JMT Food Food Food - Part 2 - Dinner & Cooking

This is by far my favorite post because I LOVE food. I love talking about food, preparing food, cooking food and eating food! (Confession alert - sometimes I even enjoy shopping for food too.)

Although not restrictive off trail, my plant-based whole (unprocessed/minimally processed) food diet requires more effort while the backcountry. It is primarily for this reason I've been experimenting with my own dinners since March. The meals I've prepared for my hike are guaranteed to be super tasty, filling, nutritious and minimally processed.

my backcountry kitchen

Before I get into specifics, I'd like to mention that I've decided to go stove less. That's right, no cooking for me on the trail. No stove + no fuel = no hot water & no hot meals.

You're probably thinking, "What will you do, then?"
I will simply add water to my meals a couple hours before dinner, and as they slush around in the container and rehydrate, they will be lukewarm when I'm ready to chow down.

I experimented with this method during my Memorial Day trek through the Angeles National Forest. It worked amazingly well so I'm sticking to it. This decision also means less bulk because I will be carrying fewer items, less work at camp after a long days hike and no chance of burning a hole in the sleeve of my down jacket (again).

Ok, back to food. So what will I be eating exactly?

Well, I cooked, dehydrated, and vacuum sealed 17 dinners.

17 minimally processed, calorically dense, scrumptious, good-for-you dinners

My dinners range from rice noodles with veggies and (dairy-free) basil pesto; to garlic mashed potatoes with eggplants, carrots, bell peppers, bok choy, onions, herbs and spices; to orzo with portobello mushrooms, squash, red peppers, mung bean sprouts, onions, garlic, herbs & spices.   

To share with you the process of getting to the final product you see in the photo above, I want to show you how I made my orzo with veggies dinner. 

After making two generous servings of food in a large pan,

I transfered it onto two dehydrator trays.

After about 12 hours at 135 - 145 degrees, the orzo and veggies were fully dehydrated.

After cooling down for 30 to 45 minutes, the orzo & veggies then made their way into a small container for a stint in the Magic Bullet.

Lastly, I placed the orzo and veggies into a pre-cut Foodsaver bag and vacuum sealed it.

There you have it. One delicious, healthy, ready-to-eat 7 ounce dinner guaranteed to be devoured on the trail.

Interested in making your own food like I did? Here are a few tips:

1. If you are considering making your own dinners for your hike, DO IT! You will thank yourself on the trail for taking such good care of yourself. Having said that, I don't know if this is something I would consider doing for a lengthy hike like the PCT, but for a two week adventure, it's totally doable.

2. If you have a Nesco FD-75PR dehydrator like I do, two trays of food (pre-dehydrated) will produce one 7 ounce dehydrated dinner. 

3. Minimize bulk and grind down thorny edges using a food processor. This dinner a) would not fit into my 750 ml container had I not ground it down, and b) would have probably put a hole in the vacuum sealer bag like four other dinners did prior. Save yourself the repetitive work and excessive waste and grind your meals down slightly, being mindful to leave some texture to the food instead of turning it into mush - unless that's what you prefer.

4. Be careful when using ready-to-eat rice. I purchased instant brown rice from Trader Joe's and ruined a few dinners. Mind you, it was my fault. I didn't dehydrate the rice prior to incorporating it with my dehydrated veggies. All three meals containing the instant rice puffed up like balloons a few days after I vacuum sealed them and were ruined. Lesson learned!

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to email me or leave a comment below.

Happy Trails!

JMT Food, Food, Food - Part 1 - Breakfast & Lunch

What do most hikers think about more than anything else on the trail? Food of course!

In this post, I'd like to discuss my strategy for breakfast and lunch/snacks. (For my dinner plans, please see part two.)

For breakfast, I love eating Nature's Path cereals. I can eat them every day and not grow tired of them. The FlaxPlus Granola and Ancient Grains Granola are both very delicious. To make them even tastier, more flavorful, and more calorically dense, I add two tablespoons of my custom nut mix (email me for more info if interested), a nut butter, and sea salt.

As for lunch, while on the trail my body prefers smaller snacks every hour or so instead of larger meals; therefore bars are my preferred foods during the day.

backpacking snack foods

Larabars, Probars, Raw Revolution bars, Amazing Grass bars, Rise bars and Pure Organics bars are minimally processed, super tasty and provide me with plenty of calories and variety. Getting bored of these foods should not be an issue as I planned my meals in a specific rotation to avoid eating identical bars two days in a row.

