Camping pancakes

We normally stick with eggs and sausage for camping breakfast, but if we have friends joining us I'll take it up a notch with some pancakes. I loathe doing dishes while camping, so I avoid anything that requires mixing on site. Making pancakes ahead of time is tricky because they usually depend on baking soda and/or baking powder as leavening, both of which act quickly and lose power if they sit around. So for camping I rely on a yeasted recipe instead.

Don't expect traditional diner style pancakes here. These are yeasted and allowed to sit for a few days, so they have a tender, almost lacy crumb texture and a slight sourdough flavor. The batter is only lightly sweetened, but they pair beautifully with maple syrup, or with my personal favorite pancake topping - Greek yogurt swirled with jam.

To adapt for camping I put the batter in a gallon ziploc bag. Because the yeast are active little buggers the bag will fill up with CO2, so you do have to remember to open it up and press the air out once or twice a day. When I'm ready to make pancakes, I cut a corner off the bag and use it as a batter dispenser.





Camping pancakes (serves 4 - 6, original recipe here - scales up easily)

1 teaspoon (about 1/2 package) active dry yeast
2 tablespoons lukewarm water
2 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons sugar
2 cups buttermilk, shaken
3 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons melted butter

Dissolve the yeast in the water and set it aside.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar.

In another bowl, beat together the buttermilk, eggs and melted butter. Add in the yeast mixture, which should be nice and foamy by now if your yeast is working properly.

Mix the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and whisk just until combined (don't worry about lumps).

Pour the batter into a gallon Ziploc bag and stash it in the cooler. Remember to check on it twice a day to let out pressure or you could end up with a batter explosion on your hands.

When you're ready to cook, heat your griddle to medium, butter it and then snip one corner of the bag off and use it as a pancake dispenser. Cook until bubbles appear on the surface, then flip. Camp stoves aren't precision instruments, so be prepared for the first batch to be a trial run as you adjust the heat. I find that it takes a couple of minutes cooking on each side once the heat is adjusted properly.

Pancake batter should hold up for at least three days. I usually make it on Friday evening or Saturday morning and cook it on Sunday, so I haven't tested the limits of this.

Anza Borrego camping - 2017 edition

We loved our Anza Borrego trip last year so much that we vowed to get a reservation during wildflower season this year. Of course, when you're picking your dates you have no way of predicting the exact week that the flowers will explode. But we booked a site and then some friends booked another site next to us and then other friends booked a third site and pretty soon we had a 25 person camping trip* in the works.

Luckily the timing was pretty good. We didn't see full on fields of color, but there were so many beautiful flowers and it was amazing to see the desert this green for the first time in years. We stayed in Borrego Palm campground again, full review of the campground in my previous post.









On our way home we took a detour so we could check out some of the DesertX art installations in and around Palm Springs. Definitely worth getting home a little later than usual.







*In case you're wondering how you coordinate a 25 person camping trip - SHARED SPREADSHEET. Rather than having everyone bring their own food we assigned a certain number of people to each meal and asked people to sign up. Other communal items you should have people sign up to bring - coolers with ice, firewood, french presses, camping stoves. It was really nice sharing out the meal duties because we only had to bring breakfast stuff.

Joshua Tree - NYE 2016 camping

I want to be a rational human being who doesn't think that how any particular day goes really has any particular bearing on the rest of your year. But there's something about the transition to the new year that gets me. I want it to feel kind of weighty, but also celebratory and serene and reflective. We did it right this year and took a trip out to Joshua Tree. We got in Friday night, spent Saturday scrambling around the rocks and the expected rain even held off long enough to let us enjoy a long NYE happy hour by the fire. (We don't really do "glamping" but I made an exception and packed a couple of our nice champagne coupes for the occasion.) It rained all night, but cleared up for a perfect New Year's Day camp breakfast.












