Backpacking to Semaphore Lakes, September 14-15, 2024
Participants: Marie Sandler, Clara Duwel, Silvija Grava, Joseph Chiao, Ryan Dowd, Altai Battulga, Aieshini Udumullage, Matthew Jarvis-Cross, Ellen Scott, Morgan Tidler, Joanne Ho, Sudha Kotapalli, Duncan MacIntyre, Ann-Cathrin Muller, Luke Mantle
First, let me preface this report with a warning, that it contains many mentions of cheese. Unlike baked goods, this isn’t a “may contain traces of cheese” situation, but rather 8 distinct cheese types intermixed with terrible yet grate cheesy puns.
The idea was conceived in May, on a wet hike in Lynn Canyon when Altai pulled out a wooden cutting board,an assortment of cheeses, fruits, crackers and salami in the middle of a hike. I realized this would make for a great VOC hike, so come August I posted the BYOC “Bring Your Own Cheese” Backpacking to Semaphore lakes. I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of cheese enthusiasts in the VOC, who expressed interest in this trip. It seems that we need more cheese trips.
We left early on Saturday morning. Keeping to the culinary theme, Duncan, Altai and I had an extensive conversation about different types of teas, where I insisted on a good English Breakfast. Altai told us about the milk teas of Mongolia, which apparently have meat, and at least to me sounded a lot more soup-like than tea-like, but I am sure delicious nonetheless.
The forecast was chilly and rainy for the weekend, so we were filled with false hope when we saw blue patches in the parting clouds on the drive up. Unfortunately, arriving at the trailhead we were disappointed by the rain. Regardless, our group of 15 cheese loving VOCers was full of at least 15 cheese wheels worth of stoke.
15 Wheels worth of cheese stoke! And my fashionable backpack cover made out of a trashbag
We quickly hiked up to the camp, excited by the cheese that was to come.
Ryan, who had woken up over an hour before his pick up time, apparently baked us a sour dough from his own starter, and had gotten up early to warm it up so it was fresh. He impressively carried it in his fleece and some ziplock bags. Joseph and Ellen, who beat us all to our camp spot, set up several tarps for us to feast under.
THE FEAST
In the chaos of fitting 15 people under a tarp in pouring rain, we layed out a beautiful spread of manchego, emmentals, boursin, havarti, gouda, cheddars, blue cheese (which disappeared especially fast), and of course brie. The spread was decorated by some grapes, sun dried tomatoes, olives, home made hummus, various crackers, and of course, Ryan’s sourdough!!!
The Feast: Featuring Ryan’s Sourdough
PC: Aieshini Udumullage
Someone insisted this trip deserves the Kitchen Sink award, but several of us insisted that cheese is 100% an essential. Others argued that the 10 cans of beer Joseph brought up were the real essentials here.
As we finished up eating, Clara led some dances, with moves including “Roll the Cheese Wheel” and “Eat the Cheese”. As we danced, the rain started to calm. We could not brie-lieve it! A break from the rain and wind. We hiked over to the waterfall, and scrambled up.
To the waterfalls we go
PC: Joseph Chiao
VOC (vaguely) – Varsity Outdoor Cheeses
PC: Joseph Chiao
Upon our return from our adventures, some braver folks went for a swim, insisting that it is still summer! The rest of us enjoyed staying warm and eating dinner. The moonlight was very bright that night, with the moon reminiscent of a wheel of cheese.
Sunday September 15
Some folks woke up at an early 5 am, to scramble Locomotive. The rest of us, type 1 fun enjoyers (at least for that morning), got up at 7 and strolled over to the bear caches for breakfast. The weather was perfect – not so hot such that our cheeses turn into a fondue, but a warm enough to get our stoke levels up to way past the initial 15 wheels of cheese. Perhaps, stoke levels were even at 20,462 pounds of cheese (the world’s biggest cheese wheel). We all hiked towards the ridge leading to Locomotive, and appreciated the views of the rain clouds, so distant from us, covering the mountains in a gorgeous mist. Upon returning, we attempted to finish the cheeses (mostly successfully with the exception of a block of cheddar and a gouda I believe). Altai’s cheese axe came in handy.
All of the cheese lovers
This was followed by a quick photo shoot, both of the whole group and of the outhouse throne facing the trail directly.
Thank you to all the participants for being so enthusiastic about cheese! I had a very gouda time.
❤️❤️
Beer >>>