 |
| Another great road trip! |
Every spring for the last 35 years,
people throughout North America who are interested in the interactions between
humans and the environment have gathered for the Society of Ethnobiology
Conference. This year, the conference
was hosted by the Denver Botanic Gardens on the flanks of the Rocky
Mountains. Katrina and I decided to
drive to the conference in order to explore a part of the country we haven’t
previously traveled, get some birding in, and most importantly, experiment with
the many edible wonders along the way.
Our route took us from Bellingham across Snoqualmie Pass to Yakima, and
southeast through the Blue Mountains in Oregon and along the Columbia Plateau
through southern Idaho and Northern Utah to Salt Lake City. From there we crossed the Uinta Mountains and
the Colorado Rockies.
 |
| Sumac fruit |
We rushed out of rainy western
Washington and made it over the pass before too much snow fell. Sunny eastern Washington skies greeted
us and we slowed our pace to explore the Yakima River between the towns of Yakima
and Wapato. The town of Wapato is of
course named after my favorite root vegetable Sagittaria latifolia (see my post on Arrowhead for more on Sagittaria), but it was too early in the
spring to spot any of the emergent leaves in the slow moving backwaters of the
Yakima River. We did, however, find a
number of other edibles including Cattails (Typha latifolia), the young basal leaves
of Curly Dock (Rumex crispus), and
remnant fall fruits of Smooth Sumac (Rhus
glabra), which were still delightfully sour.
 |
| A basal rosette of tender young Curly Dock (Rumex crispus) leaves |
I have eaten the peeled raw flower
stalks of many species of Dock (Rumex sp.)
but have never tried the leaves. “Wild
Man” Steve Brill recently posted on the Forageahead Listserve that the young
leaves of Dock are good after they are cooked (evidently superb in lasagna). I found the young leaves of Curly Dock to be tender
and mild flavored when raw, but they left me with an acrid aftertaste that burned
the back of my throat the same way that Siberian Miner’s Lettuce (Claytonia siberica) does after it has
started to flower.
 |
| Golden Currant (Ribes aureum) |
I was also very excited to see the
emerging flowers of Golden Currant (Ribes
aureum) for the first time, and we easily spotted the bright yellow flowers
throughout much of the rest of our trip to Denver.
 |
| Catherine Creek State Park |
We pressed on through the Blue Mountains
in Eastern Oregon, and after scouting out the dumpster at the Pendleton Woolen
Mills in Pendleton Oregon (no shirts or blankets to be had, just bits of yarn),
headed into the Wallowa Mountains and set up camp at Catherine Creek State
Park. Temperatures dropped as the sun
set and it even snowed about ¼ inch while we roasted sausages on the campfire.
 |
| A steel Camas digging stick |
The next morning we went to the Oregon
Trail Interpretive Center in Baker City Oregon and I was pleased to see that
the Center included some materials on Native American Foods, including a basket
of dried Camas (Camassia sp.) and a
peculiar digging stick forged out of steel with a top handle made of Bison horn. Inspired by
the heritage trail, I decided to try and find the house that my Dad was born in
near Boise. With Dad on the phone
directing us by looking on Google Earth and summoning memories from when he was
4 years old, we got pretty close. His
old house is gone and the area has turned into ritzy 1- 5 acre equestrian
estates.
 |
| Pronghorn Antelope |
Continuing east on I-84 we started to
see Pronghorn Antelope on the side of the road.
We crossed into Utah and drove to the Great Salt Lake, where we intended
to spend some time birding the next day.
We laid out our bedrolls on a sandy beach and enjoyed the moonlit
night. The next morning we got up early
and drove to Antelope Island State Park, which is in the middle of the Great
Salt Lake but is connected to the mainland by a causeway. The birding was amazing and we even saw a few
Bison and Pronghorn.
 |
| Massive clusters of Siberian Elm (Ulmus pumila) samara |
By mid-afternoon the birding had slowed
down, so we left the Island. While at a
gas station I noticed some Siberian Elm (Ulmus
pumila) trees that were just loaded with edible samara (winged seeds). They were in the peak of their season and I
munched several handfuls. When still
green, elm samaras make an amazing addition to salads. They have a flavor and texture that is like a
cross between spinach and oatmeal. They
are a very common street tree and we saw them planted abundantly throughout
Salt Lake City, Eastern Utah, Boulder and Denver Colorado, as well as Yakima,
WA. They aren’t as common in Western WA,
but they are definitely around. If you
haven’t tried Elm samara (particularly Siberian Elm), I highly recommend them,
they are one of my favorite salad greens.
