Bear experience

It's superb to see bears. Can you imagine that the bears are just two car distant from you? I was so happy. The road in Sequoia curves around the mountains. So you can imagine the turns. I got motion sickness easily these days. I was in a bit bad shape before the presence of the bears. Funny thing was that my sickness dramatically got reduced by the ecstasy. This time was my second time to Sequoia. I got a pleasant memory the first time. I recall I saw many wild animals, including three black bears, one mom and two babies. Of course I got some expectations to the second time. The park fulfilled my expectation in the first evening. We hiked on a very short trail and returned. Around 2000 elevation we saw three bears on the side. Our presence was fine by them, seemed like. The color of the bears was not black, nor grey. We wondered what bear we saw. We engaged a conversation with two other people from another car. They had outdoor telescopes at hand. The guy said these bears are brown bears. Aha who can verify his words? We all got off the cars. We enjoyed the bears a lot.

Second day we hiked on Tokopah falls trail, bear hill trail, alta trail (partial), and big tree trail (partial). The Tokopah falls trail is not long. But the snow and the lack of signs made the hike very exhausting. We spent a good amount of time on finding right way. We got lost :p The view was nice. Due to the snow the water amount of the falls was abundant. We got some nice pictures along the way and on top. Some of us were not just satisfied with the rock, the snow, and the water at the end of the trail. We climbed up and did some off trail. It was awesome. Absolutely strenuous. I like it very much. I haven't hiked any strenuous trail after I lost my big toe nail. I was very happy that my ability of hiking is getting back. Not the best condition, but I am so grateful for the recovery. No bear. Guess the snow hinders bears. Not many fresh grass or berries on the scene. Bears eat grass and berries. Besides, the snow slows actions a lot. It can be the reason of why we encountered no bear this day. Yet we got a very exciting coyote experience. It can be a coyote or a fax. It swiftly ran toward us. For food? The closest distance was just a car away. I felt I was holding my breath at that point.

Third day was short. We luckily saw two bears in the morning. The bears cared nothing about us. They were just outside our windows. We turned back for them for the closer look. Beyond the description. The joy.

Sunburn or snowburn

Sunburn or snowburn is common. But what if I tell you that I have sunburn on my wrists and lower arms? I felt shocked. Then I felt funny. My face or neck got nothing after a day of strong sunshine. Yet the most unexpected area, wrist, got the sunburn, or snowburn. As mentioned in the previous post, there was bunches of snow on the trails. I wore long sleeves that covered all my arms. In addition, I put my wrists down most of time. I couldn't think of any reason why I got this esp in this weird areas. So I suspect that the burn is due to snow. The snow reflects the sunshine and somehow my skin around wrist and lower arm is weak and cannot tolerate the strong reflection. Well I put some aloe vera on, getting better. Next time I go hiking I think I will pay some attention on them :p

Hiking on the snow

This was not planned. I went with some friends to Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Park. We were already in April. So no one expected to see bunches snow on the trails. The snow astounded all of us. We hiked with our hiking shoes or tennis shoes. I wore my tennis shoes at that day. Each step, I placed it carefully. I guess everyone else did the same thing. Tricky to walk on snow at a regular pace. Either the snow is slippery or the snow is hollow underneath.

Chocolate cake

I experimented a bit. I heard flourless cake and wanted to make one. In my imagination the flourless chocolate cake is soft, smooth and light. Not heavy not chewy and not over sweet. It can be a bit less firm than a soufflé. I read through my recipe book. The only flourless recipe looks not my kind. So I went online to do a little research. After modification here is my version.

Materials:
- 8 oz chocolate (milk, dark, semisweet)
- 6 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 4 eggs
- 4 tablespoon sugar
- Pinch of salt
- 2 tablespoon rum
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Preparation:
- Microwave chocolate and butter (less than 1 min)
- Put sugar, egg yolks, rum, vanilla in a big bowl and mix with a low speed for 10 min (until the dough becomes creamy)
- Pour the melted butter and chocolate and salt in the bowl
- Mix them for 10 sec
- In a small bowl mix the egg white for 2 min until the foam appears
- Fold the foam in the dough in the big bowl gently
- Preheat oven to 300 degree
- Put the cake pan in the oven and bake for 50 min

The cake puffed. A bit like soufflé. When I tested the cake with a folk, I got a similar feeling of cutting a soufflé. The outside was a bit crispy. The inside was moist. Very moist. I put it outside to cool it down for more than 30 min. I think I should have served it warm. After 30 min, the cake went to the normal form, no puff anymore. When I sliced it, I saw how smooth the inside was. My friends like it very much. The taste was between a Soufflé and a mousse. Very happy to have it. Happy to have it after a good dinner.

Squid yaki

A nice yaki with squid is great. My memory of a good yaki from Japan came out when we were in Japan town. Even though so many people lined up, we were so determined to get some squid yaki. The yaki took us at least 20 min to get yet the taste was not the best. The balls were super hollow. The yaki tasted no squid just flour. Sauce was sour. A big minus. Sad to say this was not a good experience. But the good thing is that the memory in my head stays good and the hangout was very delightful.