Boulevard Raspail Corn on the Cob is this week’s French Fridays with Dorie recipe choice.
Last week, on an intensely sunny Aspen day, I was hiking down a rocky, steep mountain trail and encountered a woman catching the shade of a spindly oak tree. She was in her late sixties, noticeably wobbly and alone. (Not good.) Like a flash, my Ranger-Self sprang into action, asking if she needed help. She responded that no, she had just stopped to rest for five minutes. “I’ve been having altitude sickness,” she said, “and, I was getting dizzy again.” (High noon + 9,000’ high + altitude sickness = bad idea)
“Do you have any water?” I inquired.
She didn’t but said her husband had water at the top. That’s when I realized the three hikers I passed earlier were with her, so to speak. (At this point, dear Readers, I am not feeling any love for her husband.) I offered her my water and suggested I hike up the last 1/3 of the trail with her. She declined both offers. We went our separate ways. Her, up. Me, down. When I passed two more hikers, I asked if they’d continue hiking behind her, keeping her in sight until she was reunited with her hiking partners and they agreed.
This is a partial response, more later, to the question I am most asked these days, “What do you DO as a volunteer Forest Ranger?”
A delicious dinner: Boulevard Raspail Corn on the Cob, Dorie’s Broth-Braised Potatoes and a Salmon Patty.
However, a question I often ask myself is “What do volunteer Forest Rangers eat?” I need a healthy, fulfilling picnic lunch every day I’m on the trail as well as an easy-to-prepare dinner when I arrive home, tired and famished. Surprisingly, our French Fridays with Dorie recipes this summer have answered my menu needs.
For example, when you’re sitting on a decaying tree log surrounded by wildflowers, Quinoa and Tuna Salad or a Swordfish Sandwich or Duck Breast Wrap, all FFWD recipe-leftovers, take on 5-Star Michelin quality fare. Whole-cherry Clafoutis eases neatly into a metal camping container and a few fudgy Raw Brownies are kept cool nestled next to my icy camelback water pouch.
Ruth Frey, Chairwoman of the Volunteer Committee, is responsible for keeping all 100 volunteer Rangers on the same page. No wonder she’s taking a well-deserved Time-Out on the popular Conundrum Creek Trail.
This week’s recipe choice, Boulevard Raspail Corn on the Cob, is another treat that will keep me well-fed for several days. Dorie’s corny idea is to place unhusked corn in a 400-degree F. oven, roast 40 minutes, turning once, shuck and enjoy. Simple and delicious. I’ll cut the kernels off the uneaten corn and toss in this salad and this pizza from The Cafe Sucré Farine. With the corn, I chose Dorie’s Broth-braised Potatoes, a Make-up Recipe from FFWD, January, 2012. Add a salmon patty from Whole Foods – a quick dinner.
Now that I’m fed, let’s get back to this Ranger business.
After handing out Smokey Bear stickers and pins, Steve Chase gets ready to send these little hikers on their way. Can you tell he has a granddaughter of his own?
The White River National Forest is our country’s most heavily visited Forest. In the past 3 years, it’s funding has dropped 55%. That’s why the USFS is more than grateful to have the Forest Conservancy’s “100 pair of boots on the ground” to lend support. And, we in the FC, primarily retired professionals, executives, educators, and relocated community leaders, willingly rise to the challenge.
Some stories….. Recently three unprepared hikers, wet, cold and bedraggled, came running down the two-miles from Crater Lake into the Maroon Bells Visitor Center to escape an afternoon hailstorm. While eating lunch inside the Center, the youngest in the group ran outside and began spitting/vomiting into the nearby flower berm (which was a bit unsettling to Donna Grauer, the on-duty Ranger). He had a serious peanut allergy, had eaten the no-no and was not carrying his Epipen. (Seriously?) Luckily, following protocol, Donna could offer him spray-on Benedryl and allergy pills from her Med kit which he took before heading back to Aspen and our nearby hospital.
