How to Cook a Killer Pizza on your Campstove

Friends and family often ask what we eat when we're on the road. I think people picture a lot of ramen, but we actually eat really well and incorporate tons of fresh veggies into our meals. Here is a recipe for one of our favorite dishes- pizza!  

1. Choose your dough. We usually use a tortilla, but today we had some fresh focaccia from a local bakery, which we sliced in half to make it a bit thinner. Get your dough into a pan and start dressing your pie. 

2. Sauce it! We use pasta sauce on our pizzas. Next time you make pasta remember not to dump in the whole jar of sauce- save just a bit for your next pizza meal. 

3. Cheese! Lots and lots of cheese. 

4. Toppings. Do it up however you like it!

5. Cook your pie. We put pots upside down on top of the pan to create a little oven. This step takes lots of patience. You need to keep the heat very low so you don't burn the bottom of your pizza and leave the top raw. So turn it way down and open a beer because you're going to have to wait a bit. Eventually the cheese will start melting and the toppings will start to cook. You can open the oven up and squirt a little water on the side of your pan then put the lid back on. This will create steam that will help cook the top of your pizza as well. Once everything on the top looks melty you're ready to eat! If you're using a tortilla, it should have crisped up enough at this point that it will be sturdy and you can slice it and eat it like a regular pizza. Enjoy!

Mammoth

The only thing I really knew about Mammoth before arriving, was that it’s a big mountain.  Understatement.  It’s HUGE.  We were expecting to see signs that would direct us to the mountain, where we assumed it would be obvious where the ticket office was, we would pick up our pass, and be on our way to the lift.  There was no such sign because Mammoth Mountain is so big that there are multiple bases all around town that get you to the mountain.  We were confused when we drove up the road and saw several places to park and buy tickets and several different places to get on lifts, but eventually we wound up at what I think is considered the main lodge, and got our passes.  If I’m being honest, I was really sad that we didn’t get to take a picture for our pass!  We were actually really lucky to discover what would become our favorite section of the mountain within our first few minutes of being there.  Lots of nice groomers, no people.  I have to hand it to the mountain ops crew at Mammoth, the grooming and conditions were amazing despite them not getting snow in… a while.  We explored all over the mountain, enjoyed taking the gondola all the way to the top, were really confused and then excited when we could see Yosemite from the summit, and ended the day feeling tired and excited for our second day on the mountain.  

Of course, we can’t ski two days in a row because we have to take a dog day before and after each ski day.  The dogs are kind enough to oblige us while we ski by spending the day sleeping in the van, so in return, we take them hiking or snowshoeing and wear them out.  We walked around a trail in town that would have been an awesome xc ski if there had been snow, and then headed up 395 a few miles and hiked another scenic and snowy trail.  Then we decided to head back to the mountain and sleep there due to the fact that the van has been having a lot of trouble starting up on cold mornings and we didn’t want to miss out on skiing because we spent an hour trying to get the van going.     

We fell asleep to the soothing sound of snowcats moving up and down the mountain, turning the terrain into a continuous sheet of perfect corduroy for the morning’s skiers to enjoy.  Despite sleeping two hundred yards from the lift, we still did not manage to make first chair.  We realize of course, that doing so is a source of pride on a powder day, and not so much a necessity when the mountain hasn’t seen snow in a month, but we figure some where down the line on this trip we will encounter a powder day and there is no time like the present to practice waking up before 9:30.  Regardless, we were on the mountain in time to carve our own signature s’s into the firm grooves running down the mountain.  Our skis made a satisfying bbrrrmp bbrrrmp noise as they turned over the corduroy.  We explored even further on our second day, but kept making our way back to our favorite spot- Chair 12.  By the end of the day some rocks started exposing themselves and I managed to take a huge gouge out of one of my skis, so we spent our last few runs in the kid’s beginner park sliding over box rails and flying over whoop-de-doos.  Truly fun.  Soon enough we were back in the van and our skiing in the Sierras was behind us.  

