2018.05.09 - Food and Resupplying

I think this time Susanna is not driving this vechicle where this pic is taken from ... but who knows!

When you just sit on your arse and the landscapes go past quickly, ranging from great green pastures to small time towns, there is no better time to clarify your thoughts. We are now heading from Albany, Oregon to Van Nuys, California. Tourists take the plane. Hikers probably just walk. Wannabe thruhikers take the train. The duration for the trip is about 29 hours and our hike starts in two days. Already the idea exhausts me. So it is a good idea to think about what actually powers this trip as the train slowly puffs its way forward.

A hungry hiker would do good to get stuff like this on the trail. Mikko is enjoying himself while he still can.

Almost as much as has been written about gear on PCT, there is no shortage about stories about food either. Every physical action requires fuel, and walking over four thousand kilometers makes you a moving and pooping eating machine. The PCT goes near many towns so resupplying your food storages does not require airdrops, but the selection varies greatly from place to place. Not always you want to get off the trail to a small time town when you are in a groove. Or are afraid of people. Or maybe you do, just to make sure you can still speak. It is a balance of carrying manageable amount of food, eating in 4 star restaurants or toilet sized diners and sending yourself post packages to places that have no or wrong kind of food. Well maybe you can forget the 4 star part.

Ah, the symmetry. Mine on the left, Mikko's on the right. Susanna was Mikko's stylist, thus the added spark on his boxes.

As I and Mikko are vegans, it was straight out clear that we are sending some post packages. Or to be more precise, Susanna will send those based to our instructions and schedule. The average amount of resupply boxes for people that completed the PCT in year 2017 was 10, so we prepared that amount in advance. Added with a bear canister, filled to a brim, that is to be sent to Kennedy Meadows. And most likely 3 more that we are preparing from along the trail. In total: 14 boxes. Our current plan says that we have 37 resupply locations so on a bit less than a third we would get most of our food from the boxes. A flat rate large box sent with United State Postal Services costs about $19, where as the regional rates can be half of that price.

Almost all of the to-be-sent brekkies, dinners and gorp.

We both made contentwise almost equal boxes. My boxes weighted about 5kg each, which is a lot when you think that it adds directly to your pack weight when you get the box. In hindsight I should have made smaller boxes. Maybe even half of that. Especially as in many places you can buy decent food and would be happy to do so just to get variety. I might end up donating lots of bars to hiker boxes. Hiker boxes? Those are containers where you can donate your surplus, where other cheapskate (read: wise) hikers can get them for free.

Contents of a one box. Too much? Probably. The average between resupply locations is about 4 days.

I am not unhappy about my selections. Most of the weight of my boxes comes from energy / meal / protein bars. Majority of them are of high quality meaning that while I get fat, my wallet is already starving. The staple of many hikers is Snicker bars, which is missing from our boxes entirely. Along with other dairy products. Comes as no surprise that the boxes are also filled with enriched GORP (goold old raisins and peanuts). As a big nutter I made my mix from raisins, macademians, filberts, almonds, pecans, walnuts, dried apricots, and goji berries.

The games wannabe hikers play. Just make sure your wedding ring is on your finger after all this.

As I am gonna cold soak my food, that restricts a bit what I can get for my brekkies and dinners. The brekkie department is a monoculture of oatmeal. I am gonna enrich it with some dried fruits and berries, courtesy of Harmony House Foods. Into the mix goes also some hemp and/or recovery powder mixture.

The modern way to ensure a balanced diet. Still would not change actual eating to some magic pills if got the choice. What else meaningful in the world there is besides eating?

The dinner side of things is gonna be taken care of with dried/refried beans, meat substitute bits (TVP) and legumes, also from Harmony House Foods. Yes, this was relatively expensive. I opted for at least partially healthy diet instead of whatever I can get my hands on in bulk. Surely I will get my fair share of tortillas and peanut butter whem the kilometers accumulate.

This is dinner! Just add water.

Some spices and Idahoan potatoes, and that is the contents of my boxes. Well, of course every box got a block of chocolade but that much is obvious. Not to forget the added toilet paper in every box to handle the other side of the life cycle, and hand sanitizer to make sure that this end does not grow too much in significance.

