Discovering Resilience in the Oregon high desert | National Geographic

Nature, the most powerful creative force on earth. (uplifting energetic music) I'm Chef Melissa King. Cooking has taken me to incredible places. Magical. From TV competitions and celebrity galas to countries around the world. I'm heading out to places I've never been before to seek out new experiences and to create new dishes inspired by nature. This is amazing. I'm teaming up with some of the world's greatest explorers to go further than I've ever gone before. Okay, we got this. (Irene cheering) To push my craft, creativity, and my cooking. This is "Tasting Wild." (grandiose music) Even in nature's harshest environments, there's a lot more life than meets the eye. There's so much to discover. Sometimes you can even discover something about yourself. That's why I'm here at Smith Rock State Park in Oregon's high desert. It's said to be one of the birthplaces of American rock climbing. Today I will be joined by National Geographic photographer Irene Yee, who will push my physical limits and guide me through a landscape that'll inspire me to create a unique dish.

Hey, welcome.

Hey, Irene.

So good to meet you.

You too.

Look at this view.

Wow. This is gorgeous.

Are you ready to go rock climbing?

Yeah. Let me grab some stuff from the car.

All right. My name is Irene Yee, and my pronouns are she/her and I am a professional rock climbing and adventure photographer. (gentle music) When I grew up, I didn't see a lot of women or folks of color in these outdoor spaces, and so being able to showcase those people, I think that there's no better way to create art because photographing what means the most to you will always be your best work.

I'm not gonna lie, I'm a little bit intimidated about this climb.

Melissa, you got this. (Melissa laughs) My goal is never to get people to become rock climbers. My goal is to get people to try rock climbing because if they try something that fundamentally scares them or they think is out of their wheelhouse, now that they've completed that, what else can they go on to do? So today we are gonna be sport climbing so you can actually see this rock in front of you; this is what we're going to ascend today. So the route we're gonna take is, you can see this little crack right over here to the left, we're going to start up that, and then we're gonna go all the way to the top of that formation.

Oh, wow. (laughs) I can be a little bit terrified of heights, but I'm following your lead, so I'm ready to go.

Let's head out.

Let's go.

Fear is like a perfectly normal human response, right? It's not, "Let's get the absence of fear." It's like, "How do I personally deal with my fear in a situation?" (dramatic music) Melissa, this is gonna be one of the more challenging parts is always getting onto the climb.

Yeah, that looks intense.

It always feels a lot bigger than it actually is, and the minute that you do it, right, you have that feeling of like, "Oh, okay, maybe it wasn't that far."

[Melissa] Irene's right next to me and she's really sort of this beacon of light.

Take a deep breath.

(exhales) My hands are sweating already.

[Irene] You got this.

Okay. I kind of was like, "Oh no, I can't turn back. This is happening." Even just taking the first step on that mountain, pretty scary. The second your feet lift off that ground, you're in it, and you start to kind of question yourself and realize that you have to keep going.

Okay. Deep breath.

Yeah.

[Irene] What did you just do?

I made it up the first part of the wall.

[Irene] Yeah, you did. You made it up the chunk.

[Melissa] Oh my God.

[Irene] Nice. Melissa, just think about what's ahead of you and just bring it up. Nice.

I'm not sure how high I am. I'm like looking down and it looks a bit terrifying. One little shift in the wrong direction can take you down.

[Irene] Okay. Deep breath. As you, right, you're kind of just gonna like tuck everything tight as you bring it over.

[Melissa] When you're up there, it's just silence and it feels like when I'm cooking, just completely disconnected from all the noise.

[Irene] Nice. (chuckles) You look awesome.

[Melissa] The beauty of rock climbing is not knowing your limits and being able to kind of push a little bit further when you feel confident that it's right to do that.

[Irene] You got this. Come on. Yes. Nice, Melissa.

Okay. We got this. Irene is so patient. She truly gave me the confidence to just focus, and I felt really uplifted by her.

Come on, Melissa. You're almost to the top. Yep, you got this. Come on. All the way up and over. Yep. And then, right, get outta the pool. Get outta the pool. Yeah! (both cheering) Yeah! (Melissa laughing)

I felt very empowered, confident and I felt really proud of myself for being able to accomplish that.

Nice work.

Oh my gosh.

That was amazing.

This is incredible. This is very challenging. I don't know how you do this.

You did that.

Oh my god, I can't look down. (laughs) Being there on that rock definitely had me feeling energized and uplifted.

I hope that she gets this feeling of, "I am capable of something that perhaps intimidated me, but I did that."

