| 2ND ANNUAL CHILI COOKOFF AND | SPECTRE PEAK CLIMB |
It was first, come first serve as far as picking one of the numerous campsites. We had plenty of room for the vehicles to spread out and even the dogs had plenty of space to call their very own.
Wendy Ruess began preparing her chili before 9am! Others waited till early afternoon, and by 3pm all cooks had started on their entries. We had an hors' de houvres happy hour that would knock your socks off, everything from fresh strawberries and blue cheese to taquitos and salsa. By now the appetites were wanting more, and the chili tasting and judging began. We had 11 entries including vegetarian, turkey, 15-bean, and environmentally improved (with 50% less beans!) versions. Each person voted for their favorite 3 chilis and the winners were announced after careful tabulation.
All entries had several votes and it was a close call. Wendy Ruess came in 4th for her all meat chili, but she came in first for Best Advertising and Marketing skills. Dorothy Toth's chili got 3rd place, with the secret ingredient being lots of tomatoes and 50% less beans. 2nd place went to Bruce Turner, who had mustard as a secret ingredient. 1st place went to the only vegetarian entry, from Suzanne Mamedalin. All of the chili was delicious and we heard nothing but positive comments about how much fun the whole event was. Who knows, maybe there will even be a 3rd annual next year.... The lack of Beano this year was noted by many during the night!
With appetites sated and the sun having set, we gathered around the campfire and with Sue Wyman on guitar, and songbooks in hand, we sang into the night. The weather was pleasant until early morning when the wind really picked up and began to create a little excitement. Diane Tholin was lost in the bottom of her tent when her husband momentarily left to take care of some business. A big gust of wind came and blew their tent up on end with her inside. Of course she was fine. Also, the pullout shade on the Lutz's VW van went airborne and wrapped around the roof of the van, permanently shaping the stabilizer to the curvature of the roof. Other than that, we survived without casualty. Morning brought a calm breeze with crystal blue skies and views of snow covered San Gorgonio.
We herd some rumblings by various tasters about the $4 charge for the non-cooks. The money collected went to reimburse the cooks (one cook alone used over 6 pounds of meat) and buy the 4 lbs of cheese, the 3
lbs
of onions and 2 boxes of crackers. We hope you enjoyed the meal!At 7:30am, 33 hikers set out for Spectre led by Ron, Igor & Suzanne. They made an uneventful pleasant climb via the normal Route A. Then a splinter group went to climb Dyadic, while several climbed nearby Tensor. Everyone returned to the cars by one version or another of the shorter Route B. Most everyone thought it a more difficult route. Two observations: Route B probably isn't a good choice for large groups and it is easier to descend than to ascend. All had returned to the cars by 4pm.
Special thanks to Igor and Suanne for their usual fine assists.
