Here they are! The long awaited photos from our backpacking-camping-backroading-jamming-touristing Texas retreat.
The places you see are in Big Bend National Park, Terlingua, TX, and the Hill Country outside of Austin.
We backpacked part of this journey as a test of our physical stamina. This included an aggressive hiking itinerary, carrying all of our water on our backs and exposure to elevation changes alongside freezing cold nights in the mid 20s and blistering hot days in the sun. Many people ask us why we do this and the best answer I can give is that working with nature in a harmonious way generates a deep sense of confidence…and an acute awareness of what is truly practical for living.
The quietness we experienced out in the desert wilderness also helped us to cleanse our musician ears and minds. One night in particular was without wind or bugs; there was literally no prominent sound the entire night. Underneath the clear night sky with all the moon and stars showing in this silence, it felt like we were on a different planet.
For the camera nerds…these shots are taken with a variety of digital and pinhole cameras. The digital photos are by our comrade David McGowan who curates a fantastic online photo magazine called Humanfiles Journal. We were grateful for David’s company on this journey and for the opportunity to see the experience retrospectively through his eyes.
The pinhole shots are taken by me using homemade cameras, two that I made out of Altoid tins (affectionately knows as minty cams) which I use with 35mm film, and six canisters that I made out of alcohol and tea tins that I use with 5 x 7 and 8 x 10 paper negatives. There is something satisfying about taking pictures with something I made with my own hands. It seems to mirror the drawn out experiences of carrying all my gear on my back for many miles through the desert and of cooking things by hand in a place with extremely limited resources.
A few weekends ago we backpacked at the Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness Area in Northern Michigan with our friends Avik and Bridget. Besides the amazing weather, exercise and relaxation, we ate Andy’s coconut milk goat curry with couscous, a dish that would have been amazing at home but was even better on the beach. Recipe follows….
Andy’s Coconut Milk Goat Curry Stew
One of the recipes we encountered this summer after traveling in the Yukon was for a Dal Sheep curry stew.
We saw goat from S&S Lamb at the farmers market and this made a nice substitute for the basis of the recipe.
Meat and Marinade
1 pound chopped goat meat
1 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp each whole cumin, coriander, peppercorns, ajwain, cloves
1/2 cinnamon stick
1 tsp tumeric
3 dried hot chilies
1 tsp salt
Stew
3 shallots, diced
5 small carrots, chopped
5 small potatoes, chopped
1 jalapeno, diced
1 TBS olive oil
8 oz coconut milk (unsweetened)
1. Dry roast the whole spices then grind with the chilies and cinnamon stick in a coffee grinder. Add tumeric and salt then combine with the white wine and olive oil. Toss with the meat and let set 2-8 hours in the refridgerator.
2. Saute the shallot 2-3 min then add the carrots, potatoes, and jalapenos. Cook until soft. Add the meat and marinade and saute the meant until browned. Add the coconut milk and simmer for 15 min (if camping) or up to 2 hours on low at home.
Serve over couscous.
32 days, 31 nights (16 in Canada, 15 in the U.S)
8,671 driving miles (Andy,8561; Carmen, 110; Dad, 0)
140 hours in the car
100 miles driven on dirt roads
60 miles driven on “roller coaster” permafrost damaged pavement
29 gas fill ups (we made around 30 MPG in our station wagon)
12 states and provinces (MI, IN, IL, WI, MN, ND, MB, SK, AB, BC, YT, AK)
17 nights camping in a tent
6 hotel stays
4 rustic cabin stays
4 home stays
11 showers
3 hot spring stops
4 laundrymat stops
10 days WITHOUT rain
4 days WITHOUT driving
64 miles hiked
11 gigs
2, 60 min sets of music memorized for the tour
10 original pieces performed
12 original arrangements performed
1 Piazzolla composition memorized: Tango of Today (last mvt. from History of Tango)
16 music rehearsals (…a miracle amount for a tour!…looks like we’re still classical musicians after all…)
8 different musicians jammed/performed with
3 tango workshops taught
5 dance rehearsals
3 stage dance performances (1 milonga, 2 tangos)
12 grocery store stops
17 camp dinners
15 meals out to eat
15 tea and oatmeal breakfasts by Andy
15 car lunches by Carmen
27 meals with fish
10 gas station purchases of Minute Maid 100% apple juice
1 fast food stop (in Illinois…on the way home)
4 kinds of regional wine sampled (all from BC)
38 kinds of local beers sampled: (2 from WI, 2 from MN, 2 from BC, 3 from SK, 4 from AB, 11 from YT, 14 from AK)
lowest temp: 35 degrees F, dawn at Wonder Lake, Denali NP
highest temp: 90 degrees F, Minneapolis, MN
lowest gas price: $3.55/gallon, Woodbury, MN
highest gas price: $1.42/liter ($5.40/gallon), Fort Nelson, BC
number of times the low fuel light came on in the car: 3
number of cops we saw between Edmonton and Fairbanks: 1
Fairbanks to Alaska according to Google: 3518 miles in 71 hours
Fairbanks to Alaska driving miles and time done by Andy: 3775 miles in 64 hours
Awards
Best Gig Decor: Prospectors Pizzeria and Alehouse Denali, AK
Best Gig Attendance: Tango at the Westmark Hotel Fairbanks, AK
Best Gig Venue: Ballroom at the Wood Center UA Fairbanks
Best Audience: Off The Road House Tok, AK
Best Gig View: Tie: Atlin Music Festival Atlin, BC with Village Bakery Haines Junction, YT
Best Organization/Tech/Sound Crew: Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival, Thanks Judy and Jeff!
