One Lap Of America; Good People Doing Good Things With Fast Cars

On Saturday May 5^th the 2012 Tire Rack One Lap of America kicks off in South Bend, Indiana and over the course of the following eight days this automotive marathon will cover approximately 3,500 miles and include 21 competition stops at race tracks across the country.  James Shipka & Co-driver Carl Casanova will be joining nearly 90 other teams from around the world in what will be James' third time participating in this one-of-a-kind event.  Once again the OneLapCamaro will be the oldest entry in the race and this year they’re heading out as the two time defending Vintage America Class Champions so the pressure is on.

California Canoe / Kayak Paddling Guidebooks

California is a simply spectacular place for anyone interested in paddlesports. Short of the multi-day paddle-portage-paddle style tripping done in the Boundary Waters of Minnesota, Algonquin and Quetico there really isn't a form of paddling one can't participate in here. The lack of this traditional style "tripping" is a matter of topography. Most CA lakes are man made, dammed rivers. As such they reside in deep, rough terrain river canyons which makes the prospect of portaging to the next lake in a chain difficult if not impossible. There are very few locations in CA that support this type of tripping and none that I can think of that encompass more than a single days worth of travel. That aside, there is much to be found for the CA paddler; We have Hawaiian Style Outrigger Canoe Racing clubs in the Bay Area & So-Cal, Sea & Surf kayaking and touring, tons of spectacular whitewater opportunities in the Sierras, Cascades and Siskiyou ranges and scores inland & alpine of lakes that are perfect for the flatwater canoeist or kayaker. Depending on how much time you have available and  how far away from it all you want to get there is literally, something for everyone and a place for nearly every type of desired experience.

So how does one locate a destination suitable to the experience they seek? You can only glean so much info from staring at a satellite image on Google maps and even the web will leave you wanting for information on the more remote destinations as I found when researching Lake McCloud in my previous post. The largest online resource is www.paddling.net. It's ok, but the user interface is at best clunky and there isn't much in the way of CA content. There is a small Nor-Cal specific web-forum called www.norcalcanoeing.com but it's just getting started. I'm a member there and we are trying to build the database of destination information but it's going to take time and more participating members to turn it into a good resource. Paddling is an ancient art, and it seems the dissemination of information regarding paddling is best or at least most commonly done by a similarly "old school" means. Books. The intent of this post is to briefly review a few of best.

There are four different resources that I find myself referring to when researching a future trip.

• Paddling Northern California - By Charlie Pike

• Up The Lake With A Paddle (Vol 1-4) - By William Van Der Ven

• Paddling The California Highlands - By John Coale

• Kayaking California's Flat Waters - By Janice L. Green

Canoeing McCloud Reservoir, Shasta County, CA

Lake McCloud Reservoir Launch

Things have been pretty hectic of late. Work has been particularly onerous, and there have been a number of sources of stress that combined to create a nearly overwhelming need to disconnect. To go somewhere away from an appointment calendar, Outlook inbox and most of all, a cell phone. Kathy was to be out of town on business for a conference so I jumped at the chance to get away for a few days. The challenge in finding a location was to select a suitably remote location that was accessible this early in the year. Most everything above 3000' in the Sierra range is still inaccessible due to snow or subject to seasonal closure.  

After no small amount of wide-eyed staring at Google Earth I settled on McCloud Reservoir at the Southern end of the Cascade Range in Shasta County.

McCloud reservoir was created when PG&E erected an earthen dam over the McCloud river in 1965.  The lake sits at 3000' elevation about 15mi SE of Mt. Shasta. There are 10 miles of shoreline and the lake is about 520 surface acres. The lake is within the Shasta/Trinity National Forest, but most of the land around the lake itself is privately owned by the Hearst Corporation. In fact, William Randolph Hearst built a rather substantial getaway at the Northernmost end of the lake. Called "Wyntoon", it's the other Hearst Castle. Hearst lived here for most of the early part of WWII as he feared the Japanese would target his San Simeon home if they attacked the Western US. The structure was designed by famed San Francisco Architect Julia Morgan who also designed the more widely known Hearst Castle in San Simeon.

Man Can Cook #19: Gruyère Potato Pucks

Here is a simple but really tasty side dish that is the perfect accompaniment to a steak or similar hearty meat dish. It only takes about 45min to make.

Hardware:

• Mandolin
• Muffin pan (3.5" muffins)

Software:

• 1lb Potatoes (Red, Yukon Gold & Yellow work best stay away from Russetts)
• 1pint Heavy Cream
• 1/2lb Gruyère (grated)
• Kosher Salt
• Fresh Ground Pepper
• Cooking Spray

Outdoor Gear Review; Sierra Designs Zeta-3 & Zia-3 tent

I purchased this tent a month or two before my Green River trip with the intent that I'd have enough room for myself, and enough room to get all my gear inside and out of the weather. Worked beautifully in that regard.

The tent is very comfortable and dry and performed exceptionally in a significant rainstorm that occurred in the middle of my trip. It rained heavily for about 8-10hrs and the inside of the tent was dry as a bone. It's well ventilated as well so the humidity was easily purged once the rain stopped and on warmer nights it remains comfortable and not at all stuffy.

Man Can Cook #18: Say Cheese!

Cheese is part chemistry, part alchemy, part performance art. There aren't many things that we eat that we intentionally let get this close to dangerously inedible before consumption. For some cheeses, the closer they are to that point, the better they are. That kind of cheese making is better left to the experts. There is another  kind of cheese making is fit for rank amateurs like you and I.

Mozzarella is pretty awesome stuff. Anyone with 1/2 a taste bud though can pick out the difference between the rubbery rubbish in the "cheese" aisle (between the Velveeta nut-ball and the pepper-jack) and the good stuff found in higher end markets. What's the difference? Heat, chemicals & machines. The rubbery stuff is pasteurized, full of preservatives and is totally overworked by machines. The good stuff isn't. What do ya say we make the good stuff?

There are a few reasons to get after this as a project now, rather than later.

• Meddlesome douchebags don't want you to be able to purchase raw milk or have unpasteurized cheese. When was the last time you heard of someone getting sick from milk or cheese? Me either. Let's move on.

• Because of the above, those same meddlesome douchebags have conspired with the government to create nanny-state regulations which  have made raw milk tough to find. Locate someone who sells it, and make it worth their while to continue to do so. The stores that sell it, don't like to promote that fact so as not to draw attention. Just help keep them selling, by buying.

• Summer is going to be here in but a few months. That means tomatoes and that means caprese. You want to make sure you have this down PAT by the time your tomatoes are coming ripe.

So, my fellow Americans, let us stand together in defiance of douchebaggery. Give the finger to the "conventional thinking" of the nanny state. We've got no time for petty, parsimonious, pathogenic perplexities. We've got cheese to make!

Man Can Cook #17: Jump Out Da Gym Jambalaya.

Admittedly, March Madness isn't among my favorite sporting events. NCAA basketball has lost it's shine in my eyes since so many of the players leave early to the NBA and because there is just so much of it on TV during the regular season, I'm approaching saturation point by the time March rolls around and the coverage goes to 11. That said, I know most folks don't feel the same way and are totally wrapped up in it so I thought I'd toss out a good, quick recipe to help you out in the event you are having a bunch of folks over on a weeknight to watch a few games.

This Jambalaya recipe is pretty quick and easy. The prep only takes a few minutes and it's on the table in about 45min flat. I'll include a couple of options in case you'd like to spruce it up when you've got more time.