The Hardley

... heres a pretty cool project...

... the "Hardley"...

... 'brother Howie' rigged this 80cc/2 stroke gasoline engine kit to an old 'Trek 950' mountain bike to create this "neighborhood cruiser"...

... air cooled - single speed chain drive (with option available to convert it to the multiple speed bike gearing), it pegged out at a maximum open throttle 30mph when we took it out to the "test track"...

... "Hardley a Davidson"...

Cowboy Bread

... while hangin' around the homestead lookin' for something to do on a few recent cold winter weekends, we have been tryin' out a few 'Dutch Oven' cooking recipes we came across in a 'Cowboy Chuckwagon Cooking' cookbook we received'... have done a bit of Dutch Oven campfire cooking in the past but never in a home oven - this one is pretty good and the easiest bread you'd ever bake in your life...

... Cowboy Bread...

... screwed this up on the first attempt - the recipe made no mention of greasing or lining the dutch oven with non-stick oven paper, so we didn't - took about a half hour of jack-hammering to separate the badly bottom-burned loaf from the base of the oven - was charcoal at least a solid 1/4 inch thick...

... undeterred - and never one to give up - we returned the following weekend for a second attempt...

... here's the recipe (avoid our mistakes -  items in red are critical steps):

Ingredients :

● 3 cups bread flour

● 1-1/2 t salt - big T stands for tablespoon (tbsp) - small t stands for teaspoon (tsp)

● 1-1/2 cup warm water

● 1 t yeast

Directions:

● Stir the yeast in with the warm water (small measuring cup for container)

● Stir the salt in with the flour (large pyrex pitcher w/ lid for container)

● Stir the water/yeast mix in with the flour - just until combined is enough

● Put the lid on the pitcher and let it set at room temperature for 24 hours

● > 24 hours line the base of the Dutch Oven w/ 'Reynolds Wrap Heavy Duty Non-Stick Aluminum

   Foil' (what we used) and insert the Dutch Oven in the bake oven and heat to 450°F

● While heating the oven pull the dough out of the pitcher and shape it into a ball on a cutting board

   (sprinkle some flour on the cutting board to keep the dough from sticking)

● After the oven is heated to 450°F, pull the Dutch Oven and place your ball of dough in it and return 

   to the bake oven (don't forget to replace your oven mitts!) 

● Bake for 30 minutes then remove the lid of the Dutch Oven and bake an additional 15 minutes so the 

   bread can brown

● Pull from the oven - let the bread completely cool before cutting

... turned out great the second try- that's it pictured above - have baked several since then... you can also add some Sesame Seeds, Cinnamon/Raisins etc they say - didn't try it yet...

... after the initial failure, we were researching on-line with regard to greasing/lining the Dutch Oven to prevent the bread burning/sticking - one recommendation was to place the bread into the Dutch Oven on a small metal rack supported atop three golf balls - had a small rack but didn't have any golf balls - would like to know if it works if anyone tries it - depending upon how it turns out, we'll later get ya' some plans for constructing a home 'Interocitor'...

Silent But Deadly/Ice Box Canyon

... was on a trip out west to visit 'buddy Matt' a few years back - we had just arrived back at his place after retrieval at the airport - was walkin' thru the house to stash my gear when I noticed he had a wood 2x4 or two nailed across the interior front entrance door and that the interior door frame had apparently been broken from the outside in... "... what's up with your front door?" - he replied that some asshole had broken in while he was out of the house two days earlier and he was waitin' for the insurance company to investigate the damage... "... they take anything?"..."No"... said he didn't even notice until he saw blood all over the floor of the foyer - the door was shut... apparently whoever entered was unaware of  the presence of Desert Dog Koda, M.D....

Koda holdin' the high ground

... she definitely had this punks number.. retracing the scene of the crime, she had probably been snoozing at her usual spot at the top of the stairs when the "perp" broke in - she never ever barks, so ya'd never know she was around unless she's in sight - the creep must have gotten a big surprise when she came charging down the stairs and went for his throat - the blood on the floor was his - drove him right back out the front door which he apparently slammed shut in his hasty retreat...

... she's always pretty easygoing and docile, unless threatened apparently - Matt said that the only visible disturbance to her was that her chest fur was "soaked with slobber" like she was really goin' at this creep...

... said that she earned a steak dinner that night...

... Koda hangin' out with Matt along the 'Ice Box Canyon' trail, a short 2.6 mile out and back at 'Red Rock Canyon'...

... view looking back along the narrow canyon trail ...

... rock solid canyon walls...

... located at the back of the short canyon is a pretty nice waterfall and cascade which feed some tiered pools - a pretty popular spot on a hot day in the desert...

The Knobs in Winter

... didn't really need 'em, but picked up a pair of these skis/short skis/skiboards/skishoes/sweepers - whatever they're called depending upon where you're reading on-line... but hey, they look like skis to us so we'll stick with that... took 'em out for a cruise last weekend to check 'em out...

... they're the 'hok' manufactured by these guys 'Altai' - pictured is the 125cm x 124/110/122 - they make a longer 145cm version as well as another similar 162cm model called a 'kōm' - each equipped with metal edges and a built in climbing skin - think these guys used to work for 'Karhu' before they closed shop - they're basically the same ski as the old 'Meta' but a bit narrower at the tip and a bit wider at the tail - we mounted 'em with the 3-pin boot bindings but you can fit 'em to pretty much whatever ya' want...

... got 2+ feet of snow the previous weekend so we had some good conditions - although, after some much warmer weekday weather, we had since missed the great powder which fell originally and the snowpack had dwindled to about 1 foot of packed snow with a thin icy crust - but still not bad...

... where to go?... hey... never skied up to 'Rob's Knobs' (aka: 'the Knobs') before - that's a good "out and back" - about 3.5 miles R/T and around 750ft elevation gain - probably some fun downhill 'ta boot on the return...

... great time to be out - nice trip up thru the 'Limestone Run' stream valley - tons of "critter tracks" this day - lots of deer, one bobcat, a rabbit, 'subnivian' tunnel activity - was checkin' out a large spot of wild turkey scratchings at the large meadow near the head of the valley when a flock of four or five broke unexpectedly from the adjacent brush - saw the tracks of a single black bear while heading thru the woods and up thru the "steep" along with flushing two grouse...

... end of the trail and the 'Knobs' - so named for a jumble of large sandstone boulders situated atop a wooded knoll ...

... personally found this place (as far as climbing goes) about thirty years ago while lookin' for the 'Lost World' (aka: 'Lost Crag') - which exists opposite the next valley to the west... 

 

... originally did several climbing routes here along with 'Rob Goodman' and 'buddy Matt' over the course of several visits - the place soon caught on and had since become a pretty popular sport climbing crag...

... sports several steep and thin lines...

 ... some short, hard stuff...

... don't know how many climbers visit here anymore - if at all... can't complain about today, though...

... man!... that "climbers trail" on the way back out is pretty steep and narrow in spots on skis and a bit difficult - goes straight down the fall line - been a few years since we were on skis - was gettin' beat up a bit and "bit the dust" a few times - decided to make our own switchback route thru the woods which was way more fun...  for what they were made for combined with the conditions, the performance of the skis was great - however, we're sure that some will ski 'em a lot better and some will ski 'em a lot worse...

... the wide trail joining the upper and lower meadows was lots of fun - was able to link together a long series of decent telemark turns down the slope...

... and thru the meadow...

... snapped a few images of 'Dunbar Creek' after loadin' up back at the vehicle and before headin' out -  spooked one trout which darted for cover while stopping along the stream bank to click this photo...