Description:
Backcountry Cooking at its Finest
Contents:
5 day PCT Menu w/ Post-Trip Notes
I meant to post this before our trip, but I just plain ran out of time... I didn't eat all this in the order posted. This is more or less just a guideline so I knew that I would have the right amount of food.
Overall verdict is more snacks. Especially carbs and flavored nuts. I was also eyeing Rooinator's pepperoni sticks and peppered beef jerky he had for snacks. I need to look into more things that I can eat while actually walking along.
Ended up eating trail bars for breakfast one day, and a PB Crunch Wrap for lunch on the last day. The tortillas got dry and a bit crumbly by day 5.
Day 1
Breakfast: at home
Lunch: salami and cheese (the little wax covered wheels)
Dinner: Pasta w/Chicken and Artichoke Hearts - excellent!
Day 2
Breakfast: PB Crunch Wrap - good stuff. Packed too much granola, better with the maple almond butter than the cinnamon PB (Justin's Nut Butters)
Lunch: salami and cheese
Dinner: Chili Mac - ok
Day 3
Breakfast: PB Crunch Wrap
Lunch: Wasa crackers and shelf stable cream cheese (eaten with more salami, pepperoni sticks or similar would have been better) - wanted more of this. Better than expected
Dinner: Unstuffed Peppers w/quinoa and chicken
Day 4
Breakfast: Cherry Almond Oatmeal - made with almond milk powder. Very good!
Lunch: Mount Daniel Wraps (black beans, cheese, taco sauce, tortilla) - 5 min to make and awesome! A little too much beans - the excess went on Rooinator's tuna wrap. He said it was good.
Dinner: Rice & Veggies w/ Peanut Sauce
Day 5
Breakfast: Strawberry Almond Oatmeal - made with almond milk powder. Very good.
Lunch: whatever cheese/crackers/salami and snacks are leftover
Dinner: at home/in car
Snacks
Dried mangos - wanted more! MORE! MORE!
PB M&Ms - more! Good fast energy. Or similar candy. Snickers? Payday w/chocolate?
salted cashews - just right amount
California Crunchies (flavored almonds) - love these. More. I think I can reverse engineer these to be made at home too.
EmergenC x 22 - half would be more than enough. Overkill.
Luna Moons x 3 - more would have been good. Easy to eat while walking
1 mini chocolate bar w/dried fruit (Target) - more
1 chocolate cliff nectar bar - didn't eat
1 cherry lara bar - good snack
Just veggies - didn't eat.
Other
Starbucks Via instant coffee - great!
Sugar in the raw packets
Powdered almond milk (only b/c I didn't have regular milk) - good. Really good in the oatmeal
Herbal Tea packets - great! Nice change from plain water and EmergenC w/dinners
1 dessert - Nutella and banana wrap - Made and gave to Rooinator. He said it was good.
Olive oil - only added to the artichoke pasta
salt & pepper packets - didn't use
Two Crazy Hiking Fools
The blog has been updated with three new (old - b/c of the USPS) entries. The Cajon Pass notes finally made it to me!
The blog entries start here: Two Crazy Hiking Fools
Hula Wraps - With step-by-step photos
My friend, Doug, made this for his office mates after seeing it in Backpacker. It was featured in the current (June) issue of the magazine, along with a few other of my recipes. He was nice enough to take step-by-step photos and sent them my way.
Hula Wraps
Serves 2
This can be made on the trail, or at home before your hike.
1 3-ounce foil pack tuna
2 individual packages cream cheese
2 rings dried pineapple, finely chopped4 tablespoons macadamia nuts, finely chopped
1 tablespoon dried parsley
½ teaspoon curry powder
2 large flour tortillas
At home: combine the dried pineapple, macadamia nuts, parsley and curry powder in a zip locking plastic bag. Wrap the tortillas in foil or plastic wrap. Carry the cream cheese separately.
In camp: unwrap the tortillas; spread one package of cream cheese on each.
Top with the pineapple and macadamia nuts and half of the tuna.
Roll and eat!
Woot! Bragging Rights... Backpacker Magazine.
Subscribers to Backpacker Magazine are receiving their June issues this month. On pages 88 and 90 you'll find three of One Pan Wonders' recipes featured.
I'm so delighted to be mentioned!! WOOT! 
Walked - PCT DVD
First of all, appologies to Squatch. I've been telling him for weeks that I was going to feature his new film in my blog. I've had the DVD since the week it came out. I've had my notes written up. I just didn't get around to writing the blog. *Hangs head in shame.*
Get this movie!! And the three that precede it. It is fantastic. Funny, quirky, silly. Everything a film about the PCT and thru hikers should be.