You can't really go wrong with Joshua Tree camping, in my opinion. We stayed at Indian Cove this time. The sites are great (if you check the site list you can actually see pictures of all of them, which is really helpful), with plenty of vault toilets scattered around. There's no potable water available in camp, although apparently you can get water at the ranger station about 1.5 miles away. It gets really busy this time of year, so reservations are your best bet. We booked our site months in advance to make sure we got one. If you're planning on having a few people join you, make sure you check the site photos carefully. Although technically you're permitted to have two cars per site, some sites can really only accommodate a single car. We stayed at 96 and were pretty happy with it.

Campsites are dog friendly, but they aren't allowed on the trails - bummer. This can be a deal breaker if you have dogs unless you have a big enough group that someone is willing to hang out at the campsite during the day. For this trip, we didn't really hike, just scrambled around the rocks at the campground (with Circe in her backpack).

If you're into rock climbing, Indian Cove has some great options. D loves it, but I'm terrified of sheer heights, so I can't do it. Oddly, I'm fine clambering over giant piles of boulders, hence the rock scrambling.

I like to take January to think about goals for the year, but we're both on board with continuing our 2016 resolution of fitting in as many short camping trips as we can.

Sycamore Canyon Campground - beach camping!

Last weekend we had a one night stay in Sycamore Canyon campground, in Point Magu state park. It's a small campground with amazing beach access and I think we'll put this place on regular rotation. I can be a little grinch-y about the beach in summer (crowded, hot, hard to park, high risk of sunburn) but I love, love, love going in the off season. The goal was to hang out on the beach on Saturday afternoon, then get up early on Sunday so D could surf, but Sunday ended up being rainy so we slept in and read and made breakfast between rain showers instead. This sounds wimpy, but it isn't the rain itself that's the problem, but rather the contaminated runoff that results from the rain. I know, lovely. Here are some nice, non-contaminated photos.







Sycamore Canyon details - This is a great little beach campground. My standards are a little lower for beach adjacent campgrounds because you know what you're getting into when you reserve one - you're paying for amazing beach access, and the campground itself is often beside the point (San Onofre is a great example of this). This campground is pretty nice, though. There is running (potable!) water, with hot showers (bring cash for the shower tokens) and flushing toilets. Sites are arranged in a little loop and several of them are nestled into nooks that feel semi-private. You can't reserve your site ahead of time, but check-in is at 2 pm and you can show up and see what's still available. We ended up with site 23, which would be an amazing group site because it has plenty of space, although it doesn't have any tree cover (totally fine for this time of year, would suck in summer). Sites 33 and 42 looked nice and shady, but smaller. You can have three cars per site, and this would be a fun place for group camping. Sites are relatively pricey at $55/night ($45 + $10 for reserving online), but totally worth it. You can buy firewood from the camp host on site ($7/bundle while we were there).

We didn't have time for hiking this weekend, but there is a trail that leads right out of the campground. Since this is a state park, dogs aren't allowed on the trails (sad). In the opposite direction, you can access the beach through a pedestrian tunnel that goes under PCH. The beach allows dogs, which is a huge plus because dog friendly beaches are few and far between around here. Circe was in heaven and kept breaking into a sprint out of sheer joy. Seeing her bounding across the beach almost makes up for the 10 lbs of sand that she managed to bring home with her.

Fall camping - Marion Mountain Campground - Idyllwild

We didn't make it out camping in August or September, due to tight schedules, but we managed two trips in October and it felt good. I'm terrible at sticking with resolutions, but last year we set a goal of always having a camping trip on the calendar, and we managed to make it out quite a bit in 2016 (just counted - I think we got in six trips, which isn't the one-per-month we were aiming for but is still decent).

At the beginning of October we went back to Marion Mountain campground for a one night stay. We've stayed here before and it's quickly becoming one of my favorites. Our goal is to schedule a two night stay at some point so that we can actually summit the peak, but this trip was a particularly lazy one. Just getting out of the house took about all the energy I had left after a long week, so we mostly napped and read and played a million rounds of Boggle while sipping rattlers (pretty much the best camping cocktail, in my humble opinion, although bourbon and hot cocoa is pretty nice once it starts to get chilly).






