There are many things that I like about Hi Desert Round-Up that keep me coming back, you know, things like the fine people the event attracts, the fun, scenic trail runs, beautiful Stoddard Valley, the vehicle games, and the food, specifically, Chef Andy's Saturday night deep-pit barbecue.

  

Left:  From left to right, you can see the firewood, the shovels and the pit, as Andy has just started the fire. Right: The logs are burning in the pit,soon to be reduced to coals.

It all starts at the High Desert pre-run, about a month or so before the actual event, when the various clubs that make High Desert happen get together to pre-run the trails, and to make sure Mother Nature hasn't thrown any curve balls at the last minute.  While everybody is out running the trails, Andy and some members of his crew are digging a deep fire pit, in preparation for the barbecue when High Desert Round-Up takes place. They dig the pit to a depth of about 6 feet, place a coating of river rocks on the floor of the pit, stack the firewood in the pit, cover it up and then it's ready for Memorial Day weekend.  They have to camouflage the pit quite well, so the wood doesn't sprout wings and disappear.  (At Panamint Valley Days, 1998, Chef Andy found the wood had been stolen from the pit.  Thanks to the Ace Hardware store in Trona, we were able to have the barbecue...)

 

Photos:  Paul uncovers the pit.  This isn't as easy as you might guess, as he has to shovel out a lot of loose dirt, as 24" of dirt covers the pit.  However Paul is a trooper, and has the situation under control.

Fast forward to the Friday of Hi Desert Round-up.  Chef Andy and his crew uncover the pit to find the wood stacked neatly inside.  Late in the afternoon, they start the fire.  The idea is to burn the wood to coals, place the burlap-wrapped sacks of meat onto the coals, cover the pit with a large steel place, and shovel 24" of dirt on top of the pit.  I'd always wondered what kept the meat and, more specifically, the burlap sacks from burning, so I asked Andy and he told me: a) The burlap sacks are soaked in water, b) The pit is covered, sealed, and that snuffs out the oxygen which keeps the most sacks, with the meat inside, from burning.  Gee, now I'm ready to dig a hole in my backyard and give it a try...

 

Left:  The Saturday night BBQ pit, and the meat is uncovered.  Right:  Ched Andy is pulling the meat from the pit with his big hook.

Friday evening, around 9 or 10 o'clock, the burlap-wrapped sacks of beef are carefully lowered into the pit onto the glowing coals, the steel plate is placed over the pit, and 24" of dirt is shoveled on top of the plate, thouroughly sealing the pit.  For Chef Andy and his crew, now's the time to go to bed, as it will be early to rise, to open the Cafe for breakfast at 6:00 in the morning.

Chef Andy doesn't participate on any of the Saturday trail runs, as he and his crew are too busy getting ready for the BIG event:  The Saturday Night BBQ dinner!

Paul and I got into camp around 4:00 P.M., after aborting the latter portion of the Blue Moon Run due to a totally trashed tire.  My brother Paul likes to help Chef Andy uncover the pit; a really dirty job, and to show his gratitude toward Paul, Andy rewards him with unlimited strawberry shortcake Sunday night.  So after we got our things squared-away at our camp, we ambled over to the Ruff Rock Run Cafe to see how things were going and to ask Chef Andy when he planned to uncover the pit.  Naturally, to make the 1/4 walk from our camp to Chef Andy's, Paul had to grab a beer and line his pockets with a couple of spares.

 

Left:  The Saturday night chow line, lining up fot Chef Andy's awsome dinner.  Right:  The Saturday night bbq dinner takes a lot of preperation, and Chef Andy's crew are up to the task.

The pit is located behind the cafe, and nearby is a pile of neatly-stacked firewood, shovels, and a big hook that Andy uses to remove the burlap-wrapped bags of meat from the pit.  The pit was still covered, so we went into the tent, where Chef Andy and his staff were busily working to get things ready for the BIG event.  We asked Andy when he planned to uncover the pit and he said to come back in about an hour.  So we ambled back to our camp and powered down a few MJDs and discussed the day's excitement.

An hour later we were back at the pit and Paul grabbed a shovel and started digging.  Paul is a firm believer in rituals and a yearly ritual for him is to help Chef Andy uncover the pit, which Andy is grateful for, as it's a lot of work.  Of course, Paul can't dig up the pit on ritual alone, as he needs something to acquire the energy from. Where does he get his energy and stamina?  From the MJD, of course!  Paul brought with him one beer in each hand and one in each pocket, for a total of 6 beers.  Two of them were finished by the time he started digging.  I had to make a beer run for him back to our camp, as he needed more liquid energy to sustain his activities.  Paul didn't go it alone, as Andy's grandson Keith grabbed a shovel and joined the fun.  It took the two of them about an hour to uncover the pit.

 

Left: The Saturday night dinner featues a well-equpipped salad bar that has all of the accoutriments of a world-clas restaurant.  Right:  Chef Andy's folks are hard at work, feeding the hungry, but happy campers at High Desert Round-Up, 2005.

After shoveling out two feet of dirt, the metal plate was finally uncovered.  Chef Andy grabbed a broom and swept the plate clean, then pulled it off the pit with a large hook.  Immediately the fragrant smell of moist, smoked meat hit my nostrils and my mouth stated watering, as it smelled so good!  One by one, Andy removed all eight burlap-wrapped sacks of meat, a total of 288 pounds of beef, and brought them inside the cafe, where the crew immediately began to shred the meat.

By now it was 6:00 in the evening, and a line had formed outside of the cafe.  As we started to hike back to our camp, the line started to move and Chef Andy began to feed the multitudes.

 

Photos:  Feeding the multitudesat Hi Desert Round-Up, 2005.  Photos are taken from the back side of the  the Ruff Rock Run Cafe.

I prefer to eat near the end of the serving time as you don't have to wait in line, and the pace is a bit more relaxed. So after sitting around our camp for a couple of hours, it was back to the Ruff Rock Run Cafe for a delicious bbq dinner.

The Saturday night BBQ dinner consists of shredded beef, slow roasted for 18 hours in the wood-fired pit, barbecue sauce, mashed potatoes, brown gravy, green beans, roll with butter and a full salad bar.  The salad bar has everything that you'd expect at a fine restaurant, including all sorts of cut-up vegetables, several kinds of dressing, potato salad, macaroni salad, seafood salad, and, my favorite, guacamole!  Like in a fine restaurant, the salad bar is arranged on a counter with the individual items in a dish, and you help yourself using a large spoon that's dedicated to each component.

Left:  Under the lights, Chef Andy serves my brother Paul his dinner.  Right:  Heinz Leuschner takes a break during the dinner feeding frenzy.

The Saturday night BBQ dinner is simply outstanding; you couldn't purchase a better dinner, even if you had all of the money in the world.  What makes it even more awesome is you're out in the Mojave desert, miles away from civilization.  Perhaps the desert air and the breath-taking scenery make the meal taste better...

 

Left:  Andy's helper spoons thick, delicious, brown gravy on my mashed potatoes.  Right:  My awesome dinner, somewhat obscured due to the hefty portion of guaczmole that I enjoyed.

When you attend Hi Desert Roundup, you owe it to yourself to buy yourself a ticket to the Saturday night barbecue dinner.