You get great peeks at all the crazy stuff that happens to us on the trail. Bugs, wildlife, not-so-wildlife, cows, dogs, snakes and lizards... Much of the documentary takes place in the desert, which is especially interesting to me since I've never done any desert hiking.
This is movie #4, documenting Squatch's 2007 and 2008 seasons and his completion of hiking the PCT in sections. The usual suspects and a lot of trail names I've frequently seen are featured. Buy all four of them at www.walkpct.com
It is even better if you can watch the movie with fellow hikers. The first couple of times I viewed the film, it was by myself. The second (more like the 5th or 6th) time was at the ADZPCTKO, with a huge group of thru hikers. The most recent viewing was at a private PCT kick of party for friends of mine who are on the trail now. Somehow watching it in a group makes the funny parts funnier... Don't ask me to explain. Just do it.
There isn't an excessive amount of footage of the Squatchman himself. Then again, he IS the camera man. The impromptu interviews are fun and some of the comments reminded me of my own fellow hikers. For example, "Talc doesn't work, all you do is make gravy." That is almost a direct quote from my buddy HikingDrew (his comment was a tad more blue).
So in short, get the DVDs. All four of them. You won't regret it! :)
PCT -- Two Crazy Hiking Fools
Today two good friends of mine hit the trail to hike north to Canada from the Mexican border. 2650 miles on the Pacific Crest Trail. I'm so excited for them I could explode.
I had been telling them for years when (not if, when) they did the PCT, I would happily sponsor them. Well within days of attending PCTA's Trails Fest in March, I received an email saying "We're doing it! Not in 2011, not 2010, but now!" WHOA!! Alright!
I am their official transcriber. They are sending me updates via snail mail, so it may take awhile to see how they are doing. You can find their blog at twocrazyhikingfools.
I will also be sending them meals and other goodies, but Sarah at Trail Cooking has most of that covered. These two are incredibly well supported in the NW!
Safe and happy travels, friends. I'll see you when you get to Washington. Give the trail some love for me. :)
ADZPCTKO 2009 - Lake Morena
Whew! I've been doing lots of traveling this last month. All hiker related. First I went to Trails Fest in Portland. Then off to Spokane for a couple days to speak at the Mountaineers.
Best of all, I just returned from California where I attended, and spoke at, the ADZPCTKO. Annual Day Zero Pacific Crest Trail Kick Off. I flew in Friday morning. On the plane I discovered that the man sitting next to me was also attending the kick off, then off to hike the trail for a little over five weeks. On Saturday I discovered that Wildflower was on my flight! Let the trail magic begin...
Manny, who is now known as Not Yet, picked me up at the airport and took me up to Lake Morena. After making sure I was settled in, he was off to deal with his hectic schedule (teenage kids, college orientation, prom and KO all in the same weekend? Whew!). At the check in booth I immediately ran into Warner Springs Monte, Squatch, and FreeFall. All of which gave me a grand welcome. I was wound up beyond belief despite the fact I had been up since 3:45am.
Off to my campsite to set up before socializing. I was sharing a site with Switchback the Pirate and Peppermint Patty, both of whom I'd been wanting to meet. I had only set up my new tent once before and that was inside my house right after I got it. (It's Blue Butterfly's old tent! Good trail karma came with it.) The wind was blowing and I looked like such a newbie as it took me an hour (not really) to get set up. Love the tent though! Henry Shires TarpTent Rainbow.
I spent Friday afternoon making the rounds, checking out new gear and saying hi to new and old friends. In addition to Tarp Tent, other vendors included Six Moons Designs, Gossamer Gear, ULA, Stick Pic, Erik the Black's PCT Atlas, and Yogi herself. I couldn't help but think how much my friend Hoosierdaddy would have loved seeing the sea of ultralight gear. I tried to take enough pics, but it's just not the same thing. I rounded out the day with even more socializing, finishing up my preperations for the presentation I was to give on Saturday and attending some neat talks. Everything was very low key and everyone was extremely friendly and approachable. I got to meet the owner of Adventure 16, who I knew from the Backpacker forums. He stayed busy all weekend, helping hikers with all kinds of different gear problems and supplies.
I stopped by Yogi's table to say hi to her and Strider, when Jester came up with a present for Yogi. He had made her an incredible duct tape purse, complete with magnetic closures. Truely a thing of beauty!
