My slow-cooking turkey chili recipe. Takes all day to make, but it’s worth it!

Ingredients

• 1/4 Cup Butter
• 1 Large White Onion (Diced)
• 1-2 Strips of Bacon (Diced)
• 2.5 lbs. Ground Turkey
• 1-2 Tbsp. Tomato Paste
• 1 28oz. Can of Diced Tomatoes
• 1 28oz. Can of Diced Jalapenos
• 1 16oz. Bottle of Amber Ale
• 2 Cups Chicken Broth
• 1/4 Cup Apple Cide Vinegar
• 2 Cups Dried Beans

Spice Mix

• 1 Tbsp. Garlic
• 1/2 Cup Chili Powder
• 1/4 Cup Cumin
• 2 Tsp. Ceyenne Pepper
• 1 Tbsp. Paprika
• 1 Tbsp. Oregano
• 2 Tbsp. Brown Sugar
• Salt/Pepper to Taste

Directions

Soak beans overnight then drain.

Melt butter in a large soup pot along with diced bacon over medium-high heat. Add diced onion and saute for five minutes. Add Ground turkey and cook, turning frequently, until browned. Add tomato paste, dice tomatoes, dice jalapenos, amber ale, chicken broth and vinegar. Turn to high. Add spice mixture, adjusting to taste. When pot begins to boil, add dried beans and turn down to low. Simmer four hours.

Serve over baked potatoes with a generous helping of cheddar cheese and sour cream or just eat plain.

Macro photos of the flowers Jess got me for Valentine’s day last month. A good chance for practicing macro stacking as well.

Model: Nikon D80 /w Nikon 200mm f/4.0 AF-S FX

Shutter: 1/25 sec

F-Stop: f/4.2

ISO: 320

Focal Length: 200mm

Lighting: None

Stack: 5

Model: Nikon D80 /w Nikon 200mm f/4.0 AF-S FX

Shutter: 1/13 sec

F-Stop: f/4.5

ISO: 320

Focal Length: 200mm

Lighting: None

Stack: 6

Model: Nikon D80 /w Nikon 200mm f/4.0 AF-S FX

Shutter: 1/25 sec

F-Stop: f/4.2

ISO: 320

Focal Length: 200mm

Lighting: None

Stack: 3

Details

• Location: Alpine, WY
• Length: 1 mi (Winter)
• Water Access: Yes (Winter)
• Usage: Light (Winter)
• Highlights: Limestone escarpments, pine forest cover
• Safety Concerns: Winter avalanches, embankments too steep for safe winter hiking. River crossings.

In February, we found much of the nearby trails around Jackson, WY either packed or simply closed off from excursions. This has become a recurring theme in Jackson and one that is getting rather tiresome. We turned to looking westward and in turn into the Snake River Range between Hoback and Alpine, WY.

The canyon is rather steep walled, but a number of drainages into the canyon have trailheads – Red Creek, Wolf Creek, and East Table Creek. The turn offs in the winter are plowed allowing for year-round access and most importantly they are outside of the winter range closures.

Directions

In our first venture we tried the Wolf Creek Trail which is located some 16 miles west of Hoback and before the Wolf Creek campground.

February Conditions

We were unable to complete the trail in February. We got roughly one mile up the drainage with snow shoes before turning back. This was, in large part, due to the burn on the west side of the drainage. This leaves the landscape open for avalanches, of which there were many. A hiker with a more aggressive “mountaineering” shoe may make the trip, but our wide flat-lands snow shoes were insufficient.

The avalanches left large piles of breakdown crossing the trail. This required a great deal of scrambling over five-foot wide bricks of snow not unlike scrambling over cave breakdown. In other areas the snow bank was simply a steep, smooth layer of ice that slide down the hill into the river. In these instances it was difficult to get a sound perch as our snow shoes’s claws were not enough to keep us from sliding down hill.

The draw is rather pretty, featuring limestone escapements, pine forest, and a ready supply of water via Wolf Creek. The maps show that it is possible to ascend Wolf or Red mountain via this route. We shall try it again come spring or summer once the snow recedes enough to walk upon a flat trail.