Continue to part two where I discuss my home-made dinners & my strategy for on trail cooking.

John Muir Trail Resupply

Well folks, in two weeks time, I'll be in Yosemite National Park picking up my hiking permit!! I know I'm getting ahead of myself but I'm getting super excited with every passing minute.

Day dreaming about the future is nice (especially when it promises adventure & novelty), but it's great having "chores" such as getting my resupply packages together that bring me back to reality.

bear proof food canister (left), homer bucket (middle) for 2nd resupply, and large Priority Mail Flat Rate Box (right) for 1st resupply 

resupply package 1

Label me loco but I really enjoy this particular task. Setting myself up to succeed and avoiding headaches on the trail turns tedious tasks into creative, problem solving puzzles. For example, in the above photo, notice the number "9" written on the plastic bag.

I place each day's food in separate bags and number them. Then I pack the bags into the resupply boxes with the lowest number first. This way, when I open the package at my resupply location, I can transfer the bags directly into my food canister without having to figure out which bag is for which day. Simple, effective, awesome.

resupply packages & their contents

7 days worth of food crammed into my bear can

Also, figuring out how much tp I'll require for a particular section of trail (luckily I have previous knowledge to draw upon for this one), whether or not to include junk food to break the monotony of trail food at resupply points (which I will be doing), and testing to see if a 7 day food supply will fit in my bear can are all fun stuff I've been contemplating and testing.

Good times I tell ya.

Well, the fun will end when I take my packages to the post office and ship em off in the morning. No matter, I'm sure I'll find some other way to amuse myself ;)

Besides, shipping my resupply packages makes this hike that much more real. And, I won't have to think about whether or not I've packed everything any longer.

If you are planning your own thru-hike, I highly suggest checking out Boston & Cubby's entry on trail journals.  These ladies were gracious enough to share their knowledge & expertise regarding resupplies with the world. THANK YOU LADIES!!

Now I just need to figure out how to make my boxes stand out from the crowd like they did. Any suggestions?

JMT Resupply & Itinerary

Less than 30 days to go!!!

I'm almost done making all 16 of my dinners, my lunches are almost complete, and soon I will be preparing and packaging my breakfasts. 

By next week, this will all be done - at which time I will publish one or two posts (with many pictures of course) about the foods I will be eating on the trail. 

For now, please check out my updated itinerary and food plan below. I've broken it down into 3 segments. 

Segment 1 is from Happy Isles in Yosemite National Park to the Tuolumne Meadows Post Office (also located within Yosemite National Park) - where my first resupply package will be waiting for me. 

Segment 2 is from the Post Office to my arrival at Muir Trail Ranch.

And Finally, Segment 3 includes my stay at the Ranch and the final stretch of the trail - culminating at the summit of Mt. Whitney and the not-so-kind-on-the-knees 11 mile ramble down to Whitney Portal.

One more thing - many details are not finalized yet - including how many nights I will stay at the Ranch, when I will ship my resupplies, the type of camera I will purchase and use on the trail, which battery pack will keep my electronic devices charged, and a few other details. 

I'm not stressing out over any of this as I have it all written down and refer to it whenever I have some free time. It's all coming together really well. What's more important is how calm I am throughout this entire process. 

Swimming on the John Muir Trail

Last year, on two separate occasions, I really wished I knew how to swim. The first was at Kibbie Lake in Yosemite. Kibbie Lake is a beautiful, warm lake perfect for swimming. But I hung around near the shore while my friends lapped the lake and raved about the views on the other side.

Stunning Kibbie Lake

The second instance was during my 5 day trip from Onion Valley to Mt. Whitney. The group swam at Kearsarge Lakes and at Guitar Lake, while I just took photos. 

My friends taking a dip in frigid Guitar Lake

This year however, I want to swim whenever I camp at a lake or when I take a lunch break near one. And I will have ample opportunity to do so as this section of the Sierra Nevada mountains is riddled with stunning lakes. 

So many opportunities to swim

Helping me achieve this goal is my cousin, who has graciously volunteered her time to teach me to swim. It's slow going because a) the last time I swam to the deep end of a pool I was 14 years old; and b) because I seriously lack coordination; and c) yoga. 

You see, I've been practicing yoga for a little over 1 1/2 years now. Breath work and breathing techniques are essential to the practice - especially breathing through my nose. I have learned this skill very well. 

Unfortunately, when swimming, I have to forget this practice and breathe ONLY through my mouth! It's the hardest lesson for me to grasp thus far. I'm drinking gallons of water through my nose every time I'm in that pool. 