I brought a few snacks for us. I have some berries, a little bit of charcuterie. I pickled some sea beans and ramps. What are your favorite foods to eat?

So what connects me most to my Chinese heritage is food. I'm a third-generation Chinese American, and so I'm pretty far from my culture, and it's one of the things that I found that deeply connects me to that heritage.

So I got a question for you.

Okay.

Dumplings or noodles?

Oh, dumplings. (Melissa laughing) You know, when people come over. That's usually what I make because it's such a thing that we do together. Thank you so much for the spread. I think as climbers we always joke about having some sort of food at the top, and so actually having food at the top was like so incredibly amazing.

I'm bringing donuts next time. (laughs)

I'm in, I'm in. If you're ready, we'll pack up and then rappel down.

Yeah, let's do it.

[Melissa] Nice and confident.

Awesome. This is fun.

Yeah.

[Melissa] Way easier than going up.

[Irene] Nice work. You did so well.

Seriously.

[Melissa] That climb gave me a new appreciation for how hot, dry and rugged it is out here in the Oregon Desert. I wanna learn more about what grows and thrives in this challenging environment and we're going to visit the perfect person to teach us more about it. We go to meet Amanda at the Whychus Preserve, and she is just so enthusiastic about butterflies.

[Amanda] Hey you guys.

Hi Amanda.

It's so nice to meet you.

You too.

[Amanda] Thanks so much for coming out.

Hi, Irene.

Nice to meet you.

Hi, I'm Amanda Egertson and I'm the stewardship Director with the Deschutes Land Trust, and we are at Whychus Canyon Preserve. The Deschutes Land Trust works to conserve and care for the lands and waters that sustain central Oregon. And that's really vital today because if we can build more resilient landscapes, landscapes that are better able to adapt to changing climate, then we'll all be better off. (gentle music) This is the high desert of Central Oregon, which is a really dynamic landscape. I think when a lot of people think of desert, they think, you know, a vast expanse of sand, but we have uplands and then we dip down into the canyons all the way down to Whychus Creek. You guys ready to go find some life in the desert?

Yeah.

Absolutely.

We're going on this hike and it's hot. At first glance, this is a really harsh environment. This is the high desert, and it seems there's not much life here, but when you look close enough, you'll find it. (adventurous music) I see yarrow everywhere. I see chamomile.

This is one of the things we see closer to water and it's a wax currant.

That's a good one right here - Where we started our hike, it was really dry and it's hard to imagine that there is any life. Winding our way down here beside Whychus Creek, you really feel a shift in the temperature, and you can see a change in the plant life. There are more things blooming down here, and this is one of my favorite places to scout for butterflies. One of my favorite things about this area is the little butterflies. I see some over there.

Oh yeah.

Do you see that? (playful inquisitive music)

Do they gravitate towards any particular plants?

They do, yeah. Butterflies all have very specific plants that they gravitate towards. Buckwheat, the rabbitbrush is starting to bloom. That's another great late-season nectar resource.

You know, in Chinese culture we believe that butterflies hold your spirit so when you pass on, your spirit goes into a butterfly temporarily.

[Amanda] So beautiful. You should try to get one on your finger.

Yeah.

See if one will climb over. (gasps) Melissa's got one on her finger. Nice job!

I'm a butterfly whisperer.

[Amanda] You are, who knew? It is my very favorite butterfly. It's called a Melissa blue. (Melissa gasps) (Amanda laughs) I kid you not.

When the Melissa blue butterfly landed on my finger, I felt so connected with nature. (Melissa gasps and laughs) This is the best day of my life. (laughs) Amanda, thank you for such an amazing hike.

My pleasure.

And for just teaching us so much about butterflies and all the local native plants.

[Amanda] Absolutely.

So thank you.

Thank you!

Yeah, take care.

Bye! (inspiring music)

[Melissa] We have done such an amazing adventure today and I'm so excited to cook for you tomorrow.

[Irene] Awesome. (upbeat music)

[Melissa] I'm pulling a camper packed with everything I need to cook a meal that's close to home for Irene while using local ingredients from the high desert.

[Irene] Oh, I'm so excited.

[Melissa] All right. Here we are.

[Irene] Look at this.

I thought this would be a good place for breakfast.

[Irene] Oh yeah. Look at that texture up there.

Gonna help me out with the camper here. We're gonna set up our kitchen.

[Irene] Yeah. What can I grab?

Here, take this wok.

Awesome. Okay. You've broken out the camp wok (Melissa chuckles) and so, what are we doing?

