, knife, a roll of T.P. and my lunch. I could leave straight from work for the woods when the notion took me. When that bag wore...
Voyagers
Having discovered Disappearing Lake was full and the road free of snow, four of us loaded up our boats and headed into the woods for an adventure. Five of us, if you count Walter Dawg, and really, you must. He has been an integral member of the team from day...
Good Morning
11/22/25 6:00 32F (0.0C) Dark, moonless, frosty. The sky. The ground. Everything is sparkly. ...
Good Morning
11/21/25 6:30 33F (0.55C) Clear, calm, cold. It is just above freezing yet the deck has a veneer of ice. What a beautiful dawn. The sky, clear behind a thin, nearly invisible gauze, is brightening through pastel shades of pink and blue. A small bird whistles...
Good Morning
11/20/25 6:00 42F (5.5C) Dark, moonless and cloudy. It was raining lightly but now it has stopped. It is a very quiet morning. I wonder what that damn dog is up to? ...
Good Morning
11/19/25 6:30 31F (-0.55C) Partially cloudy and still. The stars are fleeing the dawning light. It is a very frosty morning. I think it is the first hard freeze we have had this season. ...
Good Morning
11/18/25 5:30 34F (1.1C) Dry, light breeze, broken clouds with a few stars showing through. Amy's up a little early and the lights are on, lending a cheery illumination to the early morning. ...
Leucoagaricus rachodes
Leucoagaricus rhacodes, sometimes spelled rachodes (it is also known as Agaricus rhacodes, Lepiota rhacodes, Macrolepiota rhacodes, and Chlorophyllum rhacodes), is a stately and delicious mushroom, despite its somewhat confusing taxonomy. Brilliant white with a...
Pie Iron Tuna Melt
We were going to do tuna melts in the pie irons at Fungal in the Jungle, but Wayne and Peter fed us so well we never got around to cooking for ourselves. I was really looking forward to seeing how potoato bread worked in the pie iron, so a couple of days after we got...
Mulled Wine
Hot spiced wine is a perfect way to take the edge off the drizzly season. We made this in a 2 1/4 gallon cast iron potjie suspended over the fire from a tripod. It would work just as well in a crock pot on low. Ingredients 2 bottles of red wine...
Carbonara
This is one of my favorite camp meals. It only takes about twenty minutes and it is delicious. Dried lobster mushrooms work best in this dish. They hold up to cooking, add a marvelous flavor, and the water used for reconstituting them dyes the pasta orange and infuses...
Lobster Mushroom Hash Browns
The combination of shredded Lobster mushrooms, potato, sunchokes and a little diced red onion, give these hash browns a unique flavor, filled with the umami of Autumn. Ingredients 1-2 potatoes, grated sunchokes, grated, equal to the amount of potatoes used an...