It would seem wrong to be in Mammoth and not go to Bishop, so we made our way down 395, listening raptly to the Serial podcast (Download it!  It’s so good for long drives.  And short drives.  And any time really).  We spent a day climbing in Bishop, took a much needed shower, and then headed down to Lone Pine for a bit of sport climbing at Alabama Hills.  Hoping to avoid any crazy MLK Jr. weekend crowds, we then headed off the beaten path a bit in Death Valley National Park (first time visiting for both of us, and we were able to find a few places where the dogs could go- bonus), and today we were in Vegas for a few errands, including a much needed new stove.  Our two burner has a faulty part which causes it to leak, so obviously for safety reasons we haven’t been using it.  We’ve just been using the JetBoil, and with extreme talent I have been able to catch on fire (sorry puffy) and severely burn two of my fingers in two of the last three times using it.  So I’m pretty excited for a new stove.  Til next time! 

Squaw | Alpine

Hitting Tahoe as the first stop on our winter ski tour was obviously a risk.  If the last three seasons have been any indication, we were not confident that we would have good conditions, or even any snow for that matter, in the early season.  However, due to the starting location of our trip (the Bay Area), it really didn’t make sense not to go to Tahoe first.  (As a reminder, our pass gets us two days at Squaw/Alpine, Mammoth, Alta/Snowbird, Aspen/Snowmass, Jackson Hole, Lake Louise, and Whistler.)  We figured we would get our California skiing done, and move on to steeper and deeper terrain as the trip progressed.  I love Tahoe.  I consider myself a semi-local as I’ve lived there on and off for the last four years.  I just really hope that winter can come back again like it used to.  During the 2010-2011 season, Chelsea and I picked up skis for the first time, bought our first season pass, and were rewarded with deep powder during our stay in December, and 100” of snow in the week we were there over spring break.  80 closed and no one could get up to the mountains, or everyone was in Cabo, and we had the mountain to ourselves.  It was glorious.  

Back to the present.  We prepared for the worst (I pictured mud skiing and got out my rock skis), yet were very pleasantly surprised to have two great days of skiing.  Squaw wasn’t fully open when we went in mid-December, so we got our passes and headed up the funi to the top of the mountain.  It had snowed a decent amount during the week before so we were pretty excited about the conditions.

  

The day was pretty socked in with low visibility and having never skied Squaw before, we weren’t entirely sure where to go.  In a stroke of luck, on our second chair we ended up riding with a super friendly local named Michael.  He was slightly shocked that we had never skied the mountain before and quickly took up our case.  “You’re coming with me!” he exclaimed.  We spent the rest of the morning diligently following Michael all over the mountain to all the best spots.  After he determined that we didn’t fully suck, he took us to ski the Attic, which turned out to be the best powder stash on the mountain that day.  Seriously, it was actually pretty deep.  Around mid-day, Michael had to return to work, and we met up with our friend Eric and enjoyed following him around for the rest of the day.

The holidays came and went, I was held hostage in my hometown due to a 12-day jury summons, but once I was finally released, Chelsea and I were officially on the road and the trip was fully on.  We headed back to Tahoe and were greeted with spring conditions- sun and temperatures in the 50’s.  We took the dogs out on a long snowshoe (we were wearing t-shirts), scoped out a couple of rock climbs on Donner Summit to see if they were dry and decided to check out Alpine the following day.  Alpine is a really user-friendly mountain.  You drive up, park, and you’re on the lift before you even lose feeling in your toes (is this a personal problem, or just an accepted truth about ski boots?).  We cruised around the mountain, and were once again really happy with the conditions.  Sure it got a little soft by the end of the day due to the high temps, but the mountain was mostly covered, and the snow was quite nice.  We met up with Eric again and it was a super enjoyable day of skiing groomers.  With that, our two days of skiing in Tahoe were complete.  

Before heading to Mammoth, we got a last minute invite to hike out to the Bradley Hut in the Tahoe backcountry.  We had a great time with our college friends, Matt and Kelley.  The weather was gorgeous, we got in a lot of snowshoeing, tuckered out the dogs, ate well, and played Bananagrams and Yahtzee in front of the fire.  Satisfied with a fantastic time spent in one of our favorite places on Earth, we got in the van and headed to Mammoth (with a short stop at the Bridgeport hot springs of course!). 

Video Van Tour

Here is a video tour of Silas.  Listen to me awkwardly tell you about the inside of the van!  This may be a better lesson on how not to do your build out (the end product is fine, I LOVE it, but the order of operations during the build was slightly off), but hopefully it will give you some ideas for your own van, and give you a little idea of what it's like living in a van.  Downsizing and simplifying your life makes doing what you love super accessible.  Van life for life!  Enjoy the video, let me know if you have any questions, and remember, when you live in a moving vehicle everything must be well secured.

