Even though hiker traffic on the trail Easter weekend was light, I decided that Easter was too good of a day to pass up as a kick-off for the Pop-Up Gourmet series of events I have envisioned. So, I told myself I would do it and that this was a “dry run” to check that this was something I could handle once the hikers arrive.

I loaded up the truck (“Beverly Hillbillies-style”) and set things up at the picnic tables near the trail. I combined this with my usual weekend water run, which explains the wet stream coming off the back of the truck in the picture.

Everything was ready by 12:30 for the hikers … who never showed up. (This isn’t quite true. I had two guests, but they both needed to get to Highway 74 by the middle of the afternoon, so they just stopped by for a chat and some of the fruit I’d left out.) So, my first Pop-Up Gourmet was a bust, but it was a useful dry run and proof of concept for me. — Yes, I can do this, and, yes, Gracie won’t freak out every time a puff of wind makes the tent move.