Campground details in previous post. Worth noting - both times we've been here there's been a complete ban on campfires (you can still use your portable stove, but no other flame is permitted). I think this will probably continue until the drought ends. I was realllly bummed about this the first time, because it was cold and rainy and we had assumed that campfires would be allowed in the rings so I'd brought hot dogs and s'mores. The second time I was prepared and we made sure to bring games and plenty of layers and I only missed the fire a little.

Weekend camping - Bandido Group Campground

Bandido Group campground is just 26 miles above La Cañada Flintridge, making it a pretty easy 1.5 hour drive from LA. We managed to get a rare two night trip in by leaving on Friday evening after work, hoping that we could juuuust make it while it was still light out, but naturally we didn't get there until 9 pm. Luckily we're pretty good at setting up our tent in the dark, although the first spot we chose was right on top of a giant anthill and I'm really, really grateful we noticed them just before we got started.



















On Saturday we visited the Chilao visitor center, a few miles down the road. It's a really nice station and the rangers were sweet and enthusiastic and recommended some good hikes just a couple miles from our campground. We ended up going on the Burkhart trail hike, and did about 5 miles round trip. There is supposed to be a nice waterfall (Cooper Canyon Falls) but the ranger warned us that it's been too dry lately so the creek is just a trickle. It was still a nice dog friendly hike (Circe didn't agree and made us carry her the whole way anyways). We went in the early afternoon and we were definitely feeling the heat, but it just made happy hour back at the campground that much more enjoyable.

I think I've mentioned that I've been drooling over the Camp Chef stoves, and we're lucky because our friends have one and we borrowed it from them this weekend so we could test it out. The verdict? So much nicer than our old Coleman one. The flames are stronger, they adjust really nicely, and it's easier to wipe down. We aren't planning on splurging on a new stove just yet, but when we're ready we'll get this one.

Other new camping gear - we tested out our new Kelty collapsible cooler that we purchased during the REI sale and I'm happier with it than I thought I'd be. It's a soft sided cooler that collapses down for storage. It doesn't get super tiny (my main beef when I first received it), but it is much easier to store than a hard sided cooler and it holds plenty with zero leaks. We loaded it up on Friday around 6 pm, and everything was still very cold on Sunday mid-morning (although most of the ice had melted by that point). I think that's pretty good considering how hot it was outside. We did keep it covered with a space blanket (shiny side out to reflect heat away) which helps. I wasn't sure if we'd end up returning this, but we're happy with it and we'll keep it.

Campground notes: 

Bandido is in the Angeles National Forest. This group campground is nice but since there is no camp host I think cleanliness is hit or miss. We had to clean up our campsite a bit when we arrived because the previous occupants had left some trash. The bathrooms were decent (for pit toilets - soooo, not at all nice, but you know what you're getting into and at least there was plenty of toilet paper provided) for the first night but a huge group came the second night and they were the type that inexplicably strews toilet paper all over public restrooms (I will never, ever understand why people do this, but I'm very curious to see what their bathrooms look like at home). This certainly isn't the campground's fault and it's pretty par for the course with large unattended campsites.

We stayed at site 1, which can hold up to 12 occupants (but in my opinion that would be a squeeze) and costs $24/night. We had four people and it was lovely and spacious, with two fire pits, two picnic tables and enough parking for three or four cars (we only had two, so we didn't test the limits). The obvious spaces for tents are incredibly close to the fire rings, but we were able to find a couple little tent-sized nooks in the hill right above our campsite that were much more pleasant the second night.

Bandido is dog friendly, as are all the hikes in the area. Circe was in heaven galloping around the large campsite. We didn't spot any coyotes here, but we kept her close anyways because it's rattlesnake season and she hasn't had avoidance training. We didn't see any snakes, though.

Amenities: This is a pretty simple campground (which is actually nice because it meant it wasn't overrun with RVs). No running water, no electricity, zero cell service, no camp host, the aforementioned pit toilets. Fires are allowed within the fire rings, just make sure you buy firewood in La Cañada because once you start going up the hill there is nothing at all. You are allowed to pick up wood and kindling from the ground (I always check with the rangers on this in advance, because this varies and for some environments it's really important that you don't disturb anything).

