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Books: Food:
Accessible
Trails
The most outstanding characteristic of Oregon's outdoors is its sheer diversity. We're the only state in the country that's got it all: rainforests, a coastline, glaciers and a desert. In Lane County alone you can spend the day wandering sandy beaches or perched precariously on rocky crags more than 10,000 feet above sea level. On the Willamette National Forest, Lane County's largest chunk of public land, you can spend the hot months of summer shoulder to shoulder with hundreds of waterskiers and sunbathers on a big reservoir. Or you can backpack for weeks in the lonely reaches of the Three Sisters Wilderness without seeing a soul. For every hard-core rock climber or whitewater kayaker in Lane County, there are probably a hundred folks who like to take it slow on short level trails. Twenty percent of our county's population is younger than 10 or older than 65, and 10 percent of Lane County residents have a physical disability that seriously limits their mobility. To accommodate this diversity, the Willamette National Forest maintains about 50 campgrounds, view points, trails and other facilities in Lane County that are accessible to people with mobility disabilities. Accessible facilities are not just the lower-rung scenic experiences, either. They include some of the most breathtaking sites in our area. And they're not just for people in wheelchairs, they're great destinations for people with kids or for elderly family members. Some of my favorite accessible hikes include the Koosah Falls, Clear Lake and Proxy Falls trails (off Highway 126) and the Salt Creek Falls trail (off Highway 58). But probably the best two — the Delta Grove trail and Sahalie Falls viewpoint — can be done easily in one day and will take you to a magnificent old-growth forest and a spectacular waterfall. Directions: Take Highway 126 east from Springfield for approximately 35 miles. Between mileposts 45 and 46, take a right onto Forest Service Road 19, at a sign for Delta Campground and Cougar Reservoir. Cross a bridge over the McKenzie River and take an immediate right at the sign for Delta Campground. Travel this paved road for .9 miles. In the summer months, you can drive straight to the trailhead. During winter, when the campground is closed, park near the gate and walk just a quarter of a mile to the trailhead, staying to the left when the road through the campground splits (you have to stay right if you're driving). The trailhead is at a brown sign that points away from you if you're coming from the left hand road. The Delta Grove trail is a half-mile loop trail that begins at a bridge over a small side channel of the McKenzie. The trail is completely flat and composed of hard-packed gravel, earth and asphalt, suitable for travel by people in wheelchairs or walkers. The forest consists of enormous Douglas fir, western hemlock and red cedar interspersed with lush mosses and ferns and abundant hardwoods, including broad leaf and vine maple. During the summer, the Forest Service has bi-weekly series of programs ranging from botany to flint-knapping that are held both on the trail and in the nearby Delta Amphitheatre. If you've still got time, drive back out to Highway 126, continue driving east for another 24 miles, and turn left into a parking lot at a sign for Sahalie Falls. Sahalie means "heaven" or "high" in the Chinook jargon, a trade language used by native tribes and fur trappers. The 140-foot falls are among the prettiest in Oregon, and also easily accessible by a short paved path from the parking lot. Warning! The Delta Grove is at 1,100 feet and is almost always clear of snow, but Sahalie Falls, at 3,000 feet, is sometimes closed by snow from December through April, and the paths are often quite icy during these months. A complete list of accessible facilities on the Willamette National Forest can be found at www.fs.fed.us/r6/willamette/recreation/tripplanning/map_ns.html
Visualize
Success THE MENTAL ATHLETE by Kay Porter. Human Kinetics Press, 2003. Paperback, $16.95.
Where does your negative self-talk come from? What distracts you from your performance? What keeps you from succeeding? Kay Porter of Eugene tackles some of these questions in her updated, important book, The Mental Athlete. Porter understands where our self doubt comes from — usually from voices in our past. She understands one's distraction from the crowd and unrealistic expectations, and she knows any person whose intention is clear can untangle herself from the sticky web that hinders us from gaining personal success. Athletes with a mental edge or those who have struck a balance between the physical, spiritual and emotional parts of themselves will hold a competitive edge over athletes who have not. To have this edge, Porter writes, one needs to train it, just as one trains her body for competition. This can be done in five steps: log keeping, goal setting, positive self-talk, relaxation and visualization. Visualization, Porter insists, is a very powerful tool in attaining one's peak performance. "When you visualize," Porter writes, "you compete only in your mind, but this can have such a powerful effect that your entire body feels as if it has actually competed physically."
Training one's mind to visualize through kinesthetic, visual and auditory senses creates neural patterns for an athlete's muscles to do exactly what she wants them to do. One can set a goal to win a race or meet a time, but when this goal is internalized through visualization, the likelihood of attaining it is much higher. Not only does Porter give voice to our personal growth challenges, but she also gives the reader exercises to work through and visualizations to use, all of which are specified to the sport or particular situation, such as burn-out or injury. Porter also addresses the importance of mental training for young athletes and the roles parents play in their development as confident, trusting, capable athletes with good attitudes. Our attitude and behavior as parents, Porter says, is crucial to our young athlete's psychological and physical performance. With so many of Eugene youth in sports, this section is particularly important. I'd like to see Porter expand this issue in a separate book. The Mental Athlete is an insightful book — one of my favorite Christmas presents to give my friends who challenge themselves in many different ways, both in sports and in life. (Shhhh, don't tell!)
