Pancakes, Ponderosa, and Pregnancy: All in One Blog?

The weather where I live has been unseasonably warm this week. Suspiciously warm….. the kind of weather that makes you ask, “are you sure it’s still winter?” Regardless, it’s beautiful outside. Blue skies, birds singing, slight breeze, sunshine that practically begs you to lace up your hiking boots. And while I do miss snow and a “real” winter, this preview of spring has its perks (and downfalls if you’re my father or son, both of which struggle with allergies). Unfortunately, it also has me craving hiking and camping – two activities that I’m currently incompatible with being nearly 9 months pregnant. At this point, “roughing it” is getting off the couch without sound effects and pulling something. So humor me this week while I live vicariously through my blog and tell you about my very first overnight camping trip. Conveniently, today (March 3rd) happens to be National Pancake Day, which is perfect for this particular memory.

I was in third grade – about 8 years old – when my teacher decided to take our entire class camping. As an adult, I recognize this for what it is: an act of extraordinary bravery….. or temporary insanity. There were probably some educational goals involved – ecology, teamwork, experiential learning in general – but I, and many of my peers, were focused on one thing: adventure!

Earlier that week, we prepared for the trip by making homemade pancake mix. We were each given a gallon baggie and wrote our names on them. We then measured out and poured in ingredients. For reasons I cannot explain, the ingredient that has lodged itself in my memory is powdered milk. This was to be my first taste of backcountry culinary independence!

Leading up to the trip, my dad – who had volunteered to chaperone and was, I suspect, just as excited as I was – dug out one of his old hiking backpacks for me. He also found me a reasonable sleeping bag (opposed to my giant purple monstrosity that I had previously used at the Philmont Training Center and once during an overnight stay in the penguin exhibit at SeaWorld… I held onto this bag for an embarrassingly long time….. my husband just got rid of it last week while cleaning out the garage), and helped assemble all the other camping necessities. He also packed a bag of dried fruit. This will matter later.

The day of the hike, we descended about 2 miles down the canyon wall into the Rio Grande Gorge. Along the way, we learned about ponderosa pines and how their bark can smell like butterscotch or vanilla if you lean close (to this day, I still have to stop and smell the pine trees). We talked about local flora and fauna. This was also the same teacher that taught us how to extract fibers from yucca leaves to braid bracelets – for you trivia fans, yucca is the state flower of New Mexico. 

Once at camp, any semblance of educational structure dissolved into childhood joy. We leapt from boulder to boulder. We staged highly strategic pinecone wars. We discovered river beaches. One classmate’s grandparents showed us how to fish and prepare what was caught. 

I don’t remember every detail from that afternoon, but I do remember my dad teaching me the proper way to brush teeth in a campground (it involves treating the firepit as a spittoon). I remember crawling into the tent that night and listening to the river move through the canyon. The wind in the pines. The solid, grounding feel of the earth beneath me. It was comforting and wild all at once. The kind that makes you realize how small you are – and how lucky you are to experience it. 

The next morning was the main event: pancakes.

We each extracted our carefully crafted bags of pancake mix, and my dad pulled out the dried fruit he had packed and quietly rehydrated the night before. Into my batter they went! And as anyone who has eaten breakfast outdoors knows, nothing tastes quite as good as pancakes on a camp stove after sleeping under the stars. 

Before hiking back up the canyon (which seemed much longer on the way up), we took a short morning walk to Big Arsenic Springs – still among my favorite places to visit. Clear water bubbling up from the earth before feeding into the much murkier Rio Grande. It was at this stop my dad taught me about wild watercress, and we gathered some up to take home. On the way out of the canyon, he also taught me techniques to ease leg and foot fatigue..… lessons that stayed with me better than how to do long division. 

Because this is allegedly a history blog, let’s pivot briefly to pancake history. 

Pancakes are ancient. Archeologists have found the remains of a 70,000-year-old “proto-pancake” in what is now Iraq. The first written mention comes from Ancient Greece (of course), by the poet Cratinus. Later, the physician Galen described “griddle-cakes” cooked in olive oil and eaten with honey in his book On the Properties of Foodstuffs. 

Across centuries and continents, pancakes have taken on countless variations. But let’s look at the old Southwest. During the Gold Rush era in places like Colorado and California, flapjacks and johnnycakes were a staple among miners, mountain men, and cowboys. They were practical, had simple ingredients, and were easy to cook. In 1859, Albert Richardson described his experience while traveling through Colorado; 

“Flapjacks were the substitute for bread..… At every camp, one saw perspiring men bending anxiously over the griddle, or turning the cake by tossing it skillfully into the air. To a little experience enabled the man to turn them without the aid of a knife, by first giving the fry-pan a little toss upward and forward. This threw the cake out and over, to be caught again the uncooked side down – all in a half second.”

Short-story author O. Henry memorialized them further in his story The Pimienta Pancakes. 

By 1888, the Pearl Mill Company introduced the first ready-made pancake mix under the brand Aunt Jemima, making flapjacks even more accessible. But I’d argue there’s something deeply satisfying about measuring your own powdered milk into a Ziploc bag. 

Which brings us back to National Pancake Day! 

Whether you’re camping in a canyon, cooking in your backyard firepit, and very pregnant and reminiscing from the couch, pancakes remain one of life’s simplest joys. 

If you’d like to make your own “third grade approved” camping pancake mix, you’ll need:

4 ½ cups all-purpose flour

¾ cup instant nonfat dry milk

⅓ cup granulated sugar

2 tablespoons baking powder

1 tablespoon baking soda

1 ½ teaspoons salt

Don’t forget to write your name on the bag….. it’s a vital step!

When you’re ready to use it, add ¾ cup water to 1 cup of mix. Stir, then cook on a hot pan. Toss in some rehydrated fruit if you’re feeling fancy!

Mountain Girl

P.S. If you’re interested in taking a look at where my story takes place, here’s a map!