Worth noting: This is bear country but there are no bear boxes provided at these sites. I checked with the ranger and she said that the bears in this area haven't yet (!) started breaking into cars, so they recommend standard bear precautions (no food left outside, nothing scented or food related in your tent, don't wash dishes too close to your campsite) but just locking your food inside your car at night. We did that and made sure to take the extra precaution of covering the coolers, bags, etc. with a blanket so they weren't visible (bears are clever and often recognize coolers, so you don't want them to see anything that makes them think FOOD). I was a little worried that we'd wake up the next morning and find our windows smashed in, but everything was fine. Note - locking food in your car is really bad news in some bear areas, notably Yosemite, where bears have learned how easy it is to break into a car. But the rangers at any given campground should know their bears, so going with their recommendations is a good bet.

Planning short camping trips

We made a goal last year to get out on more camping trips and we've been doing fairly well. At this stage in our lives, car camping is the best fit for us, vacation-wise. It's inexpensive (even our fancy tent only cost us about what we would have spent on a weekend in Palm Springs), we can bring the dog, and there are tons of destinations close enough that we don't have to squander precious vacation days. We'd both like to do more backpacking type trips, but since we have a slightly elderly and arthritic dog who won't hike for more than 15 minutes at a time, that is unlikely to happen in the near future. So we're just focusing on perfecting our car camping skills.



So the bad news about short camping trips is that you have to pack almost as much stuff for one night as you would for a week. You still need almost all the same equipment, just less food and clothing.

The good news is that if you're car camping, you can make the packing process pretty easy on yourself. The main thing is to stop worrying about maximum efficiency. We don't bother cramming sleeping bags into stuff sacks or neatly packing everything up. We just dump it all into bins. We have two dedicated camping bins in our closet that store almost all our camping stuff and a short list of extras that need to get tossed in before we leave (chairs, tent, food, pillows). All in all, we can get the car loaded and be out the door in less than 30 minutes if we mean business, and that includes dragging everything out and throwing some clothes in a duffel. For these one night trips we keep the food super simple and routine, which means we know exactly what we need. We just do scrambled eggs + sausage + coffee for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch, hot dogs for dinner, s'mores for dessert. I have a set grocery list and know exactly what I need to pull out of the fridge and what we'll stop and pick up as we leave town. We're considering testing out some fancier meals for summer, when the days are so much longer that I'm willing to use some of the precious daylight hours cooking.

My top tips for short camping trips: 
1. Store your camping equipment in bins that it can be transported in
2. Keep everything together and easily accessible (yes, it is a little annoying that the entire floor of my closet is covered in camping equipment, but it makes it easy to pull out)
3. Keep the meal planning really simple and don't stress about it because almost anything will taste delicious after a long hike

I still don't consider myself an expert, and almost every time we go out I make a few notes about something else that would be useful to have, but here are the essentials we've been using lately.

Sleeping arrangements
- Tent + tent footprint - we were a bit angsty about moving up to a larger tent but it's hands down the best decision we've made in regards to camping. We have the REI Kingdom 4 and while it isn't enormous compared to some on the market, it feels HUGE to us. As the name implies, it can sleep four, and it's tall enough that we can stand up in it. We have last year's version and the new 2016 model has had some changes (no interior divider, less mesh), so be aware it looks different. We got the footprint that is specifically made for the tent, although you can always just use some heavy weight plastic cut to size. Ours has two "rooms" so we usually sleep in one and use the front for luggage, dog dishes, etc.
- Sleeping pads - we have some old Therm-a-rests that work fine. I'm tempted to get an air mattress but so far that is a step too far.
- Sleeping bags - we're in the process of getting a double sleeping bag right now. I've had the same sleeping bag since I was 8 and it's time to replace it. It's been tough because most stores don't have the doubles in stock so you have to order one online to check it out in person. Luckily REI has amazing customer service, so we're doing just that and I know it won't be too big a pain. I'll report back if we find something great. Also, for warm weather trips (like beach camping) we'll sometimes just bring a set of sheets and a down comforter to go over the sleeping pads. This is my favorite way to camp, but make sure you check the expected nighttime lows before you do it.
- Pillows - we just bring our regular pillows, but we have pillowcases that we just use for camping.

