Roadie: Tongass National Forest, Ketchikan

Canopy of Tongass National Forest. (6/30/2019)

Following Downtown Ketchikan, we headed on a guided tour of a trail in the Tongass National Forest, known by the U.S. Forest Service as the "crown jewel". The Tongass National Forest in Southeast Alaska is the largest national forest in the United States. Most of its area is part of the temperate rain forest WWF ecoregion, itself part of the larger Pacific temperate rain forest WWF ecoregion, and is remote enough to be home to many species of endangered and rare flora and fauna. The Tongass is managed by the United States Forest Service. (Wikipedia)

The hike we went on focused on the scenery of Tongass National Forest Park as part of an eco tour from Ketchikan. The entire excursion consisted of the hiking tour, a visit to the Raptor Rehabilitation Center and a conversation with a native American artist who still makes totem poles in the traditional manner. We were part of a small group of just 10 people (four of whom were part of our party) which meant we were afforded plenty of time to ask questions of our guide.

Popular among bears, the fruit of the Rubus Spectabilis is popularly referred to
as a “salmonberry” due to its resemblance to salmon eggs. (6/30/2019)

(6/30/2019)

Naturally felled trees would have of other seedlings taking root
on them resulting in a beautiful mix of seedlings coming from a
single stump. (6/30/2019)

Fungus among us. (6/30/2019)

At the base of some trees were small "caves" in which bears would
briefly hide from the elements. Contrary to what is depicted in
movies, bears like small enclosed spaces in which they can snuggle. (6/30/2019)

(6/30/2019)

Devil's club (Echinopanax horridum) is a large understory shrub common in
arboreal rainforests of the Pacific Northwest. The flowers are produced
in dense umbels, each flower small, with five greenish-white petals.
The matured fruit will be red (Wikipedia). The leaves are used by bears coming out
of hibernation as a diuretic. (6/30/2019)

Devil's club is covered with brittle yellow spines that break off easily if the
plants are handled or disturbed thus its common name. (6/30/2019)

Pine cones. (6/30/2019)

Yellow salmonberry. (6/30/2019)

Lichen the wide array of Alaskan lichen. (6/30/2019)

Snapped this pic of Mystery Bird after hearing it call a number of times;
as Alaska's only bird with ear tufts, going to guess it's a Great Horned Owl. (6/30/2019)

Bear Sign One: Scat used to mark territory. (6/30/2019)

Bear Sign Two: claws marks on tree to communicate size to other
bear thereby also marking territory. (6/30/2019)

Bear sign three: trampled trails among high grass from forest to creek. (6/30/2019)

Veggie Cooking: Baked Buffalo Cauliflower Wings

Don't let Bertie's expression fool you, he was also impressed by the final product! (11/11/17)

Attempting to maintain a less cruel diet, I haven't eaten meat, fish or chicken since July 1. While I have also tried to reduce/eliminate products harvested from animals, by replacing animal milk with Almond for example, a satisfactory replacement for some favorites has thus far eluded me. By far the two animal-product-based meals I most miss eating are ice cream and chicken wings. With the ice cream absence addressed by a delicious banana-almond milk-peanut butter smoothie, the chicken wing "loss" is one that often aches at my gut, especially on Sundays.

After recently enjoying some baked cauliflower buffalo wings at a local vegetarian eatery, I sought to duplicate the epicurean experience at home. Fortunately an easy to prepare recipe for Baked Buffalo Cauliflower Wings online at Gimmedelicious.com was quickly found, and after carrying it around on my cell phone for a month, my tummy prompted me to action. On this wintry November afternoon, Bertie, our English Springer Spaniel puppy, and I set about making our first batch.

I am an unremarkable cook, choosing rather a clichéd path of learned helplessness when it comes to the kitchen. Even with this culinary handicap, I found this recipe remarkably easy to prepare, in addition to being incredibly rewarding. That the sauce consisted of two favorite ingredients (butter and Red Hot) was a bonus.

A key ingredient: classic Frank's Red Hot! (11/11/17)

Baked once in batter for 20 minutes. (11/11/17)

At this point Bertie had other plans. (11/11/17)

Twenty more minutes after being drizzled with buttery Frank's. (11/11/17)

Plated and ready to SLAY! (11/11/17)

The final product proved an excellent gustatory eexperience. Though too spicy for milady, my stepson and I quickly gobbled down the order of "wings" with a side of dressing. The crispiness of the twice-baked flowerets was solid and the overall flavor VERY reminiscent of the far less fowl-friendly original on which it is based. I am excited to have discovered, and actually tried, a recipe from GimmeeDelicious and look forward to attempting another cauliflower recipe, the Sticky Honey Sriracha Cauliflower “Wings” in the very near future!

Run: 7.6 miles in 1:04.23 @ 5:40 am

Weather: Partly Cloudy, 67°F, 75% Humidity, Wind: From WSW @ 6 mph; feels like 67°F.
Course: 7.5 LSD Run found on USATF Map It!
Pace: 8:28 min/mile
Effort: 4 of 5
How did I feel? Alright!

The furthest I've run in quite a while, and I am once again beginning to refine how it is I do what I do, such as determining which running shorts are the least obtrusive (the shorter the better), which knee aches in such a manner that it most requires the support of a patella strap, and how to put myself in the zone for running. I've also resigned myself to the fact that I'll never be fully satisfied with the fit and feel of any hydration belt (currently I use an Amphipod RunLite Trail Runner), and it fills-the-bill just fine.

Also, this morning during my run out of the city and into the (not-very-rural) suburbs, my path was crossed by no-less-than four deer, mostly of the fawn variety. I reckon due to the early morning hour and lack of any auto traffic on otherwise very busy streets, they felt comfortable wandering the wealthy suburban neighborhoods looking for grub...

Breathe in, breathe out… YOU AND I ARE ALIVE!