We had just about finished all of Thunderbird’s roadkill elk and everyone was getting sick of potatoes. Hunting grouse had resulted in one failure after another and there was little luck finding fish in the creek. Finances had been a mite lean but now the check was in the bank and we were due to make a run to the Amanda Park general store. A place to grab a meal, find some wifi and play the piano. Things were definitely looking up.

Majestic mountains, drenching storms, lush, dense vegetation help make the Olympic Rain Forest the “emerald jewel” of the Pacific Northwest’s temperate rain forests. The Olympic Rain Forests are just part of the global web of temperate rain forests found around the world.

TEMPERATE RAIN FORESTS:

• Mild, moist climate mostly affected by the ocean
• Over 100 inches of rain and fog-drip per year
• Multi-layered forest comprised of mostly needle-leaf trees
• Abundant mosses, lichen, fungi, and epiphytes
• Large amount of standing dead and fallen trees

CHILI TORTILLA RECIPE

Author: Baitbucket

Recipe type: Entree

Cuisine: tex-mex?

Prep time:  5 mins

Cook time:  10 mins

Total time:  15 mins

Serves: 6

This easy camping dish doesn’t require any refrigeration or ice as everything comes from a can. Welcome to camping on the cheap in Washington’s Olympic Peninsula.

INGREDIENTS

• oil (canola, lard, Crisco, truffle oil)
• corn or flour tortillas
• can of Rotel tomatoes
• can of chili with meat and beans
• can of corn
• can of diced chicken (optional)
• salt
• pepper
• Tony Satcheries

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Heat a small amount of oil in a skillet
2. crisp tortillas for a few minutes on each side
3. set aside
4. Mix Rotel tomatoes, corn and chili in saucepan
5. season to taste
6. heat until ready
7. serve over tortillas

Lucienda Rosalita used both corn and flour tortillas for this recipe due to the fact we were frying them. The can of chicken can be added but if you’re really traveling on the cheap, it might be better to save the chicken and have protein for another meal. The general store in Amanda Park has everything you need and sells 40 flour tortillas for seven bucks.

When considering the oil in the recipe, stay away from butter or other ingredients that need to be refrigerated. At first we used leftover chicken grease and black truffle oil for the chili tortilla, which works fine in a pinch. Crisco or lard travels well and holds up in all kinds of weather.

As moisture filled clouds move inland, they release more than 12 feet of rain annually on the western slopes of the Olympic mountains. As elevation increases, more precipitation is released. On the east side of the Olympic Peninsula, the moisture-depleted clouds provide much lower rainfall, less than 20 inches per year in the “rain shadow”.

This article has been sponsored by the Rain Forest Hostel and all opinions belong to the wranglers. If you’re stopping for a night near Ruby Beach, swing in and stay a spell with Mr. Jimmy at the Rain Forest Hostel, the newest member of the nailtravels family. For ten bucks a night, or whatever you can spare, Jimmy will provide you with a warm bed, great conversation and soft guitar music. He will insist on giving you his ten minutes on Bernie Sanders and then everyone is expected to volunteer for fifteen minutes the next day to help out around the house. It’s not too much to ask and we ended up hauling stumps from the forest that would soon be split and used to build a monster wall of wood for the wet winter. If you’re in the neighborhood, just down the road, check out Ruby Beach around sunset for a spectacular view.

Visit the further camping adventures of Hambone and Baitbucket with “Grouse Hunting on the Quinault Nation”.