Gluten Free Vegan Banana Date Pancakes

The coffee  was made. Our formally frozen sleeping bags defrosted and most of our camping gear put away, we were ready to conquer the mountain. We both changed into our short shorts, grabbed our packs and began the trek up to White Mountain. The beginning of the hike started at almost 12,000 feet so it was very hard going in the beginning just digging our toes through the dirty sand.

My boyfriend was running some of the trail, prepping for Mt Whitney in a few days. I was just planning to do as many miles as I could manage. I was still recovering from back surgery a month ago.

Hiking at over 12,000 feet is not easy. You may think you are an expert hiker until you start to wheeze and gasp up the very first hill you encounter and even the ugly marmots seem like they are laughing at you. I’ve been told that I hike like the Energizer Bunny; even when I’m wheezing and practically hyper ventilating because of my asthma I can’t seem to stop and I just power through.
I split up from my boyfriend after we passed the Barcroft University of California research station and the sheep gave us dirty looks.
I ended up turning around before the final ascent to White Mountain. The red volcanic rock of the mountain was so tempting but I didn’t want to overdo it and those switchbacks were not calling me today.
With taking three ten minute breaks on the trail today I hiked over ten miles all over 12,000 feet in just under four hours.

I was waiting back at our camp site, resting my sore feet and having some ice cold water for about an hour when I saw a guy in shorty shorts running down the road towards me.

That dude can not possibly be my boyfriend, I thought! We started on this hike an hour after the first group of twelve people went up and only one person has come down so far!

But I would recognize those short shorts and muscular cyclists legs any where.

Before doing an awesome hard hike like White Mountain Peak or Mt Whitney, a tasty high protein breakfast is key. I like to make this pancake batter up before the camping trip; save it in the ice chest in a plastic bag and you have easy, healthy pancakes on the day of your hike!

The first time I made these years ago I made them for a friend who was not used to my healthy eating. He thought the concept of date banana pancakes was extremely weird. (It took me ten minutes to explain to him what a bran muffin was. He was from Colombia and shrugged off not having knowledge of bran muffins, as us Americans eating weird things) but he actually loved them.
I was very happy with how they turned out that first time I made them and have been making them ever since. I love that the date taste was muffled a bit by the banana flavour. I do like dates, but some times they are just to over whelming, sickening sweet for me. I feel the same way about butternut squash.

Date  Banana Pancakes

4 dates, pitted
3 bananas
3/4 cups almond meal
1/2 cup oats
1 tsp vanilla

coconut oil, for frying the pancakes

In a food processor grind up the dates, oats and bananas. Add in the ,vanilla and almond meal, on the lowest setting on your food processor.
Fry each pancake up in coconut oil.
Serve with maple agave syrup or raw honey.