GailStorey.com

Happy Earth Day, Earthlings!

gaildstorey — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 16:40:56 PDT

Comments welcome. And what do you love about our home planet?

Calamity Camping: After the Flood

gaildstorey — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 13:05:41 PST

Yikes! An evaporative-cooler pipe in our attic burst while we were out, and flooded both levels of our house with thousands of gallons of water. Porter and I loved each other through it, like we did on the Pacific Crest Trail. This is the first of three posts to share what we learned from ServiceMasterClean of Boulder (water remediation), Parrish Construction (home reconstruction), and Homewood Suites (sometimes it’s best to decamp to more comfy ground).

Check out what happened next on the post “Calamity Camping at Home.”

Comments welcome, below.

Calamity Camping at Home

gaildstorey — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 12:59:23 PST

Now what? Our house deconstructed by ServiceMasterClean of Boulder, who did the water remediation from our burst-pipe flood, we were ready for weeks of reconstruction. Our adaptive skills from living for months on the Pacific Crest Trail came in handy! We dedicate this second post in our Calamity Camping series to Parrish Construction and their gazillion subcontractors:

Comments welcome, below!

Camping at Homewood Suites

gaildstorey — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 12:57:25 PST

Here’s the third in our “Calamity Camping” series: decamping to the Homewood Suites! Our wilderness survival skills stood us in good stead for a month of home reconstruction after the flood from our burst frozen pipe. But with household appliances moved to refinish wood floors, and trashed rooms being repainted, we accepted the affordable hospitality of the Homewood Suites:

Comments welcome below!

The Hard Way to Make S’Mores

gaildstorey — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 21:34:43 PST

Comedy camping with Gail and Porter Storey:

EARTH DAY GREETINGS!

gaildstorey — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 10:54:37 PDT

Your sister and brother Earthlings wish you a glorious Earth Day!

Winter Hiking; How and Why

gaildstorey — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 09:03:59 PST

“No such thing as bad weather, only bad clothes,” my husband, Porter, says.

Porter in the High Sierra

Since we hiked the Pacific Crest Trail, we’re often asked how to hike in snow and cold. You probably know about layering (silk or soft wool next to the skin to wick away moisture, a middle layer like fleece, a waterproof down-filled or synthetic jacket with a hood, and warm, waterproof pants). With a few additions, you can hike comfortably even in below-zero temperatures.

A balaclava (not to be confused with the pastry, baklava!) and goggles keep you from freezing your face off. Porter likes gloves but I like mittens so my fingers warm up one another. Gaiters over my pants keep deep snow out of my boots. Trekking poles (or Nordic walking poles) are great for balance on slippery patches, and add to warmth with an upper-body workout.

Gail hikes at 12 degrees below zero

Hand warmers inside my mitts and toe warmers inside my boots complete my ensemble. I love that they call these Little Hotties!

Hotties

For serious traction on snow, ice, and slush, we prefer Kahtoola MICROspikes. They’re easy to slip on and off, lightweight, and their teeth-and-chain bottoms don’t pick up mud.

Above is the How. Here’s the Why:

Why

Got winter hiking tips to share?

Happy Holidays from Gail and Porter Storey

gaildstorey — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 13:27:48 PST

Happy New Year, and let us know in the Comments how your 2010 was!

Thanksgiving Blissings…

gaildstorey — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 10:23:03 PST

Awareness Rests in the Pumpkin Pause between Autumn and Winter

Porter Auditions for America’s Top Chef

gaildstorey — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 13:10:56 PDT

Porter did all the cooking on our 2,663-mile hike of the Pacific Crest Trail: hot mocha and oatmeal for breakfast, and gourmet dinners like ratatouille au rehydrated tofu, boeuf jerky stroganoff, and pan-seared wild salmon over udon in an Asian fusion sauce. (I carried the peanut butter and crackers for lunch.) Each evening, after our twenty-plus miles of hiking, he set up his wilderness kitchen of stove, ingredients, and spice kit and went to work. In this photo in the Sierras, he’s unpacked our food from our bear-proof canister (lower right) and wears a head-net because of the mosquitos:

Porter auditions for America's Top (Wilderness) Chef

My job as sous-chef was to stand by with water in case he set his pants on fire (happened twice). At home I do all the cooking, and his job is to decant the Malbec and watch it breathe.

Nevertheless. When he wants to cook, we have to go backpacking so he can try out his latest modifications to his latest ultralight stove. Here’s his 8 oz. stove kit, including a 1 qt. titanium pot, windscreen and stainless steel rods to hold the pot above the burner, his titanium ground protector (so as not to scorch the earth), ThermoJet alcohol burner on top of protector, and spoon to stir (the rods fit into the back of the spoon for storage):

8 oz. stove kit

Porter eats with his stirring spoon, and I have a plastic spork–a spoon with a jagged end for fork-like purposes. Mine is red lest I lose it in the dirt. But on our recent backpacking trip, I was dismayed to find my spork denuded of its jagged tines.

“I sanded them off to fit in the stove kit,” he said.

“?!”

Gail attempts spaghetti with fork-less spork

Whatever, it was delicious. Porter cooked it from a pasta recipe from Backpacker Magazine, except he made substitutions for thirteen of the fourteen ingredients. He did use pasta, though. The recipe also said to “drain the pasta,” but carry a colander? Fuggedaboudit. In any case, Porter used his highly insulated pot-cozy to retain heat and cook faster at high altitudes.

Porter in his man-cave making his pot-cozy

A Top Chef who makes his own cooking accoutrements? I’d vote for him, wouldn’t you?

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