Team Sky and Tour de France Champ Chris Froome meet Aspen FC Rangers during a conditioning ride before the USA Pro Cycling Challenge. My colleague, Judy Schramm, (R) co-founded the Forest Conservancy in 2001.
Also, that day, an unthinking father left his wife and two boys during that same hailstorm at Crater Lake to run down to the Visitors Center to request a Mountain Rescue evacuation for them. Finding this was not possible, they were not injured, he rode the bus 13 miles down to the parking area to retrieve his car and return to the Bells. By the time he returned, his family had safely hiked down with others from Crater Lake, had ridden the bus back to the parking area, missing his car arrival back to the Bells by 15 minutes. Ya think Dad was in the doghouse?
On another day two men approached my colleague Ruth Frey and me to ask if we had seen “a very pissed-off woman in a purple shirt?” We had not.
An hour or so later we did see this woman, hiking alone. “Are you the very-pissed off woman in the purple shirt?” I asked.
She was furious. Readers, we’re talking very, very angry. I asked, “Is this a divorce?”
“No,” she replied. “I’m going to kill him.”
Although we weren’t on official duty, the six of us, all Rangers, stopped to help this injured black lab. Francine is not only a wildflower expert but also a veterinarian.
When six of us, all Rangers, were on a wildflower hike several miles from a trailhead last June, we met a young woman with an injured black lab dog. He had torn off his right foot pad on a sharp rock and could not walk. She was trying, unsuccessfully, to carry him. Not only did we have all kinds of bandages and salves in our backpacks, we also had a veterinarian in our midst. Francine Liebel treated/wrapped the dog’s foot so he could walk and we hiked with them the three miles down to her car.
This is what we do every day – it’s all about kindness. We’re the good guys who hope everyone has a safe and wonderful experience in our mountains. We help keep our trails pristine, dismantle fire rings and douse still-smoldering ashes. We give Smokey stickers and buttons to the kids and filter water for hikers and campers who run short. Last year our Forest Conservancy Rangers clocked almost 7,000 service hours translating to $150,000 in-kind service and untold goodwill. Admittedly, this is not a high-paying job with any career advancement opportunities. We work for free. But we’ve got one hell of an office and you can’t beat our view.
Usually the Yellow-bellied Marmots, who love to lie on the boulders to catch the rays, are the star wildlife summer attraction. This year, however, they’ve been trumped by two pair of Mama and Baby Moose who are eye-candy for the soul.
Boulevard Raspil Corn on the Cob is this week’s recipe assignment for French Friday’s with Dorie, a group working its way through Dorie Greenspan’s amazing “Around My French Table”. To visit the other sites of my colleagues who are cooking the book, go here.
Sounds like a pretty awesome job! And your meal looks very tasty.
What a fun nature walk!
That’s a wonderful looking meal you’ve got there – and I don’t even like salmon!
Mary, sounds like you are extremly busy – I love the way you enjoyed your corn à la raspail with those lovely viloet and yellow broth-braised potatoes and the salmon patty – it looks very wholesome! And I love all the interesting stories you told about your “ranger duties” – reminds me a bit about the times we used to hike in the Alps. I also wanted to let you know that I just returned from the post office downtown and hopefully within a week or so, a little yellow parcel should arrive at your doorstep. My post with the corn will be up later today, I am still putting the finishing touches to it.
Hope all is well – greetings from the girls and me!
You make a perfect ranger!!! And I never recall eating anything nearly as gourmet as Dorie leftovers when we went hiking…harumph 😉
Great post Mary. I enjoyed hearing about your job. My husband got altitude sickness while skiing in Breckenridge a few years ago and it really is scary stuff. The mountains are beautiful, but not to be underestimated.
Sounds like a great plan Mary, to do that every day. But I really need to know: if the first middle aged woman reunited with her husband and WHY was the purple t-shirt so angry, lol! I couldn’t find corn with the husks if my life depended on it, and I guess the whole point was that. It looks like the perfect, healthy way to cook it.
