Weekend with our dear friend Clarence Fahnestock

After writing a quick post about how to hastily throw together a camping trip, I was inspired to do just that (with the help of a few friends who were excited to try out their new tent). Putnam County, NY-- Home of Clarence Fahnestock State Park, the Appellation Trail, and maybe one gas station. It is bucolic and doesn't have any homeless people or skyscrapers. We like that and we called it home over this past weekend.
The drive up was not bad at all (although I should warn you about the crazy-narrow highways on the way up: Taconic, Saw Mill River PKWY). Once we made it past the George Washington Bridge, it was smooth sailing, which was shocking because nothing in NY is smooth at 5:00pm on a Friday.

Cooking with cast-iron is a must if you want flavor

Upon our arrival, we were greeted by the park manager/ranger/guy in shed. He was a very nice guy who told us "if you don't like the way your campsite is laid out, come back and I'll change it".That's exactly what we did. There are two types of sites that CFSP offers: Back-in camping and hike-to camping. Back-in camping should be self explanitory-- You back up into your site and unpack your car. The hike-to sites are more secluded and not a hike at all. Always ask for hike-to sites! He sold us some wood out of his trunk for $5.00 a bundle, which is helpful if you don't like foraging for all of your wood. I like a combination of foraging and purchasing because it is the safe move. If you show up after a rain, good luck getting all the wood you foraged to light. When I was younger, my dad taught me that if you are staying at a campsite, there is FOR SURE someone selling wood locally for cheaper than the campground itself. I always try and keep my eyes open when I get close to the campground.

Breakfast of champions

After setting up camp, food and booze becomes the first thing on everyone's mind. When considering food, its best to keep it simple. Hot dogs and burgers are tasty as hell and require little maintenance (you can drink and cook). We also made sandwiches to eat for lunch while hiking. While we are still on the food topic, during this trip I made a monumental breakfast (yes it was THAT good). For those of you who do not know what shakshuka (Pronounced: Shock-Shookah) is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakshouka. This was super easy to create. Open a large can of diced tomatoes. Pour into a cast-iron skillet. Add lots of spices that you enjoy (I used fresh garlic, lots of pepper, salt, cumin, smoked paprika, and Urfa [Turkish red pepper flakes]). Shakshuka is supposed to be spicy, so go crazy with the seasoning. You can even add sausage if you so desire. Once the tomatoes start to simmer or bubble, crack 5-8 eggs over the top and let them poach in the sizzling tomato juice. Once eggs look done, but still runny, place on table and eat with toast. Take my word for it-- Its fantastic!!!
I seem to get sidetracked by food too often... For lunch the following day, I mentioned we made sandwiches for our hike. Whenever I go camping near great hiking trails, I occupy my time by trying to find the absolute prettiest place to eat. Our hike was around a huge lake. Our goal was to eat lunch on top of the cliff that hangs about 100 feet over the far shore of the lake. We ended up walking along a section of the Appellation Trail, which was very cool considering its history and significance (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appalachian_Trail). We never made it to the top of that cliff, but our sandwiches and apples were just as tasty deep in the woods.

Another fun activity was creating a "living" playlist and listening to music around the fire (not late at night obviously). We called it the "living" playlist because we all chose one song and hit play. While the playlist was playing we passed the iPod around the circle and added one song each. by the end we had a fantastic 70 song playlist.

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Here are a couple of key items I wouldn't go camping without:
- Lantern= best source of light while cooking in the dark
- Latex gloves= Running water isn't as readily available as in the city. When handling chicken or beef, these babies come in handy
- iPod= Music is a must


Thanks for reading. I would love to hear your comments and suggestions.