After dinner, which I missed because I was too busy gabbing with everyone, there were videos from Disco and Squatch. Outdoor movies shot on a big tyvek screen. Awesome!! The wind had picked up a bit and I got cold. And stayed cold all night. Then some locals were causing commotion off and on all night long. I didn't sleep so well on Friday night. Nevermind that I was nervous and excited about my presentation.
Early on Saturday morning, I took a hot shower to thaw myself out (running water!) then grabbed my cup and set off to find some coffee. I found my friend Mad Monte who was chatting it up with BillyGoat, Teddi Boston, Eric Ryback and some others. SWEET! I did more wandering around and watched part of the Useless Gear Competition, hosted by Squatch, which always makes for good entertainment.
Then it was off to prepare for and give my presentation. I went to recruit Warner Springs Monte (he has to earn his keep!) but as I was looking for him, he came to find me and offer to help with the presentation. He'd been plugging me all weekend, just like he promised.
The presentation itself was standing room only! I did a short game show trivia thing and the audience was heckling my contestants. Awesome! So much fun! The talk was very well received and I walked away with lots of new ideas myself due to great audience participation. Warner Springs Monte took lots of photos for me, in addition to handing out my little samples of coconut creme powder and TVP.
The rest of Saturday was spent fondling gear, socializing and generally having the time of my life. I attended the Water Report and got that information for T&T. I went to lunch at Majors in Pine Valley with Switchback the Pirate and The Incredible Bulk. Both great guys! We had some interesting conversations. I was feeling really dehydrated and ended up not eating much eventhough the food was excellent. Gatoraide saves the day!
I helped with dinner on Saturday night. Got put to work unwrapping veggie burgers and joking around with Chef Paul. Really fun times! It was cool chatting with all the hikers as they came through the food line.
Sometime on Saturday someone gave me a "Friend of Warner Springs Monte" button, complete with his photo. Hehehe... His reaction was great!! Saturday night was time for more movies. This time I got smart and brought a chair and sleeping bag to the show. My friend Joe brought me a cocktail. Ahhh... this is the life! Sitting in a sea full of backpackers, sipping a cocktail and watching trail movies. It doesn't get much better! I headed back to camp when I was falling asleep in my chair.
Early Sunday morning I woke up to a frost covered tent. It was around 32 degrees at 6am. Brrr!! After breakfast, I broke down camp and said my goodbyes before meeting up with Half Mile and a couple of 2009 thru hikers. They were to be dropped off at Warner Springs.
We made a quick stop at the Laguna Store on our way. After dropping the hikers off, Half Mile gave me a grand tour of Section A, including Warner Springs, Julian, water caches, Pioneer Mail (where we chatted with even more thru hikers and the Kennedy Meadows internet guy). I was admiring all the desert wildflowers and the mountains that are so different from what I am used to.
Our last stop before dropping me at the airport was to visit the monument. I'm sure I've missed a million details, but four days later my head is still swimming with all the hiker love. I'll be back! Both to Kick Off and the trail!
Events - Talks - Book Signings - Slideshows
I just spent a good portion of my morning updating the One Pan Wonders events calendar.
There are a ton of fun and interesting events coming in the next few months. Even more as we (eventually) roll into fall.
The Calendar has all the links and details, but here is a short list of what is coming:
April 9th - Skip Yowell, Jansport Founder at Feathered Friends
April 20th - One Pan Wonders talk at Spokane Mountaineers
April 21st - Trails and Ales, WTA in Vancouver, WA
April 25-27 - ADZPCTKO, Lake Morena, CA (I'm speaking on the morning of the 26th)
May 7 - Bree Loewen, Pickets and Dead Men, Seasons on Rainier at Feathered Friends
July 18th - WTA Trails Fest, North Bend, WA
Aug 29th - PCT Day, Cascade Locks, WA
Sept 25-29 ALDHA-West Gathering, Welches, OR
If you know of an outdoors related event, let me know and I will add it to the list. Mine tend to be NW or Seattle centric, but I'm happy to include events from all over.
What does 39 hiker dinners look like?
 This is part one of my food for Warner Springs Monty's PCT sponsorship. 39 meals. That is a DVD player box, to give you an idea of how much food this is. I have 21 more meals to mail down to him. Those are in the works.
These are all dinners suitable for freezer bag cooking and thru hiking. Entrees include Unstuffed Peppers, Spanish Bulgur, Tortellini with Chanterelles, Miso Vegetable Bowl, Quinoa Peppers and Beans and Artichoke Tomato Pasta, among many others. The idea is that Monty will be eating like a king on the trail this year. I look forward to his comments...