Winter
Squashes This time of the year is great for picking up winter squash from local growers and farmers markets. Mistletoe and I were on our way to one such market when we stopped for some caffeine and sugar. It was a happening scene, everybody outside on the wooden benches drinking coffee in the late autumn sunshine, but Mistletoe and I were on a mission, so we didn't linger. As we mustered thrust for escape velocity from the social vortex, my financial advisor buddy blocked the exit.
"Chef Boy Ari," he said, "I'm not satisfied with my winter squash. I slice it in half and bake it face down for about 45 minutes at 400. Then I serve it with some butter and maple syrup — it's pretty good, but it gets old. What do you do with squash?" Jeez. What a question to be saddled with as I'm trying to quit the scene. What don't I do with squash? In my younger days, some friends and I had a pumpkin pie business. I should clarify: When I say pumpkin pie, what I really mean is winter squash pie. Delicata, red kuri, carnival, acorn, butternut, buttercup, kabocha, and a host of other winter squashesincluding pumpkinall make great pies. We did, too. We had a nice run for a while, sold a lot of pies, but as often happens when you turn a passion into a business, soon it wasnt fun anymore. Pumpkin pie became a chore, rather than a treat. Before we cashed out and moved on, I had the opportunity to prove, scientifically, that it is possible to live happily for many days on a diet of pumpkin pie. In addition to the nutrients supplied by the flour, butter, milk and eggs, winter squash is chock full of starch, vitamins and beta-carotenes. Pie presides over the sweet genre that includes many culinary interpretations of the winter squash. But in my book, the sweet genre is eclipsed by the many savory ways that squash can be prepared. Unfortunately, too many people get advice similar to what our financial advisor followed down his path to sweet mediocrity. In fact, its kind of ironic when people take it for granted that squash should be sweetened. I mean, its already sweet fa fok's sake. Enough already! What follows is my standard manner of preparing squash. This technique can be modified in any number of ways to suit your taste. First, cut off the stem and the nub at the bottom. Then cut the squash in half, and use a spoon to scrape out the seeds and slimy membrane stuff. Some squash, like kabocha, have edible skins, which disperse their vitamins into the mix. If your squash's skin is the inedible sort, peel it with a knife. Then cut the cleaned halves into chunks of about 2 inches square. Place the chunks in 2 inches of boiling water in a pan with a tight-fitting lid. Pour in some olive oil and let it boil. If you dont like the idea of peeling the squash with a knife, you can put the cleaned half-squashes in the pot and steam till soft enough to scoop out and proceed. But this way you have to wait for it to cool enough to scoop, so I don't think your'e saving time. I think the best option is to eat the skin, squash-variety permitting. If you don't know about the edibility of a certain skin, experiment in small quantities like our hunting and gathering forefathers. Now its time to think about flavoring. Last time, I poured some grapeseed oil in a cast iron skillet and then added chopped bacon on medium heat. When the bacon started to brown, I added some deer-burger and cooked until brown. Then I removed the browned meat from the pan, added more grapeseed oil, chopped onions, sweet peppers, hot peppers and a pour of vinegar from a jar of pickled peppers. You can substitute wine for the vinegar if you like. At this point, the squash on the other burner was getting soft, and the water had almost all boiled off. I added some more water so the squash wouldn't burn. Back at pan #2, I added the browned meat, and then cheese curds, to the sizzling veggies. Cheese curds have the amazing characteristic rare in the cheese family of not melting, holding onto their form even as they get decadently soft. As soon as all these flavors began their harmonious convergence, I stirred in the chopped garlic. Just as the intoxicating smell of garlic grease began diffusing through the kitchen, I dumped the contents of pan #2 into the squash and stirred it all together. On this particular occasion I was in the market for a thick consistency, so all I did was adjust the flavor with soy sauce and pickle-jar vinegar and call it good. But another variation would be to add more water or even some milk or cream and go the soup route. The meat, of course, is optional, and there are many other veggies you can incorporate. Roots, like carrots or potatoes or turnips, can be added with the squash to the boiling water pan. Greens, mushrooms, leeks and any number of other veggies can go into the sauté pan. Herbs can be added, a little at a time, if you like. I also like mustard seeds. When serving, a garnish of chopped green onion or cilantro adds a nice touch to the finished product. So does a fat dollop of mayo. Chef Boy Ari, aka Ari LaVaux, is currently living and cooking in Missoula, Mont. He can be reached at flash@flashinthepan.net
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