View from the top One of the things I like best about Tully is the surrounding natural environment, especially looming Mount Tyson that serves as backdrop for the small main street of town. Shortly after arriving in Tully I learned that there was a hiking trail that took you up to the top of the mountain, where you could see as far as Mission Beach, so knowing that there was a way up there made me want to do it.
Now, I’d been waiting to go up this mountain for some time but you really have to time it right with the weather; a clear day is ideal as any kind of cloud cover can mean it is raining at the top (the top is legit rainforest). So yesterday, Sunday May 7, a friend of mine, Andy, and I went hiked up Mt Tyson. We couldn’t have timed it better since we ended up not starting til 1:30pm and two groups had already started up before us. This was good because usually, or at least the first time Andy went up in March, there were spiders, massive spiders, everywhere. We’re talking spiders the size of your head, the kinds that eat birds, and if they bite you you can get sick or even die I think. So you have to take a stick and go slow and make sure all the webs and spiders are out of your way up the path. We didn’t see a single spider or web. This may have been because it is winter here and they’re all hibernating or something, but either way it made it much easier. There were still leeches near the top in the rainforest section but if you caught them early you could just tear them off before they latched on. Andy got a big one in his shoe that had to be burned off with the lighter we’d brought. The mozzies were also insane but nothing some Musoka Deep Woods couldn’t handle.
Anyway, it was a class 5 hiking trail and definitely not easy. I also came to realize how terribly out of shape I am, haha. There were sections going up that you literally climb up but don’t realize how vertical it is until coming back down. It was all worth it though. Since the day was so clear the view was spectacular! We could see Mission Beach and surround coastline, plus miles and miles of farm land on the other side. It was also really nice to get out and do something active for a change.
In other news, I helped Andy make Mud Crab risotto for a big group of people on the weekend. I actually only did the crab handling. The man at the seafood shop told us that the most humane way to kill the sucker was to leave him in the fridge all day, like 4 hours, and then take him out and clean him before cooking him. But after 3 hours in the fridge he was still alive and moved to the freezer for the final hour. After that he appeared to be dead but as I cleaned the mud off his shell (luckily he was still strapped up in twine) he came out of hibernation. It was like we were trying to kill Super Crab. I got him clean and when the water finally started to boil (damn electric stove tops in this place made it take forever) we had to cut the twine before dropping him in. Andy did the cutting but as soon as his huge claws were freeze he started to flail about in protest, causing Andy to run away with me left holding the thing. I half dropped him into the pot and used a big knife to pry his remaining legs and claw into the pot to meet his fate. It was all pretty funny. Once the crab was dead and cooked and a lovely red-orange color, this German guy and I cleaned the crab, getting all the meat out. Breaking into his huge claws was a challenge and I ended up with crab bits and juices all over me. It was a good learning experience to say the least and the risotto was excellent.
Now, I’d been waiting to go up this mountain for some time but you really have to time it right with the weather; a clear day is ideal as any kind of cloud cover can mean it is raining at the top (the top is legit rainforest). So yesterday, Sunday May 7, a friend of mine, Andy, and I went hiked up Mt Tyson. We couldn’t have timed it better since we ended up not starting til 1:30pm and two groups had already started up before us. This was good because usually, or at least the first time Andy went up in March, there were spiders, massive spiders, everywhere. We’re talking spiders the size of your head, the kinds that eat birds, and if they bite you you can get sick or even die I think. So you have to take a stick and go slow and make sure all the webs and spiders are out of your way up the path. We didn’t see a single spider or web. This may have been because it is winter here and they’re all hibernating or something, but either way it made it much easier. There were still leeches near the top in the rainforest section but if you caught them early you could just tear them off before they latched on. Andy got a big one in his shoe that had to be burned off with the lighter we’d brought. The mozzies were also insane but nothing some Musoka Deep Woods couldn’t handle.
Anyway, it was a class 5 hiking trail and definitely not easy. I also came to realize how terribly out of shape I am, haha. There were sections going up that you literally climb up but don’t realize how vertical it is until coming back down. It was all worth it though. Since the day was so clear the view was spectacular! We could see Mission Beach and surround coastline, plus miles and miles of farm land on the other side. It was also really nice to get out and do something active for a change.
In other news, I helped Andy make Mud Crab risotto for a big group of people on the weekend. I actually only did the crab handling. The man at the seafood shop told us that the most humane way to kill the sucker was to leave him in the fridge all day, like 4 hours, and then take him out and clean him before cooking him. But after 3 hours in the fridge he was still alive and moved to the freezer for the final hour. After that he appeared to be dead but as I cleaned the mud off his shell (luckily he was still strapped up in twine) he came out of hibernation. It was like we were trying to kill Super Crab. I got him clean and when the water finally started to boil (damn electric stove tops in this place made it take forever) we had to cut the twine before dropping him in. Andy did the cutting but as soon as his huge claws were freeze he started to flail about in protest, causing Andy to run away with me left holding the thing. I half dropped him into the pot and used a big knife to pry his remaining legs and claw into the pot to meet his fate. It was all pretty funny. Once the crab was dead and cooked and a lovely red-orange color, this German guy and I cleaned the crab, getting all the meat out. Breaking into his huge claws was a challenge and I ended up with crab bits and juices all over me. It was a good learning experience to say the least and the risotto was excellent.
Andy's Leech
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