Light sources
- Headlamps - there are a million different varieties, but we've had good luck with the Petzel brand.
- Lantern - we have a beautiful old propane Coleman lantern that belonged to my dad but I'm always afraid I'll break the glass. We got a modern replacement which is much less elegant, but serves the same function.

Camp kitchen
- Camp stove - we inherited an old Coleman stove and it works fine but it is showing its age and I definitely have looked longingly at the Camp Chef stoves. Maybe someday.
- Coffee and/or tea set up  - we've experimented with different options, but so far the french press seems to be the easiest. We have an old stovetop kettle (which can also go on the fire if there is a grate) and we also have this portable grinder that we keep with our camping gear, but you can always pre-grind, clearly.
- Mess kits - Mess kits are great because you can cook in them and eat out of them. For a short trip with just the two of us, we could get by with just these. There are some crazy fancy mess kits out there that you can drool over, but we have our old ones from the 80s and they are going strong and should run under $20 (similar at REI). Our cooking bin has a few extra things for when we camp in groups (larger pot that holds about four cups of liquid, larger skillet, aluminum two-burner griddle, some plates and bowls and utensils) but we don't get those things out on these short trips. Of course, you don't need a mess kit, you can always just toss a couple plates, some utensils and a saucepan in your bin and call it good, but it won't look as cute and it'll take up a little more space.
- Small stuff - pot holders, salt and pepper, a roll of paper towels, matches, a spatula, long skewers for roasting things.

Note - I don't wash dishes on overnight camping trips, I just toss them in a bag and do it at home. But for longer trips, you need a small bin for dishwater and a bottle of campsuds. (Seriously tempted by this cute option - REI is so dangerous. Every time we go in there we come out convinced we need a million clever new things)

Food storage
We have gotten by for many short camping trips with nothing more than our beloved Trader Joe's insulated blue bags (we have two of them and they do heavy duty in our house all the time, not just for camping). They hold plenty, and will keep ice cold for at least a day. However, with summer coming, we're accepting the necessity of a cooler - they're just so bulky and annoying! For now, we pack our cold food in a very small cooler and also take both our Trader Joe's bags. One is usually empty and ends up with dirty dishes in it. We might have to upgrade to a larger cooler for longer trips. We saw this cooler bag at REI the other weekend and it was pretty great, but holy sticker shock!

Random
- Sharp camping knife in a holder 
- Towels - I always toss a couple small workout towels in the bin for drying off our hands (most campgrounds will not have paper towels) or whatever else comes up. Obviously you'd need larger towels if you intended to shower.
- Hand soap - even nice campground bathrooms are unlikely to have soap
- Camp chairs - we have really crappy chairs that we got in a last minute panic when we realized we didn't have chairs and we were heading out to camp. I'd recommend getting something better. We're having a hard time buying new ones since these technically work, they just suck.

Dog
- Long lead - for the campsite
- Bowls for food and water
- Puffer vest - helpful if it gets cold, although Circe is not a huge fan
- Light up collar - not necessary but makes it easy to keep an eye on your pup in pitch dark (note - we make sure Circe is always within a few feet of us at night because she's small enough that a large coyote could snatch her up, so the collar is really nice)

Whew. It sounds like a lot, but I swear it packs up quickly. If you're a first time camper, you could pack ready made meals in tupperware and ditch the entire camp kitchen set up, which would simplify things considerably.

Experienced campers - tips? Anything I missed? Favorite not-entirely-necessary-but-now-feels-necessary gadget from REI?




Not necessary, but the above photo is how we store some of the smaller kitchen accessories. It belonged to my parents and it's just a toolbox from Home Depot. It's nice to keep all the small stuff together in one place.



