It was a huge site with tall spruce and pine and cedar and ample space for setting up our three tents. Grampie was quick to inquire about our appetites and set 4 o’clock as the moment to start up the campstove. Hanna had brought flour, we had some Granny Smith greens, and our cooler was full of eggs and milk and other basics that we bought before leaving the city.
My dad LOVES to cook apple pancakes. While the bible may say that “Wherever two are more are gathered in my name, there I am,” my dad has always acted on “wherever at least five people are hungry, here come my apple pancakes.” Back at the New Seasons store in Portland, he even bought an extra can of fuel (then was shocked to see that it cost twice as much as he paid in Nebraska).
For the uninitiated, Dad’s apple pancakes are made with thin batter and thinly sliced apples. The apples must be tart, the batter must be just right, and you should eat them with sugar, not syrup. Mom makes the batter while Dad readies the two-burner campstove that he bought specially for this trip. The picnic table is slightly uneven so he puts twigs under one side of the stove to make sure the griddle sits perfectly level. Dad pours batter onto a hot griddle, lays apple slices over this thin first layer, then pours more batter over the apples. While they are frying, he spoons oil copiously onto the griddle around each pancake to ensure crispy edges.
These pancakes are always good! Dad’s made millions of them, all devoured by family and friends and passersby. One year at Granddad Craig’s Lake Edith, my dad fed about thirty of us one morning, starting with the kids. By the time he fed the last grown-up, the kids lined up again.
Those days were warm and the evenings cool near the base of Mt. Hood, and we stayed up past dark enjoying our bonfires. Nothing like the company of 24-year-olds to energize an octogenarian, septuagenarian, and me – the happy one in the middle. I’ve camped with my elders and youngers many times, but now – when “children” are adults and everyone is absorbed in work and life – it is an extra gift to spend a few days in the wilderness together.