What sticks with us after a climbing trip? For me, it’s seldom the climbing. Sure there are pitches I try to remember, and scary moments I want to forget, but that’s not what I remember most. Instead, I can remember laughing with Jason about the too-close-for-comfort crevasses, certain that these gaping chasms were slowly easing their way nearer to our tents. I remember being encouraged on the hike out, as bushwhacking and mosquitoes took a backseat to talking about how much pizza we’d consume back in Juneau. And apart from the amazing views and careful cross-word rationing, I remember some culinary adventures around camp. Anything (coffee, Oreos, PB&J) is better with the inclusion of butter. Larabars make great coasters and a convertible chair/sleeping pad is worth every ounce on the hike out.

One evening, after surveying our depressing pile of half-buried food (“the fridge” section of camp) I decided to make falafel. I skeptically eyed the powdered contents of a Zip-Loc bag that Jason had brought from his “camping food” box in Colorado, before heating our oil and mixing the dough. The consistency felt a little “off” but I chalked it up to age, and dropped a couple of the doughly lumps into the hot oil. Falling seracs and cornices provided entertainment as my culinary experiment set to cooking. Oddly, the lumps absorbed most of the oil and took on a consistency of Play-Doh. Woops… falafel, this was not. Jason and I tried the lumpy batter balls, and couldn’t really decide if it was some sort of spackle, drywall, or breading. As a native Washingtonian, I wanted to show off the taste of a few Walla Walla sweet onions we had, and decided it must be breading for onion rings.

Sliced onions were mixed with the powder and then dropped in yet another batch of hot oil. This time, the batter fell off the onions, turned brown, and the oil developed a slick, scummy coating. The onions bobbed around in the hot murk, and Jason just kept laughing. I strained the onions, pouring all the hot oil and mystery dough into our nearby expanding crevasse, and settled on making burritos, extremely onion-intensive and free from all traces of the mystery powder.

css_show: off

• resignationarete5

  300

  http://www.outdoorresearchverticulture.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/resignationarete5.jpg
  la

• resignationarete4

  334

  http://www.outdoorresearchverticulture.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/resignationarete4.jpg
  la

• resignationarete2

  295

  http://www.outdoorresearchverticulture.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/resignationarete2.jpg
  la

• resignationarete1

  tall

  http://www.outdoorresearchverticulture.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/resignationarete1.jpg
  la

• blakehp7130282

  310

  http://www.outdoorresearchverticulture.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/blakehp7130282.jpg
  la

• blakeh_seridge_p7110211

  tall

  http://www.outdoorresearchverticulture.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/blakeh_seridge_p7110211.jpg
  la

• blakeh_seridge_p7100138

  310

  http://www.outdoorresearchverticulture.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/blakeh_seridge_p7100138.jpg
  la

• blakeh_seridge_p7100123

  310

  http://www.outdoorresearchverticulture.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/blakeh_seridge_p7100123.jpg
  la

• blakeh_seridge_p7100108

  tall

  http://www.outdoorresearchverticulture.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/blakeh_seridge_p7100108.jpg
  la

• blakeh_seridge_img_5091

  310

  http://www.outdoorresearchverticulture.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/blakeh_seridge_img_5091.jpg
  la

• blakeh_seridge_img_5066

  tall

  http://www.outdoorresearchverticulture.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/blakeh_seridge_img_5066.jpg
  la

• blakeh_p7110227

  310

  http://www.outdoorresearchverticulture.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/blakeh_p7110227.jpg
  la

• blakeh_p7110197

  310

  http://www.outdoorresearchverticulture.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/blakeh_p7110197.jpg
  la

• blakeh_p7110194

  310

  http://www.outdoorresearchverticulture.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/blakeh_p7110194.jpg
  la

• blakeh_p7110187

  310

  http://www.outdoorresearchverticulture.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/blakeh_p7110187.jpg
  la

• blakeh_p7110184

  310

  http://www.outdoorresearchverticulture.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/blakeh_p7110184.jpg
  la

• blakeh_p7110154

  tall

  http://www.outdoorresearchverticulture.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/blakeh_p7110154.jpg
  la

• blakeh_p7100140

  310

  http://www.outdoorresearchverticulture.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/blakeh_p7100140.jpg
  la

• blakeh_p7090057

  310

  http://www.outdoorresearchverticulture.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/blakeh_p7090057.jpg
  la

• blakeh_p7090054

  310

  http://www.outdoorresearchverticulture.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/blakeh_p7090054.jpg
  la

• blakeh_p7090030

  310

  http://www.outdoorresearchverticulture.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/blakeh_p7090030.jpg
  la

• blakeh_p7090015

  310

  http://www.outdoorresearchverticulture.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/blakeh_p7090015.jpg
  la

• blakeh_img_5516

  tall

  http://www.outdoorresearchverticulture.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/blakeh_img_5516.jpg
  la

• blakeh_img_5499

  tall

  http://www.outdoorresearchverticulture.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/blakeh_img_5499.jpg
  la

• blakeh_img_5406-copy

  310

  http://www.outdoorresearchverticulture.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/blakeh_img_5406-copy.jpg
  la

• blakeh_img_5284

  310

  http://www.outdoorresearchverticulture.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/blakeh_img_5284.jpg
  la

• blakeh_img_5194

  310

  http://www.outdoorresearchverticulture.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/blakeh_img_5194.jpg
  la

• resignationarete7

  tall

  http://www.outdoorresearchverticulture.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/resignationarete7.jpg
  la

**This video was produced by Jason Nelson. Check out more stories of adventure from Jason and his family on their blog, Visual Adventures. Blake Herrington, author of this article, shares his adventures on his blog Blake Climbs. Both Jason and Blake provided the photos for this story.