Practicing breathing through my mouth only.

As with any other skill, I'm confident that with more practice, I will learn this technique and be able to switch from breathing through my nose to breathing only through my mouth at will. 

I have less than 40 days to become completely comfortable in the water. Since time is of the essence, I've decided to do less yoga and hike less in order to focus more on swimming - which is also great exercise in itself. 

I'm confident my coordination and breathing will improve with every lesson.

Stay tuned...

________________________________________________________________________

P.S. On a very sad note (and all the more reason I want to become very comfortable in the water) - a man attempting a thru-hike of the Application Trail drowned in a pond just two weeks ago! It truly is very sad and my heartfelt condolences go out to his loved ones, but it goes to show that extracurricular activities (such as swimming after a long day of hiking and off trail scrambles to bag peaks) account for many injuries - and worse - sustained in the backcountry. 

It was not my intention to end this post on a low note; however, I share this story to hold myself accountable to all of you.

Bottom line - if I don't feel I'm ready to swim in a lake by the time I step foot on the John Muir Trail, I simply won't. 

Birthday Backpack Trip

There's no other way I'd prefer to celebrate my birthday than to wake up in a tent, in the middle of the woods, next to friends whose company I thoroughly enjoy!

I was very fortunate to do just that over the weekend to celebrate my 29th birthday. 

We trekked to West Fork Campground in the Angeles National Forest and were greeted by blue skies, warm temperatures, wildflowers, flowing rivers and mozzies. 

Eric & Joy eastbound on the Gabrielino National Recreation Trail

beautiful flowers

West Fork San Gabriel River provided great views and cold, tasty water 

picturesque West Fork Campground

LOVE making a fire!

For dinner, my awesome friends prepared wheat berry salad, and grilled veggies which we ate with rice and peanut sauce. So good! Thanks Joy! 

They even hauled in a cake & candles for me to celebrate my b-day properly! I know, I'm blessed with great friends!!

My awesome birthday cake

Around 10:30 P.M., we called it a night and crawled into our tents, falling asleep to the symphony of frogs and other wildlife.

It was so warm I didn't get to test out my new down socks. Guess I have to plan another backpacking trip :))

The next morning, we lounged about, made another fire, took tons of photos, and enjoyed an awesome breakfast of potato potpourri & fake bacon (we don't eat meat). Thanks Eric! 

Many thanks to Eric for sawing wood and sustaining our fires! 

left to right: Eric, Joy, me

It was noon by the time we finally left camp.

We had to hike back up to the trailhead 5.5 miles and 2000 ft away. Did I mention we had to go UP? 

In hindsight we should have gotten a much earlier start as the temperature hovered around 80 - 85 degrees during our climb out of the canyon.

 resting in the shade

beautiful shady stretch of trail

We made it to our car in 3 hours, grateful to be done with it.

We capped our trip with a delicious meal at La Cabanita Mexican Restaurant in Montrose. 

I can't thank my friends Eric & Joy enough for making my birthday so memorable and wonder-full.

Thanks guys, you rock!

Staying In The Moment

I can't believe that in just under two months, I will travel one of the grandest, most majestic footpaths in the world!

The anticipation is overwhelming, but rest assured, there's lots for me to do that snaps me back into the here and now every time I begin to fantasize about the trail.

Speaking of the trail, I've decided to do no more research about trail conditions and the like.

I'm done with it.

While I appreciate John Ladd and other kind folks for constantly providing updates about the blowdowns from the freakish wind storm last November, it doesn't apply to me as I don't start my trek until August.

Lots can change from now til then.

Besides, I'm having too much fun preparing for this trip. Call me crazy but I enjoy buying gear, food and other knick-knacks, figuring out which items will go into which resupply box, trying to predict what meal I'd want to eat each day (impossible I know, but hey - I get a kick out of it), and training for the hike.

Everything I mentioned above keeps me in the present moment. It's great!

Focusing my awareness on the tasks at hand keeps me calm and relaxed; whereas worrying about trail conditions - and other stuff I have no control over - makes me anxious and tense.

The John Muir Trail, this trip, isn't the culmination of the skills I've learned and practiced the last few years or anything of that sort.

It's an unfolding of the process that is my life.

So too are the 'chores' I have to do to get 'out there.'

In the last week, I've enthusiastically savored every moment I've spent planing.

There's a joy that has come over me that I can't explain, but its wonderful.