Sawtooth National Recreation Area

Here are some pictures from my trip to Sawtooth NRA, July 11-13, 2011.

East side of Galena Summit. I think this is Silver Creek?

Highway 75 over Galena Summit:

Cheeky golden-mantled ground squirrels at the scenic overlook near the summit:

At work:

My guess is wolves. The bone was still pink:

Some scenic shots:

Redfish Creek:

Little Redfish Lake:

Sunrise from Stanley, Idaho:

The Salmon River is just a wee thing at the top of the valley:

Looking upstream towards Salmon River headwaters. I want to go exploring!

The Miracle of Mountain Goats

As I was driving back to Utah from the Sawtooth NRA, I happened to pass a sign just past Galena Summit on Highway 75 outside of Ketchum, ID. The sign said, "Billy's Bridge...Goat Viewing Area". I whipped past the sign, barely having time to read it. As what it said registered, I had a moment of hesitation. Should I turn around and go back and see what it was? Yes, I decided, yes, I should. I have never seen mountain goats in the wild.

It took about a mile for me to find a place to safely turn around, and my typical resistance to backtracking was tugging at me, but I was firm with myself. Who knows when I will make it back this way? I drove back, and pulled into the Billy's Bridge turnout.  I took a trail down the hill through the trees. It ended at a platform perched just out of the trees on a hill over a meadow. The platform had a bench, two spotting scopes, and a sign with information about mountain goats.

I looked up at the sheer sides of the mountains across the valley. There was still patches of snow clinging to the mountains. I pulled out my binoculars and started scanning the cliffs for mountain goats. I started out low, where the trees meet the cliffs, because that looked like a reasonable place for an animal to be grazing. There was nothing there, so I started looking up the cliffsides, to the impossible places. My binoculars slipped pass 4 small white dots. Are those mountain goats, or a little patch of snow? I re-focused and braced my arms on the platform railing to steady my binoculars. One of the little spots moved. Mountain goats are animals of impossible places.

I went to one of the spotting scopes on the platform and aimed it at the mountain goats. With the spotting scope, I was able to see that it was two mother goats with two babies, all four grazing midway down a sheer side of the mountain. On a cliff! Not on the edge of a cliff but half way down, in the middle of a cliff face. Grazing! What tiny little alpine plants grow at that altitude? How do the goats graze on a cliff? The babies can only be a few months old, and yet they are walking on an invisible ledge halfway down a cliff like I can walk across a meadow. How do they survive year-round in such a rocky, impossible place?

I came to the conclusion that mountain goats are miracles.

I have read about them, I have seen pictures of them, but where and how they live never really registered with me until I saw them myself. I watched for several minutes all four goats making their way around their impossible place, moving up and down the cliff face, stopping to graze on the tiny plants able to grow at that altitude. Seeing these miracles filled me with joy. I laughed out loud, and was answered with a snort from a deer in the meadow, who then bounded leisurely off into the trees at the edge of the meadow.

As I continued on my drive back home to Utah, I couldn't help but wonder how many more miracles are out there in our life every day, if we just stop long enough to observe them.

My new favorite snack: Spicy BBQ Sweet Potato Chips

While I was searching online for recipes to make kale chips, I stumbled upon several recipes for making sweet potato chips.  Since I had a few sweet potatoes in the pantry, I decided to try to make some chips in the dehydrator.  I took recipes from several sites online, and tweaked them to do my own thing. I was very surprised at how well they turned out. In fact, I had to send Greg back to the store for more sweet potatoes, because we were gobbling up the chips and I need them for snacking in the field next week.  In case anyone else wants to try them, I am including my recipe below. Just a word of warning, however. I generally don't measure, so my directions and measurements are not precise. This can drive engineer-types crazy (just ask Greg), but this is how my biologist mind works. As long as it falls within the range of natural variability, it is just fine to my way of thinking. The directions below are as precise as I could make them.

Spicy BBQ Sweet Potato Chips

• Sweet potatoes--I used both white and orange (I know these probably have official names, but I don't know what they are.
• Olive Oil--I used a good extra virgin from California, but I am sure you could use whatever you want
• Salt--hickory smoked if you can find it. 
• Honey
• BBQ powder (recipe below)

BBQ Powder

Ratio of:

• 1.5 Chipotle chili powder
• .5 Hot paprika or cayenne
• 1 Sweet paprika
• 1 Onion powder
• .5 Garlic powder
• 1 Cumin

I used a ratio which is why there are no measurements above. You can use however much you need (teaspoons, tablespoons, ounces, or cups) just keep the ratio about the same. For instance in my first small batch of potatoes, I used teaspoons (1.5 teaspoons chili powder, .5 teaspoon hot paprika, 1 tsp sweet paprika, etc).  My second batch of potatoes was much larger, so I used tablespoons (1.5 tablespoons chili powder, .5 tablespoon hot paprika, 1 tbsp sweet paprika, etc.).  How much you need for the sweet potato chips depends on how big a batch you are dehydrating and how spicy you like your chips.  Using teaspoons for measurement gave me enough bbq powder for 1 dehydrator's worth of potatoes (Nesco American Snackmaster Dehydrator with 7 trays, or 5 sweet potatoes about 6-8 inches in length and 2 inches in diameter).