Finishing touches: chocolade, coffee and spices. And some toiletries. Modern hiker does not skim from the luxuries. At least when planning.

It was quite time consuming to do your own GORP mixes and dried dinner packages. Mikko opted for the ready made backpacker dishes such as Backpackers Pantry. Those tend to be very expensive and I did not have the time nor will to hunt for bargains. Also, they work best with boiled water. Former PCT hikers advice that you really should put effort to maintain enough diversity in your diet. I am confident this will be no big problem for me. My taste buds have not evolved to require much to be happy.

GORP is gonna be my teeth destroyer, a snack that finds it way to my mouth more often than a dentist would recommend.

Reports from experienced hikers tell me that you will eat almost all the time and still lose weight. An enormous appetite is a constant companion after getting over the first few weeks where the hiker hunger has not yet developed. I would estimate that I need around 5000 calories a day. I am eagerly waiting how this will turn out as I usually don't like to eat at all when doing something physical. To preserve my fat ass from disappearing, I took the advice and reserved myself a small bottle of olive oil that I will refill as I go.

I have not made a daily budget for the food I am gonna purchase at the trail. In hindsight that would have been a good idea. I feel that the money you spend should be in relation to what you normally use, taken into account the difference in calories. I try to continue my nitpicking life style and keep account of all my expenses on the trail, including food.

• Fig Bars: Natures Bakery, 96 bars (5400g, 21kcal, $50)
• Protein bars: Clif Builders, 72 bars (4900g, 20kcal, $66)
• Meal bars: Pro Bar, 120 bars (10200g, 43kcal, $273)
• Dried Lentils: Harmony House Food (1800g, 7kcal, $35)
• Dried fruit: HHF (900g, 3kcal, $96)
• Dried berries: HHF (450g, 2kcal, $42)
• Dried legumes: HHF (2200g, 8kcal, $60)
• Dried vegetables: HHF (840g, 2.5kcal, $45)
• Dried TVP: HHF (700g, 2kcal, $23)
• Hemp powder (1000g, 3.6kcal)
• Hemp powder: Manitoba harvest (1000g, 3.6kcal, $21)
• Recovery powder: Vega (1200g, 5kcal, $63)
• Raisins (3000g, 9kcal)
• Filberts (1000g, 6.3kcal)
• Almonds (1000g, 5.8kcal)
• Macademians (1000g, 7.2kcal)
• Walnuts (1000g, 6.5kcal)
• Cashews (1000g, 5.5kcal)
• Pecans (1000g, 6.9kcal)
• Peanuts (1000g) 5.7kcal
• Goji berries (500g, 1.5kcal)
• Dried apricots (500g, 1.7kcal)
• Dark chocolade (1000g, 2.4kcal, $20)
• Oatmeal (5000g, 18.7kcal, approx $10 )
• Idahoan potatoes (1500g, 5kcal, approx $6)
• Oreos 20 x 6 pack (1350g, 6.5kcal, approx $7)

All the GORP items  total in 11kg (56.1 kcal, approx $100). These and other approx numbers are just that, I did not save the receipts from local purchases. The figures are on the ballpark, though.

The grand total of food purchased in advance is thus about 50.4kg (209kcal, $917).

I am dreading the very first leg of the hike that starts in less than two days. My backpack contains about 5kg of food, way too much. I got the advice that it would be reasonable to have one days worth of food in the beginning. The water is much more important in the desert. Does not make sense to carry food only so that you have the energy to carry that food. Or maybe it does. Maybe that is one definition of life that has been unjustly eradicated by the modern era? Say, life is a walk where you end up carrying what keeps you going, and everything else just happens while you keep the basic routine going, day after day, step after step. The trail will teach you a lot, they say. I hope it teaches me a better metaphore or two.

One motre: Life is like a hamburger - you eat it one bite at a time, and are happy when you are done with it. Because you're vegan and eating ham is not the way! (disclosure: the beauty in the pic is a delicious veggie burger by Susanna)