Page 35 - Sonoma County Gazette - August 2017

Up the Mountain
Since rst coming to Geyserville as a visitor many years ago, I’ve been fascinated by the story of these mysterious sulphurous “geysers” somewhere beyond Geyser Peak and I yearned to see them, or at least what is left of
them. Along with local author Arisa Victor, I joined up with the rest of our tour group at the Oriental Hall parking lot here in Geyserville and boarded a bus that usually spends its time transporting wine tasting groups to various wineries. Today, it was ready for a more adventurous journey. The road to
the Geysers geothermal steam eld is sixteen miles of beautiful back country, rst traveling through quiet vineyards and then through an abundance of many di erent types of trees lining the route. Periodically, as the road climbed higher and a sudden break in the trees would show a distant vista, I could sometimes pick out in the distance the large eucalyptus tree which rises up from the southwestern part of Isis Oasis Sanctuary. Most of my attention
was spent on the pine trees and other species. At moments, the road became bumpy and dropped down to a single lane. Our guide, Brian Benn, who has worked at the Geysers for about thirty-four years, regaled us with tales of the road’s turbulent past. Local bandit “Black Bart” twice robbed the stagecoach that used to travel over this road, carrying rich tourists up to the Big Geysers Resort. Not much remains to show where the hotel once stood – a few large low stones along the side of the road marks the old entrance just before the guardhouse which grants rare access to the geothermal installations beyond.
When we think of the month of August we think of back to school and life getting back to somewhat of a routine. Teachers are already getting back into their classrooms, cleaning up and decorating for
a new year. We often know that teachers spend a lot of their own
Many of the other participants on our bus knew Calpine workers and asked which plants were which, so they could tell their friends they had sighted “their” plant. Our rst stop showed us some of the transmission system which consists of metal pipes winding over the ground, leading from the steam
Summer time is here and the farmers in Sonoma County are bursting with fresh fruits and veggies. Now is the best time to buy direct from your local farmers by shopping at Farmers Markets or roadside farm stands at least once
a week. Keep fresh produce in the frig for meals as well as healthy quick snack choices for kids. The Windsor Farmers Market’s Kidz Dig It Club has been o ering free cooking classes for kids on the 4th Sunday of each month since 2008. This year they are trying new gluten-free and grain-free recipes for the kids to try. They will be using vintage preparation methods and sometimes old cooking equipment to show kids how our food is made. This month on August 27th the Kidz Dig It chefs will be using a restored 1940’s Grain “Krinkler” which was used to make cream-o-wheat. The grain-free option they will be grinding is Buckwheat. Buckwheat may sound like it is related to wheat but actually it is a seed, more related to sorrel or rhubarb. Buckwheat is a rich source of protein, dietary ber, four B vitamins and several minerals including high levels of niacin, magnesium and phosphorus. Buckwheat is 72% carbs, including 10% dietary ber, 3% fat and 13% protein. Buckwheat has a triangular seed and when run through the Krinkler 3 times, rst on course, then medium, then ne the seeds produced a smooth grain-free, gluten free buckwheat our. The Kidz will be mixing this our with zucchini and other ingredients to make a waffle batter and then each child will make their own waffle, then they will top it o with a drizzle of honey or dip of yogurt sauce.
wells which were drilled here to take advantage of a huge 60-cubic-mile steam eld, originally holding and heating trapped seawater from millions of years ago, eventually becoming part of this mountain range through the magic of plate tectonics as edges of the continents slowly crash into each other, ever
so slowly. Then, a few steps down the road, the “original” geysers could be observed along a stream lined with dark green plants, a rare pannicum species that only grows at the Geysers.
Turns out that the “geysers” never were geysers – that was either a geological terminology mistake or, perhaps, a shrewd move to build interest in the area by the western discoverer of the phenomenon, William Bell Elliott. The correct term is fumarole. While in some of the fumeroles water gathers
in a hollow and bubbles, they are not going to suddenly spew into the sky
like a classic geyser. And the bubbles are largely escaping gases from beneath the water, not evidence of boiling. A more than a century old pamphlet I
have in the Isis Oasis archive describes each fumarole with a fanciful name and describes the di erences in the waters from each. I tried to match what
I was seeing with what was described, but time has taken its toll and the landscape itself has changed. One of the more prominent fumaroles Brian
said was relatively recent and would not have been seen at the time of the greatest popularity of the Geysers. At that time, the Geysers were a popular tourist destination, with a complicated regular route involving a ferry and several changes of coach to make it up the mountain. Possibly Elliott was not so interested in drawing visitors to the Geysers, as he also called them “The Gates of Hell”. But what is left is de nitely not ominous. Some outcroppings nearby are actually a cheerful pink and white, the end result of the mineral- rich steam gradually transforming the stone above. Even the miles of modern piping don’t overwhelm the power and beauty of nature on the mountain. But personally, I would love to see easier, more continuous access to our famous geysers and for the related hot springs to be restored for the enjoyment of the public in some way.
Save the Date – 16th Annual Zucchini Festival, August 27th, at the
Windsor Certified Farmers Market, 10-1, Windsor Town Green. Kidz Dig It Club Cooking Class with be at 11 am in the East Pavilion, they will be making Buckwheat Zucchini waffles. Don’t forget the annual Giant Zuke Contest at the Festival, where the heaviest Zuke brought to Market that day by 11 am will win $50. The whole family can join in the Decorated Veggie Contest. Build your own Veggie creation from the pile of fresh veggies and fruits on the tables, Kidz can win a new bike? Best of Show wins $50. The famous Annual Zucchini Car Races start at 11:30, build a car no wider than 11” and make sure the axles go through the squash. Trophies, prizes and ribbons awarded. Ooops the Clown will be at the Windsor Zucchini Festival making free balloon animals for happy kids. Adults can savor Mimosas, Bloody Marys and Wine with the Windsor Chamber and buy a book from the Windsor Friends of the Library Book Sale. Brunch choices will be Charlie’s BBQ – tri-tip, chicken and pulled pork, Falafel Fix – delicious vegan lled pita of falafel, French fries!, cabbage, tomato and cucumber salad and the traditional Ztatziki yogurt sauce, Pilon Kitchen – traditional Venezuelan empanadas, arepas and deep fried cheese and BurtoNZ Bakery with New Zealand style meat pies. Live Music with New Skye Band. This is a Free Event and fun for the whole family.
Calpine o ers regular tours from Geyserville, Calistoga, and Middletown. The tours are free but they ll up fast, and you may nd yourself on a waiting list. The bus we were on had no restroom but there were restrooms on the second oor of the power plant we toured later. Bring your own snacks and water for the approximately 4-hour tour. On our bus, a cooler of free small bottles of water was provided; there is nothing to buy during the tour. And
it may take some patience to see the Geysers. I signed up a full six months in advance, and still was waitlisted for several months until nally seats became available. You can sign up on line for future tours at geysers.com.
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money in these next few weeks making their classroom and curriculum fun for all our kids. I checked in with the Windsor Education Foundation to see how things are going in Windsor with school just around the corner.
The WEF is working hard helping out our local teachers with $100 gift cards going to all teachers in the WUSD to start their new school year. In August
the WEF will also be posting their entry forms on the website for the 2017 Scarecrow Days on the Windsor Town Green. This is a fun event that lasts for the month of October with local groups and classrooms decorating scarecrows for display in the Town Green Sycamore Tree Grove. WEF encourages all to participate. And, something new, The WEF HERO Project will be kicking o shortly after school starts. Information about HERO can be found at www. windsorwe.org
Have more about Geyserville to share? Let me know at the email above.