We’ve been talking about a snow backpacking trip for a while. At the beginning of the month, I was invited to go to Yosemite to do just that with my good friend Adam. We thought this would be the perfect opportunity for everyone to meet up, and we got a lot of people on board early. As the date approached, however, the weather factor began to look grim. Every day that we checked, there was more and more likelihood for the whole weekend to be filled with snowstorms. One by one, plans changed, and by last Thursday, only three of us were still planning to go. And even we weren’t sure about the whole thing.
Adam, his girlfriend Megan, and I decided to meet up in Mariposa Friday night and assess the situation from there.I’ve recently been “funemployed” so driving 6 hours north into a snowstorm to assess the situation sounded like a great idea. I packed up and left SoCal Friday afternoon alone. The drive was beautiful, and the weather was sunny the whole way. The rain didn’t start until we officially drove into Yosemite and set up at Camp 4 Friday night. But it was still just rain, and just a little. So on Saturday, we hiked. We packed up too much weight for one night and headed straight up to the top of Yosemite Falls. It was a short hike of only 3.5 miles, but you gain 3000 feet of elevation in that distance. By the time we got to the top, I was tired and it was snowing. We decided to continue towards North Dome, but after realizing how late it was, and that we’d probably only make it to a spot exposed on a snowy ridge, we headed back down into the sheltered woods near the river. That turned out to be a great decision. We’d met an expedition of snowshoers earlier who were headed in the same direction. They continued on that path and spent the night on the snowy ridge, and they claimed to have seen no view the entire time. Though we got our share of snow, it was broken up nicely throughout the night and the next morning. We got a good shot of the moon for a bit, and were warmed by the sun while we cooked up some awesome, Dirty, Oatmeal Pancakes for breakfast.
We have been promising dirty version of recipes for a little while now, and I’m really excited to finally get one out. These oatmeal pancakes were easy and hearty, almost as good as making them from scratch, and it was really nice to have ingredients that double as snacks on the trail. The recipe for the Dried Fruit Compote is exactly the same (although we added a sprinkle of Jello in place of the sugar we forgot). Also, one advantage of snow camping is that snow makes washing pots very easy.
Dried fruit in tea for oatmeal pancakes recipe
Using snow to wash oatmeal pancakes pot.
After our oatmeal pancake breakfast Sunday morning, we never saw the sun again. The snow level dropped all the way into Yosemite Valley, leaving us truly cold and fully soaked through by the time we got back to the car. We were happy that our only meal of the day had been so substantial and delicious.
Oatmeal Pancakes with Fruit Compote- Dirty Version
Yield3-4 servings
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time20 minutes
Activity GuideBike Touring, Backpacking, Car Camping
Ingredients
Dried Fruit Compote
- 1 cup dried fruit, chopped
- 3 cups jasmine tea (or whatever you have)
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- juice from half a lemon
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, or 1 vanilla bean, scraped
Oatmeal Pancakes
- 1 cup old fashioned oats (or 2 packets regular flavor instant oatmeal)
- 1 6.75 oz package of “Complete” Pancake mix (just-add-water)
- 2-3 cups water
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 cup chopped pecans
- 2 tablespoons oil for skillet if not non-stick
Tools
- 2 Quart Pot
- 1 Bowl
- Skillet
- Spoon
- Knife
- Cutting board
- Spatula
Method
-
For the Dried Fruit Compote
- Pour jasmine tea over fruit in a pot, enough to cover. Add sugar, lemon juice, and vanilla. Place on stove over medium-low heat and simmer, covered about 20 minutes, until it becomes thickened and syrupy.
-
For the Pancakes
- Mix oats with instant pancake mix
- Add water and mix. The oats make the mix thicker, so you may need to add a little more water.
- Fold chopped pecans into batter.
- Drop a large spoonful of batter into a lightly oiled skillet on medium high. Let it cook until bubbling on top. Flip. Let cook until golden brown, about 2 minutes on each side.
- Repeat with the rest of the batter. Cover with foil to keep oatmeal pancakes warm if serving formally.
- Serve pancakes topped with fruit compote.
hmm delicious
yummy:) thanks to your tips , i’d love to follow your weblog as often as i can.possess a great day~~
Enjoyed your story! Never really made pancakes camping, will try this recipe.
I can’t imagine how tasty these must have been… in a dry warm house on a table.
LOL.. J/K.. great article…
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Love the oatmeal pancakes! This is a great recipe. Good for a cold morning. I love the picture of Adam flipping the pancake!