Yes, she made it the rest of the way to the top. Very slowly. Causing the two young hikers behind her to hike very slowly!!! The lady in the purple shirt told me she was helping a dog (don’t know why because she didn’t have one) and she told her husband and their friend to just wait on a nearby bench for her. They didn’t. They left her. She kept saying, “They left me. They just left me.” You just don’t desert people when your hiking. You just don’t.
My entire family has scout training and we still get into trouble occasionally hiking, like a few years ago our dog decided to do battle with a porcupine. Her entire body was covered in quills, some how she was able to walk back to the car with us, we were only a mile in on the trail… but what a nightmare.
It is really wonderful what you do.. thank goodness for patient people like you who are out there to rescue people…who many times really don’t realize how unprepared they are.
Glad you like the corn, like I told you before,,, your opinion counts twice. Did I ever ask you, did you detassle corn for a summer job as a kid?
Yes. And, my kids did also. They also walked beans!!!
Such an interesting and fun job! And all that hiking keeps you fit! I know you must be a wonderful ranger…I’m sure your temperament serves this job perfectly! Your dinner looks pretty darn good, too! Perfect looking corn! Have a great weekend, Mary!
Your picnic lunches are enviable! I’d ask if the other rangers are jealous, but you probably share with them. What a beautiful place to spend your days. I’ve never been in Colorado long enough to get used to the altitude, so I’ve usually been too nauseous to enjoy the view. Living there must be the solution! Glad the corn got your Iowan seal of approval.
I woud be extremely pissed (and scared) as well if I got deserted on a hiking trail. I have went hiking several times here in Singapore with my husband and friends, and albeit the hot humid weather it has always been a lovely experience. Although I’ve yet to see a ranger in sight, the trails are always kept safe, so I know they’re doing their job somehow. Although sometimes hikers take it for granted, it’s always a relief to know that there are wonderful rangers around somewhere who are always ready to help when you’re in need. It is a very noble job and I can understand why you take so much pride in it. Keep up the good work Mary.
Although, the Adirondacks are no where near as large as the Rockies, we spend a decent amount of time hiking (although not this year) and have come to have a very healthy respect for the dangers of the trail. My Uncle used to be Search and Rescue – and some of his rescue stories were enough to drive that respect home.
Now, on to the corn. I can totally picture young Mary with a stack of 200 hundred ears of corn waiting to be shucked 🙂
Cher- It is the Search and Rescue (Mountain Rescue) men and women who do the heavy lifting in the mnountains. Already this year they’ve saved countless lives and lost several. I loved your story about your uncle who recently died – how the entire Search & Rescue squad/organization showed up at his Wake in their brightly colored shirts after posting a big Smokey Bear at the front door. I could think of no better way they could have honored him.
What a delicious dinner you had and some great lunches.
Mary, what a wonderful and fulfilling job you have. It must be so rewarding at the end of the day – bringing so much to those enjoying nature, but also nature itself. Bravo!
The work you do sounds so wonderful! Very worthwhile and probably underappreciated until needed.
Love this!
Mary, what you do as a volunteer is truly impressive, as are your cooking chops! I just loved this post.
As usual, I am so impressed on so many levels. Your corn of course looks amazing and I love your story of boiling it with sugar (I need to expand my corn cooking options indeed sfter thus week…..), but your amazing healthy and gourmet meals with your busy schedule are impressive. And I very much enjoyed the details and pictures of ranger life. I personally need to get away from the desk and ontomsome trails soon. You have reminded me to be prepared. And perhaps leave the husband home. Kidding……
I loved reading about your volunteer work. I love camping, hiking, and spending time outside, and I’m so appreciative of all of the people who make it possible. It sounds very rewarding (if not financially!), and you certainly come home with some great stories!
What a darling ranger you make Mary and what an interesting job it must be! People are all so unique and keep life from getting boring for sure. I bet the other rangers stare at your lunches longingly!!