Warm-Up

I was faced with a few minor hiccups before getting on the road- costly van repairs, selling my car took longer than I thought, etc., but once everything started wrapping up my friend Eric gave me a call and made an exciting proposition.  He had just been relieved of his working duties and was psyched to head out to the desert.  I was still waiting for Chelsea to finish up her employment and join me in the wonderful world of retirement, so I jumped at the chance to hit the road with someone for a month before the holidays.  Winter had not started taking shape in California yet, so we still had climbing on our minds and decided to hit up the desert for a while.  I packed up the Silas and headed for Tahoe to pick up Eric.  I jumped out of the van on Donner Summit, let the dogs out, and spent the next three hours hiking over pebbly granite, through thick trees, past several small lakes, and breathing deeply for what felt like the first time in a long time.  The sense of liberation of being on the road hit me immediately and I smiled and felt very simply happy.

Eric and I left on Thanksgiving day, which turned out to be slightly problematic because we hadn't stocked up on provisions and couldn't find any stores open, so we were on a granola bar diet for the first two days of the trip.  We had our sights set on Ibex, right across the Utah border after driving Highway 50 across Nevada.  Ibex was unique and very intriguing.  We only spent a day there but it is definitely somewhere I would return.  The rock was very featured and the landscape made me feel like I was walking on the moon.  I could feel how out of shape I was, but Eric went on a sending spree all over the boulder field.

After Ibex we headed to Moab, where we spent a day bouldering at Big Bend.  The boulders here are beautiful and STOUT!  I didn't feel bad getting shut down on most things I tried because the movement was fun the location was gorgeous.  I couldn't help but stare up at the walls all around us and get excited about roping up.  I haven't spent any significant time on a rope this year and I was anxious to see how hard the Creek would kick my ass this time around.  With our psych high, we loaded up on groceries and headed south.

I've been to Indian Creek in the Spring and in the Fall and in both seasons have experienced snow and 85 degree temps.  This was the latest in the year I had ever visited, and I was wonderfully surprised on the perfect temperatures and the complete lack of people.  We met some great new people, met up with a couple of old friends, and had a great time filling the short days with splitter cracks.  One of our new friends, Adam, celebrated his 25th birthday by climbing 25 pitches in one day (video coming!).  It was awesome to watch him complete his 25th lap in the dark on Incredible Hand Crack.

After about a week in the Creek, we headed over to Joe's Valley with our eyes on some old nemesis projects as well as a long list of new things we wanted to try.  We quickly found out that the forks were FREEZING and only got about 10 minutes of sun a day, which tamped out my motivation pretty quickly.  New Joe's was quite pleasant, and Eric and I both put down an old project each before deciding to head back to the Creek for warmer temps.  After a few more days of Creek climbing, rain was in the forecast and a big storm was projected to be coming through Tahoe.  Suddenly, thoughts of powder days consumed our minds and we were back in the van headed for Truckee.

Committed

I think it's safe to say I've officially committed to van life.  I was a little wishy washy about it last winter when I was only living in the van for about two months until I ran out of money and went back to work and lived in an apartment for a while.  But this time, I'm all in.  I sold my car last night.  My nice, super reliable, 4WD Honda with 150,000 miles on it, to show some solidarity to Silas, my less nice, less new, 2WD rig with 230,000 miles on it and a slew of needed improvements.  Hope I don't regret that one...  I've also given away three large trash bags of clothes, sold another bags worth, as well as anything else around the house I thought someone would pay good money for.  I put a bunch of money into Silas and new gear.  I said goodbye to my boyfriend his his pup, Mars.  And this morning, I traded in all the coins in my piggy bank to make sure I have the most money possible so I can have as much fun as possible before I need to get another job.   I leave tomorrow.  Well, technically today!  I am so, so excited, and also suddenly apprehensive.  Climb, ski, bike, play, explore.  Here I come!

Bye Mars, stay cute.

I am cool, dammit!

