camp: forest bathing continued and korean bbq

Last Saturday, I mentioned that I got to spend an early afternoon forest bathing among the big trees in Calaveras. We spent a couple hours at the state park some miles down from Dawn's cabin on just a 1.5 mile trail to preview the largest trees in the North Grove.        

 

There's a bench that leans back and supports your head, so you can just look up and marvel at their height from thousands of years of rainfall, sunlight, photosynthesizing and growing.

 

Lightning strikes have burned some trees and turned them into hollows (I bet mushroom foraging is phenomenal after a rain), but some trees were skeletal from having being exploited and sent on global tours to be viewed and fascinated at over their giant sizes.

  

There are 26 markers on this North Grove main trail which you can follow along with a paper brochure to read some history of the trees.

 

One tree that was carved out in the bottom to be viewed and photographed extensively because a car could fit inside its hollow was struck by lightning, and you could now walk inside the length of the fallen log. 

I mourned its former majesty. I then marveled at the beauty of the Pacific dogwoods.

Even though we spent most of the afternoon at Calaveras Big Trees State Park, I asked Dawn and Cecilia if we could go to Quyle Kilns. Oh my. We were there for a good 2 hours because I got into conversation with the 70-year-old owner, Pam, who was inebriated and so very charming on a deep dive tour and history of her clay business.                      

I didn't take a lot of pictures of the studio or its gallery clay works. I guess I didn't want to be appropriating other artists' ideas. I did think the sea glass Christmas tree was rather cool, and here's a book Pam said I should study and keep learning from.

 

I admired these busts of former pets.

I felt awful that I kept Cecilia and Olivia and Dawn at Quyle Kilns for so long. I started grilling right away when we returned to cabin because we had skipped lunch. I found the cast iron grill pan in the kitchen and this time had the bottom vent open so the coals could get hotter. 

While I was grilling and sipping wine, Cecilia was decanting all the jars of banchan into bowls and setting the table. Dawn had said her grandmother bought these plates at a garage sale, saying their decoration looked to her just like their family cabin.

Bean sprouts--Cecilia's favorite--and homemade spicy kimchi, which surprised me with its fermented taste. Can't believe I made kimchi.

Cecilia said the white kimchi from Jagalchi paled in comparison to my spicy homemade red kimchi. I also cooked her least favorite vegetable, bok choi as a banchan, but at least Dawn liked it.

The Japanese eggplant banchan needed to have been steamed longer and could be more sauced, but I was in a hurry. And thankfully, Dawn took on japchae duty, which was my favorite.

And once again, Costco's bulgogi knocks it out of the park.

Why marinade rib eye beef on your own when the prepared versions at Costco are so delicious?

The next morning we cleaned and closed the cabin and loaded the dogs into the car. Olivia looked cozy.

I managed to coax Effie out from under the bed and out the door with homemade turkey treats while Licorice looked happy as can be in the front seat.

I hope I wasn't too annoying and that Dawn invites us again because I'd really like to enter the state park at its opposite entrance, which is only a mile away from Dawn's cabin and has a 2.5 loop to view even taller sequoia trees in the less visited South Grove.