After collecting a small stash of samara,
we climbed into the Wasatch Mountains and followed HWY 40 into the Uinta Mountains to
Starvation State Park in eastern Utah.
The park surrounds a reservoir of the dammed Strawberry River and is
made up of exceedingly beautiful red sandstone, dry Juniper and Agave
scrublands, and nice sandy pocket beaches.
The tremolo call of loons lulled us to sleep as the stars twinkled
through the thin atmosphere. We rose
early the next morning to find the tracks of a coyote who had circled us as we
slept.
 |
| Rising early in a world full of mystery |
 |
| Ponderosa berries |
We continue east along HWY 40 as the day
began to warm and come to life. Our next
stop was Dinosaur National Monument where we saw some amazing Allosaurus
fossils. The Allosaurus were a similar
size and shape as the T-Rex, but lived almost 100 million years earlier. We also saw some spectacular petroglyphs,
mountain bluebirds, and colorful spring wildflowers. That night we camped near Kremmling CO, at
the base of the Rockies and near the headwaters of the Colorado River. Only a short drive from Boulder, the next day
we took back roads through the mountains and enjoyed the scenery. I optimistically tried the young cones of
Ponderosa Pine (Pinus ponderosa). Last year, ethnobotanist Nancy Turner told me
that young Whitebark Pine (Pinus
albicaulis) cones could be eaten, so I thought it was worth experimenting
with the cones of Ponderosa Pine. They
were no bigger than an inch long and ¾ of an inch wide and required a bit of
twisting to remove them from the branch.
Raw, I found them to be more tender than I expected and milder than
Juniper berries, but still very resin flavored.
Boiling for 5 minutes softened them further, but they still were too
resinous to enjoy more than one.
That evening we met Katrina’s brother
Derek in Boulder, who kindly put us up for the evening, and the next day we
drove to the Denver Botanic Gardens for the Society of Ethnobiology Conference.
Pin It
After collecting a small stash of samara,
we climbed into the Wasatch Mountains and followed HWY 40 into the Uinta Mountains to
Starvation State Park in eastern Utah.
The park surrounds a reservoir of the dammed Strawberry River and is
made up of exceedingly beautiful red sandstone, dry Juniper and Agave
scrublands, and nice sandy pocket beaches.
The tremolo call of loons lulled us to sleep as the stars twinkled
through the thin atmosphere. We rose
early the next morning to find the tracks of a coyote who had circled us as we
slept.
We continue east along HWY 40 as the day
began to warm and come to life. Our next
stop was Dinosaur National Monument where we saw some amazing Allosaurus
fossils. The Allosaurus were a similar
size and shape as the T-Rex, but lived almost 100 million years earlier. We also saw some spectacular petroglyphs,
mountain bluebirds, and colorful spring wildflowers. That night we camped near Kremmling CO, at
the base of the Rockies and near the headwaters of the Colorado River. Only a short drive from Boulder, the next day
we took back roads through the mountains and enjoyed the scenery. I optimistically tried the young cones of
Ponderosa Pine (Pinus ponderosa). Last year, ethnobotanist Nancy Turner told me
that young Whitebark Pine (Pinus
albicaulis) cones could be eaten, so I thought it was worth experimenting
with the cones of Ponderosa Pine. They
were no bigger than an inch long and ¾ of an inch wide and required a bit of
twisting to remove them from the branch.
Raw, I found them to be more tender than I expected and milder than
Juniper berries, but still very resin flavored.
Boiling for 5 minutes softened them further, but they still were too
resinous to enjoy more than one.