Well, you told me about one of your favorite things to make and so we are gonna do it today. We're doing some dumplings.

Oh my gosh.

We're making desert dumplings-

Stop it! (Melissa laughing) I've never made dumplings outside before.

Well, it's happening. I've made dumplings with family. It's something that always brings people together.

It's so exciting.

Well, I love that every Asian family has a different version of dumplings. They look different. They could be filled with some different types of meats. So we're doing pronghorn.

Okay.

Which is native to this area. A century ago, the pronghorn antelope was nearly extinct, but through careful conservation efforts, the population is now thriving. Today, local authorities issue permits for pronghorn hunting to manage populations. I'm curious to know your dumpling techniques so-

I know, I'm a little nervous. (chuckles)

The beauty of dumplings is they don't have to be perfect. They don't have to look the same, you know? At the end of the day, they all taste the same. It's all about the love and the care that you put in to like filling these beautiful little pouches. Pronghorn has a really great, sweet, not too gamey type of flavor; it's really mild. We're gonna mix that with some salted napa, also some scallions.

Okay, so are you doing this by eye? Because that's how I make my dumplings.

That's the only way to do dumplings.

Yeah, my friend's like, well, how much? I was like until it looks right.

Ah, with some grated ginger.

Mm.

Let's see, sesame oil, a pinch of white pepper, and then an egg white just kind of binds it all together. There's so much life hidden beneath the desert. And that was sort of the inspiration behind wanting to do dumplings for you today. Even just the color of a dumpling. You know when you deep fry it, it kind of turns golden brown and mimics the desert. Dumplings are that thing that just brings happiness to everyone. (chuckles) So I figured making this out here together would be such a fun, uplifting way to just share some joy. Dumplings to me are tradition. It's family, it's connection. It's so much more beyond just this tiny little dumpling. (Irene laughs)

So I found my passion for rock climbing and photography kind of late. Is that where you started or do you think you started young?

I've known since I was five or six that I wanted to be a chef, and a lot of it was doing stuff like this and just making dumplings at home with grandma and my mom. I didn't realize my hobby could turn into a career. (Irene laughs) It took a while. It took a few years to figure that part out. I understood at an early age that food connected us.

[Irene] Get it going.

[Melissa] Woo.

[Irene] I've never done this in the outdoors before. This is so exciting.

I've only seen it in Asia with like street food. This is definitely a first for me. This is awesome. (Irene laughs) You know, we're looking for like a beautiful golden brown to like the environment that we're in. Every culture can relate to a dumpling whether it's empanada or a ravioli.

Yeah.

Those look so good. I'm gonna let 'em cool off a bit and I'm gonna go set the dining table. (bright upbeat music)

All right, breakfast is served.

[Irene] Oh my gosh, look at that.

I'm actually gonna make us a botanical tea from the beautiful flowers that attracted all the butterflies. We have the yarrow, some tulsi, golden currants.

It's kind of interesting to like see all the life, you know, out here in the high desert. Kind of like all together in one.

Yeah.

Oh wow. Look at that.

Yeah, all those berries and floral notes will all get captured inside the tea. All right, let's dig in.

Are you like a double dipper with your sauces? Are you like a first dipper?

Depends on how well I know the other person. (both laughing)

Oh my gosh. (Melissa chuckling) Oh my gosh. You can really taste that antelope in there. It's like subtle, but-

It's really mild. It has such a sweet flavor, but you can taste the ginger, the scallions.

It's got such a good crunch on it. (Melissa chuckles)

We did a good job.

Cheers. (laughs)

Cheers. It was so great to meet Melissa. We are so often put in boxes that build limitations around us of what we can and cannot do.

Yeah, that looks intense.

You're gonna do great! And the more that we are able to see people who break out of that. Nice, Melissa. That is what speaks to me.

Thank you.

Thank you.

I'm very grateful for the opportunity to be able to be here with you in this moment. And yeah, just having the opportunity to explore all these new places and really push myself a little bit more with the things that I create has been just so fun and uplifting and inspiring for me. To new dishes, new adventures, and new friends.

Cheers.

Cheers.

This trip to Oregon's high desert has truly been an adventure.

[Irene] You got this. Come on. Woo-woo!

I leaned into my fears. As a chef, it inspired me to reach for new heights and challenge myself to try new things in a tough environment. It's a reminder that the shared experience of a meal, being in nature,

Oh my gosh.

And just getting out there (all cheering) is what truly uplifts us. (uplifting music)