Thoroughly mix the powders together. I found that a mortar and pestle worked well to get the lumps all out of the mixture, but a spoon and bowl will work too.

Back to the Spicy BBQ Sweet Potato Chips:

In my first batch, as mentioned above, I used 5 sweet potatoes, about 6-8 inches in length and 2 inches in diameter. This completely filled my dehydrator with 7 trays.  When looking for good chip potatoes, it makes it easier if you find potatoes that have a consistent diameter as much as possible.  

I sliced the potatoes thin using a mandoline. On my mandoline the thinnest slice is about 1/8 inch, which seemed to work well.

After slicing the potatoes, I worked in smaller batches to season them before putting them on the dehydrator trays. I first drizzle the potatoes with olive oil, enough to coat them. I gently toss the potatoes to evenly coat them. You have to be gentle or you will break the slices.  I use my hands to toss, because it makes it easier to make sure all the slices are getting coated. After the oil, I sprinkle with salt. Again, if you can find hickory smoked salt, it adds a lot of flavor to the chips.

Again, gently toss the slices to get the salt evenly distributed. I then drizzle the slices with honey, enough to coat (usually one or two teaspoons? I didn't measure and I used honey drizzler, so I honestly have no idea). I then toss the slices again to coat. Add the bbq powder, about a teaspoon or so, and toss some more to coat. You can always taste a chip to see if it is spicy enough. If not, add more powder. Just keep in mind that the flavor will intensify some while dehydrating. Then place the slices on the dehydrator trays.

Dehydrate the chips at about 125 degrees F until they are crispy. In Utah during thunderstorms with humidity in the air, with 7 trays in the dehydrator, it took about 6 hours.  Take the chips off the trays when they are done, and let them cool. They will crisp up more as they cool. Put in an airtight container and enjoy!

Getting ready to finally spend some work time in the woods

If you are a biologist, especially a field biologist, the problem with moving up in your career is that it often means you spend less time doing what you love (being in the field) and end up spending more time in the office.  I am lucky in that I love my job. I get to make a positive difference for aquatic resources, and I still get to go to the field. If it isn't as often as I like, I at least get to go to beautiful places.

Next week I am traveling to the Sawtooth National Recreation Area, which I can't wait to see. I have not been out in the field for work since October.  It was a long, long winter in cubicle world. So getting out  to the Sawtooth NRA makes me positively giddy.  But I need to spend this weekend dusting off my field gear, getting food together, and finding everything I need.

When I worked temporary biologist jobs, I was in the field every day. There are lots of little things you can take with you when you work in the woods to make yourself safe and to make the day go smoother. Tick tweezers, for instance, as well as a knife, compass, radio, some way to make fire in case I get stuck out there, headlamp in case it takes longer to get back than expected. As a biologist, there are also pieces of equipment that you take that aren't necessarily part of the job for that day, but that you feel you have to have just in case. I used to carry a tub of plaster of Paris so I could take castings of animal tracks. I carry binoculars to watch birds, even though I am a fish biologist. I always carry a net, vials, and whirl paks, because I never know what I might find and want to collect.   It is always when I leave something at home or forget it that I wish I had it. It was easy to have everything ready to go when I was working in the field everyday. I just replaced whatever I had used that day, if anything, and set my field vest and backpack out by the door so it was ready to go at o'dark thirty the next day.  Now my stuff is scattered, and I am all out of practice.  Finding my stuff now will be like a scavenger hunt.

I also have to get some field food ready. Because I will be traveling over 6 hours to get to the Sawtooth NRA, my options for carry along food are more limited.  So I will also be breaking out the dehydrator this weekend to make some snacks. I am going to try making sweet potato chips and kale chips, which I haven't made before. If I had more time, I would make jerky. I am in Utah, and as dry as it is here, the dehydrating times may be shorter than I am used to, so maybe I can get some jerky made. I have a case of Chocolate Peppermint Stick Luna Bars, which are my favorite energy bar. I just wish there was a Trader Joe's nearby so I could stock up on dried fruits and nuts.

So part of this weekend will be spent dedicated to getting ready for work next week, but that is okay because work next week will be out in the field, which is why I got into this career in the first place. I am looking forward to seeing the Sawtooth range in its spring glory, the Salmon River roaring with snowmelt, and all the unexpected treasures one can find in the great outdoors if one is paying attention.