Recently, I applied to be a winter brand ambassador for one of the more well-known clothing companies in the outdoor industry.  They were searching for people who had big plans for the coming cold months and could proudly wear the company's clothing and document the awesome things they did while wearing said clothing.  Oh my gosh, perfect, I thought.  I love free shit, I take decent pictures, or at least they look cool enough with an Instagram filter, and I happen to have big plans for the winter.  Score!  Of course, I didn’t find out about this opportunity until the very last day that applications were being accepted.  It was a rainy day (the rainy day so far this year in California), so I had convinced myself that it was totally legitimate to spend the entire day watching tv and putting around on the internet.  I typed my responses into the fields,  Skiing, dogs, snowshoes, van, awesomeness, yea!  I answered the questions about how many followers I have on Instagram and Twitter and how many friends I have on Facebook and skipped the one about my klout score because I had no idea what that meant.  Submit!  Apparently my application had timed out.  Being no stranger to taking way too long to fill stuff out, having internet malfunctions, etc., I had conveniently copied and pasted my answers into another document so I just re-inserted them, and hey! I even had a new Facebook friend since the first time I had submitted it.  Bonus!  Much like my college application essays, my work may have benefited from a bit more time and focus, but I thought, hey I have cool plans, they should speak for themselves.

After submitting my application I allowed myself to get a little bit excited.  Eeeee what if I get picked?!  How cool would it be?  I could share my awesome adventure with other people, and I could wear all my cool free gear all the time, which would actually be extremely beneficial because I have exactly one pair of seven year old snowpants to get me through what promises to be a very exciting winter indeed.  Anyway, some time passed and then today I was scrolling through my Instagram feed and there was a photo of lots of tiny little faces smiling back at me saying ‘we are the new winter ambassadors’!  My face was not one of the tiny faces.  I was immediately disappointed.  And then a little bitter.  And then I noticed that one of the tiny faces was a friend of mine, and I was instantly lifted out of my grumpy feelings and stoked for my friend, because he is actually a complete badass who totally deserves this.  And then I went back to being grumpy again.  

‘Maybe my application didn’t go through,’ I thought, ‘I never got a confirmation email or anything.’  SELF!  SELF, GET A GRIP!  DO NOT BE A SORE LOSER.  Apparently there is a logical part to my brain.  The logical side of my brain talked to my little pouty child brain.  It explained that there are tons of people out there doing neat, amazing, bold, wonderful things with their lives.  Lots of things that are considered cooler than what you are doing.  Many of these people are recognized for doing these things by sponsors and many of them are not, but they continue living their lives and pursuing their passions because they believe that what they’re doing is fulfilling to them personally.

I will admit that I struggle with craving validation for the things that I do.  I want people to see my pictures on Instagram and like them and think, ‘wow, that looks really awesome.’  I want people to read my writing.  I want people to be interested in what’s going on and follow along on my journey.  Of course I want some cool company to come across something that I’ve posted and be like ‘where did this chick come from, let’s sponsor her, and give her free things and lots of money so she can live her dreams!’  It is embarrassing to admit all those things, but they are true.  

Sometimes I tell myself, it is just the age we live in now.  That social media has truly become part of everyday life for a majority of people and there is nothing wrong with being deeply invested in the way you share your life with others.  And that being part of the outdoor community generally means you’re poor, so of course you want sponsorships.  And obviously there are exceptions, like Chelsea, who still uses a flip phone and barely knows how to use Facebook, and like the man I read about the other day who went on a worldwide road trip for twenty something years and was contacted by lots of companies hoping to sponsor him and he was like, nah.       

But me, I want to be liked, and I want to be cool.  And today I fully admitted that to myself maybe for the first time, and it was actually kind of eye opening.  I know the things that I do really aren’t that cool.  Even using the word ‘cool’ more than once in a single piece of writing is very uncool.  I know I don’t climb very hard, I don’t conquer hard or dangerous objectives.  I’m not a very good skier, hell, I don’t even ski backcountry yet because I haven’t been able to splurge for my avy course.  I don’t backpack long distances.  But still, I want to be cool.  Why is that?  From my conversation with the logical part of my brain I learned that I need to be more self confident, and I need to stop seeking validation from others because in my heart of hearts (whatever that means anyway.. I have one heart and I don’t think it contains other hearts within it), I know that when I am on the road, I am living the life I was created to live.  I know that I am fully engaged in the act of being a breathing human and not just acting as a bystander while life streams past.  I see the earth’s beauty.  I feel passion.  I meet amazing people.  I explore.  I am happy.  So why should I care what other people think?  I guess I shouldn’t.  If somebody does see a picture, or read something I write, and think ‘hey, that’s neat, I’m going to get out there and do something that I’m excited about,’ that would be awesome.  In the meantime, I’m just going to keep reminding myself: I am cool, dammit.