Potpourri for the Soul – and the Belly!

The December meeting of the Los Alamos Mountaineers features a potpourri of food and fantastically short but fascinating presentations.
 
The meeting starts at 6:30 pm Wednesday, Dec. 18, at Fuller Lodge in downtown Los Alamos.  The Mountaineers club will provide a solid base for the potpourri with barbeque (Bob’s Bodacious), beverages and cake (Chocolate Maven), but the full realization of a “miscellaneous and diverse collection” of foods will come from the side dishes, salads, vegetables, appetizers, breads or desserts that you bring with to the meeting to share with your fellow Mountaineers.
 
If you are feeling especially eco-conscious that evening you can bring your own place setting to bring home with you and clean and re-use, but if not or if you forget LAM has your back.
 
And for the evening’s program, six intrepid outdoorspersons will share a brief account of a recent exploit. Their stories include:
Centennial Canyon Adventures: the Year of my 100th trip
Bill Priedhorsky will give an overview of a year that included his 100th outing to the canyon wilderness of northeastern Arizona and southeastern Utah, with adventures in the slickrock expanses of the Escalante country; the country of the old ones near Navajo National Monument; and a "failed" llama trip - though a fine weekend - based in Blanding, Utah. “The explorations are just as rewarding as when I started in the fall of 1979, and there is a lot more territory on my bucket list,” Bill says.

 
The Zion Traverse
Michael Altherr will share an account of a five day/ four night walk he did with two others in May 2013 in Zion National Park.   “The spiritual point from which reality emerges,” Zion  offers views nearly hypnotic in their hold making it difficult to move from view point to the next – and the viewpoints are plentiful. “Even with the vistas modestly obscured by smoke from the fires in Southern California, the landscapes from Lee’s Pass to the East Entrance are a visual feast” Mike says. The fastest known time for running the Zion Traverse is about nine hours, but the view is probably a lot blurrier at speed.

 
Nepal: Trekking back through Time
Bart Olinger says Nepal is covered with terrace-farmed mountains in the middle and northern latitudes. The long, narrow fields are cultivated by cattle pulling primitive plows, and the villagers grow rice, corn, millet, buckwheat, potatoes, mustard greens, and a multitude of other fresh vegetables.  “I trekked to such a region to briefly experience and document the Nepalese farmer's way of life,” he says.

 
San Juan River Adventure
Last September, twelve friends – including Dennis Brandt – boated the San Juan River in Southeast Utah, an area rich in archaeological and geological attractions.   They visited spectacular cliff dwellings and petroglyph panels along the river.  They spent a day exploring Chinle Wash, climbing and scrambling along a slickrock ridge, and hiking cross-country through beautiful desert scenery, vibrant with life and color due to recent rains. The river was running high and grew to flood stage - presenting an exciting challenge for the mixed group of canoeists, rafters, and kayakers of all experience levels.

 
City of Rocks
Norbert Ensslin will show pictures taken by Matthias Graf, Deby Sarabia, and Lynn Ensslin on a trip to the City of Rocks in Idaho last June, including a few favorite climbs and other highlights from the trip.

 
Llama Trip to the Wind River Range
If someone says, “You bring the food and cook it, I’ll bring my llamas” and the destination it the Wind River Range, Bridger Wilderness, you say “Yes!”  Lorrie Bonds Lopez will describe her adventure of spectacular trekking and cushy camping.