Critical to our car loading considerations - Circe likes a nice empty spot in the backseat for her nest (although she usually then decides to perch precariously on top of the bins or insist on sitting in someone's lap).

And because this post isn't long enough already ...

Sample timeline for our typical one night camping trip (assumes check in is at 2pm, but we'll get out the door earlier if they'll allow early check in):

Saturday: 
9:30 am - get up leisurely, eat breakfast, pack clothes, toss bins in the car, grab food out of the fridge, shower. Stop at grocery store for ice and the rest of our list, hit the road by ~ 11am.
~11 am - ~ 2 pm - drive to campsite, possibly stop in cute town on the way if one is available. If we get there too early to check in, we'll park in day parking and explore, but most places are okay letting you in a teeny bit early.
~ 2 pm - Eat lunch, set up camp quickly, hike (or nap, then hike, depending on how tiring the week has been).
~6 pm - Happy hour, fire building, dinner cooking, fireside sitting = evening.

Sunday:
~8:00 am - breakfast
~9:00 am - morning hike
11:00 am - back to camp an hour before check out so that we have plenty of time to break down and pack lunch for the road.
12:00 pm - hit the road.
~3:00 pm - We're usually home by early afternoon and then one of us immediately throws Circe in the tub for a much needed bath while the other person empties the car, washes the dishes and puts away the camping bins. Critical - once we get home we don't stop moving until everything is taken care of (usually takes an hour or so to get everything done, including showers for the humans). That way we can get back to work on Monday without the house being a disaster zone.
~4:30 pm - freshly showered happy hour at home while catching up on Instagram

I'm not saying it's restful, exactly, but now that we have the routine down it feels easy and it is incredibly refreshing. Being out in nature even just for the one night seems to hit a reset button for me.

Overnight camping - Barton Flats

We have a few short camping trips lined up this summer and last weekend it was an overnight in Barton Flats campground, near Big Bear. It's just two hours from home, which is our limit for one night trips. The short drive means we can wake up at a normal hour on Saturday, toss stuff in the car, hit the grocery store and then be at the campground by check in time. 

Campground notes: 

This is a pretty nice, well maintained campground with running water (restrooms and showers were both pretty decent). However, the sites are very hit or miss. Some are large and shady and some are tiny with very little shelter. They all have fire rings, and you can get firewood from the camp host. We stayed at site 11, which was not the best but definitely not the worst. It's right on a trail head, which was mildly annoying during the day but fine at night. If you're going, take a look at the site map and try to choose sites that are on the back of the loops, because they're furthest from Highway 38. Anything in the front of the loops will get traffic noise. Sites 37 and 38 looked particularly promising to us. 

The campground was packed and fairly noisy, FYI. I'm not complaining, because that isn't a feature of the campground itself. You roll the dice when you camp, because you're never sure what the crowd is going to be like. I swear that almost everyone here except us had multiple kids with them, so there was a LOT of noise during daylight hours, but it calmed down at night for the most part (I really wish the people who watch TV in their RVs would just stay home and leave the rest of us in peace). I think we just haven't been warm weather camping in a while, so we've gotten used to very adult, very quiet campgrounds. This is a good reminder that summer is different!

There are hiking trails right out of the campground, which is a huge plus. On Saturday we hiked up to Jenks Lake. I read (somewhere) that this was a 45 minute easy walk, and I'm not sure if I'm super out of shape or if carrying Circe (dogs are allowed on all the trails here but she was on full-on hike boycott this weekend) was wearing me out, but it felt like an effort! 

On Sunday morning we hiked part of the Santa Ana River trail, which was just gorgeous. I was wishing we had more time because I would have happily kept going for hours, but we just hiked from Barton Flats to the San Gorgonio campground. The trail is narrow, with a lot of shade, and you get beautiful views and lots of different landscapes. 

We're getting better at quick camping trips, so I tried to take a few notes this weekend so I can hopefully get a post up this week about our camping essentials and how we pack for these trips.