Weekend in OR part 2 - Hiking in the Columbia River Gorge
Sunday morning Switchback Steve met us (me, Hoosierdaddy, Rainrunner and Durante) for breakfast at our hotel. He picked the hike for the day and it ended up being a beautiful one! We hiked to several waterfalls, about 30 miles east of Portland on the Columbia River Gorge Scenic Highway. I hadn't been down this way since college and it was nice to come back. It is as beautiful as I remember. And I got to play naturalist tour guide, which is always fun.
We had about an hour or so to kill before we met up with HikingDrew, so we added Multnomah Falls to our trip. It is a short, steep one mile trip up to the top of the falls, but it is paved for most of the way.
Near the top, we got flurries of snow instead of the drizzly rain below. I actually prefer it like this. On hot summer days this trail is wall to wall people.
Me at the top of Multnomah Falls.
It was a quick hike back down and back to the car to warm up and dry out. Then we drove just a little bit further east to meet up with HikingDrew and his kids. I hadn't seen him (or Switchback Steve) in almost 3 years so it was wonderful to see them again and catch up.
The trails here are lovely. Wide and well packed. It wasn't long before we came to Ponytail Falls. 110 feet high. The trail goes behind the falls. Fantastic!
We took a little side trail to an overlook of the Columbia River Gorge. There are no fences or guard rails here. It is a long drop to the bottom and there is more than one memorial in this area of people who have fallen. Wonderful views. Just be careful!
Next we passed Oneota Gorge. An incredible slot canyon that ends in a waterfall near the highway. The photo totally does not do it justice.
After crossing the bridge over the gorge and climbing for just a bit further, we came to our ultimate destination. Triple Falls. 120 feet tall. They reminded me of Sol Duc Falls in the Olympics.
I had fun chatting with Switchback Steve about plants and lichens. This is one of the neat lichens we saw near Triple Falls. Devils Matchsticks. My guidebook says they are often found near waterfalls. We also saw lost of licorice ferns, false pixie cups, frog pelt and stairstep moss. The trilliums are just starting to bloom. In another week or two they will be all over the place.
It was about 4 miles round trip to Triple Falls (plus another mile or so at Multnomah) and we were hungry! What better than to head to the Pacific Crest Pub & Hostel like true hiker trash for beers and burgers. We beat the crowd from Trails Fest by a couple of hours (thankfully!)
PCTA Trails Fest 2009
I spent this past weekend at the PCTA Trails Fest in Portland. Three of this year's thru hikers met me at my house and we headed out to meet HoosierDaddy who was nice enough to do all the driving. He also found us a great hotel - cheap. And it included breakfast! Way to go!
Sorry about the bad photos - I'm figuring out a new camera.
The evenings festivities started with a presentation from David "The Runner" Horton, who ran the entire PCT in 2005. This guy has unbelieveable energy! Journey Films did a documentary on his trek. He spoke on training, gear and diet. I'm not at all into trail running, but his talk was interesting anyway.
As I was sitting there, listening to the speakers, we were looking at the flyer for Trails Fest. One Pan Wonders was listed on the back! I had promised books for the door prizes, but I had no idea that they were going to list me. I felt very honored. Thanks!
Next came the annual traditional of trail stories, hosted by Squatch of Walk Films fame. He made sure to plug his current video - out just last week - about a hundred times. Very funny! I managed to get a copy to take home (review soon!). Several people came up and spoke, including famed trail angel, Donna Saufley, who told a great story about Squatch himself.
We didn't have time to grab dinner before the speakers, so by the time the stories were over, we were starving. SoFar kidnapped us - yes, we got into a strange man's van and he fed us chocolate with questionable ingredients (delicious!!) - and took us to dinner. Dinner and beers were at the Kennedy School. SoFar even came BACK and picked us up so we'd have a ride to the light rail. The whole time in the van he was giving us a narrative tour of Portland as well. Awesome! Once again, I cannot believe the hospitality of the hiker community. Pay it Forward, indeed.
Unknown to HoosierDaddy and I, we had caught the last trail back to the hotel. That, in addition to some bad navigational advice from the Portland Transit Police, we got stranded in the middle of nowhere and had to take a taxi back to our hotel. The police were busting people without tickets as we were waiting for our taxi.
On Saturday, Rainrunner and Durante met us at the hotel around breakfast and we caught the train over to the Lloyd Center for more festivities.
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