Perseverance Award: Arts in the Park Whitehorse, YT. It poured rain for an outdoor gig and we still had a nice audience. Thanks Steve!
Best Restaurant Food: Lemongrass Fairbanks, AK. Smoking hot Thai food!!!
Best Fish:1st Place: Open fire grilled lingcod on a bed of veggie udon, homemade at Kathleen Lake, Kluane NP
2nd Place: Bouillabaisse from The Pumphouse Fairbanks, AK
3rd place: Halibut topped with melted Brie and Saskatoon berries from The Klondike Barbeque Whitehorse, YT
Best Beer: Silver Gulch Brewery Fox, AK, northern most brewery in North America. Order the 40 below NITRO imperial stout!
Best Water: Roadside spring water tap in Fox, AK
Best Coffee: Chocolate Claim Whitehorse, YT
Best Lodging: Chena Hot Springs Resort
Best Bed: Mary’s place in Fairbanks
Best Host/Organizer: Bob Barnes in Minneapolis, MN
Best Hiking: King’s Throne Summit, Kluane National Park, YT
Best Camping: Wonder Lake, Denali NP, AK
Best weather: mostly sunny, 70s, and no wind in Kluane National Park gave us view of Mt. Logan from King’s Throne Summit
Worst weather: lower 40s and raining, first day travel to Wonder Lake Denali
Best bathroom: Bobby’s in Fairbanks, poshed out individual rooms, and next to the mirrors, inside a white leather booth seat….a fire engine red rotary phone (that works!)
Worst bathroom: Alaska highway pit toilet rest stop mile 664.1, don’t ask
Best Gas Stations: Wisconsin, affordable gas, good “food selection,” New Glarus beer….
Must Have Book for the Alcan (Alaska-Canada Highway): The Milepost
The Wildlife
We know that when we return to Michigan we will be asked at least 100 times, “did you see any bears!?”
For the record, here is a list with the numbers of wildlife we counted on the trip.
8 Black Bears (all from the car)
10 Grizzly Bears (9 from the car, 1 on foot, 50 feet away on the trail-which terminated our hike that day…)
26 Moose
3 Fox
2 Grey Wolves (one each alpha male and female seen from the bus on different days in Denali-both radio collared)
Groups of: Caribou, Dall Sheep, Stone Sheep, Bison
Birds: snowy white owl, barn owl, white throated sparrow, arctic terns, tanager, grey jay, jagger, rock ptarmigan, spruce ptarmigan, scaup, white winged scooter, falcons, a merlin, golden eagles, ravens, crows, great white herons, arctic swans, bald eagle, loons, ducks….
Other Appearances: arctic ground squirrels and a pesky weasel in the Yukon that knew how to open RV doors!
The town name Tok is reason enough for musicians to plan a visit; combine that with passionate and caring organizers and it makes for an awesome tour stop.
In Tok we gave a tango class and a house concert at the Off the Road House, a Bed and Breakfast down a series of dirt roads off the Alaska Highway that is owned and operated by an amazing German woman Helga Wagenleiter. Here is Helga with a grey wolf pelt. She acquired it from a trapper family who gave it to her as a gift for teaching their children German! In addition to being a fantastic host and cook, Helga runs a studio at the house for her glass creations and photography.
The party was gloriously catered by Lucia Zaczkowski’s home cooking. She helps to presents regular house concerts in Tok.
Thanks to Helga, Lucia, and Aliza Sherman for coordinating our visit. (And a special thanks to Helga for ironing Andy’s dress shirt…which had previously not seen the sun in 2 weeks.)
