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

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

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!

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! :)

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.

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.

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!)

Now that the first book is done and doing so well, I am working on book #2. I don't have a deadline yet, but I have an idea of what I want this book to be.  Stay tuned for more updates (and more sneak preview recipes!) as things progress.  I have too much fun playing in my outdoor kitchen and developing new recipes to stop now! Bring on the food! Bring on the fun!

Now is the time to send me your opinions if you have input on how/what book #2 should be like. I'm listening...

Meanwhile, here are a few recipes for you to enjoy.

Carrot Cake Oatmeal
Serves 1

1 packet plain instant oatmeal
1 1/2 tablespoons dried carrots
1 tablespoon raisins
1 tablespoon powdered milk
1 teaspoon brown sugar (or more, to taste)
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

At home: combine all of the dry ingredients in a zip locking plastic bag.

In camp: Add 2/3 cup boiling water to oatmeal (or more if you like a thinner cereal.)


Thai Mango Chicken and Rice
serves 1

1 3 ounce can chicken (or 3 T dried)
1/3 cup instant rice
3 T chopped dried mango
1 T dried roasted bell pepper
1/2 t dried basil
1 T coconut crème powder

At home: combine everything in a zip locking plastic bag. Carry the can of chicken seperately. (if using dried, add it with the dry ingredients)

In camp: place bag in a cozy. Add just enough water to cover. Let stand 5-10 minutes. Stir in the chicken and serve.


Margarita Cheesecake
Serves 4

Yes. It will be very bright green!

1 11.1 oz package instant cheesecake mix
1 3 ounce package lime Jell-O
1/2 cup powdered milk
1 mini bottle tequila
1/4 cup salted pretzels, crushed

At home: combine the cheesecake mix, Jell-O and powdered milk in a zip locking plastic bag. In a second bag, combine the pretzels and 1/4 cup of the crust mix. Use the remaining (about 3/4 cup) crust mix for something else.

In camp: add enough water to the tequila to equal 1 1/2 cups. Mix this with your cheesecake/Jell-O mixture in your pan. Let sit for a minute or two, then top with the pretzels/crust mix.

The weather here was crappy all weekend long, so I spent a good portion of the weekend cooking. Both for home and for the trail.

I've been wanting to make some backpacking meals with blackeyed peas, but have been unable to find the canned variety lately. I bought a bag of dried and tossed them in the crock pot with some salt pork, chopped onion, chicken broth and a can of diced tomatoes. I let it cook on low all day. I ate some for dinner as a stew, then put the leftovers in the fridge. The beans thickened significantly overnight.



The following day I spread the leftovers on four fruit roll trays and put them in the dehydrator at about 140* for most of the day.



After the blackeyed peas were dry, I broke up any big chunks and stored them in a zip lock freezer bag. This will make a great trail stew on it's own, or with instant rice added. I easily have about 4-6 meals worth of dried beans.

All this cold weather and snow in the Seattle area is making me twitchy!! It's March for Pete's sake! I'm supposed to be hitting the trails, and seeing the beginnings of wildflowers popping their little heads up everywhere. Instead, it is 30 degrees outside.

So I'm dreaming. Looking at past trip photos and sighing. Waiting for summer... Allow me to share. Ahhh... flowers... (next time it will be mountain views)

From near Black & White Lakes in the Olympics


Middle Fork Snoqualmie


Along Ingalls Creek
  

Spray Park - Wonderland Trail

Esmeralda Basin


Near Lake Valhalla


Mailbox Peak


And last but not least...

Dicentras on the Iron Horse Trail

There has been some discussion on a backpacking message board I frequent about the environmenal ramifications of used canisters. Here in the Seattle area, we are able to recycle them with our normal recycling. They just have to be completely empty, then punctured before putting in the recycling bins.

But I wondered about other areas. Specifically Canada. I had heard that they did not recycle the canisters at all, so I called MEC, (1.888.847.0770) They assured me that the canisters are indeed recycleable.

The man I spoke to (forgot to get a name) said that some of the individual stores used to take in the canisters. They had to be completely drained and then punctured. Some stores may still be taking them in, but a lot have stopped b/c they didn't have an offical tool to puncture the canister with. They were using a hammer and nail.

HOWEVER...

He also said that the canisters can be recycled at a regular recycling facility. Same rules apply. They have to be completely drained and punctured.

All this makes me feel a bit better about my canister stove. I wouldn't want to use anything else!

Yesterday the Madster and I met up with a friend from the NWhikers forums and his two kids. We've hiked with them before and it is always enjoyable. His little girl is about 6 months or so younger than the Madster, but they get along great! We met in the parking lot of Discovery Park and did the loop trail, with a side trip to the beach. Just short of 4 miles total. I'm totally proud of the girls. They did great!

Maddy sharing her snacks... Chocolate, of course!

This is such a nice little park. Lots to see and appreciate, despite being in the heart of the city. Big trees, ferns, and lots and lots of nettles rearing their ugly little heads right now.





My little CheezePuff.  She's enjoying herself.



We stopped for lunch at the beach. The girls just *had* to sit together. Anza is quite the little hostess, sharing everything. Even her jellybeans! What a sweetie.



Of course the girls also had to "go fishing" and throw lots of rocks in the water. Meanwhile, I was enjoying the view to the south of Mount Rainier. What a gorgeous day!



A visit to the beach would not be complete without some serious driftwood scrambling. I was afraid she was going to break her little legs. But she's such a monkey that she just climbed on up and over (photo is about 4-5 feet off the sand).



A little chocolate chip bribery gets the girls to walk a bit further. They ened up getting carried off and on at the end, but mostly did great!



"Momma! I want to walk up THERE!" she says, pointing to the guard rail. Where DOES she get these ideas. "Okay..." I said, against my better judgement. She was fine, of course.

At home: combine all of the dry ingredients in a zip locking plastic bag.

In camp: add just enough water to cover, place the bag in a cozy. Let stand 5 minutes. Stir well before eating.


Olive Artichoke Dip
Serves 1

This could also be used as a pasta sauce. Add a packet of salmon to make a tasty sandwich filling...

1/4 cup dehydrated artichoke hearts
2 T freeze dried olives
1/2 t Italian seasoning or Mrs. Dash
2 mayonaise packets
crackers or bread for serving (I like triscuits)

At home: combine all of the dry ingredients in a zip locking plastic bag.

In camp: add just enough water to cover. Allow to rehydrate for 5 minutes before stirring in both of the mayo packets. Serve on crackers.


Bailey’s Vanilla Mousse Tarts
Serves 4

This dessert is extremely rich.

1 4.2-ounce box instant vanilla mousse mix
1/3 cup powdered milk
1 50 ml bottle Bailey’s Irish Cream
1 1-½ ounce package chocolate fudge topping
4 mini graham cracker tart shells

At home: combine chocolate mousse mix and powdered milk in a zip locking plastic bag. Carry the fudge topping, tart shells and Irish Cream separately.

In camp: add the Irish Cream and enough water to total 1 cup liquid (about ¾ cup water – use less liquor for a milder flavor). Stir well and set aside until firmed up. Meanwhile open the chocolate fudge topping and divide it as evenly as possible between the four tart shells.
Top with the vanilla mousse and enjoy.

I had my goal of being debt free in sight when the economy went to hell in a hand basket last year. Orders started falling faster than the stock market. I discovered our Web site needed a vital and very expensive security update. And I had to cross my fingers that the holidays would be good, and borrow even more to buy the inventory we needed...

Read more here.

So please share with your friends, www.helptftnow.com , This is for the troops and for a friend.

Thanks!